Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Centrosaurus apertus (CMN 348). Look at the size of that postorbital horncore! 000
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 12/07/2026We published a new hadrosaur this week, Pleisolophus warnerensis. Lead by Brad McFeeters based on a specimen found by Wendy Sloboda, of course. 040
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 27/06/2026Great to spend time with the basal neoceratopsian, Beg Tse, while visiting IP in Ulaanbaatar last week. 260
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 18/02/2026phys.org/news/2026-02...phys.orgRare fossil at Montana museum records Tyrannosaurus attackA fossil on display at Montana State University's Museum of the Rockies reveals how dinosaurs in the Tyrannosaurus genus may have subdued prey, and the specimen is the focus of a new collaborative res... 011
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanCanadian Journal of Earth Sciences @canjearthsci.bsky.social · 15/01/2026Our most read article of 2025 examines the Canadian fossil record supporting anagenesis in Triceratops. Read it now ▶️ ow.ly/1KQC50XVNF1 👥 Jordan Mallon, Mathew Roloson, Emily Bamforth, John Scannella, Dr Michael J Ryan #BestofCSP Canadian Museum of Nature Carleton University 021
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 18/12/2025phys.org/news/2025-12...phys.orgKey proteins reveal how evolution of locomotion shapes bone remodeling processesAn international collaboration study reveals how evolution and locomotion patterns, such as bipedalism, shaped bone structures through proteins present in the bone matrix. The findings of the study, l... 022
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 25/07/2025www.sci.news/paleontology...sci.newsFossil of Triassic Sauropodomorph Dinosaur Discovered in Switzerland | Sci.NewsPaleontologists have discovered the skeletal remains of an entirely new, yet-to-be-named species of massopodan sauropodomorph dinosaur in the Klettgau Formation in Canton Aargau, Switzerland. 064
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 19/05/2025PREMIERED THIS DAY (1915): THE DINOSAUR & THE MISSING LINK. It features the earliest work of a young Willis O'Brien who would go on to bring King Kong to life. Watch the film thanks to The Library of Congress. youtu.be/so9Exr5Ammo?...youtu.beThe Dinosaur And The Missing Link (1915) | Early Stop Motion FilmYouTube video by Screen Prism 031
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 05/05/2025BORN THIS DAY: ELKANAH BILLINGS (May 5,1820-June 14,1896): Canada’s first paleontologist. His boss Sir William Logan wrote him (1869): "Your constant absence from the office is a worrying annoyance, particularly as I have reason to suspect that it does not arrive from rheumatism." 082
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 04/05/2025More for May the 4th: colleague Dr David West Reynolds standing at the bluff where Luke looked down on Mos Eisley. In the distance you can just see the palm trees that mark the location of the Well of Souls dig site from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Was this Tunisian adventure really 30 years ago?! 062
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 04/05/2025My colleague, Dr. David West Reynolds, released a Kickstarter-backed documentary about this adventure with LucasFilm a few years ago. 010
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 04/05/2025Looking forward to this overdue collection. Any chance DC might also reprint the old Golden Age Doctor Fate archive collection? Mine went AWOL during a move. 110
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 04/05/2025For May the 4th: Me discovering the origin Krayt Dragon prop skeleton in Tunisia back in the early 90’s. The film quarry abandoned this & all the Star Wars props when they left. After I found them (and left them in place!), collectors followed in my footsteps and scoped them up. Hello Ebay! 18819
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 04/05/2025BORN THIS DAY: JOSEPH BARRELL (Dec 15, 1869–May 4, 1919: Proposed that sedimentary rocks were produced by the action of rivers, etc (1917); used radioactive dating to reinterpret Earth's age to billion years; argued that severe climate drove the evolution of air-breathing vertebrates 021
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 30/04/2025Died This Day: Joseph Leidy (Sept 9, 1823 - April 30, 1891). The Father of American Vertebrate Paleontology described the holotype of Hadrosaurus foulkii, the 1st American mostly complete dinosaur. He also mentored a young E.D. Cope and pointed he and Marsh to the rich fossil resources of the West 1197
