Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
@cambriancam.bsky.social
I am a science communicator and self-taught paleontologist/geologist located in Georgia. Future Invertebrate Paleontologist. I collect and study fossils from the Appalachian Basin.
Paleo Nerd 🦖🪨 ⚒️
Paleo Nerd 🦖🪨 ⚒️
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
Video recording of a talk I gave last week to NOVA's Honors program -
"Building the Appalachian Mountains in Ten Easy Steps"
(𝘈 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘡𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦)
youtu.be/rTrlePR_bsw
⚒️
"Building the Appalachian Mountains in Ten Easy Steps"
(𝘈 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘡𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦)
youtu.be/rTrlePR_bsw
⚒️
"Building the Appalachian Mountains in Ten Easy Steps"
YouTube video by Callan Bentley
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Video recording of a talk I gave last week to NOVA's Honors program -
"Building the Appalachian Mountains in Ten Easy Steps"
(𝘈 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘡𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦)
youtu.be/rTrlePR_bsw
⚒️
"Building the Appalachian Mountains in Ten Easy Steps"
(𝘈 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘡𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦)
youtu.be/rTrlePR_bsw
⚒️
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
Yay for brachiopods and friends!
Lophophorata is monophyletic!
Super excited to see this work out in Current Biology - we sequenced a phoronid genome and used shared chromosome fusions to confirm the monophyly of Lophophorata.
A big team effort from the Luo Lab @yjluo.bsky.social!
More here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1m3mV3QW8S...
Super excited to see this work out in Current Biology - we sequenced a phoronid genome and used shared chromosome fusions to confirm the monophyly of Lophophorata.
A big team effort from the Luo Lab @yjluo.bsky.social!
More here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1m3mV3QW8S...
November 10, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Yay for brachiopods and friends!
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
Casual reminder that the myth of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is a cruel hoax designed to convince poor people from all walks of life that the injustices they face are a result of their own actions, rather than an oppressive system rigged against them.
November 10, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Casual reminder that the myth of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is a cruel hoax designed to convince poor people from all walks of life that the injustices they face are a result of their own actions, rather than an oppressive system rigged against them.
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
Tonight was a very bad night.
November 10, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Tonight was a very bad night.
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
#FossilFriday
Here are 3 beautiful Pentremites sp. Blastoids I collected from the Upper Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous, Serpukhovian) Lower Bangor Limestone in Russellville, Alabama.
Here are 3 beautiful Pentremites sp. Blastoids I collected from the Upper Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous, Serpukhovian) Lower Bangor Limestone in Russellville, Alabama.
November 7, 2025 at 5:34 PM
#FossilFriday
Here are 3 beautiful Pentremites sp. Blastoids I collected from the Upper Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous, Serpukhovian) Lower Bangor Limestone in Russellville, Alabama.
Here are 3 beautiful Pentremites sp. Blastoids I collected from the Upper Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous, Serpukhovian) Lower Bangor Limestone in Russellville, Alabama.
Diane Acker and I at Late Ordovician Sequatchie Formation in Ringgold, Georgia. We are looking at the Ordovician-Silrurian boundary as well as collecting ichnofossils. @ichnologist.bsky.social has an excellent blog post about this. Check it out!
www.georgialifetraces.com/tag/sequatch...
www.georgialifetraces.com/tag/sequatch...
November 5, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Diane Acker and I at Late Ordovician Sequatchie Formation in Ringgold, Georgia. We are looking at the Ordovician-Silrurian boundary as well as collecting ichnofossils. @ichnologist.bsky.social has an excellent blog post about this. Check it out!
www.georgialifetraces.com/tag/sequatch...
www.georgialifetraces.com/tag/sequatch...
I wasn't expecting this! While out looking for fossils in the Chickamauga Group in Catoosa Co, Georgia, I found a trilobite cephalon fragment. Based on the insanely long genal spine and the hour glass shaped glabella, I believe it is a Cerauruid.
November 4, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I wasn't expecting this! While out looking for fossils in the Chickamauga Group in Catoosa Co, Georgia, I found a trilobite cephalon fragment. Based on the insanely long genal spine and the hour glass shaped glabella, I believe it is a Cerauruid.
