A beautifully fossilised sea scorpion for this #FossilFriday! Eurypterus remipes was a species of eurypterid that lived 421 million years ago during the Silurian Period. This example was found in Ontario, Canada!🇨🇦

A one-tusked mastodon for this #FossilFriday! Mammut americanum roamed North America 12,000 years ago. This example was found in Ontario, Canada. Its skull shows evidence that this one lived much of its life with just one tusk, rather than losing it after death.

I'm kicking off 2025 and my third year of posting #FossilFriday with an arthropod from one of my favourite periods to study! Yawunik kootenayi was a species of megacheira that lived 506 million years ago during the Cambrian. It was found in Kootenay National Park, BC, Canada!🇨🇦

For the last #FossilFriday of 2024, I have Kolihapeltis chlupaci! This trilobite was found in Morocco and dates back 389 million years to the Devonian Period.

Wishing everyone a happy Christmas! I can't think of a better way to round out the Fossil Advent Calendar than to reveal Mammut americanum behind our final door! This mastodon lived 12,000 years ago. Notice that this specimen is missing a tusk! #AdventCalendar

Like all good advent calendars, Day 24 is our penultimate (and not last) door on the Fossil Advent Calendar, and it’s also #TrilobiteTuesday! Boedaspis ensifer lived 464 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. This spiny trilobite was found in Russia! #AdventCalendar

Day 23 of the Fossil Advent Calendar reveals a species found only in Texas! Seymouria baylorensis lived 275 million years ago during the Permian Period. Its taxonomic status between amphibian and reptile (or somewhere in between) has been debated! #AdventCalendar

A nearly 3-metre-long fish behind Door #22 of the Fossil Advent Calendar? That’s exactly what we have! Lebachacanthus senckenbergianus was a freshwater shark that lived 295 million years ago during the Permian Period. It was found in Germany! #AdventCalendar

Day 21 of the Fossil Advent Calendar gives us Dendrerpeton acadianum! This amphibian lived 316 million years ago during the Carboniferous Period. This fossil was found in Nova Scotia, which was near the equator during that time. #AdventCalendar

Described in 2010, I have Herpetogaster collinsi for this #FossilFriday, complete with an amazing model to accompany it! This invertebrate lived 506 million years ago during the Cambrian Period and was found in the Burgess Shale, British Columbia, Canada!

Not only is it #FossilFriday, it’s also Day 20 of the Fossil Advent Calendar! Behind Door #20 we have Eramoscorpius brucensis, an aquatic scorpion that lived 432 million years ago. It may have used its leg structure to venture briefly onto land! #AdventCalendar

Door #19 of the Fossil Advent Calendar gives us another dinosaur! Protoceratops andrewsi was a ceratopsian that lived in Asia 80 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. #AdventCalendar

Behind Door #18 of the Fossil Advent Calendar we have Platecarpus coryphaeus! This marine reptile, a mosasaur, lived around 83 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. This specimen was found in Kansas, USA! #AdventCalendar

Another #TrilobiteTuesday, another trilobite in the Fossil Advent Calendar! Door #17 gives us Metopolichas platyrhinus, which lived 464 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. This specimen was found in Russia. #AdventCalendar

Two giant pincers greet us behind Door #16 of the Fossil Advent Calendar! Acutiramus macrophthalmus was a eurypterid that could grow to over 2 metres long. It lived 421 million years ago during the Silurian Period and likely used its claws to capture prey! #AdventCalendar

We have a whole marine community behind Door #15 of the Fossil Advent Calendar! This slab, found in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada, dates back 506 million years to the Cambrian Period and shows multiple Trilobites and Waptia fossilised together! #AdventCalendar

Behind Door #14 of the Fossil Advent Calendar we have Sanctacaris uncata! This arthropod lived 506 million years ago during the Cambrian Period. This specimen was found in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada! #AdventCalendar

This week's #FossilFriday example is small... but luckily, there's a big model showing what it might have looked like alive! Habelia optata was an arthropod that lived in the waters 506 million years ago during the Cambrian. This fossil was found in British Columbia, Canada! 🇨🇦

A spooky door on the Fossil Advent Calendar for Friday the 13th and #FossilFriday! Zuul crurivastator was an ankylosaurine dinosaur that lived 76 million years ago during the Cretaceous. Discovered in Montana, it was named after the demon Zuul from Ghostbusters! #AdventCalendar

