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Gaël Spicher

@spichergael.bsky.social
133 followers 190 following 12 posts

PhD candidate in paleontology at the Jurassica Museum in Porrentruy and the University of Fribourg, Switzerland🇨🇭 working on fossil turtles 🐢 and ichthyosaurs. Marine reptile enthusiast

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Gaël Spicher @spichergael.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Revision of the fossil turtles of the Late Jurassic locality of Canjuers, France, and description of a new thalassochelydian species academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
academic.oup.com
A revision of the fossil turtles of the Late Jurassic locality of Canjuers, France, and description of a new thalassochelydian species
Abstract. The Tithonian (Late Jurassic) limestones of Canjuers (Var, France) represent one of the most important Late Jurassic fossil localities in Europe,
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Gaël Spicher @spichergael.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
New paper on Thalassochelydia! 🐢 We describe a new species from the Late Jurassic limestones of Canjuers, southern France, famous for exceptionally preserved fossils. Published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society #Palaeontology #Fossils #Jurassic academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
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eavpalaeo.bsky.social @eavpalaeo.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Insights into Jurassic sea turtle diversity!🐢 A fresh look at historical Lagerstätten specimens is revealing just how varied eurysternid turtles (Thalassochelydia) really were. By JURASSICA Museum's @spichergael.bsky.social #EAVP2026
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Fossil Record @fr.pensoft.net · 26/09/2025
A new Upper Franconian ichthyosaur species has been discovered from Mistelgau. Learn all about it on the @pensoft.net blog! 🔗 blog.pensoft.net/2025/09/26/n... @spichergael.bsky.social @feikosaur.bsky.social @mfnberlin.bsky.social Artwork: @olorotitan.bsky.social
blog.pensoft.net
New Jurassic ichthyosaur species discovered in Mistelgau
Ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles, with dolphin-like bodies, that lived during the time of the dinosaurs.
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feikosaur.bsky.social @feikosaur.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Eurhinosaurus mistelgauensis is interesting because it is quite a bit younger than all other known Eurhinosaurus species. It gives us vital information of these ichthyosaurs close to the Middle Jurassic faunal turnover. Art: Andrey Atuchin, used with permission from Urwelt-Museum Oberfranken
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feikosaur.bsky.social @feikosaur.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
A new ichthyosaur species is discovered! Welcome Eurhinosaurus mistelgauensis! fr.pensoft.net/article/1542... Huge congratulations to @spichergael.bsky.social for leading this project.
fr.pensoft.net
A new Eurhinosaurus (Ichthyosauria) species from the Lower Jurassic (Toarcian) of Mistelgau (Bavaria, Southern Germany)
Eurhinosaurus is a European Lower Jurassic longirostrine ichthyosaur, characterized by its remarkable overbite. Despite the long history of the genus, the taxonomy of Eurhinosaurus is still under deba...
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Serjoscha Evers @sirjoscha.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
The study was conducted by @spichergael.bsky.social & colleagues (@feikosaur.bsky.social) & published today in @mfnberlin.bsky.social's Open access journal Fossil Record. Congrats to all authors! It's available here: fr.pensoft.net/article/1542... Fossil & artwork to be exhibited at UMO in future.
Nearly five-meter-long slab of belemnite battleground with skeleton of Eurhinosaurus mistelgauensis – the inspiration for the beautiful artwork by Andrey Atuchin in my previous post. Specimen is from Mistelgau, excavated by and curated at Urwelt-Museum Oberfranken in Bayreuth, Germany
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Serjoscha Evers @sirjoscha.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
News @ Urwelt-Museum Oberfranken (UMO) in Bayreuth: new ichthyosaur, Eurhinosaurus mistelgauensis, named today after UMO's prime excavation site, the Jurassic clay pit Mistelgau. @olorotitan.bsky.social beautifully reconstructed the to-be fossil on a belemnite battleground typical for the locality.
Freshly deceased Eurhinosaurus mistelgauensis on a Jurassic sea floor covered in Belemnite rostra (a "belemnite battleground"). Artwork by Andrey Atuchin.
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Gaël Spicher @spichergael.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
‼️ PAPER ALERT ‼️ We describe a new German ichthyosaur species: Eurhinosaurus mistelgauensis, from Upper Toarcian layers of Mistelgau (Bavaria). 🇩🇪 👉 Published in Fossil Record with @feikosaur.bsky.social , Jelle Heijne & Nicole Klein. Check the full article here: fr.pensoft.net/article/1542...
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Gaël Spicher @spichergael.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Got to Lyon yesterday! Here to dive into some Late Jurassic turtles. 🐢time to dust off fossils that haven’t been touched since the 1800s!
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Gaël Spicher @spichergael.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
The JURASSICA museum is organizing a paleontological field school again this year! Come and join us! 🦖🐢⛏️ Learn more here: www.jurassica.ch/en/Practical...
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Gaël Spicher @spichergael.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Spent the whole week working on a beautifully preserved Eurysternum wagleri. 🐢 First stop: Ann Arbor for CT-scanning —huge thanks to @friedmanlab.bsky.social for the warm welcome, taking the time to scan the specimen, and inviting me to give a short talk on my PhD research #FossilFriday
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Gaël Spicher @spichergael.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Fossil Friday is the perfect time to introduce the newest member of the JURASSICA Museum family! 🦖 #FossilFriday #Jurassic
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Gaël Spicher @spichergael.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Just submitted a huge manuscript (nearly 30,000 words!) with a fantastic team! It’s a detailed descriptive study of a well-known Jurassic ichthyosaur, a deep dive into its anatomy. Can’t wait to share it with you all soon! 🤩 #paleontology #ichthyosaur
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Serjoscha Evers @sirjoscha.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
My PhD student Guilherme Hermanson & I have a new paper out today in Ecology & Evolution! 🐢🤩 We think the morphologically conservative body plan of turtles can in part be explained by allometric constraints imposed by the shell. Thread 👇 for some highlights onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Shell Constraints on Evolutionary Body Size–Limb Size Allometry Can Explain Morphological Conservatism in the Turtle Body Plan
Turtle body size and limb size scale nearly isometrically along the group's evolution, although major deviations are only seen in highly specialized ecological or morphological groups. The evolution ...
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Gaël Spicher @spichergael.bsky.social · 22/10/2024
Hi Bluesky! I’am doing a PhD in paleontology at the Jurassica Museum and University of Fribourg. My project focuses on the diversity of thalassochelydian turtles 🐢 (such as this skull of Solnhofia brachyrhyncha). I'm also working on other fossil turtles and marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs.
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