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Stephanie Drumheller

@uglyfossils.bsky.social
1.1K followers 237 following 432 posts

Studying the evolution of archosaurs and their behaviors, one ugly fossil at a time. she/her

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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Here's another lab note for dino-mummy melanosome research funding drive @tessasaurus.bsky.social, @boydpaleo.bsky.social, @mhouseholder.bsky.social, and I have been holding. We hit out most recent stretch goal, so of course I had to go and sneak a little taphonomy into the mix at the 11th hour.
experiment.com
Final Stretch!
Once again, we’ve hit our stretch goals with a little time to spare. Thank you all again for your amazing support!In lieu of adding a formal stretch goal, we’re sha...
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Thomas Cullen @thomascullen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
With all the news of museums being closed and/or defunded, I feel the message of our paper on the importance of natural history research (and the collections housing those specimens) is just as relevant (or more) today as it was when it was published. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
cover page of the linked paper
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A vastly more straightforward puzzle than the taphonomic history of the real thing:
Disassembled puzzle of Dakota the Dino Mummy
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Anthony (Tony) J. Martin @ichnologist.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
My favorite paleontology-specific spellcheck change was for "taphonomy," for which MS Word suggested "taproom." Which although not correct, it is admittedly paleontology adjacent. (cc: @uglyfossils.bsky.social)
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
That's wild. Almost all of my recent reviews have involved a box to click pinky swearing I didn't use LLMs. I am honestly interested in a breakdown by field on which journals are leaning which way.
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Tess Gallagher @tessasaurus.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
We've almost reached our next stretch goal! To celebrate, here's a quick post highlighting the science of dinosaur colors experiment.com/u/zT7LA
experiment.com
How to color your dinosaur
An i...
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
For #FossilFriday, @tessasaurus.bsky.social, @boydpaleo.bsky.social, @mhouseholder.bsky.social, and I have yet another stretch goal to share:
experiment.com
Stretch Goal #3: Into the Jurassic
Once again, you have all blown us away with your amazing support of this project. And once again, we find ourselves needing to give you another set of ...
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Society of Vertebrate Paleontology @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology stands with the Academy of Natural Sciences (ANSP) staff, and preservation of the ANSP Museum. SVP urges our member community and anyone who enjoys and supports the natural sciences to speak up on behalf of the ANSP and their staff! #SaveTheAcademy
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I absolutely love the little croc scavenger just going for it.
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Joschua Knüppe @joschuaknuppe.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
They have a fundraiser currently going, which I want to use to fund research into the microstructure and even coloration of Edmontosaurus skin! You can donate here: experiment.com/projects/exp...
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Joschua Knüppe @joschuaknuppe.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
🧵 And so ends our #paleostream on the the past and future research surrounding Dakota, the Edmontosaurus mummy! We talked with @tessasaurus.bsky.social, @uglyfossils.bsky.social, @mhouseholder.bsky.social and @boydpaleo.bsky.social about their upcoming work!
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Tess Gallagher @tessasaurus.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
STRETCH GOAL ANNOUNCEMENT! THESCELOSAURUS JOINS DAKOTA ON OUR COLOR STUDY!
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Tess Gallagher @tessasaurus.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
REMINDER we are live streaming with @joschuaknuppe.bsky.social about our fundraiser at 3pm EDT on twitch. We will be announcing a second dinosaur to add to our research
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I'm currently sick and pathetic, so I don't want to leave my bed, but I'm not so sick that I'm not also bored out of my mind while being stuck in said sickbed. You know what that means? Time to work on some scientific papers under the influence of various cold meds. What could possibly go wrong?
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I'll have to carve out some time to visit her.
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
What's better than one dinosaur mummy? Two dinosaur mummies, of course. @tessasaurus.bsky.social, @boydpaleo.bsky.social, @mhouseholder.bsky.social, and I have added new stretch goals to our research fundraiser here: experiment.com/u/ajApw
experiment.com
Stretch Goal 2: A Second Mystery Dinosaur!
For Science!
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Tess Gallagher @tessasaurus.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Our fundraiser on exploring Dakota the dino mummy for color was funded!!! In a day!!! OMG. so with that, we are announcing stretch goals so we can sample more areas of Dakotas body 😁
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Y'all. Y'ALL. It hasn't even been 24 hours. We haven't even done our Discord Q&A yet. Just, what? 😭 My heart is full.