Day 12 of the Fossil Advent Calendar brings us a giant deer! Megaloceros giganteus lived 11,500 years ago across Eurasia, with this specimen found in Limerick, Ireland. This species had the largest known antlers of any deer, measuring over 3.6 metres across! #AdventCalendar

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… a pterosaur behind Door #11 of the Fossil Advent Calendar! Pterodactylus elegans lived 148 million years ago during the Jurassic Period, with this specimen found in Germany! #AdventCalendar

Not 1, not 2, but many trilobites hide behind Door #10 of the Fossil Advent Calendar for #TrilobiteTuesday! A whole group of Homotelus bromidensis were buried together 456 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. This fossil find comes from Oklahoma, USA! #AdventCalendar

We have a dinosaur behind Door #9 of the Fossil Advent Calendar! Lambeosaurus lambei was a hadrosaurid that roamed North America 75 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period. This specimen was found in Alberta, Canada! #AdventCalendar

Day 8 of the Fossil Advent Calendar reveals Albertonia cupidina! This ancient fish lived 220 million years ago during the Triassic Period, with this specimen found in British Columbia, Canada! #AdventCalendar

Looking for a Christmas tree? Door #7 of the Fossil Advent Calendar has one! Walachia was an early conifer. This 290-million-year-old fossil from the Permian Period was found in Germany—also where the Christmas tree originated! #AdventCalendar

Day 6 of the Fossil Advent Calendar and #FossilFriday! Behind Door #6 is Equus simplicidens, an extinct horse from North America that lived 3.2 million years ago. Horses went extinct in North America 12,500 years ago, only returning with European explorers. #AdventCalendar

I have a 3-metre-long freshwater shark for this #FossilFriday! Lebachacanthus senckenbergianus (try saying that three times fast!) lived 295 million years ago during the Permian Period and is known from Germany.

It's the 5th day of the Fossil Advent Calendar! Behind Door #5, we have a whole group of Monotis subcircularis, a type of bivalve! They lived 218 million years ago during the Triassic Period. #AdventCalendar

Door #4 of the Fossil Advent Calendar takes us back to the Triassic Period with an ichthyosaur! Callawayia neoscapularis swam the ancient oceans 218 million years ago, with this particular fossil discovered in British Columbia, Canada! #AdventCalendar

It's Day 3 of the Fossil Advent Calendar, and it's also #TrilobiteTuesday! Today, we have Cheirurus gibbus, a trilobite from Morocco that lived 389 million years ago during the Devonian Period. #AdventCalendar

Door #2 of the Fossil Advent Calendar is here! Today, we have Eusthenopteron foordi, a lobe-finned fish from the Devonian Period, dating back 375 million years! This incredible fossil was discovered in Quebec, Canada. #AdventCalendar

It's December 1st, which means it's time to open the first window in our Fossil Advent Calendar! Behind Door #1 is Charnia masoni! This fascinating fossil, discovered in Newfoundland, Canada, dates back 560 million years to the Ediacaran Period. #AdventCalendar

This #FossilFriday, I have Thysanopeltis speciosa! This trilobite lived 389 million years ago during the Devonian Period, with this specimen found in Morocco.

This week, I have a rather nosey-looking trilobite for #FossilFriday! Psychopyge elegans lived 407 million years ago during the Devonian Period, and this example was found in Morocco!

YOUR TURKEY IS A DINOSAUR. I get a lot of questions about the dinosaur-bird link, so I put together this little infographic to help explain how your holiday turkey carries ALL SORTS of dinosaurian features inherited from its theropod ancestors. Feel free to download, print, and share!

We're LIVE, chatting about fossil science news (NEW PTEROSAUR! NEW PACHYPLEUROSAUR!) right now on #Twitch. Come join us for paleontological discussion and natural history camaraderie, all in the name of #scicomm twitch.tv/paleontologizing

This #FossilFriday, I have a group of fossilised bivalves! These Monotis subcircularis lived 218 million years ago in the Triassic Period, found in British Columbia, Canada. Their broad range and short existence make them a useful index fossil for dating surrounding rocks.

There ain’t no party like a trilobite party! This #FossilFriday, I’m sharing a whole group of Homotelus bromidensis fossilised together. They lived 456 million years ago during the Ordovician Period and were found in Oklahoma, USA. Any idea why they're often found in groups?

Named after its resemblance to the demon in Ghostbusters, with a short snout and long horns, I present Zuul crurivastator for #FossilFriday! This ankylosaur lived 76 million years ago during the Upper Cretaceous, and this specimen even shows preserved skin impressions!