Dan Peppe
@danpeppe.bsky.social
Paleobotanist, paleoclimatologist, & geologist. I study fossil plants, ancient climate, and the Earth's magnetic field. (he/him)
Linking Earth’s Ancient Flora, Fauna, and Climate (LEAFF Climate) Lab
https://sites.baylor.edu/daniel_peppe/
Linking Earth’s Ancient Flora, Fauna, and Climate (LEAFF Climate) Lab
https://sites.baylor.edu/daniel_peppe/
Pinned
Excited to share the results of collaborative research in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico published today in @science.org that provides new age constraints for the Naashobito dinosaurs from New Mexico, like the giant sauropod, Alamosaurus: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Dan Peppe
I am on my way home to Toronto and the aurorae are absolutely phenomenal.
If you are anywhere in the northern half of the continent, get outside and look up! Or better still, put your camera on a 10 second exposure and point it up.
If you are anywhere in the northern half of the continent, get outside and look up! Or better still, put your camera on a 10 second exposure and point it up.
November 12, 2025 at 2:44 AM
I am on my way home to Toronto and the aurorae are absolutely phenomenal.
If you are anywhere in the northern half of the continent, get outside and look up! Or better still, put your camera on a 10 second exposure and point it up.
If you are anywhere in the northern half of the continent, get outside and look up! Or better still, put your camera on a 10 second exposure and point it up.
Smallest hints of the northern lights tonigjt in Waco, TX
November 12, 2025 at 4:13 AM
Smallest hints of the northern lights tonigjt in Waco, TX
Reposted by Dan Peppe
Having no reason to hire qualified faculty is a feature, not a bug.
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/10/t...
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/10/t...
November 10, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Having no reason to hire qualified faculty is a feature, not a bug.
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/10/t...
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/10/t...
Reposted by Dan Peppe
I wanted to offer some thoughts on the Gates climate memo that has been circulating this week. While I can't directly speak for others, I can say that my own response is one of dismay & deep frustration (and that this view is shared by many climate/Earth scientists). [1/n]
October 30, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I wanted to offer some thoughts on the Gates climate memo that has been circulating this week. While I can't directly speak for others, I can say that my own response is one of dismay & deep frustration (and that this view is shared by many climate/Earth scientists). [1/n]
Reposted by Dan Peppe
Sixty days left to save the Museum of the Earth. Please donate if you can, and share.
This is not only one of the most important fossil collections in the world, it also home to the world’s best plushies: Paleozoic Pals!
www.priweb.org/mortgage-cam...
This is not only one of the most important fossil collections in the world, it also home to the world’s best plushies: Paleozoic Pals!
www.priweb.org/mortgage-cam...
November 1, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Sixty days left to save the Museum of the Earth. Please donate if you can, and share.
This is not only one of the most important fossil collections in the world, it also home to the world’s best plushies: Paleozoic Pals!
www.priweb.org/mortgage-cam...
This is not only one of the most important fossil collections in the world, it also home to the world’s best plushies: Paleozoic Pals!
www.priweb.org/mortgage-cam...
Reposted by Dan Peppe
My latest for @nytimes.com! For 40 years, paleontologists have grappled over whether a small tyrannosaur — named Nanotyrannus — was its own animal, or simply a teenage T.rex. The debate has been ... contentious. Which is why it's so fun to finally be able to say this:
Folks? Nanotyrannus is real.
Folks? Nanotyrannus is real.
The Case of the Tiny Tyrannosaurus Might Have Been Cracked
www.nytimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:06 PM
My latest for @nytimes.com! For 40 years, paleontologists have grappled over whether a small tyrannosaur — named Nanotyrannus — was its own animal, or simply a teenage T.rex. The debate has been ... contentious. Which is why it's so fun to finally be able to say this:
Folks? Nanotyrannus is real.
Folks? Nanotyrannus is real.
Reposted by Dan Peppe
I cannot tell you how many tech journalists at prominent media organizations do not understand this
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
October 27, 2025 at 3:32 PM
I cannot tell you how many tech journalists at prominent media organizations do not understand this
Members of the LEAFF Climate lab shared some of their exciting research and fossils at the Mayborn Museum’s Sic ‘Em Science Day celebrating #nationalfossilday! 🧪🪨
October 26, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Members of the LEAFF Climate lab shared some of their exciting research and fossils at the Mayborn Museum’s Sic ‘Em Science Day celebrating #nationalfossilday! 🧪🪨
Reposted by Dan Peppe
That’s no ballroom!
October 25, 2025 at 12:32 PM
That’s no ballroom!
