Info day on the world-leading @ilesla.bsky.social #PhD programme on 26th Nov. iles.web.ox.ac.uk/open-day-2025 fantastic opportunity to do a PhD with us here at Open University and take full advantage of the ILESLA training at Oxford at the same time @palaeosingh.bsky.social

Mark Norell (1957–2025): Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...

📣Another exciting PhD available! Partnered with @nottswildlife.bsky.social and fully funded by the ACCE+ NERC Doctoral Landscape Award. We will look at morphological trait evolution, isolation and environment change, and rewilding of large herbivores. #evolution #WilderFuture #rewilding #PhD

#DinoConUK is coming to #Birmingham! Join us in 2026 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole on July 25th-26th for the second DinoConUK. Events have yet to be announced (and tickets are not yet on sale) but places can be booked at the hotel. Talks, shows, events, vendors and more :) Please share!

Given the new paper yesterday, here’s the skull of a #Nanotyrannus for this #FossilFriday. Once widely thought to be a juvenile #Tyrannosaurus rex, this dinosaur is now recognised as a separate genus & not even a tyrannosaurid! 🦖 #Paleontology #Science #Dinosaurs 🧵 1/

After lots of rumours of an impending #Nanotyrannus paper, here we are! Zanno & Napoli support Nanotyrannus as a true genus & not a juvenile #Tyrannosaurus rex 🦖 Final paper still a little way off yet, but the manuscript is live ⬇️ #Dinosaurs #Paleontology #Science www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Fraser, D., Rybczynski, N., Gilbert, M. et al. Mid-Cenozoic rhinocerotid dispersal via the North Atlantic. Nat Ecol Evol (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Central Asian radiation of modern large-mammal faunas in Miocene | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A side-on snapshot of the skull of Megacerops, a #brontothere (‘thunder beast’) from North America for this #FossilFriday. Sporting large bulbous horns, these large, ancient mammals looked a bit like rhinos 🦏 but are actually more closely related to horses 🐎. #Paleontology #Science #Cenozoic 🧵1/

Nice thread below on new paper by Flynn et al. ⬇️ Great to have another end-Cretaceous fossil fauna from North America! Combined with new analytical methods & approaches, should help us understand what was going on with #dinosaur 🦖 diversity before the asteroid impact ☄️ #paleontology #science

This is an INCREDIBLE advance in our understanding of coral diversification. 🪸🎉 Fantastic new work led by @claudiavaga.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New paper on crocodylian locomotor evolution led by Masaya Iijima, w/Richard Blob & me! More erect hindlimb postures help extant gators support their weight (esp. at ankle), & how these mechanics constrained giant Deinosuchus to a slow walk at best! The paper-- www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Exciting new #PhD studentship available on flowering plant & insect #evolution in South America 🌺🐝 across the Cenozoic using biodiversity & #palaeoclimate modelling 🖥️ Join our growing #palaeobiology research group at @openuniversity.bsky.social! See below for more project & application info ⬇️

N.G. McDonald et al. 2025 Triassic-Jurassic Lake-Shoreline Environments of the Hartford and Deerfield Basins: Fossils, Food Chains, and Facies-Linked Distribution of Dinosaur Tracks and Trackmakers. Bull. Peabody Museum of Natural History 66, 339-381, doi.org/10.3374/014....

😍 www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i0R...

Hechenleitner, E.M., Martinelli, A.G., Rocher, S. et al. A long-necked early dinosaur from a newly discovered Upper Triassic basin in the Andes. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...

New paper by Martínez et al. describing a new basal theropod #dinosaur 🦖 from the Late #Triassic of Argentina 🇦🇷 alongside an analysis of faunal assemblages that helps clarify how early dinosaurs diversified & expanded their ecological roles ⬇️ #Paleontology #Science www.nature.com/articles/s41...

On this #fossilfriday, take a few moments to read this. A touching tribute to the life, career, and discoveries of Mark Norell, from his long-time friend and field companion, Mike Novacek. In @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A couple snapshots of an ancient apex predator for this #FossilFriday - presenting the fossil teeth & snout of an #Erythrosuchus africanus, the big-headed, hypercarnivorous archosauromorph from the Early-Mid #Triassic of South Africa 🇿🇦 #Paleontology #Science 🧵 1/

Animated Scutellosaurus!! (Also Dilophosaurus, prosauropods, and dimorphodonts, but I think I've seen animations of all those before...) youtu.be/BYCjeNQvISM?...

For #FossilFriday, in honor of the 120th naming of both species (tomorrow), the type specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex (at the Carnegie Museum) and Albertosaurus sarcophagus (@museumofnature)

Here’s a snapshot of the basal tyrannosaurid, Lythronax argestes for this #FossilFriday. It lived ~80 Ma, making it a much older cousin of the famous, #Tyrannosaurus rex 🦖- Discovered in Southern Utah 🇺🇸, its name means "gore king from the southwest." #Paleontology #Science #Dinosaurs 🧵 1/

New paper by Degrange et al. reports a new phorusrhacid (AKA #TerrorBird) from La Venta, Colombia 🇨🇴 - this is the 2nd terror bird from the site, suggesting perhaps some niche partitioning between these giant avian predators ⬇️ #Paleontology #Science www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/17...

