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Denver Fowler Ph.D

@denverfowler.bsky.social
634 followers 250 following 197 posts

Dinosaur behavior, stratigraphy, fieldwork, raptor feet & claws, tyrannosaur toothmarks, ceratopsids, public interaction, open-science. Opinions my own Curator at Badlands Dinosaur Museum, Dickinson, North Dakota

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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This is a sacrum (vertebrae that fuse over the hips), from a parrot-mimic raptor dinosaur (caenagnathid, oviraptorosaur). These feathered raptors have quite fragile bones and are consequently quite rare. #dinosaur #dinosaurs #FossilFriday #fossils #SciComm
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Water spout (tornado) hit camp while we were away. Some parts of camp untouched other parts absolutely battered. It came off the lake, knocked over a tree, mauled the north side of camp, smashed its way through a hedge, then blew the metal dumpster across the parking lot!
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Steve and I did a hot wings interview challenge run by the guys from our IT department. We answer various questions about dinosaurs, mainly off-the-beaten track stuff I think. If you're interested: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz_3...
youtube.com
This Is What Happens in Museums After Dark
YouTube video by Nerdy Narratives
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Metatarsal & tail vert from our gryposaurus, tibia & lower jaw from a small lambeosaur, & couple of bones from something small and fragile. And there's something way more exciting at the other end of the quarry. #fossilfriday #dinosaurs #publiclands
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
RAPTOR TOOTH: very large tooth from a raptor #dinosaur, Paronychodon. It's been really rainy here for a few days, but we're back in the quarries today and finding new things! Dinosaur Park Fm, 76M yrs old. From US public lands administered by @BLM_MTDKs #FossilFriday
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
#Tyrannosaur tooth of the day. Found by Laura. Dinosaur Park Fm, Montana. #dinosaurs #fossilfriday
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
#Tyrannosaur hand claw? Found 2 hrs ago, live on @Paleontologizin. From US public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. #dinosaur park Fm, 76 million yrs old, Montana. #fossilfriday #dinosaurs. Badlands Dinosaur Museum, Dickinson ND. Loads of good fossils today!
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Big metatarsal from a Gryposaurus skeleton that we're digging up at Jack's bone bed. Lots of cool new bones turning up every day. This is where the raptors and pterosaur skeletons are too. Us public lands BLM #fossilfriday #dinosaurs
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Trierarchuncus in Lego form!
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
My sister was just made a Fellow of the Royal Society! Super proud of her! www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articl...
ncl.ac.uk
World-leading climate expert recognised with Royal Society Fellowship
Professor Hayley Fowler has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of her pioneering work on climate change impacts.
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
NORTH DAKOTA'S BIGGEST HELL PIG: Our brand new exhibit, a Hell Pig from right here in Dickinson! The past few months we've been piecing this together, and today we got it finished! #fossil #fossils #paleontology #hellpig #entelodont #FossilFriday #NorthDakota #dickinson
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Excited! I just found out that the FOSSIL BAT jaw my dad found 20 yrs ago was described in 2024! We'd collected macromammals from Boldnor, Isle of Wight (Oligocene) for over a decade, but in 2000, I discovered a rich concentrate of microverts in situ at the top of the beach /1
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Made this nice Compsognathus. Adapted it a bit for our exhibit. Thinking of writing about how Compsognathids are a fake clade created by ontogenetic clustering (Cau's work). Cool stuff. model by Nova. #fossilfriday #dinosaurs
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
RECONSTRUCTING A HELL PIG: This really big entelodont snout is possibly the biggest found in North Dakota! To reconstruct it, Amanda laser scanned a smaller skull, then we scaled it up, and 3D printed the missing back half #fossilfriday #scicomm #museums #mammals #fossil
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Ooh, diagnostic.
