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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

#FossilFriday student highlight! 😀 Easten Jenn is an intern in the UAMRC paleontology collection with me this semester. One project is cleaning and piecing together bones of Alabama's state fossil, the Eocene whale Basilosaurus cetoides! 🐋 Here are some of the ribs he worked on.

Easten Jenn with Eocene whale Basilosaurus cetoides rib bones he worked.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

‼️Here's a nice trackway possibly made by a scorpion on the mudflats of Alabama ~315 million years ago (Pennsylvanian)🦂. This one comes from the famous Union Chapel Mine, and was cited in Buta & Kopaska-Merkel (2016). #FossilFriday @The University of Alabama Museums Research & Collections! #fossil

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

#FossilFriday‼️ In the Late Cretaceous sediments of Alabama, mosasaur teeth are found occasionally. Here's one example found in April 2026. 😀 This specimen adds to the growing mosasaur collection @The University of Alabama Museums Research & Collections (UAMRC). collections.museums.ua.edu

In the Late Cretaceous marls and chalks of Alabama, mosasaur teeth are found occasionally. Here's one example found earlier this year.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

#FossilFriday! 😀 Part 3 of fossils on the University of Alabama campus‼️See these two oval shapes? These are corals from the Bangor Limestone (~325 million years old) used in building stone near the Rodgers Library. Lots of other shell hash too. #paleontology #fossil #snail #urbangeology

Corals from the Bangor Limestone (~325 million years old) used in building stone near the Rodgers Library, U of Alabama

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

‼️Research Alert + #FossilFriday‼️ New paper by Cruz et al. @thepalass.bsky.social about the role that ornamentation plays in drilling predation by gastropods in deep-water ostracod prey. Turns out that ornamentation did not deter predation but did influence predation behavior. doi.org/10.1111/pala...

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

#FossilFriday!! Skull of the Onion Creek mosasaur found in 1935 in central Texas @utaustin.bsky.social. This Maastrichtian-aged Mosasaurus hoffmannii was ~9 m (30 ft) long. The University of Alabama Museums Research & Collections also contains 2 large specimens of this iconic species. #paleontology

Skull of the Onion Creek mosasaur found in 1935 in central Texas. This Maastrichtian-aged Mosasaurus hoffmannii was ~9 m (30 ft) long.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

#FossilFriday! 🦀 Check out this nice carapace of the crab Dromiopsis rugosa (von Schlotheim, 1820) from the Paleocene (Danian), a species found in Denmark, Sweden, and northern Germany. Specimens range from ~1 mm to several cm. 😀 Specimen @ The University of Alabama Museums Research & Collections.

carapace of Dromiopsis rugosa from the Paleocene (Danian) of Sweden.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

#FossilFriday. Here's a great example of a Paleocene nautiloid, with the phragmocone and part of the body chamber preserved. Who can guess where it is from, what species it is, and during which part of the Paleocene it lived?

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

🐚 #FossilFriday! Part 2 of fossils on the University of Alabama campus‼️ This gastropod from the Bangor Limestone (~325 million years old) is used in building stone at the front entrance stairs of Jones Hall. It is small but distinctive amidst shell hash. #paleontology #fossil #snail

This gastropod from the Bangor Limestone (~325 million years old) is used in building stone at the front entrance stairs of Jones Hall.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

🦈🦈 🦈 For #sharkweek and #FossilFriday, here are 3 remarkable Late Cretaceous shark species of Ptychodus from Alabama. Left: P. polygyrus (rare), middle: P. rugosus (very rare), and right: P. mortoni (fairly common). 😲 Paleontology collection, The University of Alabama Museums Research & Collections

3 remarkable Late Cretaceous shark species of Ptychodus from Alabama. Left: P. polygyrus (rare), middle: P. rugosus (very rare), and right: P. mortoni (fairly common).

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Photo of holotype of Raninoides danicus described in 2025 in Klompmaker et al (2025: Geodiversitas) (left) and modern example of a species of the same genus (right).

