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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

There were many tiny birds (so dinos) at the Cretaceous.

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Francisco Ortega @fortega.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Micro-CT reconstruction reveals new information about the phylogenetic position and locomotion of the Early Cretaceous bird #Iberomesornis romerali by Castro-Terol et al www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #Dinosaurios (#Aves) del #Cretácico Inferior de #Cuenca

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Alberta Claw @albertonykus.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

New information on the anatomy of Iberomesornis: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🪶🧪 (📷Castro-Terol et al.)

Fossilized partial skeleton of a small bird-like dinosaur, lacking the skull.

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Alberta Claw @albertonykus.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Review of wing-propelled diving in birds: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🪶🧪 (📷Storer)

Black-and-white illustration of birds that convergently evolved wing-propelled diving (penguins, petrels, and auks).

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Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Javier Castro-Terol, Alejandro Pérez-Ramos, Jingmai K. O’Connor, José Luis Sanz & F. J. Serrano (2025) Micro-CT reconstruction reveals new information about the phylogenetic position and locomotion of the Early Cretaceous bird Iberomesornis romerali Geobios www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

doi.org

Redirecting

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Today's stop and the rest of the week is Karlsruhe. Busy with such a quantity of fossils!

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

🦅✨ Yesterday at #26CEO, F. J. Serrano delivered a fascinating closing talk on the evolution of powered flight in birds. 🔍 How did flight shape avian diversification and help modern birds survive mass extinctions? 🧐 Exciting insights! #FlapEvolProject #Paleontology

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

🚀 #FlapEvolProject debuta en #26CEO con aportaciones de Costa-Pérez y un servidor, explorando la evolución del sinsacro en las aves 🦴🦢 y la disparidad morfológica del húmero en Enantiornithes. 🔍✨ Mañana, más sobre la evolución del vuelo con la conferencia de clausura de F. J. Serrano. 🦅🎤

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El Herrerillo @elherrerillo.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

¡¡CONCURSO !! ¿Quieres ganar el libro “Aves de Europa”, de Lynx Ediciones? Participar en el sorteo es muy fácil: - Dinos qué especie de pájaro europeo te gustaría más poder observar - Sigue las cuentas @elherrerillo.bsky.social y @lynxnaturebooks.bsky.social - Haz retuit

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Field Palaeobiology Research Group @fieldpalaeo.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

'Dino Birds' airs on @pbs.org in N. America tomorrow (9pm, 5th Feb.). Follow research from our lab and colleagues around the world revealing the origin of birds. Hope you enjoy it! www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vi... @stevebrusatte.bsky.social @gnavalon.bsky.social @ksepkalab.bsky.social

pbs.org

Dino Birds

Fossils reveal how birds survived the killer asteroid and became today’s only living dinosaurs.

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Josh Luke Davis 🏳️‍🌈 @joshlukedavis.com · 24/01/2025

Something for (sub) #FossilFriday! Saw a beautiful pair of solitaire skeletons at the Hunterian. These birds were basically the island of Rodrigues' equivalent of a dodo. Also large, also flightless, also driven to extinction by European colonists 🦤🧪🦉

Two bird skeletons. They are large, standing fairly upright, and have noticeably small wings.

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Salir de la facultad un viernes por la tarde es como atravesar las Quebradas de los Túmulos. No queda nadie... vivo.

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Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County @nhm.org · 22/01/2025

#NHMLAC is currently accepting applications for the next cohort of #UNLAB postbaccalaureate researchers! Apply to spend a year working with a curator on a biodiversity research project in L.A.—view program details, eligibility requirements, and more: nhm.org/how-apply-un...

An UNLAB cohort is all smiles holding a wildlife find in the palm of two hands.

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Alberta Claw @albertonykus.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

If you need a summary of recent advances in the field of bird paleontology, my labmates at @fieldpalaeo.bsky.social have a new paper out reviewing the origins of the avian brain, palate, wing skeleton, and air-filled bones! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... 🪶🧪 (📷Field et al.)