I am here in Catoosa County, Georgia next to the Chickamauga Group. This particular group of rocks dates back to the Middle-Late Ordovician period (~471-440 million years ago). During this time, NW Georgia was south of the equator and was covered in warm shallow epicontinental sea.
November 4, 2025 at 2:46 AM
I am here in Catoosa County, Georgia next to the Chickamauga Group. This particular group of rocks dates back to the Middle-Late Ordovician period (~471-440 million years ago). During this time, NW Georgia was south of the equator and was covered in warm shallow epicontinental sea.
Lady Gaga - The Dead Dance (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by LadyGagaVEVO
youtu.be
November 1, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Welcome back to #fossilfriday
No, dinosaur controversy here, Here we have a beautiful sliced Halysitid (chain) coral from the Middle Devonian Callaway Limestone (Cedar Valley Group) of Columbia, Missouri.
No, dinosaur controversy here, Here we have a beautiful sliced Halysitid (chain) coral from the Middle Devonian Callaway Limestone (Cedar Valley Group) of Columbia, Missouri.
October 31, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Welcome back to #fossilfriday
No, dinosaur controversy here, Here we have a beautiful sliced Halysitid (chain) coral from the Middle Devonian Callaway Limestone (Cedar Valley Group) of Columbia, Missouri.
No, dinosaur controversy here, Here we have a beautiful sliced Halysitid (chain) coral from the Middle Devonian Callaway Limestone (Cedar Valley Group) of Columbia, Missouri.
Now that Nanotyrannus lives, let's go down memory lane and revisit this gem.
youtu.be/rxcA3kOw6IA?...
youtu.be/rxcA3kOw6IA?...
The Mystery Dinosaur
YouTube video by DiscoveryScienceDocs
youtu.be
October 31, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Now that Nanotyrannus lives, let's go down memory lane and revisit this gem.
youtu.be/rxcA3kOw6IA?...
youtu.be/rxcA3kOw6IA?...
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
Nice "oldie but goodie" @pbs.org documentary mentioning today's dinosaur darling, Nanotyrannus, but also puts its best possible foot forward (or rather, feet) by opening with the Cretaceous dinosaur footprints near Glen Rose TX. 🧪🦖🦕🐾
The first time I heard about Nanotyrannus was in this 1989 Infinite Voyage episode I had taped off PBS. The whole thing’s worth a watch, but the relevant part starts at 47:44
The Infinite Voyage - The Great Dinosaur Hunt (1989)
YouTube video by Dinosaur Documentaries
youtu.be
October 30, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Nice "oldie but goodie" @pbs.org documentary mentioning today's dinosaur darling, Nanotyrannus, but also puts its best possible foot forward (or rather, feet) by opening with the Cretaceous dinosaur footprints near Glen Rose TX. 🧪🦖🦕🐾
Nanotyrannus lives!
A fossil once assumed to be of a young Tyrannosaurus rex is in fact that of a different species altogether
go.nature.com/4qyROr5
go.nature.com/4qyROr5
‘Teenage T. rex’ fossil is actually a different species
The discovery of smaller predator Nanotyrannus could prompt a re-think of tyrannosaur evolution.
go.nature.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Nanotyrannus lives!
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
New frond just dropped. Or do they flop? C. brasieri has a similar structural pattern to the enigmatic mid-Proterozoic "microbial" structures I've been documenting. But where C. brasieri forms elegant fronds, my structures are fractal sprawls. Greater complexity, but lower organisation.
This #FossilFriday I’m excitedly sharing a new #Ediacaran #Charnia brasieri named for my PhD Supervisor & friend Martin Brasier who died 2014. I’ve wanted to name something for him ever since but I wanted it to be something special. When I saw the first one from Inner Meadow I knew it was the 1 🧵
October 31, 2025 at 6:38 AM
New frond just dropped. Or do they flop? C. brasieri has a similar structural pattern to the enigmatic mid-Proterozoic "microbial" structures I've been documenting. But where C. brasieri forms elegant fronds, my structures are fractal sprawls. Greater complexity, but lower organisation.