135% funded sign from Experiment.com
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Eric Ekdale @eekdale.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
So happy to see Ernie Lundelius is still active! Hearing that he published a paper he started 70 years ago should give us all hope for the projects we put on our shelves to gather dust. I learned so much from Ernie during my time at Texas and he's still an inspiration. youtu.be/93T7xyqRMJk?...
youtu.be
Ernie's Last Paper
YouTube video by The University of Texas at Austin
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
@tessasaurus.bsky.social, @boydpaleo.bsky.social, @mhouseholder.bsky.social, and I are running a fundraiser for some new dinosaur mummy research. We've just posted our first lab note, and the plan is to share more as the month goes along. You can check out the project here: experiment.com/u/Db63Fw
experiment.com
Meet Dakota!
First of all, we are all blown away at the immediate response our project has received. You all surprised us with your generous donations, but trust that
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Tess Gallagher @tessasaurus.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I am excited to announce that I am collaborating with the NDGS to investigate Dakota the dino mummy for color patterning and cellular preservation! but we need your help to continue this research🫵. Check the link in replies 🦕🔬
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
You know it's going to be a great work week when you try to log into your university's classroom portal and are met with an alert that Canvas is a malicious site which is attempting to steal your data. Which yes, sure, I'll believe that. But I really need to send a message to my students.
static.klipy.com
Zach Grenier: Oh God, I Love Technology
Alt: Zach Grenier saying "Oh God, I Love Technology"
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I am usually amused by whatever ads the algo decides to kick my way on YouTube. So many of them are wildly off target. And then there's getting jumpscared by @sabercatwoman.bsky.social talking about @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social having Taylor & Francis host the society's journal.
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Cary Woodruff @doublebeam.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Did you know that we had nicknamed a special 🦕in honor of Dolly Parton? "Dolly" is the first dino with a respiratory infection. And "Dolly" is also a new genus. Teaser image: I often use pieces of art as human scale bars, but I could think of nothing more fitting than Dolly with "Dolly."
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Apparently today's the day we all get our SVP fates revealed. So far I have a talk on some very cool bite marks (getting back to my research roots) and a poster on demographics and experiences of public fossil dig participants.
Banner for SVP 2026 in Cleveland with the dates: "Wednesday November 11 - Saturday, November 14
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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
there's not a lot of super rich people who really earned their wealth, and very few who used it to truly make the world better. as much as i love her music, it's that part that i've always loved the most about Dolly Parton
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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
“Be the alligator girl. Be whatever your dreams and your luck will let you be. Wear your green cornflakes with pride. Snarl at the crowds, and do your best to make them flinch. Give them a quarter's worth of wonder.” - Ms Dolly Parton 🌹💔
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Tess Gallagher @tessasaurus.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Hello paleopeeps! The @ndgspaleo.bsky.social crew and I will be having a Q&A with @joschuaknuppe.bsky.social of Paleostream about our upcoming fundraiser! Stay tune for more details 👀🦕
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
It took a minute to see this project through to the end, but I am really excited that my student Miles Mayhall's geologic time scale art made it up for our first day of class:
3 clock style time scales arranged around the Earth, the Moon, and Mars. The Earth one features organisms and geologic events through time.
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
It's a major award! I keep telling @boydpaleo.bsky.social he should mass produce these to fund @ndgspaleo.bsky.social, but apparently @mhouseholder.bsky.social has to hand paint each one. So... maybe not?
Spoof of the Christmas Story fishnet lamp, but the leg has been replaced with a replica of Dakota the dino mummy's arm.
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
This research trip's "mommy guilt" present feels a little weirdly self-agrandizing.
Puzzle showing a stylized image of an Edmontosaurus and the words "Dakota the Dinomummy: A Dinosaur of Epic Scale."
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Anthony of the Badlands @mosasaurologist.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Happy #FossilFriday from the special surprise found inside the last stupid Xiphactinus that i discovered this spring: a complete Micropycnodon! This poor little guy was eaten right before the Xiphactinus (nicknamed Brown Sugar) died, and is forever trapped in fish rib jail. 🧪🐟
Curatorial finger booping the snoot of a completefush. It looks like an armored brown pancake with a googly eye. Its trapped between thin parallel ribs of a much bigger fish.
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I collected too much data and had to buy a backup notebook in the NHMU giftshop. In conclusion, Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry has too many interesting bone surface modifications.
Travel notes booklet on top of a leather bound field notebook, both balancing on the corner of a drawer of Allosaurus vertebrae
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Alright NHMU collections, you have my attention.
Label on ethefoam backing. Text reads, "gnawed, chewed or swallowed."
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Anthony of the Badlands @mosasaurologist.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
To all my professional acquaintances that convinced the higher ups to go along with this: Heck you!
