I went to the Shanghai Natural History Museum on the last day of 2025. This time there was a special exhibition about Chinese dinosaurs, which is what this thread is for. I’m starting with the holotype of Lufengosaurus huenei, the first non-avian dinosaur described by Chinese paleontologists.

Tonight's doodling for the book illustration library was all about beefcake anole lizards. You can join for these twitch streams as I get the whole dang book illustrated piece by piece over on twitch.tv/SarahMackAttack

Could I swear in on a fossil? I hold fossils more sacred than any book.

this is such an important thing to recognize and call out the fascism is mostly done being nice at this point, but it got here through well dressed men politely asking questions while the rest of us were scolded for pointing out where those questions led

My predictions for 2026

Gonna start referring to anything from 1970-1999 as “The late 1900s” and see what happens.

2026 will be our return of the Jedi.

This is the year for fighting back.

The last day of 2025. An unsettling year, especially for science, medicine, universities, human rights, democracy... But in The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, I wrote this passage. Things can be bad, but things have always gotten better. Best wishes for a better 2026!

All the birds together. I'd like to update this into a true print...soon!

2025 is almost over, which means it's time for my annual comprehensive review of this year's papers in marine mammal paleontology! Check out my new #blog post here:🐬🦖🧪 #whaleontology #paleontology #science

This thread shows the extraordinary work that the Patient-Led Research Collaborative (working on Long COVID and other infection-associated chronic conditions) has done, incl. scientific work that has challenged and massively improved the research that people without Long COVID do on the disease 1/

meanwhile.... medicine has taken INSANE leaps and bounds in the last 2 years. we're out here curing HIV and leukemia and creating 100% efficacy vaccines against all sorts of cancers, and now this?? between this and renewable energy outstripping fossil fuels in efficiency, the future is bright

By my count, 46 new species of Mesozoic dinosauromorph (& lagerpetid) taxa this year, which is close to the average for the time period 2003-2025 (the range over which I have been compiling data):

ALMOST EVERYTHING about penguins is cute. There is *one exception*: they are champion poop producers. Specifically, they would win the long-distance contest. Humboldt penguins can propel poop well over twice their own height (picture is unrelated). Warning: thread contains penguin defecation.

Who needs AI when we had stuff like this? I’ll take photoshop edits over the slop any day

Nothing infuriates me faster than eugenicists invoking evolution to further a bigoted agenda. What even is the point if we don't start with the assumption that all people are equally precious? Also science education without philosophy is dangerous.

Art vs Artist 2025. (Or 9 portraits of old things). #SciArt

I'm reviewing abstracts for an upcoming scientific conference, helping the planning team to select which attendees get a chance to present their work. Some are amazingly good. Some suggest that the applicant has not ever been taught how to write an abstract. Here are some basic tips: 🧪

Did you know there are 2 types of avocado varieties? A-types switch from female to male, B-types male to female, within a single day. This reciprocal sex alternation promotes cross-pollination and has a simple genetic basis. Read more in this recent preprint from the final chapter of my PhD thesis 🥑

Colleague who just moved up north from Arizona: “Today I learned there was a thing called freezing rain that is distinct from snow.” Oh honey.

It's certainly not comprehensive, but I've done some places, for example historyoftheearthcalendar.blogspot.com/2014/04/apri...

Hey can someone please write book a la a guns germs and steel but about geological energy resources, paleogeography, and the rise of the industrial world powers? I want to read this but I don’t think it exists.

Though I do paid work as an academic, that role has nothing to do with plants. This project definitely could be published as a research paper (especially once I produce blue versions of runner beans or lima beans), but that is only likely if some lab decides to collaborate with me on it.

You ready for our 2026 Valentines?? The art is ready for ya 😍 As with everything on our shop, sales of these valentines support @skypeascientist.bsky.social! This year's cards were designed by Philly artist @aprilfinfrock.bsky.social! Obsessed with how these turned out. order at SquidFacts.net

Here's the embedded video of a mouse clearing the airway of the unconscious mouse by moving its tongue (cleared blocking objects 80% of the time), for anyone who is can't read the article due to a paywall: youtu.be/R5dZD4dPVio?...

Mice care for each other! And are good at it!

Another fun little doodle that is a departure from my usual style. I just love ptarmigan. #birds #art

It is still a disaster of world historic proportions* that the wrong branch of archosaurs took over for 140 million years. *It is: the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event is the same scale as the famous Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) event, it just doesn't involve a space rock.

The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5

This creature is called a Firefly #InverteFest

I was able to watch 5 out of 6 episodes of the hockey show while I was home for Christmas without my parents ever seeing anything untoward. Now I’m back home and refuse to get hbo, so I may never finish it.

We are now advertising for the position of Assistant Professor of Marine Invertebrate Organismal Biology @uwsafs.bsky.social The position will be based out at Friday Harbor Labs in the San Juan Islands. See the ad below for details. @csucoast.bsky.social apply.interfolio.com/178804

The Wildlife Fact files was my origin story. A Christmas present from my creationist grandmother. Haha oops.

Honored to blurb @restingdinoface.bsky.social's upcoming new book 'Tyrant Lizard Queen,' & even more honored to co-blurb it with @annaleen.bsky.social & @stevebrusatte.bsky.social! Not out until October 27, 2026, but preorders are very important for a book's (& its author's) success. 🧪🦖📚

Merry Christmas to all. defector.com/what-did-we-...

Merry Christmas! 🎄🎁 As such, I'm required to provide photos of insects wearing Santa hats. Whether you celebrate or not, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Crab yourself a merry little Crustmas! #Crustmas The Christmas Island crab, Gecarcoidea natalis, is known for its annual migrations, in which tens of millions of crabs move from the forest to the coast to mate.

Have yourself a merry little Carboniferous. #Art #SciArt #PaleoArt #Inverts

Merychippus everyone!

Quiz time: what is the song Jingle Bells about? a. Christmas b. Street racing c. A vehicle accident d. Picking up women

Crab yourself a merry little Crustmas! #Crustmas The Christmas Island crab, Gecarcoidea natalis, is known for its annual migrations, in which tens of millions of crabs move from the forest to the coast to mate.

We wish you a Merychippus, and a happy New Year! This Miocene, three-toed horse hopes everyone has a safe and cozy holiday season. 🐴🎄

#fossilfriday ⚒️🦑🇦🇶

Diplomoceras (the clippy) and Pseudocenoceras

These critters all lived in the first six million years of the Cenozoic and each one was, in its time, the biggest mammal that had ever existed. It took some work to balance the intended message, desired visual impact, and tech limitations, but I think the latest version of this display works well.

Surprise, there's a fourth paper! Just out today, we segmented the skull of the Permian stem reptile Protorothyris, so you don't have to! Work done with Adam Behlke and @hanssues.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... All meshes also available on Morphosource.

We know that birds can sense magnetic fields for navigation. But how does that work? Do they have little magnets wired up to their brains? The most likely answer is 1000X times weirder than that, and involves quantum spin. Let's talk about 'cryptochromes' & magnetic sensing.🧪

Oxygen feels essential to life. But when it first spread across Earth, it nearly wiped life out. For billions of years, organisms survived without it... until a slow chemical shift rewrote the rules. Oxygen didn’t start life. It almost ended it. 🧪 #SciComm buff.ly/pn0A04F