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
This fossil may look small - that's because it's from a salamander, but what a salamander! It's actually very large and surprisingly complete for the late Cretaceous of North America. From US Public lands administered by the BLM. #FossilFriday #fossils #scicomm #salamander #microfossil
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Today, Amanda is 3D scanning our Hell Pig (Entelondont) skull (usually in the lobby display). We're going to use the 3D scan to restore the enormous snout kindly donated 2025 by the Leppart family. Here UV light shows the skull is ~60% real. #FossilFriday #fossils #scicomm
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
BABY DUCKBILL: Steve just finished cleaning this super cute jaw, with rows of tiny teeth! This matches another jaw, femur, and vertebrae that we collected from the same site. A baby dino skeleton is coming out! #fossilfriday #dinosaurs #dinosaur #scicomm #fossils #publiclands
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Stupid tyrannosaurs in a million bits. This is the left side of the snout of Holger, a Daspletosaurus c.f. wilsoni. The skull of Holger, our 2nd completed Dasp site, is currently being restored. From US Public Lands administered by the BLM; Judith River Fm, Montana. #dinosaurs
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
VOLUNTEER ON A DINOSAUR DIG: We run one of the only free dinosaur digs in the USA. We work public land and the fossils go in our public museum, forever. It's hard work, but we find some cool things. If this sounds like you, we're taking applications. Link in comms. #dinosaurs
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
CANNIBALISM OF AN ADULT TYRANNOSAUR BY A JUVENILE: Our new study on a Badlands Dinosaur Museum fossil reveals dinosaur cannibalism where a juvenile tyrannosaur feasted on the carcass of a dead adult! 3D reconstructions supervision Yu Xin, designer Shen Li, sculptor Liang Junwei /1
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
JOB: SEASONAL PALEONTOLOGIST BADLANDS DINOSAUR MUSEUM (DICKINSON, ND) 2026 summer tourist season. May/June start, 15wks, end Aug/Sept. Full-Time, 40 hrs/wk, $19.84hr. 50% working with public, 50% lab/collections. See link in comms for info. Come work with us!
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
A nice addition to our exhibit. This Ornithomimus skull was painted by one of our volunteers, Ty Patterson. #dinosaurs #fossils #fossilfriday #museums
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
A rare portrait of me with the snout of a hell pig (entelodont). Kindly donated to our museum this year by Betty Leppart, from the Gary Leppart collection. In the new year I will be 3D printing a back part of the skull, and getting this on exhibit. #FossilFriday
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
The field report starts in 55mins 6pm MT, 5pm PT, 8pm ET. See you soon! You can stream it non-live on the youtube channel. See the post for links:
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
TOMORROW (Thurs, 8pm ET/6pm MT/5pm PT) Our Annual field report! Learn about fossil discoveries so new we're still cleaning them up in the lab! Live & FREE on Youtube, Facebook Live, & Twitch (FossilPreparator and @paleontologizing.bsky.social . Links in comms! #fossilfriday #dinosaurs #scicomm
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Daspletosaurus wilsoni holotype skull full-size reconstruction. Went on display in our exhibit hall (Badlands Dinosaur Museum) Sept 2025. The nicest Daspletosaurus skull reconstruction I think. Casts possibly available in 2026. #dinosaurs #fossils #fossilfriday
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
NEW MAGNETS: Our shop now stocks magnets of Liberty the Lambeosaurus, & Daspletosaurus wilsoni, all in glorious shades of gold, silver & copper (only US$12 each!). Lambeo based on 3D scan of our skull (the only USA specimen); Dasp by Andrey Atuchin. Link in comments #dinosaurs #fossilfriday
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Three very delicate bones cleaned in the past 2 days. SUPER RARE - 2 limb bones from a parrot-mimic oviraptorosaur, and the other is a neck bone from a flying pterosaur. From US Public Lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
CLUMSY MALE DINOSAURS INJURED FEMALES DURING MATING: Our new paper (Filippo Bertozzo et al. 2025), shows that a common tail injury seen in duckbilled dinosaurs was probably caused by heavy male dinosaurs clumsily crushing the spines of females during mating. /1
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
BABY DUCKBILL #dinosaur: Deanna just finished prepping this cute femur. We have a couple of nice jaws from a similarly-sized baby hadro from this same site, so maybe they are part of the same skeleton. Dinosaur Park Fm, Montana. ~76M years old, Late Cretaceous #fossilfriday
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Microbiology lecturer JOB: Dickinson State Uni. MSc required. $55-60k pa. If you're a paleontologist who can teach microbio, you can do the job! Badlands Dinosaur Museum (my institution) works with DSU paleontologists & students on a variety of projects. Join us! prd.hcm.ndus.edu/psc/recruit/...
prd.hcm.ndus.edu
Careers
DICKINSON STATE UNIVERSITY (DSU) is a regional comprehensive institution within the North Dakota University System, whose primary role is to contribute to intellectual, social, economic, and cultural development, especially to Southwestern North Dakota. The University’s mission is to provide high quality, accessible programs; to promote excellence in teaching and learning; to support scholarly and creative activities; and to provide service relevant to the economy, health, and quality of life for the citizens of the State of North Dakota.
