iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Aaron Woodruff @cenozoicking.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Very interesting study hinting at how the American "Cheetah's" diet varied across it geographic range.

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Great Dying Survivor @cannotthinkofone99.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

#FossilFriday Plithocyon (possibly Hemicyon) ursinus was a hemicyonine bear from Middle Miocene North America comparable in size to the average black bear but, unlike any extant bear but like other hemicyonines, was a digitigrade cursorial carnivore adapted to chase down large animals at speed.

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Ferwen @ferwen.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

#FossilFriday With the hype around #TheOdyssey, meet Palaeoloxodon falconeri: an extinct dwarf elephant (<1m tall) from the Pleistocene of Sicily & Malta, whose skull was once mistaken for a Cyclops paleonerdish.wordpress.com/2017/08/31/g...

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Museum of Natural and Cultural History @uomnch.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

This replica fossil skull is of a Sea Otter Dog. The strong tooth enamel and shape of the premolars suggest this was the first dog adapted to cracking its prey's bones for the marrow inside. Enhydrocyon lived 29-21 million years ago. #paleosky #FossilFriday

A replica Enhydrocyon fossil skull on display at the natural history museum on the University of Oregon. The skull is about 8 inches long and features front canines that are three inches long and beautifully preserved.

A closer up angle on the back of the Enhydrocyon skull. #goducks

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Science Magazine @science.org · 30/07/2026

An analysis of fossil mammals in Science suggests that Mexico served as a long-term evolutionary “holding pen” where North American species adapted and diversified for millions of years before sweeping into South America 2.8 million years ago. scim.ag/4fu2QKL

Pie charts of taxonomic representation for all taxa sampled in each indicated geographic region and time interval during five diversification events leading up to interchange pulses.

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Dr James Rule @palaeo-jrule.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Want to know more about the evolution of amphibious hearing in seals? Check out our article in The Conversation! 🦭 🔊 🧪 doi.org/10.64628/AA....

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Seals have a unique superpower in their ears, and we finally know how it evolved

Unlike all other mammals, seals can hear both in the air and underwater. How do they do this?

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Ausarchosaur @ausarchosaur.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

The skull of the extinct Morenelaphus brachyceros from the Pleistocene of South America. It was one of the largest deer that lived on the continent. #FossilFriday

Image source: https://abradivciencia.blogspot.com/2018/04/quanto-custa-uma-imensa-galhada_24.html

Paper on largest South American cervids: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0895981121000018

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Alberta Claw @albertonykus.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Evidence of fruit-eating from preserved gut contents in Eocene birds of the Messel Formation: link.springer.com/article/10.1... 🪶🧪 (📷Mayr & Collinson)

Fossilized remains of several extinct birds with close-ups showing seeds preserved as their gut contents.

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Ferwen @ferwen.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

“Geology gave us the immensity of time and taught us how little of it our own species has occupied.” ― Stephen Jay Gould

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Aaron Woodruff @cenozoicking.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

This study really demonstrates how different #herbivores affect their environments in different ways. Makes you wonder how many #ecological interactions we've lost since the #Pleistocene extinctions doi.org/10.1098/rspb... Image credit: Byrdyak, Wikimedia Commons

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Aaron Woodruff @cenozoicking.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

This makes me think about all of the scientifically priceless fossils that were lost during World War II. It is amazing to hear that there is an effort to digitize specimens in Kyiv’s natural history museum despite the inherent danger

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Ausarchosaur @ausarchosaur.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Based on the GI tract contents of the frozen mammoth calf Yana, and material between her front legs, Yakutia was dominated by sparse larch forests with a shrub layer of dwarf birch, alder, and willow. She primarily ate sedges and cotton grass. #FossilFriday

Image source: https://phys.org/news/2025-04-yana-year-baby-mammoth-scalpel.html

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Ben Miller @extinctmonsters.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Thinking about Moropus, which we all should be doing more often. #FossilFriday

Museum case with long necked, long legged mammal skeleton in a neutral pose with head up

Open display with Moropus rearing up, supported by a minimalist metal frond

Moropus behind glass barrier leaning its head forward

Another rearing Moropus, this one reaching for a flat cutout of hanging branches

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Aaron Woodruff @cenozoicking.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

For #DinosaurDay I thought I'd post a commission I did last year of the #Jurassic Troodontid Hesperornithoides, shown about to swallow an unfortunate mammal it has captured called Glirodon grandis. Really proud of how the feathers turned out with this one #paleoart #digitalart #dinosaur #sciart

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Aaron Woodruff @cenozoicking.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

In recognition of #WorldOtterDay I touched up a skull restoration from a few years ago of the #extinct #otter Enhydritherium terranovae. This species lived during the late #Miocene across southern North America from coast to coast. It was the size of the modern Giant Otter #paleoart #paleontology

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Aaron Woodruff @cenozoicking.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

#FossilFriday I mostly draw mammals, but I've always been fascinated by marine reptiles. So after the new paper by @tyrantlzrdqueen.bsky.social et al announced a new species of #Tylosaurus, T. rex, I had to take a crack at a reconstruction! Fun to try something different..