Diagram showing the evolutionary relationships of birds to their close extinct relatives. Color-coded pie charts indicate the points at which modern "avian" features evolved.

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Why does the fact of being an ecology journal make that more blatant?

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Natalia (娜塔莉) @wrycritic.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

So, you want to be a palaeontologist and study prehistoric life, but don't know where to start? Maybe you worry you're not good enough? That you can't do field work? Or you can't afford it? Let me take you through different options for making it in the field 👇(🧵)

A woman looking at a T. rex skull in a museum

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Koprolitos @koprolitos.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

IV Edición 'Koprolitos de Oro': elegimos los mejores #cómics, #películas y #videojuegos con referencias paleontológicas que nos ha dejado 2024: ▶️ koprolitos.blogspot.com/2024/12/iv-e... Para ello, necesitamos vuestra ayuda. Vota a tus favoritos aquí: forms.gle/v1jh1rexqLHm...

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

Sharks eating dinosaurs! At the charming National Museum in Prague. Totally morbid paleoart. But based on one of the few Czech dinosaur fossils, an ornithopod bone crisscrossed with the razor blade bites of sharks.

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Rory Cooper @rorylcooper.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Check out the mesmerizing moment - a crocodile embryo hatching from its egg! 🥚🐊 Our new research in @natureportfolio.bsky.social reveals how compressive forces, rather than gene interactions, sculpt their intricate head scales - learn more here ⬇️ www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪

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Rory Cooper @rorylcooper.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

This is the face of a shark! I've stained the mineralised tissues to show that their teeth and scales are both made of the same enamel-like material 🦈 🦷 🧪

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Julio the Artist @lacerdajulio.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

After the Moa, another bird for this mammal-heavy series. Which makes me wonder if we have any paleolithic depictions of now extinct reptiles... #paleoart #SciArt #artbyjulio

A rendition of a Great Auk in a realistic but also rough, painterly style against a textured beige background. Next to it is a replica of a minimalistic cave painting showing the same animal, along with a hand print motif and text saying: "Pinguinus impennis, Grotte Cosquer, France, around 17 thousand years before present"

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

No hay nada como una vigorosa brisa de aire gélido por la mañana.

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Also very interesting that incipient heterodont dentition.

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Eric Ekdale @eekdale.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

I have a new paper out on the evolution of hearing in toothed whales! It looks like a narrow range of high-frequency auditory sensitivity in some living dolphins and porpoises may be an ancestral physiology rather than novel specializations in select groups. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Variation in whale (Cetacea) inner ear anatomy reveals the early evolution of “specialized” high‐frequency hearing sensitivity

Our findings support sensitivity to low-frequency sound in the archaeocete Zygorhiza kochii and an early toothed mysticete cf. Aetiocetus. Narrow-band high-frequency hearing was present in Oligocene ...

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

9/ Today, let’s take a moment to admire the evolutionary journey of the cheetah—a species that epitomizes the delicate interplay between structure, function, and survival. Truly a marvel of nature. #InternationalCheetahDay

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

7/ Specialized elbow joint: The cheetah’s elbow limits lateral movement, ensuring a stable and efficient posture during sprinting—critical for maintaining speed and accuracy while chasing prey. However, it constrains the prey grappling.

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

6/ Long limbs and explosive musculature: Its elongated legs provide an extended stride, while semi-retractable claws ensure enhanced traction. Muscular adaptations allow for rapid acceleration and bursts of speed.

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

5/ Lightweight skeleton: Its skeletal structure reduces body weight and maximizes efficiency, enabling the cheetah to achieve extraordinary speeds over short distances.

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

4/ Dorsiflexed brain shape: Despite being relatively small, the cheetah's brain is dorsiflexed and optimized for the control of quick, precise movements in open landscapes. Image from Figueirido et al 2022.

