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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 · 02/10/2026
The kiddos are very proud:
Completed Dakota puzzle
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Deceptively evil puzzle, much like its inspiration:
Mostly complete puzzle of a dinosaur with lots of empty white space.
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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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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I try to keep my taphonomy and my taprooms separate, for hygiene and etiquette.
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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
Oh absolutely agreed.
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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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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Wild! We had no idea it would get this positive of a response.
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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
You wouldn't be able to trust my results.
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Me, looped out of my mind, finally making sense of @boydpaleo.bsky.social's ever-growing dinosaur mummy geochem dataset:
Galaxy brain meme image, light radiating from a stylized human head and brain
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
(Pers. comm.) Communication with whom? The grand super-consciousness of the celestial spheres, obviously.
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Ha, I'm matching you for typos, but I can't even blame autocorrect. Just the off brand DayQuil.
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I mean, statistically speaking, it's not like my chances for getting this federal grant proposal funded could get any worse, so...
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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I am suddenly empathizing with the 17th's century naturalists whose papers included nonsense like, "This revelation came to my in a vision brought on by the laudanum."
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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
Greedy. Put a pin in that in case we hit this goal too.
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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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Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
experiment.com/projects/exp...
experiment.com
Exploring color and cellular preservation in a duck-billed dinosaur "mummy"
Recent advancements in dinosaur skin research have shown that cellular detail and color patterning can be preserved. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and histological thin sections, we propose...
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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 mean, I was more creeped out at the algorithm actually hitting a target for once, partnered up with laughing about T&F thinking advertising in front of my trash Star Wars theorycrafting videos is a good idea.
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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
And a student's poster on a new frog and a colleague's talk on dinosaur skin. Yay!
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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 · 17/08/2026
It lights up, and they wired it through the arm so the scales glow too. It was pretty extra.
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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 The Fish Necromancer @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
#AcademicProblems
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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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