iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

Say hello to our newest addition- Thescelosaurus, the Marvelous Lizard! CT scans reveal enlarged olfactory bulbs and small inner-ear canals- a sensory combination typical of modern burrowers, suggesting #Thescelosaurus may have shared similar underground habits. #dinosaurs #paleontology #scicomm

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

The scleral rings still need to dry, but I'm thrilled with how this Thescelosaurus skull has turned out. A huge thanks to the Cackling Crow for printing the piece out, and to BioBuild Studios for designing such a fantastic piece! #dinosaurs #paleontology #scicomm #fossil

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

Here I am with our new life-sized Leptoceratops bust! This small, hornless cousin of Triceratops lived in the Hell Creek Formation during the Late Cretaceous. Soon we'll be painting it to bring this fascinating little herbivore to life with realistic colorations as part of our Hell Creek exhibit.

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Today's interesting wildlife encounter- while leaving our property, I spotted some crows putting a bald eagle on the run over a neighboring field. At one point the eagle swooped fairly close to my car as it tried to lose them, which was probably the closest I've ever been to a truly wild eagle.

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Say hello to Anzu- the “Chicken from Hell”! This oviraptorosaur lived alongside T. rex and Triceratops in the Late Cretaceous. About 12 feet long and covered in feathers, it looked like a nightmarish ostrich with large claws and a powerful beak. It likely fed on plants as well as small animals.

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

I am a simple man- I see a post by Natee Himmapaan on social media, I share it.

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Natee (they/them) @himmapaan.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

It's #Songkran, the traditional Thai New Year! ☀️🎊 I have nothing interesting to post, so I'm just re-sharing this Kinnareemimus, I suppose. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Sophie M. @sophiesaurus98.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Today’s random piece of nostalgic palaeoart: Douglas Henderson’s Triceratops! Leave it to Henderson to be able to make something as mundane as an animal walking through a forest look so compelling! Henderson’s greatest talent lies in his rich, natural-looking environments. (1/3)

A Triceratops strolls towards a stream, passing through a densely vegetated swampy woodland. Vines and small trees obstruct our view of the dinosaur.

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Either I've missed a fairly important paper or two concerning the size or Anzu or this AI is wildly incorrect. I'll let you guess which it is. #dinosaurs #dinosaur #paleontology #paleo #sciencecommunication #scicomm #science #naturalhistory #museum #fossils #fossil

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Utah Friends of Paleontology @utahpaleo-ufop.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Hadrosaur skin impressions with dorsal osteoderms at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Many hadrosaur fossils found at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument include skin impressions. #FossilFriday

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Utah Friends of Paleontology @utahpaleo-ufop.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Dr. Jim Kirkland presents "Eggs, Nests, and Dinosaur Behavior: Evidence from the Morrison Formation, Colorado Plateau" at the February Great Basin UFOP Chapter meeting in SLC. #paleontology #jurassic www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4W1...

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Eggs, Nests, and Dinosaur Behavior: Evidence from the Morrison Formation, Colorado Plateau

YouTube video by Utah Friends of Paleontology

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Emily Higgs Art @emilyhiggs-art.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Edmontosaurus ~ Edmonton lizard 🇨🇦🦎 . The trio for my ‘polar collection’ is now complete! However, I thought I would try a different background with this hadrosaur getting caught in the rain ☔️ . #paleoart #dinosaur #edmontosaurus

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Emily Stepp @emilyart.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

Tenontosaurus dinosaur illustration art directed by James Stryker for a paleoart project. #Dinosaur #Tenontosaurus #Paleoart

Painterly digital illustration of 3 Tenontosaurus migrating along a muddy trackway next to a body of water. The sky is stormy with the last sunlight of the day peaking from behind a low mountain range with trees and bushes in the midground. The closest Tenontosaurus is about to eat a cycad frond which may or may not be toxic to it.

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Dr. Amelia R. Zietlow 🦎 @tyrantlzrdqueen.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

For #FossilFriday today, Homer the Triceratops, at the Burpee Museum's Paleofest last weekend

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

My Camarasaurus vertebra arrived and honestly, the pictures did not do it justice. This thing is MASSIVE, it's like carrying a toddler around.

