Dino Facts
@dinofacts.bsky.social
Fun Facts about dinosaurs - Formerly DailyDinoFacts on that other app. Paleo volunteer trying to break into the world of collaborating on research papers.
Pinned
Dino Facts
@dinofacts.bsky.social
· Aug 18
nobody will remember:
- your salary
- how “busy you were”
- how many hours you worked
people will remember:
- how many dinosaur facts you knew
- if you offered others dinosaur facts
- how you made people feel when you told them a dinosaur fact
- your salary
- how “busy you were”
- how many hours you worked
people will remember:
- how many dinosaur facts you knew
- if you offered others dinosaur facts
- how you made people feel when you told them a dinosaur fact
The new motto of this profile:
New behavioral #paleontology paper out today about tyrannosaur predation! The authors (Wyenberg-Henzler & Scannella) contend that the find is "consistent with a bite inflicted during an attempt to control the struggling Edmontosaurus or deliver a killing blow followed by carcass consumption". Nice!
February 17, 2026 at 6:21 PM
New behavioral #paleontology paper out today about tyrannosaur predation! The authors (Wyenberg-Henzler & Scannella) contend that the find is "consistent with a bite inflicted during an attempt to control the struggling Edmontosaurus or deliver a killing blow followed by carcass consumption". Nice!
Reposted by Dino Facts
Probable evidence of *successful* predation by a non-avian theropod. Lucky day for paleontologists and enthusiasts!
peerj.com/articles/207...
peerj.com/articles/207...
Behavioral implications of an embedded tyrannosaurid tooth and associated tooth marks on an articulated skull of Edmontosaurus from the Hell Creek Formation, Montana
Because teeth can be taxonomically distinct, particularly for non-mammalian carnivores such as non-avian dinosaurs, teeth that have broken off in the bone of another animal during feeding, predation o...
peerj.com
February 17, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Probable evidence of *successful* predation by a non-avian theropod. Lucky day for paleontologists and enthusiasts!
peerj.com/articles/207...
peerj.com/articles/207...
Reposted by Dino Facts
I've decided to revise and update one of my most important and popular blogposts "How do I become a paleontologist?".
I still get asked this every few weeks so having a new version of this post to share is so useful to put people on track.
archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/h...
I still get asked this every few weeks so having a new version of this post to share is so useful to put people on track.
archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/h...
How do I become a paleontologist?
This is a revised and updated version of an old post of mine that’s now nearly 10 years old, so it seemed sensible to give it a polish and re-release it into the wild. So, what do you do to become …
archosaurmusings.wordpress.com
February 17, 2026 at 1:05 PM
I've decided to revise and update one of my most important and popular blogposts "How do I become a paleontologist?".
I still get asked this every few weeks so having a new version of this post to share is so useful to put people on track.
archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/h...
I still get asked this every few weeks so having a new version of this post to share is so useful to put people on track.
archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/h...
#Kwanasaurus (Martz & Small, 2019) was native to North America ~210my ago. It belongs to the silesaurids - a clade that is increasingly interpreted as a step in the evolution of the ornithischian dinosaurs. Its leaf-shaped teeth indicate it was already well on its way to herbivory.
February 16, 2026 at 5:11 PM
#Kwanasaurus (Martz & Small, 2019) was native to North America ~210my ago. It belongs to the silesaurids - a clade that is increasingly interpreted as a step in the evolution of the ornithischian dinosaurs. Its leaf-shaped teeth indicate it was already well on its way to herbivory.
Reposted by Dino Facts
🚨 UK Student Palaeo Research Opportunity 🚨
Brymbo Fossil Forest are offering students the chance to get involved in active palaeontology research & excavations ⚒️ at a unique #Carboniferous fossil site in Wales 🏴 - See below for more details ⬇️
#Paleontology #Geology #Fieldwork #FossilFriday #ECR
Brymbo Fossil Forest are offering students the chance to get involved in active palaeontology research & excavations ⚒️ at a unique #Carboniferous fossil site in Wales 🏴 - See below for more details ⬇️
#Paleontology #Geology #Fieldwork #FossilFriday #ECR
February 13, 2026 at 4:42 PM
🚨 UK Student Palaeo Research Opportunity 🚨
Brymbo Fossil Forest are offering students the chance to get involved in active palaeontology research & excavations ⚒️ at a unique #Carboniferous fossil site in Wales 🏴 - See below for more details ⬇️
#Paleontology #Geology #Fieldwork #FossilFriday #ECR
Brymbo Fossil Forest are offering students the chance to get involved in active palaeontology research & excavations ⚒️ at a unique #Carboniferous fossil site in Wales 🏴 - See below for more details ⬇️
#Paleontology #Geology #Fieldwork #FossilFriday #ECR
Reposted by Dino Facts
A new titanosauriform with European affinities in the Early Cretaceous of Brazil: insights on Somphospondyli phylogeny, histology and biogeography
Dasosaurus tocantinensis gen. et sp. nov.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Dasosaurus tocantinensis gen. et sp. nov.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
February 12, 2026 at 4:09 PM
A new titanosauriform with European affinities in the Early Cretaceous of Brazil: insights on Somphospondyli phylogeny, histology and biogeography
Dasosaurus tocantinensis gen. et sp. nov.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Dasosaurus tocantinensis gen. et sp. nov.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Dino Facts
I dug into the Epstein files for this story.