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Because sometimes you have to escape collections and stretch your legs mid-research:
Deinosuchus skeletal mountBrachychampsa skeletal mount
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Julia McHugh @drjmchugh.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Here be Witches. We come as four and toil with the dead until their secrets start to pour. #taphonomy #Morrison #dinosaurs #Macabre #science @uglyfossils.bsky.social @jptaphonomy.bsky.social
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Hanging out in the Natural History Museum of Utah's collections, hunting bite marks and other taphonomic goodies:
Me on a step ladder in front of an open specimen cabinetMe on a step ladder in front of an open specimen cabinet
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Riley Black 🏳️‍⚧️ 🦕 @restingdinoface.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
“I’ve been joking that these fish were just out there making poor life choices." Many thanks to @uglyfossils.bsky.social for talking to me about some unusual fossil bite marks! My latest Buttondown article, out now for paid subscribers! buttondown.com/restingdinof...
buttondown.com
Some Fish Will Never Learn
Strange bite marks indicate some fish just kept picking the wrong prey.
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Alberta Claw @albertonykus.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Evidence of fruit-eating from preserved gut contents in Eocene birds of the Messel Formation: link.springer.com/article/10.1... 🪶🧪 (📷Mayr & Collinson)
Fossilized remains of several extinct birds with close-ups showing seeds preserved as their gut contents.
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Dr Briana Pobiner @brianapobiner.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
So excited to be a co-author on this paper with an amazing team led by @egveatch.bsky.social, published today! Tl:dr - 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘰 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴 scavenged (not hunted) Stegodon and did not have control of fire at Liang Bua.
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Decomposing vertebrates introduce a whole host of nutrients into their immediate environments. In related news, my alligators have beautiful plant halos this morning:
Alligator skeleton overgrown with cloverAlligator skeleton overgrown with plants
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Andrej Spiridonov @andrejpaleo.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
This is really interesting. The common cause (of evolution, taphonomy) does deep: "Monsoon-driven storms created a Cretaceous dinosaur Lagerstätte. Microbial mats enabled rapid sealing and exceptional soft-tissue preservation." www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🧪 ⚒️ #Geology #Paleobio
Depositional model and facies details of the VdP deposits. (A) Reconstructed sequence of events: (Top) High-energy cyclonic events transport terrigenous debris, plant matter, and tetrapod carcasses across undisturbed tidal flats. (Middle) Coarse sediment settles to form a storm layer, rapidly stabilised by microbial mat draping; sinking vertebrate carcasses create impact deformation structures in the soft substrate. (Bottom) Resumption of tidal rhythms immediately buries isolated bones and debris, while articulated carcasses retain soft tissue, progressively buried by onlapping laminae over multiple tidal cycles. (B) Photomicrograph showing the typical fine, undisturbed rhythmic couplets. (C) A photographic detail illustrating an event bed, overlain by distinctive microbial draping structures. (D) A reddish, oxidised plant leaf transported from the hinterland, representing material delivered by flood pulses. Scale bars: 1 mm.
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
@utknoxville.bsky.social and my home department will be hosting #2028NAPC. The first circular is out now: napc2028.sites.utk.edu
napc2028.sites.utk.edu
Welcome to NAPC 2028! - NAPC 2028
Join  the international paleontology community for the 13th North American Paleontological Conference from May 22-26, 2028 in Knoxville, Tennessee. The North American Paleontological Conference is a m...
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I would joke about job security here, but that maybe cuts a little too close to the bone. Anyway, turns out equifinality is as thorny of an issue as we've all said, even when you turn our shiniest new tech onto the problem. 🧪 journal.caa-international.org/articles/10....
journal.caa-international.org
Deep Learning-Based Computer Vision Is Not Yet the Answer to Taphonomic Equifinality in Bone Surface Modifications | Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology
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Julia McHugh @drjmchugh.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
The #Snyderfire is burning near our museum in Fruita, so we suspended field work to kick fire prep into high gear. Fire systems are ready to go, but with sprinklers to fight fire, we also have to prep for water mitigation too. We're not in any immediate danger, but how's the time to get ready!
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Julia McHugh @drjmchugh.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Things you don't want to see from your fossil site.
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Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
The Lonely Race to Save Ukraine’s Past - bioGraphic www.biographic.com/the-lonely-r...
biographic.com
The Lonely Race to Save Ukraine’s Past - bioGraphic
In a country ravaged by war, Ukraine’s conservators are torn between protecting the country’s past and fighting for its future.
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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 11/05/2026
"Scientists don't want you to know-" Buddy there are so many things I, as a scientist, want you to know and the only thing stopping me from writing more papers and posts about it and then starting a podcast to tell you even MORE things is that I am limited by hours in the day
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Paleontological Society @paleosoc.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
📣 Attention to U.S. Paleontologists! See you email for links to take action. #paleontology #geoscience #paleo
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