Reposted by Dan Peppe
Biggest takeaway from this study: Dinosaurs were doing fine right up until the impact! #FossilFriday
Combining the new dates for the San Juan Basin dinosaurs with ecological modeling of dinosaur occurrences across North America, we show that dinosaurs were not declining leading up to the end-Cretaceous extinctions. Instead, the were diverse and living in provincial northern and southern communities
October 24, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Biggest takeaway from this study: Dinosaurs were doing fine right up until the impact! #FossilFriday
New dates for the Naashobito faunas from New Mexico help show that dinosaur diversity was declining making them weren’t extinction. Instead dinosaurs were diverse and thriving right up until the end-Cretaceous asteroid impact 🧪🪨🦕🦖☄️☠️
Excited to share the results of collaborative research in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico published today in @science.org that provides new age constraints for the Naashobito dinosaurs from New Mexico, like the giant sauropod, Alamosaurus: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 24, 2025 at 2:04 AM
New dates for the Naashobito faunas from New Mexico help show that dinosaur diversity was declining making them weren’t extinction. Instead dinosaurs were diverse and thriving right up until the end-Cretaceous asteroid impact 🧪🪨🦕🦖☄️☠️
Reposted by Dan Peppe
Cool paleo-🧵about the last dinosaurs from 66 mya in what's now New Mexico, & how their fossil record points toward diverse communities during the last few hundred-thousand years before a demise-inducing meteorite impact. Article in @science.org at the link: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧪🦖🦕☄️
October 23, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Cool paleo-🧵about the last dinosaurs from 66 mya in what's now New Mexico, & how their fossil record points toward diverse communities during the last few hundred-thousand years before a demise-inducing meteorite impact. Article in @science.org at the link: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧪🦖🦕☄️
A new cane rate from a middle Miocene fossil locality in Ramnagar, India do uments the species first occurrence outside the Potwar Plateau and helps constrain the age of the fossil site, and the apes found therein, to about 13 Ma. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... 🧪🪨🐀
A cane rat of African affinity from the Middle Miocene ape locality of Ramnagar (J&K), India
A short-ranging Cane Rat of African affinity discovered from a Miocene Ape locality of Ramnagar. (a) An outcrop of Siwalik sediments at Ramnagar. (b) Map of India showing the location of Ramnagar, J&...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 24, 2025 at 1:09 AM
A new cane rate from a middle Miocene fossil locality in Ramnagar, India do uments the species first occurrence outside the Potwar Plateau and helps constrain the age of the fossil site, and the apes found therein, to about 13 Ma. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... 🧪🪨🐀
Reposted by Dan Peppe
New dates on fossils from New Mexico reveal a community of dinosaurs that were thriving right before the asteroid strike, including 80-foot-long, 30-ton giants like Alamosaurus. I’ll tell you more in my latest for NatGeo. 🧪
New evidence reveals dinosaurs were thriving right up to the moment the asteroid hit
Newly dated fossils from New Mexico challenge the idea that dinosaurs were in decline—and suggest instead they had formed flourishing communities.
www.nationalgeographic.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:14 PM
New dates on fossils from New Mexico reveal a community of dinosaurs that were thriving right before the asteroid strike, including 80-foot-long, 30-ton giants like Alamosaurus. I’ll tell you more in my latest for NatGeo. 🧪
Reposted by Dan Peppe
Paleontologists still debate whether dinosaurs were in decline even before the asteroid wiped them out.
New precise dating techniques of a century-old fossil site in New Mexico are giving scientists a better idea.
New precise dating techniques of a century-old fossil site in New Mexico are giving scientists a better idea.
What really killed the dinosaurs? These rocks may unlock the answer.
New dating techniques at a fossil site in New Mexico attempt to dispel the theory that dinosaurs were already in decline before the fateful asteroid hit.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 23, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Paleontologists still debate whether dinosaurs were in decline even before the asteroid wiped them out.
New precise dating techniques of a century-old fossil site in New Mexico are giving scientists a better idea.
New precise dating techniques of a century-old fossil site in New Mexico are giving scientists a better idea.
Reposted by Dan Peppe
Lastly, this N-S bioprovincialism persists after the mass extinction and is seen in early Paleocene mammalian communities suggesting that the biogeographic structure was not destroyed by the mass extinction event.
October 23, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Lastly, this N-S bioprovincialism persists after the mass extinction and is seen in early Paleocene mammalian communities suggesting that the biogeographic structure was not destroyed by the mass extinction event.
Reposted by Dan Peppe
We then used ecological modeling to show dinosaur communities were partitioned into two different bioprovinces during the terminal Cretaceous across western North America, driven by differences in climate. This suggests dinosaurs in North America diverse & thriving leading up to the K/Pg boundary.
October 23, 2025 at 6:10 PM
We then used ecological modeling to show dinosaur communities were partitioned into two different bioprovinces during the terminal Cretaceous across western North America, driven by differences in climate. This suggests dinosaurs in North America diverse & thriving leading up to the K/Pg boundary.
