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Matt McKeown

@mattmckeown.bsky.social
471 followers 867 following 3 posts

He/him. Paleontology PhD Candidate in Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook University. Interested in the functional anatomy of metriorhynchoid thalattosuchians and other mesozoic marine reptiles

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Reposted by Matt McKeown
Greg Funston @funstonpaleo.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Say hello to Infernogallus jamesi! Out today in NatComm, we describe the most complete caenagnathid yet known, with an intact skull. Analysis of its biomechanics shows unique adaptations for processing food paralleled only by specialized fruit-eating parrots. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Literally Miguel 🇻🇪 @literallymiguel.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Pelagosaurus typus The basalmost known metriorhynchoid, small piscivorous pursuer, sea noodle, very numerous in specimens (a 2006 thesis listed 88 specimens, with even more being figured since then), and yes the arms were that tiny. One specimen shows a gnarly healed broken jaw
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Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Full article: A new teleosauroid (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) with a unique dentition from the Middle Jurassic of eastern Morocco www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
A new teleosauroid (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) with a unique dentition from the Middle Jurassic of eastern Morocco
The Mesozoic and early Paleogene of Morocco provides a rich and extensive record of crocodylomorphs encompassing a wide range of skull, dental morphologies, and paleoecologies. Here we describe a n...
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Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Exciting news! We here at the LSU Museum of Natural Science @lsumns.bsky.social and Dept. of Biological Sciences are looking for Curator and Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Paleobiology! Come work with us! We are fun, supportive and active! lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/LSU/jo...
lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
Assistant Professor
All Job Postings will close at 12:01a.m. CST (1:01a.m. EST) on the specified Closing Date (if designated). If you close the browser or exit your application prior to submitting, the application progre...
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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🚨Postdoc job alert: Come work with my paleontology & evolution group in Edinburgh! Researcher in Cognitive Evolution Over Deep Time. You'll study how brains & neurons have evolved over time, and predict neuron count in extinct species! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DTC355/p...
jobs.ac.uk
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Cognitive Evolution over Deep Time at The University of Edinburgh
Apply for the Postdoctoral Research Associate in Cognitive Evolution over Deep Time role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.
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PALAEONAVIX @palaeonavix.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Dolichorhynchops, the penguin plesiosaur #cretacious #plesiosaur #research #palaeontology
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Emma Dunne @emmadnn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Love to see ecology and conservation being combined with local languages 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🦪 Really highlights the importance of including languages beyond English in our research! www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Lost oyster beds rediscovered thanks to Gaelic and Scots language
Scientists searched for the inclusion of the Gaelic and Scots words for oyster or oysters in place-names around Scotland's coast.
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The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The Duntulm sauropod tracksite & environmental partitioning in Middle Jurassic dinosaurs on the Isle of Skye, Scotland onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #PapersinPalaeontology @datadryad.bsky.social
On the left: aerial photo of Section 2 of the Duntulm tracksite, with a line drawing below, highlighting Trackway 1 (line below, closer to vertical) and Trackway 2 (line above, closer to horizontal). Scale bar between the two images is 2 m.
Lower right: aerial photo and line drawing of Trackway 1 (scale bar at lower right is 1 m).
Upper right: photograph and line drawing of a manus-pes pair of footprints, illustrating the difference in size observed in all tracks. The manus at the top (DUNT_26) is smaller than the pes (DUNT_27). Scale bar to lower right of drawing is 5 cm.
Red rectangle at the bottom is a cover image from the journal Papers in Palaeontology.
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Aura @aurahack.ca · 24/09/2026
thinking about the coolest thing ever put into a videogame www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-YP...
youtube.com
Armored Core VI - “I won’t miss!”
