Ksepka Lab
@ksepkalab.bsky.social
Paleontologist specializing in birds (especially penguins) and dabbling in choristoderes + sauropods. Curator at the Bruce Museum. All opinions are my own.
Just in time for #FossilFriday, meet Rhynchaeites mcfaddeni, a little fossil ibis from the Green River Formation. The holotype looks delightfully like a hieroglyph!
Published today in Journal of Paleontology
shorturl.at/qTUVi
Published today in Journal of Paleontology
shorturl.at/qTUVi
February 13, 2026 at 4:50 PM
Just in time for #FossilFriday, meet Rhynchaeites mcfaddeni, a little fossil ibis from the Green River Formation. The holotype looks delightfully like a hieroglyph!
Published today in Journal of Paleontology
shorturl.at/qTUVi
Published today in Journal of Paleontology
shorturl.at/qTUVi
Don't forgot your fossil friends on Penguin Awareness Day. Here's the skull of Eudyptes warhami, an extinct crested penguin from the Chatham Islands. Its such an interesting species that it's features on a NZ coin!
Read more here:
fossilpenguins.wordpress.com/2019/02/05/a...
Read more here:
fossilpenguins.wordpress.com/2019/02/05/a...
January 20, 2026 at 8:06 PM
Don't forgot your fossil friends on Penguin Awareness Day. Here's the skull of Eudyptes warhami, an extinct crested penguin from the Chatham Islands. Its such an interesting species that it's features on a NZ coin!
Read more here:
fossilpenguins.wordpress.com/2019/02/05/a...
Read more here:
fossilpenguins.wordpress.com/2019/02/05/a...
Happy Penguin Awareness Day! Here's a throwback to our 2023 exhibition Penguins, Past and Present. We are celebrating at the Bruce Museum today with a special 10 question Penguin Round at tonight's Bruce Museum Trivia. Meet us at 6pm for pizza, drinks, and prizes!
January 20, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Happy Penguin Awareness Day! Here's a throwback to our 2023 exhibition Penguins, Past and Present. We are celebrating at the Bruce Museum today with a special 10 question Penguin Round at tonight's Bruce Museum Trivia. Meet us at 6pm for pizza, drinks, and prizes!
Our little buddy Eudyptula wilsonae made BBC's Wildlife Magazine's 10 Cutest Prehistoric Animals Ever list!
shorturl.at/svdjo
Reconstruction of this fossil fluffball by Simone Giovanardi.
Here's the original paper by Daniel Thomas, @atennyson.bsky.social, Felix Marx & myself:
shorturl.at/BSGYF
shorturl.at/svdjo
Reconstruction of this fossil fluffball by Simone Giovanardi.
Here's the original paper by Daniel Thomas, @atennyson.bsky.social, Felix Marx & myself:
shorturl.at/BSGYF
January 7, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Our little buddy Eudyptula wilsonae made BBC's Wildlife Magazine's 10 Cutest Prehistoric Animals Ever list!
shorturl.at/svdjo
Reconstruction of this fossil fluffball by Simone Giovanardi.
Here's the original paper by Daniel Thomas, @atennyson.bsky.social, Felix Marx & myself:
shorturl.at/BSGYF
shorturl.at/svdjo
Reconstruction of this fossil fluffball by Simone Giovanardi.
Here's the original paper by Daniel Thomas, @atennyson.bsky.social, Felix Marx & myself:
shorturl.at/BSGYF
For #MineralMonday, take a peek at our lovely canvasite. This is one of my favorite pieces in our Tiny Treasures case. The blue coloring comes from vanadium, but what makes this mineral so special to me is have the clusters look soft like fluffy little cotton balls!
December 1, 2025 at 9:28 PM
For #MineralMonday, take a peek at our lovely canvasite. This is one of my favorite pieces in our Tiny Treasures case. The blue coloring comes from vanadium, but what makes this mineral so special to me is have the clusters look soft like fluffy little cotton balls!
Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for Centuriavis lioae, a 10 million year old fossil relative of turkeys. It was a lot of fun describing this stunning specimen with Catherine Early, Kate Dzikiewicz, and Amy Balanoff. The fossil is named after our amazing museum colleague Suzanne Lio.
November 27, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for Centuriavis lioae, a 10 million year old fossil relative of turkeys. It was a lot of fun describing this stunning specimen with Catherine Early, Kate Dzikiewicz, and Amy Balanoff. The fossil is named after our amazing museum colleague Suzanne Lio.
Come at me bro! Did you know ants can ward off elephants that attack their acacia tree homes? Learn how ants and plants work form mutualistic relationships in Ants: Tiny Creatures, Big Lives at the Bruce Museum. On view through May 17th.
@brucemuseum.bsky.social
@brucemuseum.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Come at me bro! Did you know ants can ward off elephants that attack their acacia tree homes? Learn how ants and plants work form mutualistic relationships in Ants: Tiny Creatures, Big Lives at the Bruce Museum. On view through May 17th.