Modern example of a species of the same genus, Raninoides.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

🦀🦀🦀 #FossilFriday! Last year, we described a new species of frog crab: Raninoides danicus. This ~65.4 million-year-old crab lived in central Alabama, mostly buried except for the eyes and antennae. 3D model of holotype @ The University of Alabama Museums Research & Collections. #paleontology #crab

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

#FossilFriday‼️ 😲 Who does not like a well-preserved, large Cretaceous oyster like this Exogyra ponderosa? This one comes even with a repair scar! Campanian-aged Demopolis Formation, Alabama. Specimen: The University of Alabama Museums Research & Collections. #paleontology #fossil

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

#FossilFriday‼️🐚 These gastropods lived in central Alabama ~65.4 million years ago. The left one (Mesalia) has no shell preserved but only the infilling, whereas the right one (Straticostatum) has its shell preserved. Paleo @ The University of Alabama Museums Research & Collections. #paleontology

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

#FossilFriday! It is just a single bone, but this new mosasaur vertebrae from the ~82 million-year-old Mooreville Chalk of Greene County, Alabama, is a reminder that Alabama is one of the global mosasaur hotspots. 😀 Paleontology collection of The University of Alabama Museums Research & Collections

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

#FossilFriday! 😀 Plenty of fossils can be found on the University of Alabama campus from plants to marine animals. Here's one of the them from the Mississippian-aged (325 Ma) Bangor Limestone of north Alabama: a fossil nautiloid used in a building stone of Jones Hall. #paleontology #cephalopod

Plenty of fossils can be found on the University of Alabama campus from plants to marine animals. Here's one of the them from the Mississippian-aged (325 Ma) Bangor Limestone of north Alabama: a fossil nautiloid used in a building stone of Jones Hall.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

New paper alert‼️Surprisingly found 7 early Paleocene marine snake vertebrae a couple years ago. In a paper led by Abhishek Natarajan, they were described as a new genus and species: Parapalaeophis jeffshawi gen. et sp. nov. #FossilFriday Read news article here: tiny.cc/uil4101

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

#FossilFriday‼️ Two Late Cretaceous (~82 million-year-old) coprolites from the Mooreville Chalk of Alabama. These are likely mosasaur turds. We have hundreds of coprolites in the fossil collection of the UA Museums Research & Collections, some with inclusions. 😀 Collectors: Tad Rust & Jim Braswell.

Two Late Cretaceous (~82 million-year-old) coprolites from the Mooreville Chalk of Alabama. These are likely mosasaur turds. We have hundreds of coprolites in the fossil collection of the UA Museums Research & Collections, some with inclusions. 😀 Collectors: Tad Rust & Jim Braswell.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

🦈‼️Cretaceous shark discovery: 4 teeth are well-visible but can you find the 5th? These teeth belong to Cretalamna, and found in the Mooreville Chalk of Dallas County, Alabama. Vertebrae and some teeth of the same animal showed up in the same spot 18 months ago! 😲 #fossil #paleontology #FossilFriday

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

‼️#FossilFriday ‼️A large (48cm/19") Late Cretaceous ammonite Placenticeras was found within an Alabama creek (tadpoles atop!) in 2025 and fully prepared in 2026. 😀 The ammonite's phragmocene, body chamber, and a nacreous shell layer are preserved. Discovery and prep: George Martin. Specimen: UAMRC

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Student highlight‼️ UA Blount Scholars paleontology intern Marjorie Smedley completed her internship. Final project: fully curating a collection of >650, recently donated, Mississippian-aged echinoderms. Here she's holding Agaricocrinus americanus from Alabama. Collector: Jessica Cost #FossilFriday‼️

UA Blount Scholars paleontology intern Marjorie Smedley completed her internship. Final project: fully curating a collection of >650, recently donated, Mississippian-aged echinoderms.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

#FossilFriday‼️ Last week, paleontology student intern Idelle Burgess presented a research poster at URCA on repair scars preserved in Late Cretaceous oysters from the Gulf Coast. Most repairs occur in larger oyster size classes, and we suspect large crabs to be the main culprit. 🦀 #paleontology

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

#FossilFriday‼️ Birmingham Paleontological Society member Garrett Skurka found mosasaur remains at UA's Harrell Station in central Alabama. Mooreville Chalk, Late Cretaceous (~82 Ma). These two vertebrae were added to the one collected last year at the same spot. Will more show up in the future?