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
Mid-Proterozoic expansion of passive margins and reduction in volcanic outgassing supported marine oxygenation and eukaryogenesis.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Mid-Proterozoic expansion of passive margins and reduction in volcanic outgassing supported marine oxygenation and eukaryogenesis
The mid-Proterozoic interval between 1800 and 800 Ma, commonly referred to as the “Boring Billion”, was marked by the emergence of eukaryotic cells fr…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Mid-Proterozoic expansion of passive margins and reduction in volcanic outgassing supported marine oxygenation and eukaryogenesis.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
In my 'Evolution of the Earth' class today, we'll finish learning about the Proterozoic Eon: the end of "Snowball [or Slushy] Earth" & the first supercontinents (all hail Rodinia!), but then will jump into the Phanerozoic Eon, focusing on the ecological expansion of marine biota & environments. 🧪🪨⚒️🌊
a person is swimming in the ocean with the caption " pov : you 're hunting with anomalocaris " on the bottom
Alt: Animation of the Cambrian animal Anomalocaris swimming above a herd of trilobites on a sea bottom, labeled with "POV (Point of View) : you 're hunting with Anomalocaris."
media.tenor.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:48 PM
In my 'Evolution of the Earth' class today, we'll finish learning about the Proterozoic Eon: the end of "Snowball [or Slushy] Earth" & the first supercontinents (all hail Rodinia!), but then will jump into the Phanerozoic Eon, focusing on the ecological expansion of marine biota & environments. 🧪🪨⚒️🌊
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
This is the only "complete" crinoid in my collection, from holdfast to crown.
It's easy to see why they are sometimes called sea lilies, even though they are animals related to starfish and sand dollars.
This is Abatocrinus gallatinensis from the Mississippian Lodgepole Fm of MT.
#FossilFriday
It's easy to see why they are sometimes called sea lilies, even though they are animals related to starfish and sand dollars.
This is Abatocrinus gallatinensis from the Mississippian Lodgepole Fm of MT.
#FossilFriday
September 26, 2025 at 3:05 PM
This is the only "complete" crinoid in my collection, from holdfast to crown.
It's easy to see why they are sometimes called sea lilies, even though they are animals related to starfish and sand dollars.
This is Abatocrinus gallatinensis from the Mississippian Lodgepole Fm of MT.
#FossilFriday
It's easy to see why they are sometimes called sea lilies, even though they are animals related to starfish and sand dollars.
This is Abatocrinus gallatinensis from the Mississippian Lodgepole Fm of MT.
#FossilFriday
I get to dress up at work today. I'll let you guess as to who I am going as. 🦖🦕
October 28, 2025 at 9:48 PM
I get to dress up at work today. I'll let you guess as to who I am going as. 🦖🦕
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
I've never seen a brittle star swim.
Stemless crinoids (Comatulids) are beautiful swimmers. Search them up if you've never seen it.
Stemless crinoids (Comatulids) are beautiful swimmers. Search them up if you've never seen it.
October 27, 2025 at 8:01 PM
I've never seen a brittle star swim.
Stemless crinoids (Comatulids) are beautiful swimmers. Search them up if you've never seen it.
Stemless crinoids (Comatulids) are beautiful swimmers. Search them up if you've never seen it.
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
I have a very bad feeling about this...
October 27, 2025 at 4:51 PM
I have a very bad feeling about this...
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
Happy to have been interviewed for part of @lisasgardiner.bsky.social's @sciencenews.bsky.social article about my favorite bioeroding & carbonate-sand-pooping fishes, parrotfishes; also includes keen insights from Drs. Katie Cramer & Ana Molina Hernández. www.snexplores.org/article/parr... 🧪🐠🪸🏖️
Parrotfish shape the future of coral reefs, one bite at a time
Could these colorful fish aid struggling coral? Yes, but not always. Parrotfish play a complex role in reefs — and sometimes may cause harm.
www.snexplores.org
October 23, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Happy to have been interviewed for part of @lisasgardiner.bsky.social's @sciencenews.bsky.social article about my favorite bioeroding & carbonate-sand-pooping fishes, parrotfishes; also includes keen insights from Drs. Katie Cramer & Ana Molina Hernández. www.snexplores.org/article/parr... 🧪🐠🪸🏖️
Reposted by Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️)
Two New Dinosaur Fossils Emerge From the ‘Mummy Zone’ www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/s...
Two New Dinosaur Fossils Emerge From the ‘Mummy Zone’
www.nytimes.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Two New Dinosaur Fossils Emerge From the ‘Mummy Zone’ www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/s...