YouTube video by Zatheroth
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The Anatomical Record @anatrecord.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
A fresh look at historic mosasaur fossils from Belgium! New study by Sharpe et al. confirms Mosasaurus lemonnieri as a valid species, describes a new mosasaurine, Thoraxion tahlequahae & reveals insights into mosasaur anatomy, variation & evolution anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Over a decade ago, Tom Challands and I noticed these strange rock pools on the Isle of Skye coast. Hundreds, each the size of a car tire, lined up in zig-zag sequences Dinosaur tracks! We announced the site, then handed it to Paige dePolo to describe for her Masters Now today:
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pmamtraveller.bsky.social @pmamtraveller.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Moby Dick by French artist Gérard DuBois,
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The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
⚠️ Few PhD and project opportunities. More details below ⬇️ palass.org/phd-opportun... #PhD #opportunity #palaeontology #project
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Rudolf Hima @himarudolf.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Temnodontosaurus
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Davide Foffa @davfoff.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Important reading: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
How contemporary academic structures constrain scientific creativity and hold back early-career researchers - Nature Human Behaviour
In this Perspective, Haubrock et al. argue that today’s scientific structures constrain creativity and that strategic conformity is a rational response. They discuss how this holds back early-career r...
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Literally Miguel 🇻🇪 @literallymiguel.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Plesiosuchus! a robust, giant sea-croc, among the largest known (as usual for metris, its skull has never been properly restored in lateral view) large, closely-packed teeth & lack of occlusal pits for them show they didn't interlock like a gharial as usual, but more orca-like
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Prehistoric Midwest @prehistoricmidwest.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Archelon was the largest sea turtle of all time, growing to be the size of a car! Its fossils are found in deposits linked to the Western Interior Sea in South Dakota. More paleoart coming soon! #paleoart #archelon
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Nick Barber 🌋 @volcannick.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
A unique overlap of both the themes of this account i.e. philly news and science-is-on-fire updates: Drexel University is closing the Academy of Natural Sciences, the US' oldest natural history museum, after over 200 years being open to the public. www.inquirer.com/education/ac...
inquirer.com
The Academy of Natural Sciences is closing its museum after nearly two centuries
The closure does not affect the rest of the institution, which builds and maintains the collections and conducts research through departments such as the Patrick Center for Environmental Research.
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Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Reconstruction of an extinct soundscape reveals ultrasonic communication in the Jurassic | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Reconstruction of an extinct soundscape reveals ultrasonic communication in the Jurassic | PNAS
Very little is known about the acoustic landscape of long-gone environments, such as the Jurassic forests. The sounds made by dinosaurs and other c...
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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
NSF just announced its GRFP solicitation due in October - deadline varies by field: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo... Now for the bad news... * NSF estimates they will issue 1,500 awards, down from 2,500+ last year. * NSF removed STEM Education and Learning Research as a Major Field.
nsf.gov
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
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PALAEONAVIX @palaeonavix.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Pteranodon and Mosasaur – as a fish, you're not safe anywhere #Cretaceous #Pteranodon #pterosaur #pterodactyl #mosasaur #marinereptile #digitalpainting #research
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The Geologists' Association @geolassoc.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Bartoncetus wanklyni, new genus of a small dorudontine whale from the Bartonian of England; a lost skull and a forgotten postcranial skeleton by Henk Jan van Vliet et al. In Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, volume 137, issue 4: www.sciencedirect.com/.../pii/S001...