Birmingham Paleontological Society member Garrett Skurka found mosasaur remains at UA's Harrell Station in central Alabama. Mooreville Chalk, Late Cretaceous (~82 Ma). These two vertebrae were added to the one collected last year at the same spot. Will more show up in the future?

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

#FossilFriday‼️🐳 Jaw with serrated teeth of the late Eocene (~35 Mya) whale Zygorhiza kochii from southern Alabama. This is a smaller whale species than the giant Alabama state fossil, the whale Basilosaurus cetoides. UA Museums Research & Collections paleontology collection. Collector: Mark Uhen

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Student discovery alert‼️Students in my Paleontology & Society class in the Blount Scholars Program found some neat Cretaceous fossils at Harrell Station. Abby found a rudist bivalve piece and Easten a large bony fish vertebra! 😀 #FossilFriday & celebrating Honors Day at The University of Alabama.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

🐟 Bony fish discovery‼️ During my class field (Paleontology & Society) trip this Pachyrhizodus caninus jaw of 11" (28 cm) was found. Upper Cretaceous (lower Campanian, ~82 Ma) Mooreville Chalk, central Alabama. Discovered by George Martin. University of Alabama Museums paleo coll. #FossilFriday!!

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

🦐 Research News‼️What is fossil crustacean cuticle composed of? Research led by my colleague Russell Bicknell shows that calcium and phosphorus are the dominant elements for most surveyed specimens, including this shrimp, but one had lots of carbon! Article: hdl.handle.net/2246/7530 #FossilFriday

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

🦈 ‼️Very rare fossil shark tooth discovery last year in Alabama. A Late Cretaceous, in-situ tooth of Ptychodus rugosus in near perfect condition. We have less than 10 teeth of this rare crushing shark species in the University of Alabama Museums paleontology collection. #FossilFriday #shark #fossil

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

🦀 Crabby #FossilFriday‼️ Remarkably well-preserved claw of a crab from the Paleocene of Alabama. This is a propodus and dactylus of the family Palaeoxanthopsidae. Members of this family lived during the latest Cretaceous - early Eocene. 🦀 University of Alabama Museums Paleontology collection.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

#FossilFriday student highlight‼️Last semester, undergraduate student Idelle Burgess did a Blount Scholars museum internship in paleontology. She prepared a Late Cretaceous turtle from Alabama and did other curation projects. Idelle also did a research project that is continuing into this semester. 🙂

Last semester, undergraduate student Idelle Burgess did a Blount Scholars museum internship in paleontology. She prepared a Late Cretaceous turtle from Alabama and other curation projects.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

#FossilFriday at the University of Alabama Museums' Department of Museum Research & Collections‼️ This nice nautiloid, Cimomia haltomi, found in Paleocene rocks from Alabama shows the infilled air chambers. Found and donated by an avocational paleontologist! 😀 #fossil #paleontology

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

#FossilFriday‼️ We have hundreds of unstudied Cretaceous bony fish and shark coprolites in the University of Alabama Museums paleontology collection. Some have bone inclusions visible from the outside. 😲 Here's a ~82 million-year-old shark turd I found at Harrell Station, Alabama, in 2025.

