Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Many of these fossils are classics...and detailed in this great report from Academy scientists in the 1990s. This was THE place to think about N.A. paleontology in the 1800s and it set the stage for full development of the science in the 20th century. 270
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Oh. And the type of Euceratherium collinum, SHRUBOX! From Burnet Cave, NM. The ANSP has the trifecta of North American muskox holotypes. (there may be more that I'm missing in my photos). 161
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Not from a cave, but still in the ANSP collections...this massive snoot of an Atlantic walrus dredged from coastal New Jersey. Now present no further south than the the Canadian Arctic. 161
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026...and Smilodon gracilis--yes, also the type for this iconic Irvintonian species is also Port Kennedy Cave. 171
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Port Kennedy at ANSP also has...hands down, the best sample of the Irvintonian ground sloth Megalonyx wheatleyi anywhere in the world. 1115
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Port Kennedy Cave is filled with fossils from the mid-Pleistocene (ca. 1.5 ma to 250ka). There aren't many of these sites, especially in the eastern US. So it is an important record, even for animals that are common during other time periods. Like mastodons! 183
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Tapir from Pennsylvania? Yes, this is the type of Cope's Tapir from Port Kennedy Cave, now in Valley Forge National Historical Park. 172
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Yes. Another holotype of an Ice Age muskoxen, Symbos cavifrons. Until the 1980s, this was seen as a second american muskox running around during the Ice Age. Now synonymized with Bootherium (above). Without these collections we wouldn't have sorted that out... 161
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026The proof is in the...label. William Clark AND Thomas Jefferson involved in this one. The American mastodon may soon become our national fossil mammal (passed the house, still in the senate). This is a storied history for a national fossil mammal! houchin.house.gov/media/press-... 181
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Near and dear to me (and a few of you)...are American mastodons. Although the type of M. americanum is in Paris, the Jefferson Collection of mastodon material provided key ammunition against Buffon's "theory of American degeneracy" 1103
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Mammoths abound. As they often do. Mammoths from this same locality contributed DNA to our modern understanding of mammoth evolution. www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco... 1103
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026...but you may ask...what was the OTHER head. It was our extinct stag-moose, Cervalces scotti. Yes, also a holotype in the Jefferson Collection. 181
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026And Muskoxen. This is the type specimen of the helmeted muskox (Bootherium) also from the Ohio valley. I love the original description of this specimen which was title "An Account of Two Heads Found in the Morass". 171
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026And #dogs, of course. Yes, they have the type specimen of Canis (=Aenocyon) dirus. Long before Game of Thrones and de-extinction (1850s), this chunky upper jaw of a dire wolf was found on the banks of the Ohio River near present day Evansville, IN. 151
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Not to be forgotten, there are some really cool carnivores in the Pleistocene of N.A. too. Here is the holotype of the American Lion described by Joseph Leidy in 1853 (across the aisle from the bison). Bigger than saber-toothed cats, it was THE apex predator in N.A. This from Louisiana. #cats 151
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026...and it's not just bison. The academy of was instrumental in figuring out what these odd American species were. Like the weird long-clawed critters with giant claws. Not lions (as Jefferson thought), but GROUND SLOTHS! 161
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026But wait, there's more! This is the holotype of Bison antiquus (in the drawer above the latifrons; they were found in the same part of KY too). B. antiquus is found throughout North America. #Bison is our National Mammal, and the Academy curates the holotypes of 2 of 4 of our recognized species. 151
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Museums are a social good. They preserve the collective history of our communities. In the case of the ANSP, that history happens to be a wonderful story of the dev of the natural sciences in this country. So we'll start here...this is the holotype specimen of Bison latifrons, the BIG #bison. 1124
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Although I can't be with those of you who are out in the rain advocating for your museum today...I thought I might be a good idea to post some Academy of Natural Sciences fossils to keep you warm and dry on the inside. @savetheacademy.bsky.social 15322
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 11/09/2026It is always lovely to spend a Friday with a mammoth. This one is the Moon Mammoth from Lake Pleasant near Erie showing its barely erupted third molars. PA State Museum, Harrisburg. 57614
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 02/07/20264. Also... See Erin et al. 2026 that I just posted yesterday. Also critical of the "Clovis as super predator" model. 4/x 140
