"Scylla and Charybdis" 🦀

For years, Susie had been suspecting that rhabdodontids—those weird island-dwelling insular Cretaceous European ornithopods—were actually ceratopsians. But the face of this new fossil proved it to us:

I had an AMNH REU back in 2009 with Mike Novacek, and it changed my life. 🏛️ 🦴 Now in 2026 @semifossorial.bsky.social (my first graduated PhD student) if offering one. 🤩 🤯 DO IT

Despite being ill I think this first formation #paleostream of the year turned out pretty good. The Upper Elliot Formation from the early Jurassic of South Africa is an important piece for our understanding of sauropod evolution but beyond that it's just a really cool assemblage...

Happy #InverteFest to everyone who celebrates. Post your invertebrate art.

You know what, lets make this easier! Below are all the formation pieces done this year, what were your favorites this year, which ones are you looking forward to! Bugti Hills, Bahariya, Rio do Rasto, Gigantopithecus assemblage...

JOB KLAXON! The @nhm-london.bsky.social is recruiting a micro-CT specialist! jobs.nhm.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

Curator of Education job (tenure-track Assistant Professor) at the Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado Boulder! Salary $90-$100K, 9 month full time position. Apply by Jan 21. jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...

it appears your manuscript "in preparation" was not published in 2025 after all, mr. bond

oh wow!

New paper! Buffa 𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭. (2025) redescribe the anatomy of the enigmatic stem-reptile 𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙝𝙮𝙧𝙪𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙨 from the Permian of South Africa and the origin of Neodiapsida 🦎 Phylogenetic analysis of the relationships of Permian reptiles. Read the study here: buff.ly/62lJG0W #FossilFriday #PaleoSky

A gorgeous little metatherian mammal molar from our "MegaMicro" site in the "Mesaverde" Formation of Wyoming. Around ~79 Ma; the square in the background is 10 mm; collected under #BLMPaleo permit, accessioned at @alfpaleo.bsky.social Happy #FossilFriday! 🧪🦕

Mosasaurs, the giant marine reptiles that roamed the Earth more than 66 million years ago, didn’t just live in the sea. Our new research shows that they could thrive in freshwater too! Let’s dive into what we’ve discovered. #Paleontology #Mosasaurs

"there is little reason to doubt what the aim [of the massive investment in AI] is: to embed knowledge in machines—knowledge that previously belonged to the people working in these domains." 🧵

I strongly encourage my palaeoart peers who work in the museum display sector to write explicit "no AI modification" clauses into their contracts. Even if your employee contacts at a given museum are trustworthy, you can't rely on outsourced 3rd parties to not butcher your work without said clause.

So the Nanotyrannus type specimen is full-size, or nearly so. We discuss more in the paper why we don’t find it likely that this is simple intraspecific variation in T. rex, sexual dimorphism, or a congenital dwarfism. The best explanation is that Nanotyrannus is distinct from Tyrannosaurus (9/12)

Really nice work by @jgn-paleo.bsky.social & Zanno reached this same conclusion from independent lines of evidence/specimens just a few weeks ago. Our papers converge on the same conclusion, mutually bolstering each other (11/12) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Very excited to share that our latest paper is out in Science! We show that the type specimen of Nanotyrannus—an isolated skull—is fully grown, showing that it is not a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex but a distinct species (1/12) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

It’s Antarctica Day! Give it up for this articulated skeleton of Thrinaxodon, an early mammal relative from 250 million years ago, found in the Transantarctic Mountains 8 years ago. This continent has an amazing fossil heritage that we’re continuing to learn more about!

From Copernicus: This shows how the expected date for breaching 1.5C has been creeping ever closer in recent years. The orange date shows the baseline for the extrapolation; the red date shows when 1.5C is breached based on the trend...

New at #Patreon: an illustrated review of what we know, and some of what we don't, about the colours and patterns of ancient marine invertebrates (ft. trilobites, orthoceratoids, ammonites and Cambrian critters). Check it out at www.patreon.com/c/markwitton #paleoart #fossils #paleontology #sciart

I guess now would be a good time for my first post here. Yesterday we published a new paper on the incredible ecosystem of tetrapods and other vertebrates in Science. It has been years of work - but we got there in the end. Thank you to everyone the contributed to this work ❤️

New paper alert! (My first!) This is a benchmark paper on all NPS fossils within the State of Utah through 2024. Loads of illustrations by me and pic by coauthors and collaborators. Open access, free to download! Thanks to all who made this possible! giw.utahgeology.org/giw/index.ph...

