Continuing with the Early Cretaceous seas of Colombia, the ecosystem's top predator: Monquirasaurus boyacensis, "El Fósil". One of the largest and most complete pliosaurs known, a separate museum had been built around this specimen, leaving it exposed but in situ #FossilFriday

Out today is our paper 'Genomic history of early dogs in Europe', in which we uncover the identity of the dogs that lived in Europe before agriculture—during the Paleolithic & Mesolithic periods: doi.org/10.1038/s415.... A thread ⬇️ (10) @biouea.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social

For #WorldFrogDay, the best preserved Jurassic frog in ever found, Notobatrachus from the Middle Jurassic Argentina. Several well preserved species are known, and in 2024 scientists even described the first Jurassic tadpole, attributed to this species! #FossilFriday

Another Colombian marine reptile: Kyhytysuka, a late surviving ichthyosaur from the early Cretaceous. It shows us that even right before their eventual demise, ichthyosaurs occupied top predator niches. #FossilFriday

Not the easiest #FossilFriday as war rears its head again here in the Middle east... A throwback from quieter times: The oldest known sea turtle, Desmatochelys padillai from Colombia. Despite their ancient appearance, turtles returned to the seas at a much later date than many other reptile groups

"Two charismatic marsupial species that had been thought extinct for 6,000 years are alive in rainforest in remote West Papua." Oh yeah this is super cool as both the pygmy long-fingered possum and ring-tailed glider were previously only known from fossils 🤯🧪🐀 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

scientific figures don't often make me giggle but dear lord www.nature.com/articles/s41...

For #WorldWildlifeDay , some of the best wildlife encounters I was lucky enough to have last year. Of all the myriad troubles of the world, it is an honor and a privilege to share this planet with such a great diversity of life forms. And a reminder that we should do more to protect this diversity.

Just saw the incredibly sad news that Hans-Dieter Sues has passed away. Beyond his major contributions to paleontology, in all my interactions with him over the years, he was a stellar human being. He took great joy in life and in being a paleontologist. I learned so much from him.

This is still RCI’s masterpiece. Look how they captured the weight and power of an animal totally unlike anything any of us have seen alive, in a mixed-media sculpture made of steel and old rocks. #FossilFriday

Well, #Spinosaurus is all over the news the past 24 hours. Here I'm pictured with the UoSouthhampton life-size skull reconstruction of the first species, S. aegyptiacus. The crest is largely speculative - and much less flamboyant, than in the new species. #FossilFriday

#Birdoftheday Yesterday I was lucky to connect with a dream bird: the wallcreeper! This wintering individual showed well for a good hour, meticulously scanning the cliffs for insects and spiders. Watching it climb up and fall back down each time was a pleasure. #birds #birdwatching

Forgot the tag! #worldwhaleday

One of my favourite wildlife encounters yet: dozens of southern right whales and their offspring, congregating in front of De Hoop NR, South Africa. After many decades of persecution and nearing extinction, seeing so many of this species was truly remarkable.

Featured today is one of the fossils that stumped Darwin: Toxodon! This beast proved challenging for young Darwin to identify, featuring rodent-like, ever growing teeth - albeit much bigger than any living rodent! Richard Owen, later Darwin's rival, formally described and named them. #FossilFriday

For #FossilFriday , preserved fur and osteoderms (base for underlying armor) of Darwin's ground sloth, Mylodon darwinii

We got evidence for a porcupine dinosaur before GTA 6 Zero expectations but double the amazement!

Today is #Worldwetlandday ! Some memories from my favorite wetland site I've ever seen (yet!), the Ibera marshes in northeast Argentina. a biodiversity hotspot, it is currently hosting several successful species reintroduction projects, including jaguars, giant anteaters and more!

In line with the wave of Morrison formation news this week: one of the most famous dinosaur skeletons worldwide (maybe No. 1), Diplodocus Carnegii - AKA Dippy. This cast is mounted in La Plata museum, and it fills up the room much more than the Paris or London mounts do. #FossilFriday

have you ever wanted to see dimetrodon vomit? no? well that's just too bad, because rebillard et al. have described a regurgitalite tentatively attributed to d. teutonis from early permian germany www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🦏 Animal #909 🦣 I figured it out in 5 guesses! 🟧🟨🟩🟨🟩 🔥 1 | Avg. Guesses: 7.5 metazooa.com #metazooa

breaking: xenorhinotherium patagonius files trademark infringement lawsuit against patagonia, claiming "we were here first"

Limaysaurus tesonnei from Late Cretaceous Argentina is one of the most completely known rebbachisaurids. This dorsal vertebra is part of the holotype. #FossilFriday #sauropod #dinosaur #fossil

Aucasaurus garridoi, one of the most completely known abelisaurs and a key specimen in our understanding of the group. Found among the numerous egg fossils of Auca Mahuevo #FossilFriday

wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage

For this #FossilFriday and in light of the rhabdodontid news this week, a decidedly ornithopod dinosaur from Gondwana: Talenkauen, one of the more completely known members of elasmaria. No definite ceratopsians were ever recovered in Cretaceous Gondwana (yet!), but several odd fossils were (cont>)

Out in @nature.com today, we shake up the ornithischian family tree. Remember those weird Late Cretaceous iguanodontians, the rhabdodontids? Well they're weird because they aren't iguanodontians. They're ceratopsians. Well, at least some of them are... www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Starting off #FossilFriday for 2026 with the catalyst of vertebrate paleontology: Megatherium, "the great beast". Among the largest sloths that ever lived, Megatherium includes several species that were once widely distributed over the plains and mountains of S. America.