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Owen Goodchild @paleowen.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

#fossilfriday although the end of the symphysis is damaged it clearly has a bilobed tuskless end and a huge anterior mental foramen. These features are shared with Megabelodon lulli, leading many (including me) to think T.phippsi is a junior synonym of M. lulli.

View from the mammal overlook down at DMNS 1261 showing the bilobed symphysis

Anterior view of DMNS 1261 showing the bilobed symphysis and large anterior mental foramina

Up close on the bilobed symphysis and tube-like mental foramina

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GDLeahy @xrciseguy.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

#FossilFriday: The cave hyena, Crocuta crocuta spelaea, on display at the National Museum, Prague.

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The Anatomical Record @anatrecord.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

In the brain of a sabertooth: First neuroanatomical description and ethological insights on Megantereon cultridens (Felidae, Machairodontinae). Study by Ilaria Meli et al.: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... Artwork by Simone Zoccante #FossilFriday

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Uri Wolkowski @deinocurious.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Giant sea monsters are trending with the newly described Cretaceous "kraken"*. So for #FossilFriday, a better known super predator named after myth: Livyatan melvillei! A true terror of the Miocene oceans, I was thrilled to see original fossils and a skull cast of this killer sperm whale in Lima.

Reconstructed skull of Livyatan melvillei, the giant killer sperm whale. To the left, a fossil jaw fragment, part of the holotype. In the background, an illustration of a dark-blue, adult Livyatan attacking a smaller whale from below. Exhibition at the Natural History Museum of Lima, Peru.

The dorsally crushed holotype skull of Livyatan melvillei. Exhibition at the Natural History Museum of Lima, Peru.

Diorama depicting Livyatan together with other prehistoic and modern marine superpredators: Otodus megaldon (an older, Carcharodon-based reconstruction) and a giant pliosaur below it, and an Orca and Great White shark to the right

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Mati Armella @matiarmella.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

🧵 (1/3) What makes South American Ungulates so unique?🦏🍃 #FossilFriday Check out our new comprehensive combined-evidence #phylogeny of #Toxodontidae!!! #Paleontology #Evolution #Fossils #Argentina #CONICET doi.org/10.1111/cla....

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GDLeahy @xrciseguy.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

#Fossilfriday: The hyaenid Dinocrocuta, from the Late Miocene of Eurasia and Africa. Dinocrocuta was much larger than living hyaenas, around 200 kg (440 pounds.)

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Steven Anderson @theropodpublishing.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

#fossilFriday A mastodon at the Huston Museum of Natural Science tosses a paleo-hunter into the air with a quick twist of its tusks.

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Erika Anderson @andersonmineral.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

The bulky herbivore, Barylambda faberi, a pantodont from the Paleocene. #FossilFriday ⚒️🧪

Mounted Barylambda faberi skeleton in a display case in front of a mural showing a reconstruction of the animal eating with a green background (only seen in photo from neck down). At the Field Museum.

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GDLeahy @xrciseguy.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

#FossilFriday: The Pacific mastodon, Mammut pacificus, known from California and Idaho. This species was described in 2019. This is the second of two species of Mammut from North America, the other being Mammut americanum.

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GDLeahy @xrciseguy.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

#FossilFriday: The nimravid Dinictus, known from the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene of North America, about 35-29 million years ago.

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GDLeahy @xrciseguy.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

#FossilFriday: The three-toed horse Miohippus, from the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon.

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Aaron Woodruff @cenozoicking.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

A perfect way to start off the year of the horse. Also, a nice preview for a reconstruction I'm working on! 🐎

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Claude ✡️🦖🦕 @cascoclauda.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

happy #fossilfriday! bonus: this is chasmaporthetes, a hyena from the pliocene and pleistocene of eurasia, north america, and africa. it was a long-legged, cursorial predator akin to modern canids, and c. ossifragus is the only hyena known from north america (art by julius csotonyi)

a pair of chasmaporthetes feed on a young mammoth alongside a trio of crows in a meadow

a photograph of a skull from chasmaporthetes

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Ben Miller @extinctmonsters.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

…a horse rears in alarm as dire wolves chase a pronghorn past it, and Eremotherium pulls down a branch of what I’m assuming are Osage oranges. #FossilFriday

Rearing horse skeleton with two dire wolves (all dark colored bones) chasing a leaping pronghorn (light colored bones). Mural of a swampy scene with various animals behind.

Lower angle with better view of dire wolves and pronghorn

Giant sloth skeleton leaning forward, one arm hanging near the ground, the other up by a 2-D cutout of a branch with round green fruit.