We have hundreds of unstudied Cretaceous bony fish and shark coprolites in the University of Alabama Museums paleontology collection. Some have bone inclusions visible from the outside. 😲 Here's a ~82 million-year-old shark turd I found at Harrell Station, Alabama, in 2025.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

😀 It has been a while since posting last about mosasaurs, but this one was my second best Alabama mosasaur find of 2025. There is more of the jaw and skull but these are the best teeth. Late Cretaceous (Campanian). Specimen: University of Alabama Museums paleontology coll. #FossilFriday‼️ #fossil

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

🦀 #FossilFriday ‼️Concretions sometimes contain exquisitely preserved crustaceans. Here are some Eocene (~45 million-year-old) crabs from Oregon, USA. Collected, prepared, and donated by Bob Manley. Specimens: University of Alabama Museums' paleontology collection. #paleontology #fossil 🦀

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

🦀 🦞 🦐 Research alert‼️A special issue about arthropod paleontology was recently published in the Journal of Paleontology, honoring the late Dr. Rodney Feldmann. Specimens from the UA Museums' paleontology collection were also used. Read the short news story here: tinyurl.com/bdwp3v2j #FossilFriday

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

😲 Pterosaur discovery Alert‼️David Braswell found pterosaur vertebrae in ~82 million-year-old (Cretaceous) marls of Harrell Station Paleontological Site in Alabama at a trip I organized for the Alabama Paleo Society! These are now the first pterosaur vertebrae in UA's fossil collection. #FossilFriday

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

🐟 Fossil Fish Alert‼️Carol Smith found a jaw of a rare bony fish in the ~82 million-year-old (Cretaceous) marls of Harrell Station Paleontological Site in Alabama last month during a trip I organized for the Alabama Paleontological Society! 😄 Specimen: UA Museums paleontology collection #FossilFriday

Carol Smith found a jaw of a rare bony fish in the ~82 million-year-old (Cretaceous) marls of Harrell Station Paleontological Site in Alabama last month during a trip I organized for the Alabama Paleontological Society! 😄 Specimen: UA Museums paleo collection.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

🦞 Fossil Lobster Alert‼️Alabama Paleontological Society president and Research Associate Jim Braswell found remains of a rare lobster in the ~82 million-year-old (Cretaceous) marls of Harrell Station Paleontological Site in Alabama last month! 😄 Specimen: UA Museums' paleo collection. #FossilFriday

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

‼️Special volume about arthropod paleontology was published today in the Journal of Paleontology, honoring the late Dr. Rodney Feldmann.🦀🦞🦐 Many of the 20 articles are open access. @paleosoc.bsky.social #paleontology #fossil #crab #lobster #shrimp Full volume: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

‼️New paper on Paleocene (early Danian, ~65.3 mya) decapod crustaceans from Alabama. 🙂 Eight species (incl. 2 new) is more diverse than previously known for any early Danian site in North America. Thanks also to the @paleosoc.bsky.social for grant support. Paper: sciencepress.mnhn.fr/en/periodiqu...

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

#FossilFriday! The Alabama Paleontological Society is the recipient of the 2025 Alabama Avocational Paleontologist Award. It will be awarded on Saturday September 20 at the University of Alabama campus as part of Alabama's National Fossil Day (Alabama Fossil Fest) event: tiny.cc/d6hs001

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Croc Discovery Alert‼️🐊 Last month, Kelly Griffiths found an ~84 million-year-old fossil of a crocodile. It's an osteoderm or scute, a bony plate sitting primarily on the back of the animal. Found during the same @almnh.bsky.social trip for the public a hadrosaur tooth was found! 😀 #FossilFriday

Last month, Kelly Griffiths found an ~84 million-year-old fossil of a crocodile. It's an osteoderm or scute, a bony plate sitting primarily on the back of the animal. Found during the same ALMNH trip for the public a hadrosaur tooth was found!

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Discovery Alert‼️In July, Kaylee Baize and Ava Broyles found a great piece of a mosasaur jaw in an Alabama creek during an ALMNH trip for the general public. This Cretaceous (~84 million-year-old) specimen is now in the @almnh.bsky.social paleontology collection. #FossilFriday #paleontology #fossil

Mosasaur jaw found in an Alabama creek during an ALMNH trip for the general public. This Cretaceous (~84 million-year-old) specimen is now in the ALMNH paleontology collection.