@brucemuseum.bsky.social
@brucemuseum.bsky.social
Our little birdy made the cover of Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Amazing how a bird sank to the bottom of Fossil Lake 51 million years ago and ended up entombed in sediments that perfectly match the background color/texture of the journal.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
November 21, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Our little birdy made the cover of Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Amazing how a bird sank to the bottom of Fossil Lake 51 million years ago and ended up entombed in sediments that perfectly match the background color/texture of the journal.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Ants: Tiny Creatures, Big Lives is officially open at the Bruce Museum! Enter the tunnel and you will meet "Buckley", our five foot long scaled-up Dinoponera ant.
Buckley is named after her creator, the great Dan Buckley.
The smaller ant is my daughter, dressed as an alate queen for the opener.
Buckley is named after her creator, the great Dan Buckley.
The smaller ant is my daughter, dressed as an alate queen for the opener.
November 14, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Ants: Tiny Creatures, Big Lives is officially open at the Bruce Museum! Enter the tunnel and you will meet "Buckley", our five foot long scaled-up Dinoponera ant.
Buckley is named after her creator, the great Dan Buckley.
The smaller ant is my daughter, dressed as an alate queen for the opener.
Buckley is named after her creator, the great Dan Buckley.
The smaller ant is my daughter, dressed as an alate queen for the opener.
Wonderful tribute to Mark Norell by Peter Makovicky, Jim Clark, and Steve Brusatte:
Mark Norell (1957–2025): Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Mark Norell (1957–2025): Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Mark Norell (1957–2025)
Pete Makovicky, Jim Clark and Steve Brusatte remember dinosaur paleontologist par
excellence and all-around cool dude Mark Norell.
www.cell.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Wonderful tribute to Mark Norell by Peter Makovicky, Jim Clark, and Steve Brusatte:
Mark Norell (1957–2025): Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Mark Norell (1957–2025): Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Get ready to enter the tunnel and explore the realm of natures tiny dynamos. Ants: Tiny Creatures, Big Lives opens November 13th at the Bruce Museum!
November 7, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Get ready to enter the tunnel and explore the realm of natures tiny dynamos. Ants: Tiny Creatures, Big Lives opens November 13th at the Bruce Museum!
This weekend is the last chance to see Charlie the Polar Bear and all his Arctic pals in On Thin Ice: Alaska's Warming Wilderness at the Bruce Museum Saturday and Sunday we host our 43rd Annual Outdoor Arts Festival, so make it a double play Bruce weekend!
@brucemuseum.bsky.social
@brucemuseum.bsky.social
October 10, 2025 at 2:01 PM
This weekend is the last chance to see Charlie the Polar Bear and all his Arctic pals in On Thin Ice: Alaska's Warming Wilderness at the Bruce Museum Saturday and Sunday we host our 43rd Annual Outdoor Arts Festival, so make it a double play Bruce weekend!
@brucemuseum.bsky.social
@brucemuseum.bsky.social
Proud to share a new piece in Scientific American co-authored with the brilliant @lnwilson.bsky.social , edited by @katewong.bsky.social, and featuring this spectacular depiction of the endless daylight of the Cretaceous summer in Alaska by Chase Stone!
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
Bird Migration Is One of Nature’s Greatest Spectacles. Paleontologists Just Found Clues to Its Origin
Tiny fossils hint at when birds began making their mind-blowing journey to the Arctic to breed
www.scientificamerican.com
October 8, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Proud to share a new piece in Scientific American co-authored with the brilliant @lnwilson.bsky.social , edited by @katewong.bsky.social, and featuring this spectacular depiction of the endless daylight of the Cretaceous summer in Alaska by Chase Stone!
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
October is here and nothing sets the Halloween mood like some spessartine on black quartz! On view in the Robert R. Wiener Mineral Gallery at the Bruce Museum.
Happy #MineralMonday!
Happy #MineralMonday!
October 7, 2025 at 8:06 PM
October is here and nothing sets the Halloween mood like some spessartine on black quartz! On view in the Robert R. Wiener Mineral Gallery at the Bruce Museum.
Happy #MineralMonday!
Happy #MineralMonday!
Often tempted to change the locality of this spectacular selenite specimen to Fortress of Solitude. On view in the Robert R. Wiener Mineral Gallery at the Bruce Museum.
Happy belated #MineralMonday
Happy belated #MineralMonday
September 30, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Often tempted to change the locality of this spectacular selenite specimen to Fortress of Solitude. On view in the Robert R. Wiener Mineral Gallery at the Bruce Museum.
Happy belated #MineralMonday
Happy belated #MineralMonday
On #FossilFriday I am proud to share a new discovery - a skull of a large extinct relative of king and emperor penguins.
@atennyson.bsky.social, Daniel Thomas, Felix Marx,
and I report this magnificent skull in Journal of Paleontology:
https://
bit.ly/4ne3HQV
@atennyson.bsky.social, Daniel Thomas, Felix Marx,
and I report this magnificent skull in Journal of Paleontology:
https://
bit.ly/4ne3HQV
September 26, 2025 at 7:27 PM
On #FossilFriday I am proud to share a new discovery - a skull of a large extinct relative of king and emperor penguins.