Map of the western and southwestern parts of the European continent in the Bartonian, showing the locations, where remains of small dorudontine archaeocetes have been found. The North Sea Basin was connected with the Tethys and the later Paratethys Oceans through amongst others a south-eastern passage east of the Bohemian Massif, but was probably separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a land bridge between Normandy, France and Southwest England. Map based on Curry and Smith (1975), Smith and Curry (1975), Rögl (1999, fig. 1), Popov et al. (2004), Marandat et al. (2012), Gol’din and Zvonok (2013, fig. 1), Gibbard and Lewin (2014, figs 1–3), de Lapparent de Broin et al. (2018, fig. 1), and Lenz et al. (2021, fig. 1). H, region of Helmstedt, Germany; H-D B, Hampshire–Dieppe Basin, England; L, Lubartów, Poland; V, Italy: Varano, Italy.Cervical vertebrae, vertebrae A–F (Ce2, Ce‘3’–‘5’, Ce6–7), ‘Zygorhiza’ wanklyni Seeley, 1876, BNSS0777, from the Bartonian of Barton-on-Sea, England. A1–3. Vertebra A (Ce2) in anterior (A1), in left lateral (A2) and in posterior (A3) view. B. Vertebra B (Ce‘3’) in anterior view. C. Vertebra C (Ce‘4’) in anterior view. D. Vertebra D (Ce‘5’) in anterior view. E. Vertebra E (Ce6) in anterior view. F. Vertebra F (Ce7) in anterior view. Ce‘3’–‘5’ in quotation marks, because the position is not completely certain. Scale bar is 50 mm.Section of the early Eocene strata in Christchurch Bay, England and the distribution of dinocysts, as encountered in BNSS0777. A. Section of the Barton Clay Formation: stratigraphy of the Lutetian and Bartonian sediments in Christchurch Bay, England. Strata with finds of small dorudontine archaeocetes are indicated with braces. Modified after Hooker (1986, text-figure 2) and information from the British Geological Survey, Barton Clay Formation (https://webapps.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=BAC). B. Section of the Barton Clay Formation correlated with age-diagnostic dinoflagellates in the sediments adhering to BNSS0777. Based on Bujak and Mudge (1994) (dinoflagellate cysts), Eldrett et al. (2004) (polarity zones), adjusted to the Geologic Time Scale 2020, Gradstein et al. (2020). Age of the Barton Clay Formation ranging from approximately midway Chron19r (41.4 Ma) to the earliest part of Chron17r (38.4 Ma) (King, 2016, fig. 72). Lut., Lutetian; Rup., Rupelian; A. dictyoplokum, Areosphaeridium dictyoplokum; A. fenestratum, Areosphaeridium fenestratum; A. michoudii, Areosphaeridium michoudii; H. porosa, Heteraulacacysta porosa; R. borussica, Rottnestia borussica; Rh. draco, Rhombodinium draco. Down-left elbow arrows indicate the last occurrence datum (LOD), and up-left elbow arrows indicate the first occurrence datum (FOD) of the dinocyst taxa. Palaeoart reconstruction of the living Bartoncetus wanklyni (Seeley, 1876), gen. et comb. nov. by Jonas Hakkens.
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Joschua Knüppe @joschuaknuppe.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Result from the López de Bertodano Formation #paleostream! I have been looking forward to this one for a while as it combines some fascinating aspects of the latest Cretaceous. This formation was deposited in Antarctica and I hear you all: "wait a sec, that's not what I...
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Bob Nicholls Art @bobnichollsart.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
NEW-ish ARTWORK #Ichthyosaurs (unnamed), 1 adult & 2 juveniles, painted in 2025 for Lynn Museum: www.lynnmuseum.norfolk.gov.uk Also pictured are Caturus, Ptycholepis, Saurichthys, crinoids, Apoderoceras, & Belemnoteuthis. #SciArt #PaleoArt #MarineReptiles #Jurassic #JurassicWorld #Dinosaurs #Alt4Me
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Naomi Saphra @nsaphra.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Vast and Trunkless Leg of Stone, Standing in the Desert from classic poem Ozymandias.
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PALAEONAVIX @palaeonavix.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Pliosaurus ahead! #pliosaur #marinereptiles #jurassic #TopPredator #digitalart #ScienceForAll #research #sea #paleontology
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beetle moses @beetlemoses.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Two year anniversary of when I first posted this comic
Two panel comic. Panel 1: an anglerfish is washed up on the ocean shore, laying in the tide. It thinks to itself, “it’s so beautiful.” Panel 2: wide shot of the beach, rocky cliffs, and sky at sunset, with the anglerfish still laying in place. The anglerfish continues thinking to itself, “I might have never known.”