Jack Horner visited Epstein at Zorro Ranch in 2012, emails show. He later thanked “the girls” as hosts.
Now a Chapman U fellow, Horner regrets using the term in emails.
The university is looking into the files.
www.latimes.com/socal/daily-...
Jack Horner visited Epstein at Zorro Ranch in 2012, emails show. He later thanked “the girls” as hosts.
Now a Chapman U fellow, Horner regrets using the term in emails.
The university is looking into the files.
www.latimes.com/socal/daily-...
Famed paleontologist, Chapman lecturer appears in latest Epstein files release
Emails show that Jack Horner visited Jeffrey Epstein's New Mexico ranch in 2012 and 2016 before he was hired as a lecturer at Chapman University.
www.latimes.com
February 11, 2026 at 4:48 PM
I dug into the Epstein files for this story.
Jack Horner visited Epstein at Zorro Ranch in 2012, emails show. He later thanked “the girls” as hosts.
Now a Chapman U fellow, Horner regrets using the term in emails.
The university is looking into the files.
www.latimes.com/socal/daily-...
Jack Horner visited Epstein at Zorro Ranch in 2012, emails show. He later thanked “the girls” as hosts.
Now a Chapman U fellow, Horner regrets using the term in emails.
The university is looking into the files.
www.latimes.com/socal/daily-...
Reposted by Dino Facts
happy #FossilFriday. It is very early in the year and I already have a favorite paper with the newly described Haolong. HOWEVER, this is *not* a feathered dinosaur! The structures on Haolong are very different from filaments. A 🧵
February 7, 2026 at 12:58 AM
happy #FossilFriday. It is very early in the year and I already have a favorite paper with the newly described Haolong. HOWEVER, this is *not* a feathered dinosaur! The structures on Haolong are very different from filaments. A 🧵
Reposted by Dino Facts
Maybe a bit late for web timing, but ehy, NEW PAPER ON #fossilfriday!!!
I am proud to present you Haolong dongi gen. nov. sp. nov., a new hadrosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of China!
The specimen, almost complete, is a juvenile iguanodontian from the Yixian Formation of the Barremian (125 Mya).
I am proud to present you Haolong dongi gen. nov. sp. nov., a new hadrosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of China!
The specimen, almost complete, is a juvenile iguanodontian from the Yixian Formation of the Barremian (125 Mya).
February 6, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Maybe a bit late for web timing, but ehy, NEW PAPER ON #fossilfriday!!!
I am proud to present you Haolong dongi gen. nov. sp. nov., a new hadrosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of China!
The specimen, almost complete, is a juvenile iguanodontian from the Yixian Formation of the Barremian (125 Mya).
I am proud to present you Haolong dongi gen. nov. sp. nov., a new hadrosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of China!
The specimen, almost complete, is a juvenile iguanodontian from the Yixian Formation of the Barremian (125 Mya).
Reposted by Dino Facts
VOLUNTEER ON A DINOSAUR DIG: We run one of the only free dinosaur digs in the USA. We work public land and the fossils go in our public museum, forever. It's hard work, but we find some cool things. If this sounds like you, we're taking applications. Link in comms. #dinosaurs
February 4, 2026 at 10:17 PM
VOLUNTEER ON A DINOSAUR DIG: We run one of the only free dinosaur digs in the USA. We work public land and the fossils go in our public museum, forever. It's hard work, but we find some cool things. If this sounds like you, we're taking applications. Link in comms. #dinosaurs
Reposted by Dino Facts
CANNIBALISM OF AN ADULT TYRANNOSAUR BY A JUVENILE:
Our new study on a Badlands Dinosaur Museum fossil reveals dinosaur cannibalism where a juvenile tyrannosaur feasted on the carcass of a dead adult!
3D reconstructions supervision Yu Xin, designer Shen Li, sculptor Liang Junwei
/1
Our new study on a Badlands Dinosaur Museum fossil reveals dinosaur cannibalism where a juvenile tyrannosaur feasted on the carcass of a dead adult!