In July, Kaylee Baize and Ava Broyles found a great piece of a mosasaur jaw in an Alabama creek during an ALMNH trip for the general public.

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

Job Alert‼️ Postdoctoral Fellow opportunity in paleontology/biology at the University of Alabama Museums: careers.ua.edu/jobs/688232b... Aim: assess biotic interactions using mollusks from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. Please share widely! @paleosoc.bsky.social @almnh.bsky.social

Postdoctoral Fellow opportunity. The NSF-funded project “Energetic Controls on Marine Benthic Community Structure in Space and Time” aims to (1) evaluate how productivity affects the energetic and trophic structure of marine benthic communities on either side of the modern Isthmus of Panama, where there is now a strong contrast between the high productivity, upwelling-dominated regime of the eastern Pacific and the low-productivity, low-seasonality regime of the Caribbean (2) use this knowledge to evaluate the fossil record of Caribbean benthic ecosystems before, during, and after the uplift of the isthmus during which planktonic productivity decreased in the Caribbean and (3) relate ecosystem changes driven by productivity shifts to the well documented Caribbean extinction event ~2 Ma. This is a project in collaboration with Ohio State U, UC Berkeley, and STRI.
One key component of this project is to assess biotic interactions such as predation and possibly parasitism using fossil and modern molluscan assemblages from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. I am recruiting a Postdoctoral Fellow with a background in paleontology and/or biology/ecology with strong quantitative skills, attention to detail and organization, and someone who can effectively supervise students. Conference support is provided. The postdoc will work with Dr. Adiel Klompmaker (aaklompmaker@ua.edu) within the University of Alabama Museums’ Department of Museum Research and Collections (https://collections.museums.ua.edu/).
Initial appointment will be for 1 year, with renewal contingent upon funding. The deadline to apply is 5 September 2025 at 22:55 US Central Day Time. The salary will be $56,000 per year. Please upload a cover letter expressing your interest and qualifications, a CV, and contact details of at least two references. To apply and for more information see: https://careers.ua.edu/jobs/688232bd-b82e-49d3-90ea-06601c242dab

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

🦐 New article honoring my PhD advisor Dr. Rodney Feldmann, who passed away last year. Lobetelson feldmanni n. sp. is a ~305 million-year-old shrimp from New Mexico. Open access paper J Paleo: doi.org/10.1017/jpa.... @paleosoc.bsky.social Specimen @almnh.bsky.social collection. #FossilFriday #fossil

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Discovery alert‼️A ~84 million-year-old hadrosaur dinosaur tooth was found by ALMNH director Dr. John Friel during a recent Alabama Museum of Natural History summer trip to shark tooth creek in western Alabama. #FossilFriday! @friel.bsky.social @almnh.bsky.social #Cretaceous #paleontology #fossil 😀

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Research Alert‼️ Why were ~50 enigmatic, small crustaceans from the Carboniferous Period found clustered together? Paper led by my good colleague Russell Bicknell. Here's a short news story: collections.museums.ua.edu/2025/07/03/o... Belated #FossilFriday #paleontology #fossil @almnh.bsky.social

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

#FossilFriday‼️🦀🦞🦐 Next week, together with Danish colleagues, I am organizing the 9th Symposium on Fossil Decapod Crustaceans in Faxe, Denmark. Abstract and program books are printed. We will welcome everyone starting on Monday! Website: tiny.cc/fx4m001 #fossil @almnh.bsky.social #paleontology

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

‼️Research alert for #FossilFriday‼️ Well-preserved, ~69 million-year-old ammonites from South Dakota show two type of lethal injuries: lateral punch holes and ventral bite marks in 7.3% of the 1303 shells. Crustaceans and coleoids may be the predators. Read more: tiny.cc/wogl001 @almnh.bsky.social

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