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Pablo Rivera @pablonotpicasso.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Pair of Sachicasaurus vitae, splashing around 124 MYA in the waters over what will someday be Colombia. Included a color rough in the thread- this piece was relatively painless thanks to that step and definitely something I always need to remember to incorporate! #paleosky #sachicasaurus #paleoart
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Bob Nicholls Art @bobnichollsart.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
NEW PAINTING TIME! Here is "Consuming the Fallen," commissioned by The Etches Collection. It features over 50 different species of marine vertebrates and invertebrates. #SciArt #PaleoArt #MarineReptiles #SeaRex #Pliosaurus #Ichthyosaurs #Jurassic #JurassicWorld #Thalassodraco #Sharks
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Bob Nicholls Art @bobnichollsart.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Key to species 1, 2, and 3.
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Stephan Spiekman @stephanspiekman.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Excited to share our new paper in Science Advances! Led by Dr Wei Wang at #IVPP in Beijing, it presents a complete skeleton of #Austronaga, the most marine of all archosauromorphs. To boot, this fossil preserves the oldest complete digestive tract of any reptile! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Dr. Nora Mitchell @noraflora10.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Biology is searching for a tenure track assistant professor in Aquatic Ecology to start August 2027! Application deadline September 28 2026. I am searching chair, please reach out with any questions!! wisconsin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UW_Comprehen...
wisconsin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
Biology: Assistant Professor in Aquatic Ecology
Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process. Position Title: Biology: Assistant Profes...
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Allison 美林 Chin @allisonchinart.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Plesiosaur sketchbook page
Pencil drawings of a plesiosaur skeleton/body from different views and angles
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Orca whales pulverized a sunfish in what could be a feeding strategy or form of play, scientists say abcnews.com/US/scientist...
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Andrzej Wolniewicz @aswolniewicz.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
New paper out in @jvertpaleo.bsky.social! With a team led by @barankarapunar.bsky.social, we report an Early Triassic marine vertebrate assemblage from the 🇮🇹 Dolomites that includes a possible saurosphargid, one of the earliest records of the group in the world! 🐢 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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Tiago Simões @trsimoes.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Proud to share our latest paper in out in Nature today on the origin of #snakes. We present Tametara mirim, an articulated 3D preserved stem snake from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil. Tametara helped us re-tell the story of snake origins in a novel way... www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Exceptional brain and ecological diversity in the earliest snakes - Nature
A well-preserved fossil snake from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil shows early ecological and brain shape disparity in the group.
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Curtis Lanaghan @clanaghan.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
"The transitional areas from deep to shallow waters were the best places for us to observe #Mosasaurs. The abundant prey species drew them to these areas, and the warm clear waters of the shallows allowed for easy viewing from out team while still being able to keep our distance..." #paleoart
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Naturkundemuseum Stuttgart @smnstuttgart.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Zum 01.12.2026 besetzen wir innerhalb der Abteilung Paläontologie eine Stelle als Präparator*in (m/w/d) für wirbellose Fossilien unbefristet in Vollzeit (39,5 Wochenstunden) vergütet nach E 9B TV-L Bewerbungen möglich bis 27.09.2026 ➡ Alle weiteren Infos unter t1p.de/qiutp #JobAd
Präparator*in (m/w/d) für wirbellose Fossilien, ab 01.12.2026 - Naturkundemuseum Stuttgart
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travis-park.bsky.social @travis-park.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
If you want an up-to-date summary of whale and dolphin evolution, have a read of my new review paper in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com! I’ve tried to cover as much research as possible in this, so apologies if I’ve missed you! doi.org/10.1038/s443...
doi.org
The evolution and diversification of Cetacea - Nature Reviews Biodiversity
Cetaceans are a highly diverse and enigmatic group of animals with a well-documented evolutionary history. This Review describes the macroevolutionary and palaeobiological history of Cetacea, from the...