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 19/04/2025DIED THIS DAY: LOUIS DOLLO (Dec 7, 1857–April 19, 1931). Dollo researched the Iguanodons found in 1878 in a mine at Bernissart, Belgium. He is also noted for ‘Dollo's Law of Irreversibility’ which states that a complex structure once lost in evolution never reappears exactly in its former state 0102
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 18/04/2025Died This Day: Erasmus Darwin (Dec 12, 1731 – April 18, 1802). Grandfather of Charles Darwin, he was a philosopher/naturalist who formulated one of the first theories of evolution in his ‘Zoonomia’ (1794-1796). In it he discussed how life evolved from a single common ancestor 0196
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 14/04/2025phys.org/news/2025-04... Really? I thought that Martin Lockley described some years ago. Either way, congrats to Victoria and the team!phys.orgFootprints of tail-clubbed armored dinosaurs found for the first timeFor the first time, footprints of armored dinosaurs with tail clubs have been identified, following discoveries made in the Canadian Rockies. The 100-million-year-old fossilized footprints were found ... 0188
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 07/04/2025phys.org/news/2025-04...phys.orgAir pockets found in bones of Alvarezsauridae skeleton for the first timeA team of archaeologists and paleontologists from Argentina, the U.S. and China has unearthed the first known example of a fossilized Alvarezsauridae skeleton with evidence of air pockets in its bones... 061
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 04/04/2025cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1... Thanks to Jordan Mallon for inviting me onto this nifty paper.cdnsciencepub.comThe Canadian fossil record supports anagenesis in Triceratops (Ornithischia, Ceratopsia)Evolution of the ceratopsid dinosaur Triceratops has been hypothesized to have proceeded anagenetically, with the geologically older Triceratops horridus having directly given rise to the younger Tric... 074
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 30/03/2025www.livescience.com/animals/gian...livescience.comScientists baffled at mysterious ancient creature that doesn't fit on the tree of life as we know itAn ancient and enormous organism called Prototaxites, initially found to be a type of fungus, may actually be an unknown branch of life, researchers say. 083
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 30/03/2025She's great in The Inner Circle (1946). That film needs a Bluray restoration! 000
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 26/03/2025youtu.be/-UWRBzi0Heo?... Who doesn't love stop-motion dinosaurs?! "Radatron - Journey to the Dinosaurs" circa 1965. That looks a lot like Jack Kirby's Devil Dinosaur.youtu.beRadatron - Journey to the Dinosaurs - Stop Motion - 1960s?YouTube video by 19king14 Film2Video Archiving 171
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 26/03/2025DIED THIS DAY: JAMES HUTTON (June 3, 1726 – Mar 26, 1797). Scottish geologist known as the Father of Modern Geology for helping establish geology as a modern science. His Principle of Uniformitarianism states that modern geological features are the result of continuing natural processes over time. 0147
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 22/03/2025I was all over the radio and MTV in it's day..... 000
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 22/03/2025www.sci.news/paleontology...sci.news147-Million-Year-Old Pterosaur Fossil Discovered in England | Sci.NewsPaleontologists have discovered and described a new ctenochasmatid pterosaurian mandible from the Late Jurassic Portland Limestone Formation of southern England. 062
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 20/03/2025phys.org/news/2025-03...phys.orgFrom dinosaurs to birds: The origins of feather formationFeathers are among the most complex cutaneous appendages in the animal kingdom. While their evolutionary origin has been widely debated, paleontological discoveries and developmental biology studies s... 041
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 18/03/2025phys.org/news/2025-03...phys.orgVulture fossil discovery reveals how volcanic deposits can preserve the microscopic details of animal tissuesAn analysis of a 30,000-year-old fossil vulture from Central Italy has revealed for the first time that volcanic rock can preserve microscopic details in feathers—the first ever record of such a prese... 021
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 18/03/2025Died This Day: Othniel Charles Marsh (Oct 29, 1931 - Mar 18, 1899). One of the most important figures in North American dinosaur paleontology, Marsh is noted for naming numerous dinosaurs, including Stegosaurus and Triceratops, and his bitter rivalry with Edward Drinker Cope know as The Bone Wars. 0164