3D reconstructions supervision Yu Xin, designer Shen Li, sculptor Liang Junwei
/1
February 2, 2026 at 10:02 PM
CANNIBALISM OF AN ADULT TYRANNOSAUR BY A JUVENILE:
Our new study on a Badlands Dinosaur Museum fossil reveals dinosaur cannibalism where a juvenile tyrannosaur feasted on the carcass of a dead adult!
3D reconstructions supervision Yu Xin, designer Shen Li, sculptor Liang Junwei
/1
Our new study on a Badlands Dinosaur Museum fossil reveals dinosaur cannibalism where a juvenile tyrannosaur feasted on the carcass of a dead adult!
3D reconstructions supervision Yu Xin, designer Shen Li, sculptor Liang Junwei
/1
Reposted by Dino Facts
What is prospecting?
In paleontology, prospecting means carefully scanning and exploring the landscape for fossils exposed at the surface. Several of our active dig sites were first discovered this way by participants, proof that just being observant can lead to real scientific discoveries!
In paleontology, prospecting means carefully scanning and exploring the landscape for fossils exposed at the surface. Several of our active dig sites were first discovered this way by participants, proof that just being observant can lead to real scientific discoveries!
January 30, 2026 at 6:01 PM
What is prospecting?
In paleontology, prospecting means carefully scanning and exploring the landscape for fossils exposed at the surface. Several of our active dig sites were first discovered this way by participants, proof that just being observant can lead to real scientific discoveries!
In paleontology, prospecting means carefully scanning and exploring the landscape for fossils exposed at the surface. Several of our active dig sites were first discovered this way by participants, proof that just being observant can lead to real scientific discoveries!
Reposted by Dino Facts
Introducing Xenovenator espinosai, a new troodontid dinosaur with some fascinating cranial anatomy. I had the honour of being approached to create the illustration for this week’s official announcement. (1/3) #SciArt
January 14, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Introducing Xenovenator espinosai, a new troodontid dinosaur with some fascinating cranial anatomy. I had the honour of being approached to create the illustration for this week’s official announcement. (1/3) #SciArt
#Xenovenator is one of the first named dinosaurs of the year! Assigned by Rivera-Sylva et al (2026) to the troodontid lineage, it has oddly thickened frontals - creating a bulbous/domed forehead. Could this be a combat or display adaptation? It's remains from Coahuila, #Mexico date back ~73m years.
January 11, 2026 at 3:02 PM
#Xenovenator is one of the first named dinosaurs of the year! Assigned by Rivera-Sylva et al (2026) to the troodontid lineage, it has oddly thickened frontals - creating a bulbous/domed forehead. Could this be a combat or display adaptation? It's remains from Coahuila, #Mexico date back ~73m years.
Happy #FossilFriday from the West Gold Hill Dinosaur Tracksite in #Colorado! These sauropod footprints are exposed for roughly 100 meters and can be accessed via a hiking trail on public lands! Apart from being a notably long trackway, they are also unique for being at ~2800 meters in elevation
January 9, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Happy #FossilFriday from the West Gold Hill Dinosaur Tracksite in #Colorado! These sauropod footprints are exposed for roughly 100 meters and can be accessed via a hiking trail on public lands! Apart from being a notably long trackway, they are also unique for being at ~2800 meters in elevation
Reposted by Dino Facts
Out in @nature.com today, we shake up the ornithischian family tree. Remember those weird Late Cretaceous iguanodontians, the rhabdodontids? Well they're weird because they aren't iguanodontians. They're ceratopsians. Well, at least some of them are... www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A hidden diversity of ceratopsian dinosaurs in Late Cretaceous Europe - Nature
New results indicate that rhabdodontids and the previously described Ajkaceratops are actually distinctive European ceratopsians, a group better known from Asia and North America.
www.nature.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Out in @nature.com today, we shake up the ornithischian family tree. Remember those weird Late Cretaceous iguanodontians, the rhabdodontids? Well they're weird because they aren't iguanodontians. They're ceratopsians. Well, at least some of them are... www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Dino Facts
Did spinosaurids really survive into the latest Cretaceous? The postprint for our latest work on these incredible dinosaurs is out today, where @neilgostling.bsky.social, @tetzoo.bsky.social and I examine claims of spino persistance beyond the Cenomanian www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/am...
December 12, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Did spinosaurids really survive into the latest Cretaceous? The postprint for our latest work on these incredible dinosaurs is out today, where @neilgostling.bsky.social, @tetzoo.bsky.social and I examine claims of spino persistance beyond the Cenomanian www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/am...
2025 was eventful to say the least... In my world, and why posting Dino Facts has been much less frequent, is my little hatchling arrived! A big shoutout to @adamrl.bsky.social for putting this Rex & chick print for sale so I could hang it in the nursery!