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
Hadrosaurine braincase. #fossilfriday. Collected by Badlands #Dinosaur Museum, Jul 2025 & cleaned by Deanna. Associated skeleton from BLM-administered US #publiclands. Dinosaur Park Formation, Montana. You're looking up into the underside of the skull roof. The bottom of the photo is the frontals.
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
A pubis (pelvic bone) from a medium sized ceratopsid. I'm going to be plaster jacketing this in a few minutes. Dinosaur Park Fm, Montana. From US public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
A selection of teeth collected today in the Judith River. Top row are all raptors, including a cool Dromaeosaurus with a wear facet. Bottom left are nodosaur, bott right is a tyranno.
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
A nice theropod claw found today. #dinosaurs #fossilfriday from US public lands BLM. Judith River FM.
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
It's cold at our digsite today, but we just found this delightful troodontid raptor tooth. This is the site where we have found parts of a troodontid skeleton. Maybe a jaw is nearby, waiting to be found next! Dino. Park Fm, Montana. From US public lands #FossilFriday #dinosaur
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
Loving this 3D print of Champsosaurus. Model freely provided with Dudgeon et al. 2024. #FossilFriday #fossils
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Possibly the best #dinosaur rubber stamp I own (I have about 100). #FossilFriday
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
I just liked the shape aesthetic. #dinosaur factory photos: Daspletosaurus wilsoni holotype. #fossilfriday
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
International collaborative research just published! Michailow et al (2025). Link in comms (free) Photo: some nice teeth in our collection (left to right): tyrannosaur; duckbill hadrosaur; (top) crocodile; (bottom) raptor; tyrannosaur with wear mark #fossilfriday #dinosaurs
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
This partial hand does not look like the troodontid from "Jack's bonebed", so we think it is from a parrot-mimic oviraptorid. We have a few tentative pieces of the skeleton so far, but it's looking really promising! #FossilFriday #dinosaur #dinosaurs #oviraptor #science #NorthDakota
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
We're going to debut this fantastic skull reconstruction of Daspletosaurus wilsoni at Badlands Dinosaur Museum's "Expansion Unveiling" event, April 26th! Here, DSU student Wes Isaac measures the skull so he can make a welded metal armature for display. #dinosaurs #fossilfriday
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
It's permit season! Since 2015, Badlands Dinosaur Museum field crews have found 238 new fossil sites in the Hell Creek & Judith River Formations, all but 9 on public lands. The biggest fieldwork program in our region. So proud of all our field crews! #fossilfriday #dinosaurs
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Steve just finished cleaning this tiny mammal jaw which we collected in 2024! Check out those tiny teeth! From US Public Lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Found by Jason French, July 2024. #fossils #mammals #dinosaur #FossilFriday #publiclands
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Super cool. Super rare. This is a braincase from a raptor dinosaur: probably the troodontid that we have been collecting (we have the frontal, and many other bones). Deanna finished cleaning this yesterday! From US public lands administered by @BLM_MTDKs #dinosaur #fossilfriday #fossils #museumlife
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
My office right now. I wanted to do a #FossilFriday post with Deanna's current prep project, but it's not finished yet (watch this space). In the meantime... this is gonna be a special piece for our exhibit. #dinosaur #dinosaurs #museum #museumlife #fossil #scicomm #tyrannosaur
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
MUSEUM EXPANSION: I've whispered in a few places about this. Now our board has put together an official unveiling evening to share our plans over dinner with community stakeholders. See what we're going to build & how you can be part of it! #fossilfriday #dinosaurs #scicomm
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Something BIG is coming
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Denver Fowler Ph.D @denverfowler.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
If you'd like to see the 1st & 2nd Paleontologizing livestreams from this week, they're now archived and available. Monday we mostly take a tour of the exhibit; Tuesday we toured the lab and collections, discussing some of our important discoveries from the past few years. #Fossilfriday #dinosaurs
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