Aaron Kufner
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akufner.bsky.social
Aaron Kufner
@akufner.bsky.social
150 followers 200 following 18 posts
PhD Candidate at UW Madison geoscience. Triassic ecosystems, temnospondyls, and the odd dinosauriform
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Reposted by Aaron Kufner
koskinonodon.bsky.social
New paper out today in @zoojlinnsoc.bsky.social for #FossilFriday AKA here's-Bryan's-one-paleo-paper-this-year-to-remind-people-I-still-do-paleo-sometimes: a revision of the #Permian #dissorophid #temnospondyl Aspidosaurus chiton based on a new specimen: doi.org/10.1093/zool... (1/n)
Photograph and illustration of the skull of the new neotype of Aspidosaurus chiton in dorsal view. The skull is an orange-brown color, longer than wide, and largely undistorted.
July 11, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Aaron Kufner
iwriteok.bsky.social
Elon Musk: pours tens of millions into a race that has never seen even a fraction of that much money. bribes multiple voters with $1 million checks to vote. offers any Wisconsin voter who proves they voted $50. wears a fucking cheesehead

Wisconsin: votes against his candidate by historic margins
April 2, 2025 at 2:10 AM
akufner.bsky.social
New publication! My first dissertation chapter is now published in @plosone.org with @paleobadger.bsky.social, @calamanderso.bsky.social, Hannah Miller, Max Deckman, and Brandon Price. Any images not credited below are from this paper.

doi.org/10.1371/jour...

@uwmadscience.bsky.social

1/16
doi.org
April 2, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by Aaron Kufner
semifossorial.bsky.social
A pretty solid couple of days for publishing some of my dissertation work! 🦎Our description of Milleropsis pricei, a late Permian reptile from South Africa, is out!

🚨Rethink what you know about 'parareptiles'🚨

Link here: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
January 8, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Aaron Kufner
paleobadger.bsky.social
I am incredibly excited to share our new Open Access publication in the @zoojlinnsoc.bsky.social that was released today. Please welcome *Ahvaytum bahndooiveche*, a new species of sauropodomorph(?) dinosaur from the Popo Agie Formation, WY, USA. tinyurl.com/3zx7s3mx (1/x)
Image contains a small theropod dinosaur checking out a dead amphibian in a wetland forested ecosystem
January 8, 2025 at 3:38 AM
Reposted by Aaron Kufner
semifossorial.bsky.social
Our anatomical description of Hapsidopareion is out in Papers in Palaeontology! Thanks to collaborators and mentors @gondwannabe.bsky.social, Arjan Mann, and @hanssues.bsky.social and ISU undergraduate coauthors for their massive help with segmentation! 😄https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1610
January 7, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Reposted by Aaron Kufner
serpenillus.bsky.social
Sneak Peek
Tomorrow. New Paper. New Taxon. New illustration

Stay tuned

#paleoart #sciart #paleontology
Sneak peek of an illustration of a new paper coming out tomorrow
January 7, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Aaron Kufner
koskinonodon.bsky.social
For the first #FossilFriday of 2025, here's my annual thread looking back on the #temnospondyl research that came out last year! In general, papers were skewed towards anatomical descriptions of specifically European taxa that were predominantly from Triassic deposits.

🧵👇

(1/30ish)
Artistic reconstruction of Stenokranio by Frederik Spindler. A rather stout temnospondyl is depicted as standing up, facing to the right and with mouth agape in a sort of smile. Its large tongue and many teeth are visible. The torso and limbs are round and cylindrical, with webbed feet. The eyes face upward and to the sides, with faint cranial ridges from the skull visible through the skin. Associated with Werneburg et al. (2024) Known and inferred distributions of temnospondyls across Pangea during the Middle-Late Triassic based on the combination of empirical data and this study's modeling. In the Middle Triassic, capitosaurs have the widest range, with trematosaurs being more restricted to central Europe and plagiosaurs to north-central Europe. In the Late Triassic, metoposaurids have the widest range, with capitosaurs and plagiosaurids restricted to central/north-central Europe. From Moreno et al. (2024) Composite reconstruction of the skull of the Late Triassic stereospondyl Ninumbeehan dookoodukah via CT analyses of multiple skulls. The skull is longer than wide and generally triangular, though with a blunted tip of the snout. In lateral view, it angles upwards posteriorly such that the back of the skull is much taller than the snout. The typical interpterygoid vacuities of temnospondyls occur on the palate. The lower jaw is also reconstructed, featuring the typical suite of elements found in temnospondyls. From So et al. (2024) The holotype skull of the early Permian eryopid Clamorosaurus nocturnus from Russia. The skull is incomplete anteriorly and flattened, with associated postcrania skrewn behind it. Typical eryopid features like a tall suborbital bar and broad posterior skull are discernible. From Werneburg & Witzmann (2024)
January 3, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Aaron Kufner
koskinonodon.bsky.social
A nice figure of another junior synonym of Anaschisma browni, "Koskinonodon princeps" from the Popo Agie Fm of Wyoming for #FossilFriday. For some reason, a chunk that could be reattached on the margin of the left orbit was left out and substituted with some filler

@akufner.bsky.social & Gee, 2021
Photographs and interpretive drawings of the holotype of the Late Triassic metoposaurid "Koskinonodon princeps" from Wyoming. The skull is largely complete but heavily reconstructed in the back right region. A small chunk next to the left orbit is detached and instead filled in with filler. A mounting bracket is evident on the underside of the skull.
December 13, 2024 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Aaron Kufner
koskinonodon.bsky.social
Contra the latest crap paper from Lucas & co., MU 537 from Wyoming is not the holotype of this taxon but rather of "Koskinonodon princeps," which they would know if they had read, and heaven forbid, cited, @akufner.bsky.social & Gee (2021): doi.org/10.1080/0272...
Screenshot of a figure from Rinehart et al. (2024) that purports to show the holotype of "Koskinonodon perfectum" - in fact this specimen, housed in the University of Missouri, is from Wyoming and is the holotype of "Koskinonodon princeps". Both are synonyms of Anaschima browni.
December 9, 2024 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by Aaron Kufner
serpenillus.bsky.social
Last week saw the description of a REALLY cool burrowing temnospondyl from Late Triassic North America called Ninumbeehan dookoodukah

I was lucky enough to be commissioned to illustrate this amazing species in a triptych showing it in its environment across season
Triptych showing Ninumbeehan in its palaeoenvironment across seasons. First:Ninumbeehan resting on the edge of a river with a low water table as the rainy season ends. Second: A small community of Ninumbeehan in their estivation burrows during the peak of the arid season. Third: The beginning of the rainy season triggering a mass emergence from their estivation burrows (some individuals would not have made it through the estivation period and would have died in their burrows)
November 4, 2024 at 10:31 PM