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Natalia (娜塔莉) @wrycritic.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Working on a new gigantic task. Describing over 300 well-preserved, diverse pterosaur bones from a niche Late Jurassic locality. An independent project led by me and an army of eager local fossil collectors and preparators. 🤫 Look out for it hitting the press later this year!

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

A German model of Diplodocus from the 1930's- at that time the scientific community in Germany favored the idea of sauropods walking with sprawled legs, leading to a bit of a spat with the Carnegie who were mounting their Diplodocus skeletons in an upright position.

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Here's Galeamopus all painted and ready to join its fellow sauropods during public events. Eventually I'll have to look into getting a Brachiosaurus or Giraffatitan in there, but all in due time. #scicomm #paleontology #dinosaur #dinosaur #fossil #naturalhistory #sauropod #museum #paleosky

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

And here's my new Utahraptor skull all finished, painted, and ready to go! The second image includes the skull of a Velociraptor to give you an idea of just how massive and robust these things really were! #scicomm #paleontology #paleosky #dinosaur #fossil #raptor

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Ruadhrí Brennan [Scaled Beast] @rubrennanart.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Daeodon (Zbrush sculpt, resin print) #sciart #paleoart

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Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Coggeshall would go on to become the director of the Illinois State Museum (1930-37) and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (1937-58). Visit the Coggeshall Bowl the next time you are in Santa Barbara!

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

L.S. Coggeshall preparing a fossil specimen collected by Earl Douglass's team from the Carnegie in 1922. Originally described by Charles Gilmore in 1925 as Camptosaurus medius, the specimen's classification has been revised twice: first to Camptosaurus aphanoecetes, and then to Uteodon aphanoecetes.

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

The massive length of some sauropod necks seemed to pose a major challenge for pumping blood to the brain, but recent research proposes that stiff, springy cervical ribs along the neck may have functioned as accessory pumps, helping to maintain blood flow without requiring an impossibly large heart.

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

Unlike T. rex, which used powerful lateral head thrashing to tear flesh, Allosaurus seemingly employed a "grip and pull" technique similar to modern falcons. This would have involved driving its head into the prey, gripping with its jaws, and then rapidly retracting its neck and head to strip flesh.

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

What better way to spend this lunchtime than by rotating and zooming and panning and pinching around 3D models of our "standing" Iguanodon (Scale statue via @nhm-london.bsky.social Imaging: sketchfab.com/3d-models/cr... Our statue via Historic England/Rhys Griffin: sketchfab.com/3d-models/17...)

two screengrabs of 3D models of the NHM scale statue and our statue of the standing Iguanodon, positioned (more-or-less) at the same angle

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Happy bicentennial to the influential #Iguanodon! On this day in 1825 English geologist Gideon Mantell named Iguanodon, making it the second #dinosaur genus to be formally described. The name, meaning "iguana tooth," was inspired by the resemblance of its fossilized teeth to those of modern iguanas.

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

While we love sauropods (long necked dinosaurs) here at the museum, they do pose a challenge- their bones are huge and take up lots of storage. One of our newest pieces is this Camarasaurus vertebrae, measuring in at a whopping 23 inches long and 17 inches across! That's a lot of space for one bone.

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Although my strategy for building the museum's collection is to focus initially on dinosaurs before expanding out into other eras and groups, I occasionally encounter a replica that tempts me to bend the rules just a bit. This time, it's a replica of the fossil known as the Triassic Cuddle.

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

I love reading old books centered around exploration and expeditions, but good gods can they give you a case of moral whiplash. One minute you're totally taken in by their account of a foreign country or landscape, and then there will suddenly be a "delightful" little aside about eugenics.