Things happening in the Permian reptile world!

Very excited to share my exploration of the phylogenetics of early ray-finned fishes, out today in the Anatomical Record! Really busy day but I’ll have more info shortly. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

#2025SVP was a hit for Idaho and the IMNH, with a big showing for Peecook Lab members past and present! @garyonyx-mcgoy.bsky.social @slvrhwk.bsky.social @zhejiang0pterus.bsky.social @paleorob.bsky.social @idahostateucose.bsky.social

People always assume it’s Batesian (you decide), but is Mullerian. #2025SVP

Michigan paleontology family portrait, Birmingham edition #2025SVP

Scenes from the #SVP2025 #2025SVP #paleoart workshop. We had terrific talks from @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social, @tetzoo.bsky.social, @palaeojules.bsky.social and @bobnichollsart.bsky.social, as well as fantastic discussion from attendees. Thanks to everyone who contributed, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Results from tonights Flocking #paleostream! Nanotyrannus, Pteranodon, Phosphorosaurus and Helicoprion!

#2025SVP USA 🇺🇲 🗽 alert: as your travel begins make sure to check your flights proactively! ✈️ One of my legs was cancelled due to the US Govt shutdown, but luckily I caught it. Worse before it'll get better. Stay frosty! See you in Birmingham. 😅🇬🇧🫖

#2025SVP ! If you want to get an idea of the major steps of 🐢turtle🐢 evolution, come to see my talk on Friday, Nov 14, 8:30 AM, Hall 8. My student Guilherme Hermanson talks just before me (8:15). 4 years of macroevolutionary research on turtles went into our talks, covering many unpublished results.

👀 👀 👀

Heads up that the Field Museum is hiring a vertebrate paleontology collections manager: www.fieldmuseum.org/landing/care...

One of the largest temmnospondyls ever to exist: the gigantic Koolasuchus was also the last non-lissamphibian temnospondyl to exist. It survived into the Early Cretaceous of Australia when all other stereospondyls were long gone #temnospondyls #paleoart

Birmingham is best known for South Asian food and claims creation of the ‘balti’ style of curry so that would be the classic thing to eat in the city.

I feel like I say this every year but I really need people to hear it. Halloween is the best American holiday. Just kids outside welcomed into their world, marching around together, showing off their costumes to the elderly, parents meeting parents, neighbors catching up with neighbors.

I made a run to the Field Museum this week and finally saw the Chicago Archaeopteryx. Just wow, it’s a stunner. And the exhibit is a beauty! 🪶 👀🤩 #FossilFriday

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 🦖

Been waiting for the Nanotyrannus news to drop; and checked my phone right when I was in the perfect company 🦖!

Absolutely incredible work here. Just keep clicking back through the quotes.

🚨Call for proposals for Collection Study Grants at the @burkemuseum.bsky.social!! Open to grad students and postdocs for collections-based research, including cross-disciplinary projects. Applications are due December 15, 2025. More information: www.burkemuseum.org/collections-...

True story, folks. Enjoy reading, but please refrain from posting about content until it is presented! #SVP2025 #2025SVP And even then, follow the presenters’ wishes on their slides/posters. @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social

Super excited to see the #SVP2025 #2025SVP abstract book out! Remember that all abstracts are under embargo ahead of the meeting.

The wife put some work in cutting my remaining hairs before I went to Idaho to tackle the big dead cow. Here's exactly how big (and dead) Junior the Bison latifrons is!

Thanks for the invite to come get plastered on Idaho! Junior's horns put most ceratopsians to shame.

Big week at the @imnh208.bsky.social as one of our *best* Bison latifrons 🤩 🦬 was packed for a long term loan to the Smithsonian in DC! #FossilFriday Named “Junior” btw. 👀 Look for this Idaho treasure next summer. Thanks @mosasaurologist.bsky.social!

Important read by @thomsanger.bsky.social for anyone in science. academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...

Helveticosaurus Lair

I call this piece “Triassic still life” #FossilFriday