@atennyson.bsky.social, Daniel Thomas, Felix Marx,
and I report this magnificent skull in Journal of Paleontology:
https://
bit.ly/4ne3HQV
@atennyson.bsky.social, Daniel Thomas, Felix Marx,
and I report this magnificent skull in Journal of Paleontology:
https://
bit.ly/4ne3HQV
The Bruce Museum hosted the Federal Duck Stamp Contest last year and it was honestly one of the most enjoyable 48 hours of my tenure at the museum. Here’s my thoughts on why this program is so crucial and the energy of being in the room for the judging.
How the Duck Stamp Became One of the Most Successful Conservation Tools in U.S. History
Inside the fiercely competitive Federal Duck Stamp Contest, part of the wildly successful conservation program that has preserved millions of acres of waterfowl habitat
www.scientificamerican.com
September 19, 2025 at 2:55 PM
The Bruce Museum hosted the Federal Duck Stamp Contest last year and it was honestly one of the most enjoyable 48 hours of my tenure at the museum. Here’s my thoughts on why this program is so crucial and the energy of being in the room for the judging.
Thrilled to be at the Patuxent Research Refuge for the judging of the 2025 Federal Duck Stamp contest. This program conserves millions of acres of wetland habitat and brings out the best in wildlife art!
September 19, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Thrilled to be at the Patuxent Research Refuge for the judging of the 2025 Federal Duck Stamp contest. This program conserves millions of acres of wetland habitat and brings out the best in wildlife art!
Preparations for Ants: Tiny Creatures, Big Lives are kicking into high gear! You know we gotta have honeypot ants, and Sean Murtha is crafting some juicy ones. Meanwhile Dan Buckley is creating a super-sized 5 foot long Dinoponera. Opening in October at the Bruce Museum!
August 20, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Preparations for Ants: Tiny Creatures, Big Lives are kicking into high gear! You know we gotta have honeypot ants, and Sean Murtha is crafting some juicy ones. Meanwhile Dan Buckley is creating a super-sized 5 foot long Dinoponera. Opening in October at the Bruce Museum!
Ants: Tiny Creatures, Big Lives is going to be epic! Here is a Dolichoderus ant tending hemipteran ants, combining 3D prints and the magic of Sean Murtha. Meet this ant and over 70 of her friends this November at the Bruce Museum!
July 8, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Ants: Tiny Creatures, Big Lives is going to be epic! Here is a Dolichoderus ant tending hemipteran ants, combining 3D prints and the magic of Sean Murtha. Meet this ant and over 70 of her friends this November at the Bruce Museum!
Are you very different from your sibling? Gypsum comes in forms, all with same chemical structure. In the Bruce Museum’s Robert R. Wiener Mineral Gallery you can see ram’s horn gypsum side by side with a selenite crystal. Same mineral formed under different conditions!
Happy #MineralMonday!
Happy #MineralMonday!
July 7, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Are you very different from your sibling? Gypsum comes in forms, all with same chemical structure. In the Bruce Museum’s Robert R. Wiener Mineral Gallery you can see ram’s horn gypsum side by side with a selenite crystal. Same mineral formed under different conditions!
Happy #MineralMonday!
Happy #MineralMonday!
Who is this beautiful little bird? Consoravis turdirostris is a new species from the famous Fossil Lake deposits of Wyoming. The name Consoravis means "companion bird", forming a phonetic group with the closely related Morsoravis ("Mors bird") and Sororavis ("sister bird").
July 4, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Who is this beautiful little bird? Consoravis turdirostris is a new species from the famous Fossil Lake deposits of Wyoming. The name Consoravis means "companion bird", forming a phonetic group with the closely related Morsoravis ("Mors bird") and Sororavis ("sister bird").
So happy to finally order my 2025-2026 Federal Duck Stamp (two actually) today!
Duck Stamp image credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service
@usfws
Duck Stamp image credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service
@usfws
July 1, 2025 at 6:47 PM
So happy to finally order my 2025-2026 Federal Duck Stamp (two actually) today!
Duck Stamp image credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service
@usfws
Duck Stamp image credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service
@usfws
Green pyromorphite is perhaps more widely known but my favorite example of this mineral is this sparkling yellow beauty from the Bunker Hill Mine in Idaho. On view at the Robert R. Wiener Mineral Gallery at the Bruce Museum. Happy #MineralMonday
June 9, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Green pyromorphite is perhaps more widely known but my favorite example of this mineral is this sparkling yellow beauty from the Bunker Hill Mine in Idaho. On view at the Robert R. Wiener Mineral Gallery at the Bruce Museum. Happy #MineralMonday
Ready for tiny birds from above the Arctic Circle? Our new paper on the Cretaceous origins of Arctic nesting drops today in Science. This project was led by @lnwilson.bsky.social and features amazing fossils recovered by Pat Druckenmiller’s field program in the Prince Creek Formation of Alaska.
May 29, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Ready for tiny birds from above the Arctic Circle? Our new paper on the Cretaceous origins of Arctic nesting drops today in Science. This project was led by @lnwilson.bsky.social and features amazing fossils recovered by Pat Druckenmiller’s field program in the Prince Creek Formation of Alaska.