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Rita L. Portela @westernspinster.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

ICE is trying to deport Native American people to Mexico. This one from the Mescalero Apache Tribe. That's right. People indigenous to the United States, tribal members. ICE is trying to remove them from the US. This is the second verified incident I've heard about. We were here 1st. #ICE

On Mescalero Apache Tribe letterhead: MESCALERO Apache Tribe P.O. Box 227 108 Central Avenue Mescalero, New Mexico 88340 TRIBE Office: (575) 464-4494 Fax: (575) 464-9220 STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT THORA WALSH-PADILLA ON IMMIGRATION INCIDENT INVOLVING A TRIBAL MEMBER As of 3:45 PM this afternoon, the Tribe verified only a single incident where an ICE January 23, 2025 Mescalero, NM Last night and throughout the day today, I received multiple calls from concerned Mescalero Apache Tribal Members in relation to rumors of incidents involving Tribal Members and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. agent questioned a Tribal Member in a public place in Ruidoso. This incident occurred yesterday. ICE agents began questioning a family standing in line in front of the Tribal member. The family was escorted outside. Then, an ICE agent still inside the public place approached the Tribal Member in Spanish. The Tribal Member responded by stating the Tribal Member spoke English. The ICE agent asked the Tribal Member for a passport. The Tribal Member presented a picture of a New Mexico Driver's License and a Tribal identification card. The ICE agent did not continue questions at this point and exited. While this is the only incident we have been able to verify. Tribal leadership is actively working with the New Mexico Congressional Delegation to ensure that the rights of Tribal Members are protected. To be safe, be aware of your surroundings, let family members/friends know where you are, and keep identification with you at all times. If possible, then carry multiple forms of identification (driver's license, state-issued identification card, Tribal identification card, Certificate of Indian Blood, etc.). Thora Walsh-Padilla President

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

It feels weird to be at a point where we can say, "Yes yes, of course HP Lovecraft was a despicable racist...but at least he wasn't Neil Gaiman."

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Which came first- the hammer or the handle? The clubs at the end of some ankylosaur tails are easy to spot, but an equally important feature lies within: fused vertebrae forming a stiff rod. Did this evolve to support the heavy club, or did the club form because the tail had already become rigid?

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Natalia (娜塔莉) @wrycritic.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

One might think that Nazi crimes and palaeontology never overlapped, and yet... Have you ever wondered what happened to tens of palaeontologists & geologists in the Nazi-occupied Poland? How academics helped to bring down the fascist regime. And a curious story of Schindler-equivalent in geology. 🧵

Two photographs from the same building, Akademia Górniczo–Hutnicza, the mining academy in Krakow. From 1940s till 2010s.

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Natalia (娜塔莉) @wrycritic.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

蛇年快乐! Happy New Year of the snake, with Tanystropheus, a long-necked Triassic reptile

Two red Tanystropheus, with text saying "Happy New Year of the Snake" Tanystropheus

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🌙NoxuArts - Commission status: OPEN! @notyournyx.bsky.social · 06/11/2024

Always 💖 Don't make me tap the sign

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Bradly Shelby @bradthecurator.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

During a 1923 expedition to Mongolia in search of fossils for the “missing link” between humans and apes, expedition member George Olsen and famed explorer and naturalist Roy Chapman Andrews discovered what would become the first scientifically recognized #dinosaur eggs nestled on a sandstone ledge

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Common Descent @commondescentpod.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

We're on BlueSky now! Hello! We are Common Descent, a podcast about paleontology, evolution, and the history of life on Earth! We release episodes every fortnight! Each one focuses on a topic requested by our audience! commondescentpodcast.com

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Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Another old photo from Ulaanbaatar. Saurolophus with Phil Bell for scale. This is a BIG skull!

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

I’ve seen a bunch of smug takes lately about “welll you shouldn’t have relied on social media, you fools.” But where is the alternative? We’ve disinvested from science education, from science journalism, and it’s good, actually, for independent people trying to make the world better to be supported.

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Seeing my biggest platform destroyed, then watching many younger women in SciComm have *their* biggest platforms destroyed is weighing on me. I’ve rebuilt here. I know they can rebuild too. Having our delicate careers subject to billionaire whims has me wishing for a stability I don’t think exists.

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