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Erenji @erenji.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

To celebrate the release of Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age, I'm skipping ahead to some photos of Smilodon fatalis for #FossilFriday, left from the Royal Ontario Museum, right from La Brea Tar Pits Museum. These saber-toothed cats were at least as big as lions, but much heavier. #PaleorenjiPhoto (2019)

A photo of the fossil torso of a Smilodon, a brown fossil with enormous saber fangs extending from its upper jaw.

A photo of the fossil bust of a Smilodon, a brown fossil with enormous saber fangs extending from its upper jaw.

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Erenji @erenji.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Prehistoric Planet release bonus: a couple photos of Megaloceros giganteus, the largest deer ever to live, from the Pleistocene epoch. Photographed at the National History Museum in London in 2018. #FossilFriday #PaleorenjiPhoto

A photo of the dark brown fossil of a giant deer, Megaloceros giganteus, including its skull and part of its neck, shoulders, and antlers.

The same fossil from the front, showing its impressive span of antlers, around 12 feet wide.

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Claude ✡️🦖🦕 @cascoclauda.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

happy #fossilfriday! this is euthecodon, a long-snouted crocodile that lived between the miocene and pleistocene of africa. despite a gharial-like appearance, euthecodon was a true crocodile aka a member of crocodylidae (art by joschua knuppe)

the longirostrine crocodile euthecodon lunges out of the water to catch a flamingo in mid-air. given that the flamingo has been snatched around where the neck connects to the skull, it is assuredly very very dead

a photograph of two large euthecodon skulls

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Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

#FossilFriday The walking sea cow Pezosiren at the National Museum of Natural History

Mounted skeleton of the legged sea cow Pezosiren

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cenofreak88.bsky.social @cenofreak88.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Everyone's talking about nanotyrannus. But we have to wrap up #gomphtober2025 . Finishing things off is Eubelodon. On display at the University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln. #fossilfriday #universityofnebraskastatemuseum #universityofnebraskalincoln #prehistoricnebraska #fossil #elephant

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Dr Suresh Singh @palaeosingh.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

A side-on snapshot of the skull of Megacerops, a #brontothere (‘thunder beast’) from North America for this #FossilFriday. Sporting large bulbous horns, these large, ancient mammals looked a bit like rhinos 🦏 but are actually more closely related to horses 🐎. #Paleontology #Science #Cenozoic 🧵1/

The skull of a Megacerops brontothere on display at the Brigham Young University Palaeontology Museum in Provo, Utah, USA.

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Ferwen @ferwen.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

#FossilFriday Megatherium americanum Cuvier, 1796. Museo Argentino de La Plata 🧪⚒️ #PrehistoricPlanetIceAge paleonerdish.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/t...

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cenofreak88.bsky.social @cenofreak88.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Second installment of #gomphtober2025 skeleton of gomphotherium from Mt. Diablo, California. Was on display at UC Berkeley, don't know if it still is. #fossilfriday #prehistoriccalifornia #gomphotherium #cenozoic #miocene #elephant #fossil

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Ben Miller @extinctmonsters.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

This adorable oreodont family has had quite a journey. Paul Miller made this mount for the U of Chicago Walker Museum in 1924. They were transferred to the Field when the Walker shut down, then loaned to the BYU museum for 60 years. The oreodonts are now back in Chicago. #FossilFriday

Framed plaster slab with three mounted Miniochoerus skeletons

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cenofreak88.bsky.social @cenofreak88.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

#fossilfriday skull and lower jaw of the fox-like dog Archaeocyon. On display at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, Badlands National Park, South Dakota. #badlandsnationalpark #badlands #dog #doge #doggo #oligocene #fossil #paleontology

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Claude ✡️🦖🦕 @cascoclauda.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

happy #fossilfriday! bonus: this is nihohae, a waipatiid dolphin from the oligocene of new zealand. the 2023 paper describing the taxon suggests that nihohae hunted and fed in a manner analogous to sawsharks, preying predominantly on soft-bodied cephalopods such as squid (art by shunovachrono)

art of nihohae, a snaggle-toothed dolphin with its premaxillary teeth (called 'tusks' in the paper describing the taxon) projecting forwards, with the teeth at the very tip of the jaws being almost horizontal

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Nature Nick @naturenickpics.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

The Pleistocene camel Camelops hesternus once lived on the cool, windy plains of Alberta during the Ice Age where it lived alongside bison, mammoths, horses, and other such creatures #FossilFriday #camel #Alberta #IceAge #yeg

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cenofreak88.bsky.social @cenofreak88.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

#fossilfriday skull of the sheep-sized oreodont Mesoreodon. On display in the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon #johndayfossilbedsnationalmonument #johndayfossilbeds #nationalmonument #prehistoricoregon #oregon #cenozoic #oligocene #paleontology

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