@palaeosingh
β’ Vertebrate Palaeontologist @ The Open University, UK β’ Studying the links between morphology, ecology & evolution across deep time, with a focus on terrestrial tetrapods & ecosystems β’ πΏ- π¦- π¦
Pardo et al. report a new stem tetrapod, Tanyka amnicola, from Brazil π§π· that survived into the early #Permian, with interesting implications for faunal #evolution across the Permo-Carboniferous in the Southern Hemisphere. β¬οΈ
#Paleontology #Fossils #Science
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
CRUROTARSIπ these are only a few examples of how diverse the lineage Crocodiles come from used to be π #crurotarsi #pseudosuchia #paleoart #purussaurus #deinosuchus #postosuchus #plesiosuchus #arizonasaurus #phytosauria
Drawing showing biodiversity from the Carboniferous of Puertollano, which includes plants, arthropods, fish and tetrapods. From left to right, top to bottom: - The giant millipede Arthropleura walking through the forest floor, next to an amphibian (maker of the Puertollanopus tracks) and insects - General view of the swamp landscape, with a volcano erupting in the background - A early synapsid, maker of possible Dimetropus tracks - Pecopteris monyi, leaves of a tree fern - A pair of Acanthodes swimming through vegetation and smaller fish - The temnospondyl Iberospondylus schultzei swimming next to some platysomid fish - Small clam shrimp Euestheria - Two lycophytes Omphalophloios puertollanense next to some swamp creatures - The xenacanth Orthacanthus hunting in the murky waters - Juvenile shark Lissodus hiding from the fish Progyrolepis speciosus - Puertollanichthys richtei, a small fish, swimming through the vegetation
π΄π¦Carboniferous PuertollanoπΈπ
In the lands of La Mancha, fossils from the Late Carboniferous known from old coal mines reveal a tropical coastal swamp ecosystem, rich in aquatic and plant life
#paleoart #FossilFriday #Carboniferous #Puertollano
π§΅Thread for additional explanation
New paper by Angielczyk et al. reports new #synapsids from the early #Permian tetrapod fauna of the Pedra de Fogo Formation, Brazil π§π· - South Americaβs first pelycosaurs! β¬οΈ
#Paleontology #Fossils #Science
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Really sad news. Hans worked on an incredible diversity of vertebrate groups but in particular made huge contributions to our understanding of the Triassic.
Nice to see more spinosaur skull material published. Sereno et al. present a new species of #Spinosaurus, S. mirabilis - with a snazzy cranial crest.
#Paleontology #Science #Dinosaurs
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The Brymbo Fossil Forest is offering students the chance to get involved in palaeontological excavations of a Carboniferous fossil forest in North Wales. QR code on image directs to further details.
π¨ UK Student Palaeo Research Opportunity π¨
Brymbo Fossil Forest are offering students the chance to get involved in active palaeontology research & excavations βοΈ at a unique #Carboniferous fossil site in Wales π΄σ §σ ’σ ·σ ¬σ ³σ Ώ - See below for more details β¬οΈ
#Paleontology #Geology #Fieldwork #FossilFriday #ECR
Revealing the hidden patterns of shark and ray diversity over the past 145 million years: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Dicynodonts survived multiple environmental upheavals & mass extinction events but finally met their end in the End-Triassic Mass Extinction (~201 Ma). Why they finally went extinct remains somewhat unclear - perhaps due to their increasing niche specialisation through the Late Triassic?
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#Ischigualastia was among the largest of known dicynodonts & one of the last, evolving in the Late Triassic as the group declined. Nonetheless, despite becoming rarer, these latest dicynodonts grew larger, with the youngest species, #Lisowicia being the largest (rhino-sized).
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#Dicynodonts were notably able to survive the worst mass #extinction event in history: the End-Permian event (~252 Ma). Despite this evolutionary bottleneck, they were able to diversify & regenerate a comparable level of diversity in the Triassic to their pre-extinction levels in the #Permian.
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These herbivores possessed a unique beaked jaw & jaw adductor muscle arrangement that produced powerful & efficient cropping bites. They also had a rolling jaw joint that enabled them to effectively break down plant matter when eating. Itβs thought these features contributed to their success.
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#Dicynodonts were an ancient & successful group of #synapsids that lived from the middle of the #Permian to the end of the #Triassic. They were among the largest terrestrial animals of their time, only really surpassed when large dinosaurs began to evolve in the Late Triassic.
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This specimen was found on a 1964 expedition that took BYU's James A. Jensen & a Harvard team of paleontologists to the #Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina. This formation has yielded an amazing array of animal & plant fossils from the #Carnian stage of the Late #Triassic (237-227 Ma).
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The lateral view of a skull of the dicynodont, Ishigualastia jenseni, on display at the Brigham Young University Museum of Paleontology in Provo, Utah. This skull was discovered in 1964 from the Ishigualasto Formation, Argentina.
Presenting a skull of the #dicynodont, Ischigualastia, at the BYU Museum of Paleontology in Provo, Utah πΊπΈ for this #FossilFriday. This ancient, beaked herbivore was the size of a cow & lived in Argentina π¦π· during the Late #Triassic (~230 Ma).
#Paleontology #Science
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I need a mood booster, let's talk about capybaras.