New paper by Niedźwiedzki et al. reports ichnofossil 👣🐾 assemblage apparently made by ornithischian & megatheropod #dinosaurs in the latest #Triassic. Lots of interesting new info on the early rise of dinosaurs coming out of Poland! 🇵🇱 ⬇️ #Paleontology #Science www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Presenting the skull of #Ceratosaurus nasicornis for this #FossilFriday. This medium-sized (up to ~5.5 metres long), theropod dinosaur 🦖 was one of the rarer & perhaps most enigmatic predators of the #Jurassic Morrison Formation in the southwestern US 🇺🇸 #Paleontology #Science 🧵 1/

New paper by Mao et al. describes divergent approaches to evolving a secondary jaw joint in two #Jurassic mammaliamorphs from China 🇨🇳 - Seems there was quite a bit of morphological experimentation in such proto- #mammals! ⬇️ #Paleontology #Science www.nature.com/articles/s41...

New paper by Petrulevičius & Gutiérrez presents the oldest winged insects 🦟 from Argentina 🇦🇷 dating back to the early #Carboniferous - More insight into the early diversification of animal life & ecosystems on land. ⬇️ #Paleontology #Science onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

New megaraptorid #theropod, Joaquinraptor casali, described by Ibiricu et al. from a partial skeleton discovered Argentina 🇦🇷 - nice to have some more skull material from one of these enigmatic predators! #Dinosaur #Paleontology #Science www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Dinosaurs as ecosystem engineers! Weaver, L.N., Tobin, T.S., Sprain, C.J. et al. Dinosaur extinction can explain continental facies shifts at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. Commun Earth Environ 6, 712 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s432...

This discovery is highlighted in the U-M Museum of Natural History. Although Beck's pivotal specimen isn't displayed, you can see this giant Archaeopteris trunk (UMMP 13837)--my favorite fossil in the gallery.

New York Times obituary for one of New York’s greatest characters. RIP Mark, and you’d enjoy the Romanian palinka we’re toasting in your honor tonight! www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/s...

Do you like cichlids? Fossils? Fossil cichlids? Would you like to study them as part of a graduate degree at the University of Michigan, joining an NSF-funded project? Get in touch.

Presenting a photo of the herbivorous parareptile, Bradysaurus for this #FossilFriday. This ancient animal lived ~265 Ma in the #Permian & was one of the larger terrestrial tetrapods of its time. Despite the name, it’s not a dinosaur, but a #pareiasaur #parareptile. #paleontology #science 🧵 1/

New theropod #dinosaur, Newtonsaurus cambrensis, described by Evans et al. from fossils collected >120 years ago in Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (UK). This large lower jaw fossil supports the evolution of large #theropods in the latest #Triassic 🦖 #paleontology #science www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We lost Mark Norell today. Dinosaur hunter extraordinaire. The coolest dude alive. My PhD supervisor. Wherever you are, raise a glass of your favorite lager or single malt, as it is what Mark would want.

A pair of beautiful Carboniferous tetrapod skulls on display at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum for #FossilFriday

#FossilFriday: The 'Oolite and Lias Systems' from 'The Antediluvian World', drawn & engraved by John Emslie (1813–75), published by James Reynolds in 1849. An ichthyosaur & plesiosaur (much influenced by the famous 1840 John Martin plate) try to out-stare a magic-dragonoid pterosaur & Iguanodon.

Given recent interest in the ankylosaur, Spicomellus & its extreme armour, I thought l'd share this photo of an #aetosaur spike for this #FossilFriday. Highlights how wonderfully weird #Triassic reptiles pioneered many striking traits once thought limited to dinosaurs. #Paleontology #Science 🧵 1/

New paper from @climatesamwell.bsky.social on #paleoclimate modelling and niche #evolution across the end Cretaceous mass extinction doi.org/10.1017/pab....

Anyway this is the single biggest brontothere skull ever found. It may look like a rhino but this is an elephant-sized animal.

Osteology and ontogeny of the Permian dicynodont Rastodon procurvidens (Synapsida, Therapsida) based on micro-CT scanning and its phylogenetic and biogeographical implications url: academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...

Excited to present some of my new research since joining @openuniversity.bsky.social at this year’s meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology! Stop by if you’re interested in the ecology & #macroevolution of #crocodilians in South America during the #Cenozoic 🐊 #2025SVP #Paleontology

Presenting the sabretoothed megapredator, #Inostrancevia at the @romtoronto.bsky.social for this #FossilFriday. This ancient forerunner of mammals was one of the top predators of the late Permian, being the largest known #gorgonopsian, growing up to ~11 ft in length. #paleontology #science 🧵 1/

Dingsu Feng, Thomas Tütke, Eva Maria Griebeler, Daniel Herwartz, and Andreas Pack (2025) Mesozoic atmospheric CO2 concentrations reconstructed from dinosaur tooth enamel Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122(33): e2504324122 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Cracking new paper by Rowe et al. on carnivorous #dinosaur 🥩🦖 skull #biomechanics & gigantism that captures the divergent functionality & likely ecological differences between large #theropods during prey capture & feeding ⬇️ #paleontology #science #Mesozoic www.cell.com/current-biol...

In time for #FossilFriday, my new paper with Warren Allmon out in Paleobiology: Punctuated equilibria remains the dominant pattern of morphospecies origin in the fossil record: an analysis using the “persistence of ancestor” criterion 🧵 #Paleontology ⚒️🧪 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

This Fossil Friday, meet Eryops megacephalus! Evidence, including strong limbs and trackways that may have been made by this critter, suggests it was one of the most terrestrial early tetrapods. It lived ~280 mya during the Early Permian.

I love everything about this tableau of a mired Barosaurus swarmed by juvenile Allosaurus. There’s so much life and movement imbued in these casts! #FossilFriday