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 17/03/2025Premiered This Day (1970): When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth. Hammer’s follow up to One Million Years B.C. (1966) lacked Ray Harryhausen’s animated dinosaurs, but did feature excellent stop-motion work by Jim Danforth and David Allen, and arguably a better script by English SF author, J.G. Ballard. 171
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 15/03/2025Isn't that Guilala, the X from Outer Space? 000
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 15/03/2025Hat's off to unheralded James Flavin as the motorcycle cop who helps him investigate the mystery. 000
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 15/03/2025I helped construct that T. rex way back in when I was working with Prehistoric Animal Structures in the Drumheller Valley, not far from to Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. 120
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanAtomic Surgery @atomicsurgery.bsky.social · 15/03/2025It's Saturday. The perfect day to visit and support your local museum! (Not sure if admission is free through) 111
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 14/03/2025Happy Birthday to Steve Bissette! 042
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 14/03/2025www.sci.news/paleontology...sci.newsEarly Mammals Had Dark and Dusky Grayish-Brown Fur, Study Suggests | Sci.NewsPelage coloration, which serves numerous functions, is crucial to the evolution of behavior, physiology, and habitat preferences of mammals. 021
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 13/03/2025Happy birthday to Phil Currie! 0164
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 12/03/2025www.sci.news/paleontology...sci.newsMixodectes pungens: Enigmatic Mammal from Early Paleocene was Claw-Climbing Arborealist | Sci.NewsA small mixodectid mammal called Mixodectes pungens had skeletal features adapted to living in trees, largely dined on leaves, and weighed about 1.3 kg, according to an analysis a remarkably complete ... 041
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 11/03/2025Died This Day: American naturalist, explorer, and author, ROY CHAPMAN ANDREWS (Jan.26, 1884-Mar.11, 1960). Organizer and leader of the Central Asiatic Expeditions for the American Museum of Natural History that discovered such iconic dinosaurs as Oviraptor, Velociraptor and Protoceratops. 0123
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 10/03/2025On this day in 1797, American President Thomas Jefferson presented a paper on Megalonyx to the Amer. Phil. Society; published as "A Memoir on the Discovery of Certain Bones of a Quadruped of the Clawed Kind in the Western Parts of Virginia," Trans of Amer. Phil. Soc. 4:255-256. 1153
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 08/03/2025www.sci.news/paleontology...sci.news125-Million-Year-Old Scorpion Fossil Uncovered in China | Sci.NewsPaleontologists have described a new genus and species of extinct scorpion from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China. 041
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 07/03/2025I noticed that, too, way back when it was 1st released. 020
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 07/03/2025BORN THIS DAY: Stanley Lloyd Miller (Mar 7, 1930 – May 20, 2007), discoverer of ‘primeval soup’. Miller determined the possible origin of life from inorganic chemicals by passing electrical discharges through reducing gases producing the basic building blocks of proteins 032
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 05/03/2025www.sci.news/paleontology...sci.newsNew Study Explains How Ancient Amphibians Survived End-Permian Mass Extinction | Sci.NewsPrimitive amphibians called temnospondyls survived the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction, which occurred about 252 million years ago, by feeding on freshwater prey that evaded terrestrial p... 041
Dr Michael J Ryan @drmichaeljryan.bsky.social · 02/03/2025You would have made more money cutting lawns back then! : ) 110
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 02/03/2025www.bbc.com/future/artic...bbc.comThe bitter dinosaur feud at the heart of palaeontologyAs two warring bone hunters sought to destroy each other, they laid the foundations for our knowledge of dinosaurs. 0106
Reposted by Dr Michael J RyanPalaeoblog @palaeoblog.bsky.social · 24/02/2025All the centrosaurs have come down to play today at the Canadian Museum of Nature! 0366