Hopefully 2026 is less hectic for us all
Hopefully 2026 is less hectic for us all
January 2, 2026 at 7:56 PM
2025 was eventful to say the least... In my world, and why posting Dino Facts has been much less frequent, is my little hatchling arrived! A big shoutout to @adamrl.bsky.social for putting this Rex & chick print for sale so I could hang it in the nursery!
Hopefully 2026 is less hectic for us all
Hopefully 2026 is less hectic for us all
Reposted by Dino Facts
By my count, 46 new species of Mesozoic dinosauromorph (& lagerpetid) taxa this year, which is close to the average for the time period 2003-2025 (the range over which I have been compiling data):
December 30, 2025 at 1:43 PM
By my count, 46 new species of Mesozoic dinosauromorph (& lagerpetid) taxa this year, which is close to the average for the time period 2003-2025 (the range over which I have been compiling data):
Reposted by Dino Facts
Merry Christmas, to one and all!
December 25, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Merry Christmas, to one and all!
Reposted by Dino Facts
Manipulonyx, new WEIRD alvarezsaurid
A.O. Averianov, A.V. Lopatin and A.A. Atuchin (2025)
Forelimb structure and function in a new Late Cretaceous parvicursorine theropod dinosaur from Mongolia
Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS 329(4): 382–408 www.zin.ru/journals/tru...
…
A.O. Averianov, A.V. Lopatin and A.A. Atuchin (2025)
Forelimb structure and function in a new Late Cretaceous parvicursorine theropod dinosaur from Mongolia
Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS 329(4): 382–408 www.zin.ru/journals/tru...
…
December 23, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Manipulonyx, new WEIRD alvarezsaurid
A.O. Averianov, A.V. Lopatin and A.A. Atuchin (2025)
Forelimb structure and function in a new Late Cretaceous parvicursorine theropod dinosaur from Mongolia
Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS 329(4): 382–408 www.zin.ru/journals/tru...
…
A.O. Averianov, A.V. Lopatin and A.A. Atuchin (2025)
Forelimb structure and function in a new Late Cretaceous parvicursorine theropod dinosaur from Mongolia
Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS 329(4): 382–408 www.zin.ru/journals/tru...
…
Reposted by Dino Facts
New alvarezsaurian dinosaur Manipulonyx reshetovi: www.zin.ru/journals/tru... As if alvarezsaurid hands couldn't get any weirder, this one preserves several odd, spike-like elements, interpreted as adaptations for gripping eggs. I have thoughts but they'll have to wait... 🧪 (📷Averianov et al.)
December 23, 2025 at 5:35 PM
New alvarezsaurian dinosaur Manipulonyx reshetovi: www.zin.ru/journals/tru... As if alvarezsaurid hands couldn't get any weirder, this one preserves several odd, spike-like elements, interpreted as adaptations for gripping eggs. I have thoughts but they'll have to wait... 🧪 (📷Averianov et al.)
Reposted by Dino Facts
Interesting preprint suggesting that recently described fossils from Brazil described as a new ctenochasmatine pterosaur, Bakiribu, preserved within a regurgitalite, instead represent the gill arch apparatus of an actinopterygian fish:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reinterpretation of Bakiribu waridza from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil: a fish not a pterosaur
Fragmentary remains of fossil vertebrates from the Romualdo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Brazil, preserved in association with two fish were interpreted as two individuals of a new genus and specie...
www.biorxiv.org
December 12, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Interesting preprint suggesting that recently described fossils from Brazil described as a new ctenochasmatine pterosaur, Bakiribu, preserved within a regurgitalite, instead represent the gill arch apparatus of an actinopterygian fish:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Dino Facts
King of the Riverside - explainer video
YouTube video by Genuine Rockstars
www.youtube.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Reposted by Dino Facts
Excited to announce that my second manuscript, “Fossilised Melanosomes Reveal Colour Patterning in A Sauropod Dinosaur” has been published in
@royalsociety.org !! Diplodocus scales are complex and diverse, and it turns out their color patterning was even more so. A 🧵🦕 1/26
@royalsociety.org !! Diplodocus scales are complex and diverse, and it turns out their color patterning was even more so. A 🧵🦕 1/26
December 10, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Excited to announce that my second manuscript, “Fossilised Melanosomes Reveal Colour Patterning in A Sauropod Dinosaur” has been published in
@royalsociety.org !! Diplodocus scales are complex and diverse, and it turns out their color patterning was even more so. A 🧵🦕 1/26
@royalsociety.org !! Diplodocus scales are complex and diverse, and it turns out their color patterning was even more so. A 🧵🦕 1/26