Reposted by Dan Peppe
This Naashoibito dinosaur community was dominated by the giant sauropod Alamosaurus and crested Lambeosaurine hadrosaurs, which is a marked difference than the coeval Hell Creek Formation.
October 23, 2025 at 6:10 PM
This Naashoibito dinosaur community was dominated by the giant sauropod Alamosaurus and crested Lambeosaurine hadrosaurs, which is a marked difference than the coeval Hell Creek Formation.
Reposted by Dan Peppe
Using magnetostratigraphy and Ar/Ar geochronology, we were able to constrain the age of Naashoibito Member deposition, and the major vertebrate fossil localities, to no older than 66.38 Mya.
October 23, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Using magnetostratigraphy and Ar/Ar geochronology, we were able to constrain the age of Naashoibito Member deposition, and the major vertebrate fossil localities, to no older than 66.38 Mya.
Reposted by Dan Peppe
We provide new age constraints on the Naashoibito Member in the San Juan Basin of NW New Mexico showing these rocks, and their unique dinosaurs, are among the last non-avian dinosaurs from the last 340 Kyr of the Cretaceous, contemporaneous with the famous Hell Creek fauna. doi.org/10.1126/scie...
doi.org
October 23, 2025 at 6:10 PM
We provide new age constraints on the Naashoibito Member in the San Juan Basin of NW New Mexico showing these rocks, and their unique dinosaurs, are among the last non-avian dinosaurs from the last 340 Kyr of the Cretaceous, contemporaneous with the famous Hell Creek fauna. doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Reposted by Dan Peppe
Our new paper is out in @science.org #ScienceResearch
Our understanding of the dinosaurs at the very end of the Cretaceous is limited by few localities. What dinosaur biogeographic patterns were present leading up the K/Pg boundary? What can these tell us about end Cretaceous dinosaur communities
Our understanding of the dinosaurs at the very end of the Cretaceous is limited by few localities. What dinosaur biogeographic patterns were present leading up the K/Pg boundary? What can these tell us about end Cretaceous dinosaur communities
October 23, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Our new paper is out in @science.org #ScienceResearch
Our understanding of the dinosaurs at the very end of the Cretaceous is limited by few localities. What dinosaur biogeographic patterns were present leading up the K/Pg boundary? What can these tell us about end Cretaceous dinosaur communities
Our understanding of the dinosaurs at the very end of the Cretaceous is limited by few localities. What dinosaur biogeographic patterns were present leading up the K/Pg boundary? What can these tell us about end Cretaceous dinosaur communities
Reposted by Dan Peppe
New paper today in @science.org: we date the Naashoibito Member (New Mexico) to 66.4–66.0 Ma, coeval with the Hell Creek, with important remarks on pre-extinction dinosaur diversity & regionalisation in North America 🦖🦕☄1/
Art: @nataliajagielska.bsky.social
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Art: @nataliajagielska.bsky.social
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 23, 2025 at 6:11 PM
New paper today in @science.org: we date the Naashoibito Member (New Mexico) to 66.4–66.0 Ma, coeval with the Hell Creek, with important remarks on pre-extinction dinosaur diversity & regionalisation in North America 🦖🦕☄1/
Art: @nataliajagielska.bsky.social
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Art: @nataliajagielska.bsky.social
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Dan Peppe
Read the paper here!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Late-surviving New Mexican dinosaurs illuminate high end-Cretaceous diversity and provinciality
It has long been debated whether non-avian dinosaurs went extinct abruptly or gradually at the end-Cretaceous (66 million years ago), because their fossil record at this time is mostly limited to nort...
www.science.org
October 23, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Read the paper here!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Dan Peppe
These were the dinosaurs that faced the asteroid.
Some of the last survivors. They lived in New Mexico, 66 million years ago. Among them was Alamosaurus, the size of a jetplane.
We unveiled them, and their true age, today in a new paper in
@science.org !
Some of the last survivors. They lived in New Mexico, 66 million years ago. Among them was Alamosaurus, the size of a jetplane.
We unveiled them, and their true age, today in a new paper in
@science.org !
October 23, 2025 at 6:32 PM
These were the dinosaurs that faced the asteroid.
Some of the last survivors. They lived in New Mexico, 66 million years ago. Among them was Alamosaurus, the size of a jetplane.
We unveiled them, and their true age, today in a new paper in
@science.org !
Some of the last survivors. They lived in New Mexico, 66 million years ago. Among them was Alamosaurus, the size of a jetplane.
We unveiled them, and their true age, today in a new paper in
@science.org !
Excited to share the results of collaborative research in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico published today in @science.org that provides new age constraints for the Naashobito dinosaurs from New Mexico, like the giant sauropod, Alamosaurus: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 24, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Excited to share the results of collaborative research in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico published today in @science.org that provides new age constraints for the Naashobito dinosaurs from New Mexico, like the giant sauropod, Alamosaurus: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...