#paleontologist

[theantiazdarcho]

The Lancetfish is a species that looks like it comes straight out of a realistic fantasy world building project.

[funkybunkymalunky-blog]

Sleepy Ankylosaurus 💤

I took an extra half hour to learn how to make grass. It surprisingly wasn’t a pain in the ass

[heartspark]

The Picture on my artfight card but by itself, I think its so cute! Ive been wanting to draw dove in a paleontologist/field work like outfit for a while. If I had unlimited funds id probably be in school studying paleontology as its something I'm pretty passionate about learning about!

[blueiscoool]

Harmony Beneath the Surface Stingray Fossil

Green River Formation Wyoming, USA Early to Middle Eocene, circa 56–48 Million Years Ago

Around 50 million years ago, the freshwater stingray Heliobatis radians glided through the subtropical lakes of the renowned Green River Formation, a vast and storied landscape stretching across present-day Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. This site remains one of the most celebrated fossil localities on Earth, famed for the sheer abundance and exquisite preservation of its ancient life.

stingray species are known from these layers, the other being the more primitive Asterotrygon maloneyi. With fewer than 1,100 specimens of Heliobatis ever recovered, each individual example is regarded as a rare and highly desirable find.

The species was first described in 1877 by the distinguished Yale paleontologist O.C. Marsh, and its holotype still resides today in the prestigious Peabody Museum of Natural History.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Museum Guest: so why’d you become a paleontologist?

Me: I was born in 1992 so I was assigned paleontologist at birth

Guest group: *loud long laughter*

Me internally: I’ve done it. I have finally mastered human interaction

[sillypillybug]

I’m surviving

With a broken stylus and a dream

I’m getting through these drawings

Anything for paleontologist Shelly 👀👀 yea I got obsessed and now I’m thinking of Shelly and cuphead working together digging up fossils I think it’s so cuteeeee

Was even thinking of making a mini comic for it who knowssss

[bobnichollsart]

Yes, this Hyphalosaurus fossil REALLY DOES exist, and it is on the cover of our new book, written by Dr Dean Lomax - Palaeontologist and illustrated by me (Published by Columbia University Press). Read all about it and 49 other amazing fossils (not all dinosaurs) that tell us about the behaviour of prehistoric animals. Pre-order on Amazon now!

[creature-studios]

Spinosaurus mirabilis is a large extinct species of spinosaurid theropod dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian), around 95 million years ago, discovered in the Farak Formation of Niger. It belongs to the genus Spinosaurus and was formally named in 2026 by Paul Sereno and colleagues. Like other members of its genus, it possessed a long, low snout, a scimitar‑shaped midline crest on the skull, and a large sail formed by elongated neural spines along its back.

Fossils of S. mirabilis were collected from two main localities—Iguidi and Jenguebi—during expeditions in 2000, 2019, and 2022. The holotype, MNBH JEN1, includes a fragmentary skull with premaxilla, maxillae, nasal crest, part of the dentary, and several teeth. Additional specimens from Jenguebi (JEN2–9) preserve vertebrae, limb fragments, and isolated teeth, while Iguidi material consists mostly of isolated tooth crowns and vertebral fragments. Some bones were initially misidentified as belonging to other theropods, such as Carcharodontosaurus or Sigilmassasaurus, before being reassigned to S. mirabilis in its formal description.

The species is notable for expanding the known diversity and distribution of Spinosaurus. While the better‑known S. aegyptiacus is associated with coastal deposits, S. mirabilis comes from inland fluvial environments, suggesting ecological variation within the genus. Its discovery also clarifies long‑misinterpreted vertebral material from the region and provides new anatomical details—especially regarding the skull crest—that help distinguish it from other spinosaurids. As of its description, the holotype and most specimens are housed at Abdou Moumouni University in Niger, with some Iguidi material temporarily held at the University of Chicago.