Kelly Vance! He “discovered” it in a box of shale he collected for geology labs!
20.02.2026 16:13
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Kelly Vance! He “discovered” it in a box of shale he collected for geology labs!
Hey, @ichnologist.bsky.social - any idea whose footsies made these tracks? Permian Abo Fm, New Mexico.
Ouch trace!
The skull of the prehistoric elephant Gomphotherium. The tusks in the lower jaw are long and shovel-like. The upper tusks have heavily-worn surfaces
Elephant tusks are modified incisor teeth that the beasts use like multitools. Look at the tusks of this Gomphotherium. You can see the worn surfaces - especially on the upper tusks - and how smoothly the lower tusks are beveled down. All from activities like stripping bark and breaking branches. 🧪
I saw some great reconstructions at a recent conference that showed shovel-tuskers grabbing grass with their trunks and cutting it with the lower tusks. It was really compelling!
@mammalogists.bsky.social fellow mammal lovers, applications will be opening January 15 for ASM student honoraria.
Honoraria and Travel Awards | American Society of Mammalogists share.google/aox8cN4MggKR...
We're looking forward to hearing about the impressive research of our student members.
Look, I’m just trying to work on my poster about Pacific mastodons, but I’ve become obsessed with this paper instead. I blame @widga.bay.social for my lack of productivity. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
I made it to the Miocene today. I have one class remaining …
Welp, you caught me! I surrender!
Eek. No thank you.
I skip dinosaurs to get to the good stuff: Pleistocene megafauna! (Kidding, but I do have a whole class dedicated to the fuzzy North American giants).
I am still one week - or two geologic periods - ahead of you! Used one of your Devonian extinction memes last week and got some good chuckles from the crowd😃
Or to mastodon.
😁
"Enceladus ticks all the boxes to be a habitable environment that could support life: the presence of liquid water, a source of energy, a specific set of chemical elements and complex organic molecules."
🧪🪐🔭
www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
This is exciting news! I’m a huge fan of your first book and recommend it to my college students at least once a semester!
I’m all for books about haunted films. Let me know how it goes!
Nice work @drpardi.bsky.social & co!
Update: this book is now available at the Georgia Southern Museum gift shop!
Phew! I’m still ahead! We just wrapped up the “what” on Tuesday!
We’re starting the Precambrian in Historical Geology tomorrow. Six weeks into to the semester, I am still confident I will make it to the Cenozoic before the end! When are you, @ichnologist.bsky.social?
This will be a good one for our gift shop, too!
Yes, I dusted off my old rss feeder app to start following Alton Dooley's rebooted blog about paleontology, anatomy and all the fun things we think about every day. With lead images like this, tough to say no. life-from-a-certain-point-of-view.ghost.io/ribs-on-the-...
Tusks up!
Thanks, Chris. I can’t stop pondering it, either. And I think you’ve officially, unintentionally named it (it’s from Harveston, but Harvestman is even better😁).
Oh my gosh, please do!
The Shortest History of the Dinosaurs is out today! What makes my Dinos 101 book different? 🦕
- It highlights the importance of nesting and parental care to dinosaur success
- I dig into colonialism’s role in paleo and why it must be addressed
- Unique chapters on dinosaur ecology and taphonomy
I just saw this in the airport bookshop yesterday. I’m going to order it from my local bookstore. Sounds like there will be some great readings in it for my Intro Dino’s class!
It was a great surprise to see you and Sarah there - the cherry on top of an excellent conference!
I’ve never seen a tusk so poorly preserved as this one - chalky, flaky, prone to turn to dust if you looked at it funny. Still, we are going to learn so much from it! Even if fossils aren’t the prettiest or the best preserved, we can still appreciate, and seek, the knowledge they preserve.