Cary Woodruff

AND *if* Drinker is really a pachycephalosaur, and Yinlong was bouncing around in coeval China, why not a little Morrison ceratopsian?
-fin

Since troodontids were around, phylogenetically maybe dromaeosaurids too. And with Paraves, how farfetched is it to think oviraptorosaurs were around? (yes, IYKYK) And *IF* an alvarezsauroid + definitive Paraves, then a Morrison therizinosaur isn't impossible.

We have at least 1 (maybe 2) Morrison troodontids, and yes - *potentially* - a Morrison alvarezsauroid and pachycephalosaur (& each paper says that much more work is needed), but look at those respective lineages and think what else could have been, and IMO, was likely there.

IMO, one of the really cool things about the new Alnashetri paper is that it (potentially) further pushes back lineages, AND it emphasizes that formations - particularly the Morrison - likely harbored a bonanza of diverse smaller-bodied dino clades.
🧵

(& I'm hoping @thecassowarykid.bsky.social does a series once the paper is officially out)
-fin

And given all of @thecassowarykid.bsky.social's great papers on the visual display role of casques in cassowaries already, this at least teases the possibility (to me) that our 2021 paper might have been on to something....

that paper:
www.researchgate.net/profile/Cary...

I might be biased, but I think this is SUPER cool, because @tetzoo.bsky.social, @j-dunning.net, & I wrote a paper in 2021 that suggested that keratin-covered visual displays in extinct archosaurs might have also been 'extra visually enhanced' due to UV coloration/patterning.

Now, this could be caused by loads of different things. And just 'cause it glows & just 'cause birds can see UV, doesn't mean it's detectable by cassowaries under normal lighting conditions, or even detectable by them at all.

But....

This study found that between the known species of cassowaries, biofluorescent patterns differed significantly between species.

Now before we get too excited, this detailed study takes great care to make sure that potential caveats and other interpretations are clearly defined and repeated many times.

But...

irst, the In Press paper:

Green, T.L., Watanabe, A., Berman, J.M. et al. Ultraviolet light illuminates species-specific biofluorescent casque patterns in cassowaries (Casuarius). Sci Rep (2026).

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

It's In Press, but there's a great paper from @thecassowarykid.bsky.social et al soon to officially come out, and I'll let the title do the talking: Ultraviolet light illuminates species-specific biofluorescent casque patterns in cassowaries.
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I don't know the whole history, but Matt Smith has the casting rights for UALVP2. RCI would have gotten the casts from Matt, but my impression was that RCI was the one to actually do this full mount.

I'll also add this Stegoceras by RCI. Yes, not a typical pachycephalosaur pose, but this is the only pachycephalosaur mount I know of in the world that has the ossified myosepta included. Such a small detail, but one that makes this mount an absolute jewel.

I did a paper involving African Ankole-Watusi cattle, and I was only able to get a hold of 3 individuals. Even though we stressed the low n & that was all we could get, one reviewer pitched a fit. I responded by saying that I would examine as many more as they could get donated for us. 😂

Now *THAT'S* something to brag about!

And shown with skin across the top of the bifid spines! 😍😍😍😍

Had a great trip up to the @AMNH! Never enough time here, but loads of great research projects kick started!
🦕🦖🦴🔬⛏️

Reminds me of the sirenian we described from the catacomb!

I do know Jack reviewed the work, 'cause I specifically remember discussing the histo with him. And for ALL of those reasons I mentioned before, it was institutionally/academically appropriate to have Jack as a co-author. He didn't demand it, we didn't do that to boost interest, etc.

I'll chime in anonymous reply guy: I was working for Jack, during his field season, in his lab, as his grad student, on specimens he curatorially oversaw. Since this site was part of my thesis work, I asked him if we could bring Susie in to lead 'cause she's literally THE WORLD EXPERT on stegos. 1/

For the first time in decades, the U.S. and Russia have no limits on nuclear weapons Experts warn that the expiration of a long-standing nuclear arms control treaty between the two superpowers could mark the start of a new nuclear rivalry.

We should not live in fear, but we should all be terrified by the lapse of New START, which was a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the US & Russia. Now there are no longer any limits to nuclear arsenals, and this may very likely precipitate a 2nd Cold War.
www.npr.org/2026/02/04/n...

🤣 It would have been too greedy of me to snag you and Mindy first! 🤣

I'll add 3 paleo couples (but there're many more!) who are just the nicest people, & it's lovely to see couples working and doing what they love, together:

-ReBecca Hunt-Foster & John Foster

-Kristi Curry-Rogers & Ray Rogers

-Eva Koppelhus & Phil Currie

Hunter *loves* his little panda 😍

No idea. But that'd be a perfect question for John Foster.

(PDF) THE LARGEST REPORTED STEGOSAURID FROM THE MORRISON FORMATION (UPPER JURASSIC) PDF | On Jan 24, 2026, ReBecca Hunt-Foster and others published THE LARGEST REPORTED STEGOSAURID FROM THE MORRISON FORMATION (UPPER JURASSIC) | Find, read and cite all the research you need on Researc...

And the paper:
The largest reported stegosaurid from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic)
ReBecca K. Hunt-Foster, D. Cary Woodruff, Steven D. Sroka, and John R. Foster
www.researchgate.net/publication/...

#3) One big f-ing stego

Sadly, it's only know from partial forelimbs, but we document a stego that based on limb dimension is ~38% longer than the average stego. Assuming we could generally scale isometrically (don't come at me!), that all equals the largest specimen thus far.