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 01/07/2026More of this, please. Metin Eren, @brianapobiner.bsky.social, and others. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 1156
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 07/06/2026Spent some time on a new-to-me river today. The Little Juniata near Tyrone is a wonderland of old railroad bridges and rusty legacy infrastructure. But now a destination trout stream. So many fun bridges and one lane tunnels. 0100
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 06/06/2026Couldn't have planned this illustration of tapir tooth replacement better if I tried. From Hollidaysburg Fissure, Bair Co., PA. 1113
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 15/03/2026Southern tip of Greenland was sunny and beautiful yesterday. 030
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 11/03/2026Made sure to say hello to Al Koch's Missourium today when visiting @nhm-london.bsky.social. Bones are probably from 'Koch Spring ' on the Pomme de terre river, Missouri. Perhaps with a few bits from Kimmswick, MO thrown in for good measure. Tour de force of Ozark elephant. 0284
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 09/03/2026@restingdinoface.bsky.social sighting in the wild at Waterstones UK. 160
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 08/03/2026Good, recent paper, that has a nice summary image. Fwiw, M. columbi and M. trogontherii are different names for the same species on different sides of the pond. (No one wants to have to start renaming things like Columbian mammoths) palaeo-electronica.org/content/2024... 251
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 28/02/2026Big critter, small voxel, solidarity ✊ (white foam block contains a baby mastodon jaw, ~20 inches on long axis, scanned last week). 140
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 01/10/2025Shortly before my VP class every week someone draws these delightful critters on the chalkboard--usually just in time for me to discuss them in lecture. The students have started calling this unknown artist "EMS Banksy." Complete mystery! 3192
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 20/09/2025Purple fossil coprolite. I have questions. @floridamuseum.bsky.social 3162
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 23/08/2025I'm excited by all of the west coast mammoths and mastodons that I was introduced to last week. I'm REALLY excited about the >100 high-quality scans of teeth and limb bones that I collected...even though processing will probably take every spare waking hour for a month. 081
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 18/08/2025San Jacinto mastodon wants treats. So does his buddy Navahoceras #sosmiley @nhm.org 0163
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 14/08/2025My family tells me that queso, chips, and beer are not "dinner." I disagree. Rules change in Texas (where I am, for the next few hours). 020
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 19/07/2025Location: basement of my building. I think this is self explanatory. My only question is why I wasn't informed. Seems like a safety issue. @psugeo.bsky.social 2667
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 16/07/2025Geez this looks like a walrus jaw. But from Central PA. @coastalpaleo.bsky.social 2231
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 06/06/2025Here's a Diplodocus femur from Como Bluff, WY to brighten your Friday. Sadly, we had to take it off exhibit when it began to crack to avoid endangering visitors. Summer project: #3Dprint a replacement so a falling femur won't hurt so much. #museumsafety 0160
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 04/06/2025That's great! We've got a ways to go, but plenty of time to think about it. A few dozen of these old cases brimming with economic geology samples. 010
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 02/05/2025An absolute unit of a gomphothere. Actually, I like that, the gomphothere unit. As in, I'll take 1 "gomphothere" of your finest lager please. #fossilfriday #dmns 27317
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 02/05/2025One of the perks of living where we do, I get to stare at this mountain at the end of a long week, who is indifferent to the current state of human affairs. #mtnittany 050
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 28/04/2025Here's a photo of a baby (chin) tusk in a mastodon from Colorado. 1253
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 26/04/2025Saw some of the tiniest elephants today in the Denver Museum collections. A bitty mastodon chin tusk from Snowmass (complete w/enamel cap), and a cutie baby mammoth jaw. 1202
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 24/04/2025Clearly I need more monumental wildlife sculpture in my workplace. #saadenver2025 090
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 16/04/2025All part of a good day looking at historic mystery mammoth bones (and maybe mastodon, and dinosaur?) at Bethany College WV. 1120
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 16/04/2025Yes. This is an elephant skull perched atop a very small pedestal. #thingsyoucantunsee 1131
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 03/04/2025Pile o' tiny #3Dprinted #mastodon teeth. We're shooting for about 120 for an event next weekend. 093
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 20/03/2025We've got a few from your neck of the woods too. Looking forward to seeing what you're cooking up! 110
Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 16/03/2025Looking at some old files today I ran across this pygmy mammoth molar from Santa Rosa, (Channel Islands, CA). In the collection of the Santa Barbara #Museum of #NaturalHistory. 1274