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Dr James Rule @palaeo-jrule.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Seals have a superpower: they are the only mammals with amphibious hearing! They hear well both in-air and underwater. My collagues and I have a new study in Proceedings B on the origins and evolution of amphibious hearing in pinnipeds 🦭🔊🧪 doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
doi.org
The origin and evolution of amphibious hearing in pinnipeds
Abstract. Pinnipeds (true seals, eared seals and walruses) are the only mammals that can hear effectively in both air and water. How and when they achieved
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the beggars out of here getter @milesklee.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
My privilege to share some lovely stories from the science community about what Sam Neill's timeless performance as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park meant to them—and why it will continue to inspire kids to chase their own discoveries for years to come.
wired.com
Sam Neill Inspired a Generation of Scientists
The actor, who died at age 78 on Monday, embodied a passionate approach to research and positive masculinity in his role as paleontologist Alan Grant in the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park.
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Richard Butler @richardjbutler.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
23 month research associate job now available with our team to work on Middle Jurassic mammals from Scotland. Requires strong experience with segmentation of CT data but does not require a PhD. Deadline for applications is 26th July. edzz.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
edzz.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com
Research Associate (Leverhulme) - School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences - 105138 - Grade 6
This is a Research Associate position to assist in palaeobiological research conducted as part of the project “New Insights Into Early Mammal Evolution From Exceptional Scottish Fossils” funded by the...
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Richard Butler @richardjbutler.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
We will have a 23 month research associate role opening to support our work on mammal fossils from the Isle of Skye. Open to candidates with substantial CT-segmentation experience with Masters or PhD qualifications. Advert should be out next week - will post soon but do get in touch if of interest.
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Gabriel Ugueto @serpenillus.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Here are the concept designs that I did of the pliosaur Brachauchenius and the indeterminate nodosaur for last week’s episode of Surviving Earth #paleoart #sciart #SurvivingEarth
Concept design of the pliosaur of Surviving Earth
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muvp-eg.bsky.social @muvp-eg.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Egypt’s First Pterosaur Fossil Adds Wings to the World of Spinosaurus MUVP reports the first confirmed pterosaur fossil from Egypt: a >95-million-year-old wing bone from Bahariya Oasis, with an estimated wingspan of ~4 m. DOI: doi.org/10.4202/app.... #Sallam_Lab #MUVP
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Dr. Amelia R. Zietlow 🦎 @tyrantlzrdqueen.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
It's been far too long since Tylosaurus news...so here's another NEW TYLOSAURUS PAPER! 🦎 From me & Mike² (Everhart & Polcyn) For the first time in over 150 years, the holotype of Tylosaurus proriger is fully described & figured in detail. Incredible artwork by Andrey Atuchin
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Caxela @caxela.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Panthalassa
Out in the ancient Panthalassic Ocean, two Triassic ichthyosaurs have risen above dark and foaming waves, one having leapt completely out of the water. The horizon and sky are obscured.
These ichthyosaurs aren't meant to be any particular genus; they're sort of just unnamed early ichthyosaurs, though they were largely based on mixosaurids.
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Tracy Heath @trayc7.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
I’m recruiting a PhD student to join our lab in the fall of 2027. If you’re excited about phylogenetics, comp bio, paleobiology, stats theory, macroevolution, etc. please get in touch! Folks at #Evol2026, you can talk to @brpetrucci.bsky.social & @sigournie.bsky.social to learn more about our lab
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Natalia (娜塔莉) @wrycritic.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
I love travelling in China. But recently, social media has been drowning in absolute slop. The key things they're showing are bougie, largely non-residential CBDs and kitchy tourist traps (usually underscored with dubstep). It's Japan-level reductionism and orientalism. 👇
Tianfu CBD District in Chengdu with LED lit towers 72 Strange Buildings in Zhangjiajie Futian District weekend led show Hongya Cave complex in Chongqing
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