Assortment of fossil marine reptiles on display at the main hall of the Center for Paleontological Investigations, Villa de Leyva
P.S the Center for Paleontological Investigations, where this specimen is displayed, holds an impressive collection of fossils - and it is just one of three museums in the town of Villa de Leyva! A window into an early Cretaceous marine ecosystem
Fossil of a sea turtle, on display with head turning to the left.
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/...
Following with hopes of seeing a pipipi
Most likely not! Assuming a fitted table for both, tyrannosaurus's arm could exert more force than any human (The proximity to the mouth is another consideration)
a frontal view of the silurian fish megamastax; its mouth is very broad and turned upwards, it's eyes are wideset and tiny, and it just looks extremely silly
scientific figures don't often make me giggle but dear lord
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Old male Galápagos giant tortoise, which got very close
Male Jaguar in Bolivia, a few meters away from our vehicle. Truly mesmerizing
The elusive and hard to find Goeldi's monkey, perched on a tree in Bolivian amazonia.
The Andean cock-of-the-rock, one of the most flamboyant birds in the entire world
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.
Mounted skeleton of T. rex biting frill of prone Triceratops cast with one foot up on its flank. In a colorful museum display with a woman looking on in the corner.
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
Wallcreeper in flight, against a cliff face
Wallcreeper spreading its wings, sitting on a cliff face
Wallcreeper climbing up the cliff
#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
I think (and have been arguing this for a while) that we better stop and think to ourselves whether chasing this "monophyletic correctness" is actually worth it. Dinosaurs have a very clear, widely understood definition as a paraphyletic group, with no living members. Maybe it should stay that way
Fun fact? More like a depressing fact 🥀
Forgot the tag! #worldwhaleday
Southern right whale breaching out of the water, towards the right.
Tails of southern right whales, one of them in the rarer white morph, right before diving back to the water
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.
Certainly! At the pinnacle of Notounguluate bizarreness. The related Trigodon might be my favourite, though.
(I photographed so much notounguluates back at the MEF, many more to come along this year!)
Skeletal mount of Toxodon platensis, a large hippo-like extinct mammal from Pleistocene south America. Museo Paleontologico Egidio Feruglio, Trelew, Argentina
Eventually, we came to understand that Toxodon was among the last and largest of the notoungulates, a native south American group of hoofed mammals. Recent work indicates odd toed ungulates are their closest kin. #FossilFriday #DarwinDay
Skeletal mount of Toxodon platensis, a large hippo-like extinct mammal from Pleistocene south America. MACN, Buenos Aires.
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
Yes! aDNA was extracted from Mylodon hairs just like this one, and from their coprolites too!
For #FossilFriday , preserved fur and osteoderms (base for underlying armor) of Darwin's ground sloth, Mylodon darwinii
I'm with you on this too. But hey, nature papers tend to hyperfixate on the dinosaur-bird link, for 30+ years now.
Interesting analogy with the ostriches. However, the ostrich chicks shed and replace those with more conventional feathers - which doesn't seem to be the case with Haolong
I get your points, but on the other hand, Haolong coexisted with fully feathered birds and maniraptorans - therefore its own integument is indeed not an "early stage in feather evolution". And what's more, they make the case for them being a defensive mechanism - unlike any other feather known
We got evidence for a porcupine dinosaur before GTA 6
Zero expectations but double the amazement!
I'm going with Deinocheirus (segnosaur also likely)
Female black-and-gold howler (Aloutta caraya), denizen of the dense forests by the water
Marsh deer stag (Blastocerus dichotomus), the largest living deer in South America and one of the only ones worldwide with membranes between its hooves for wading and swimming
close up of the head of a Yacare caiman (Caiman yacare), the most common crocodilian in the marshes
A swimming capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). The capybaras in Ibera were the most confiding and numerous of all the places I visited
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!
P.S. Eagle eyed viewers might spot here the remains of a dinosaur that would make this Diplodocus look puny. But that's the subject for another post
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
a dimetrodon having a good ol puke in the view of eudibamus and thuringothyris
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"