A) Acinonyx jubatus; B) Miracinonyx trumani; and C) Puma concolor.

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

3/ Developed cerebellum: Compared to other felids, its cerebellum is specially adapted to improve balance and coordination, essential for executing swift, agile maneuvers at high speeds.

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

2/ Specialized brain: The cheetah’s unique pattern of gyri and sulci enhances sensory processing and motor coordination, crucial for the rapid and precise movements required during hunts.

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

1/ The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is renowned for its unmatched speed. However, this isn’t just about long legs. Its entire anatomy and neurophysiology are fine-tuned for high-speed pursuits.

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Since today is International Cheetah Day—and as it happens to be my favorite felid—I’ve decided to write this thread highlighting its remarkable adaptations. Let’s delve into the evolutionary marvels of the fastest land animal:

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Lewis A. Jones (he/him) @lewisajones.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

We've put together a CRAN Task View for the palaeontological community - a curated list of R packages relevant for palaeontological research 📦🦕. You can install the CRAN Task View via: ctv::install.views("Paleontology") Docs: cran.r-project.org/web/views/Pa... #Paleontology #Rstats #Palaeoverse

cran.r-project.org

CRAN Task View: Paleontology

Overview

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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

🚨PhD Opportunity: Come to Edinburgh and study ichthyosaurs with us! Study Scottish fossils from Skye! New ones & historic specimens! Project led by Stig Walsh, co-supervised by @davfoff.bsky.social Nick Fraser, Erin Maxwell & me. Details👇 e4-dtp.ed.ac.uk/e5-dtp/super...

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Cool. I also know it as ganoid scales.

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Hoy en Calle Málaga, Mijas. Los viandantes graban a un buitre leonado.

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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Though only about half of the world’s rhino species have gone extinct since the late Pleistocene, to get the full story, we should take a look at how massively their distributions have shrunk. Even in historical times, Sumatran and Javan rhinoes were more fittingly southeast Asian rhinos.

Map of the world excluding Americas, showing in light blue the late Pleistocene combined distribution of all rhinoceros species, covering most of the land area. In red, small scattered spots are shown to signify the remaining populations.

Illustration of a hornless female javan rhinoceros and a map showing its former distribution across southeast Asia, and the single tiny remaining population in western Java.

Illustration of a Sumatran rhinoceros and a map showing its former distribution across southeast Asia as well as tiny remaining spots in Java and Sumatra.

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Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Leaping Balaur bondoc #paleoart for #FossilFriday. This image follows the interpretation that Balaur was an omnivorous bird, not a "double-clawed" dromaeosaur. The skull is unknown, so the head is based on Sapeornis. Originally created for the first @palaeogames.bsky.social book. #sciart

Two bird-like animals leap at one another. Their chests and wings are orange, their necks orange-brown, and their legs white. Feather fans project from their tail base and tail tips. They are surrounded by the bases of trees and framed against a hazy blue-green backdrop. Leaf-litter occupies the base of the image.

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

I'm curious in museological terms. Is that the usual way and place it is exhibited? I ask because I noticed you were doing photogrammetry (or something similar) on it.

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Bob Nicholls Art @bobnichollsart.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

This morning's blue artwork, for all the new #Bluesky people, features Platecarpus and Enchodus...

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Armita R. Manafzadeh @armanafzadeh.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Thrilled to share: out in @natureportfolio.bsky.social (!) just in time for Thanksgiving, the dinosaurian history of how your turkey does the twist. Fibular reduction enabled mid-drumstick mobility, unlocking extreme knee long-axis rotation in theropods 🍗🦖🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08251-w

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Javier Castro Terol @javiercastrobio.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

I was there in september and some nice observation at this place to me were Tree Pipit (a lifer to me) and Black-tailed Godwit. macaulaylibrary.org/photo/345202...

macaulaylibrary.org

ML34520281 - Tree Pipit - Macaulay Library

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