For the last #FossilFriday of 2025, the tail vertebra of the last diplodocid, Leinkupal laticauda. This family was very diverse in the Jurassic, and Leinkupal is the only one yet discovered from Cretaceous rocks (and Latin America) Art ©️ Jorge Antonio Gonzalez

For this #FossilFriday the giant Cenozoic boa like snake Madtsoia bai, from the Eocene Sarmiento formation of Argentina. At an estimated 9 meters or more, this was a very big snake. Species in the genus have been named before and after the K/Pg boundary. #snakes #fossil #museum #paleo

Today is my final day in Argentina (and South America), so for #FossilFriday - one of the most iconic dinosaurs of Argentina, Carnotaurus sastrei. Casts of this theropod are displayed in any major museum in the country, but the real fossils are housed here at the MACN. #dinosaur

#FossilFriday and #SciArt The maxilla of various Tyrannosaurus specimens (perhaps or not "rex") have several peculiar, and possibly diagnostic, surface features relating to their integument (skin, horn, whatnot). We begin with, and perhaps best with, AMNH 5027, the "archetypal" T. rex skull.

Non-stop rain since the morning, but yesterday there were much nicer views and weather! Iguazu falls, Argentina

Traveling through South America, I've seen many fossils big and small - so many that I should start my own #FossilFriday posts! Macrauchenia, one of the last and largest of the litopterns, a South American lineage that is totally extinct. Apparently, Macrauchenia had a remarkable nose ->

Hot off the press, too! www.haaretz.com/archaeology/...

And of course, many colleagues and friends have helped me in completing this project, but most of all my supervisors, Meirav Meiri and Nimrod Marom @nxmarom.bsky.social - who introduced me to this fantastic antelope, to their fields of research and supported me along the way 🙏🏼

I'm glad to share my M.Sc thesis about the extinct Levantine #hartebeest , now published and #openaccess ! Link following 🧵 The hartebeest is a staple antelope of eastern and southern African savannahs. However, the species had a far wider past distribution 1/13

Trying to get back to some activity on bluesky! I finished my M.Sc. earlier this year and for the past 6 months I've been travelling through South America, north to south. I've been to amazing places: the Galápagos, the Amazon river and rainforest, trekking the Peruvian Andes, and many others...

Today's bombshell in @nature.com by Lindsay Zanno & James Napoli @jgn-paleo.bsky.social (bit.ly/4qBE6ng) shows that putative juvvy T. rex fossils actually are Nanotyrannus. I reviewed the manuscript, so Nature invited me to write the News & Views commentary. Free link: rdcu.be/eNv94 🦖

Noooo Jane Goodall died! She was one of the best exemplars of something I believe to my very core: that empathy is often an essential ingredient in good science.

Just came out of two hours of teaching early humans and primates to hear that Jane Goodall has sadly died. The legacy and impact of this human is beyond measure. She brought us closer to each other, closer to primates and face to face with our evolutionary inheritance.

I hope people spend days and days talking about her (she is 10,000,000 times more important than Charlie Kirk) and the amazing work she did. This photo will always be so powerful and as defining of who we all can be. Be like Jane Goodall. Photographer: Hugo van Lawick

I am filled with so much love and gratitude that I cannot grieve. Dr. Goodall worked tirelessly in her gentle, hopeful way for a better world for all life on Earth. She has laid down her field notebook for the last time; now it is for us to fill with wonder, joy, and connection, into infinity.

I think a lot about what Carl Sagan said in one of his final interviews.

Target ended its DEI programs, Black ppl got pissed, organized a boycott that ended up plunging Target’s earnings and now the CEO’s pay is cut. Brilliant

This is just a short love letter to PubMed: absolutely one of the best things US agencies have ever done for science. 'When I were a lad': we had databases of articles (Science Citation Index Expanded or Medline) but the only way to access text was to find the physical journal then photocopy it.

Cyprus warblers - tiny, beautiful birbs. Caught them in a migration stopover, between the Nubian desert to Cyprus

A poignant #WomenInScience day for the macroevolutionary community, as we are informed that Elizabeth Vrba passed away this week. All who knew her tell of a brilliant, innovative thinker and skilled, pioneering paleontologist. My current research is directly and proudly influenced by hers. R.I.P.

Today is Iguanodon's 200th anniversary. A good chance to focus on little positivity among it all. My passion for extinct life and the natural world at large, began with Disney's Dinosaur (2000) and the protagonist, Aladar the Iguanodon. My identity today was set in course by his story.

Read it slowly and understand it. 😳🥺 Repost 👇🏾 👇🏾