Here's a capy demonstrating one of MANY ways they can move through the water: running along the bottom.
They're 'semi-aquatic' mammals, just like hippos, seals & beavers. They LOVE water.
(π·: Fernando Maidana)
Sketches showing reconstructions of Dimetrodon limbatus (top), D. loomisi (center) and D. limbatus (bottom)
Sketches showing reconstructions of Dimetrodon angelensis (top), D. milleri (center) and D. grandis (bottom)
Reconstructions of all Dimetrodon species shown in previous plates in scale next to silhouettes of a ca. 1.8 m tall human
Selected species of Dimetrodon.
Here are various sketches showing some species of Dimetrodon, which was a quite diverse genus during the Early Permian. The genus includes about a dozen of species
#paleoart #sciart #synapsids
Just in time for #FossilFriday
Earliest Cenozoic ammonoids:
Machalski, M., Olszewska-Nejbert, D., Landman, N.H. et al. Ammonite survival across the CretaceousβPaleogene boundary confirmed by new data from Denmark. Sci Rep 15, 45802 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
A chunk of Weald Clay from SE England, covered with fragments of ferns, conifers and other seed plants from 130 million years ago.
A chunk of Weald Clay from SE England, covered with fragments of ferns, conifers and other seed plants from 130 million years ago.
Mesofossils may not look as appealing as large hand specimens, but can provide a better snapshot of vegetation.
#FossilFriday βππ±π¬πΏπ²
For #fossilfriday, The New York Times has written a good article about the Paleontological Research Institution, what the museum means to the field of Paleontology, and its current financial situation (much improved even from a few weeks ago).
π§ͺπ¦βοΈπ¦£ #paleontology
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/s...
Apparently Bill Simpson, longtime Collections Manager of fossil vertebrates at the β¦βͺ@FieldMuseumβ¬β© in Chicago, is retiringβafter 46 yrs! Bill has always been so helpful, including pulling out the skull of β¦βͺ@SUEtheTrexβ¬β© for study multiple times! Happy Retirement, Bill! π₯: Emily Rieff #FossilFriday
Nice new study by Martinez & Jenkins on procolophonid #parareptile tooth morphology & dietary #evolution β¬οΈ Great to see their quantitative comparison to living reptiles π¦ to infer procolophonid feeding habits π½οΈ
#Paleontology #Science #Permian #Triassic
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
#Stegosaurus is perhaps most known for the bony plates along its back. Their function is still unknown, but it has been proposed that they may been displays to help deter predators or attract mates. Or perhaps thermoregulation structures. Still much to learn about these #dinosaurs!
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Sophie is a #Stegosaurus stenops, a species found across the Morrison Formation in western USA πΊπΈ, with fossil found across Wyoming, Colorado & Utah. It lived during the Late #Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago, and was a herbivore (plant-eater) πΏ.
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Itβs not actually known whether Sophie was a female as itβs very difficult to sex extinct animals, especially dinosaurs, when all we have are their bones. This specimen was named after the daughter of the donor who helped the NHMUK to acquire the fossils.
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Sophie was not yet an adult when she died, so despite being 5.5 metres long & 2.9 metres tall, she still had some growing left to do! Itβs thought that not many #dinosaurs reached their max size as just surviving to adulthood was difficult (especially with all the larger predators aboutβ¦ ).
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Sophie was discovered in 2003 at Red Canyon Ranch in Wyoming, USA πΊπΈ. Her fossilised skeleton encompasses ~360 bones & is around 85% complete, making her perhaps the most complete #stegosaurus skeleton in the world. She was put on permanent display at the NHMUK π¬π§ at the end of 2014.
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A photo of Sophie the Stegosaurus on display within the Earth Hall, beneath a huge sculpture of the Earth that visitors can walk through. This hall marks the Exhibition Road entrance to the Natural History Museum UK in London.
A somewhat festive snapshot for this last #FossilFriday before Christmas! π - Presenting Sophie the #Stegosaurus, one of the most complete stegosaur skeletons ever found, proudly on display front & centre in the Earth Hall at the @nhm-london.bsky.social.
#Paleontology #Science
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Tiktaalik slugs its way over a muddy bank in a flooded Devonian landscape while the sun sets over the horizon. Banks of pink and purple clouds loom in front of distant streaks of orange as clear turquoise sky peeks through cloudless regions. Various trees and shrubs stand tall above purple water glistening with gold wavelets. With vision that could probably see in the UV spectrum and eyes beginning to adapt for the infinite visual range provided in aerial habitats, Titaalik pauses to take this all in, being among the first animals that can see the natural world in such detail. All which is to say - the next time you admire sunsets or the night sky, consider what this owes to events of 375 million years ago. When the first vertebrates struggled out of the water they rapidly developed eyes that were much sharper and clearer than those of their fishy ancestors, vision being of variable utility in most freshwater habitats. Millions of years on, what probably started as a means to navigate and find prey allows us to observe and enjoy the natural world with a sense of awe and wonder.
New #paleoart on #FossilFriday: #Tiktaalik sees the world. Discussions of early #tetrapods often focus on limbs and lungs, but major changes also took place in their eyes. Seeing further and clearer than any animal before, they were the first to clearly see sunsets, stars, and the moon. #sciart
