Paleobiology Research Group at OU
@oupaleobiology.bsky.social
Our labs investigate the diversity, ecology, & evolution of fossil invertebrates @ The University of Oklahoma (Geosciences) & Sam Noble Museum of Natural History
Pinned
Invertebrate Paleontology - Sam Noble Museum
With nearly one million specimens from every major invertebrate fossil group, the invertebrate paleontology collection is among the most scientifically important in North America. It contains nearly 3,000 primary type specimens and about 7,000 figured specimens. The majority of samples in the collection include detailed ancillary information on geographic and stratigraphic occurrence. The collection represents
samnoblemuseum.ou.edu
Welcome! This account is dedicated to promoting research, education, & outreach in paleobiology at the University of Oklahoma and Sam Noble Museum of Natural History!
Professors/Curators of Invertebrate Paleontology: @daveyfwright.bsky.social and Lena Cole
Professors/Curators of Invertebrate Paleontology: @daveyfwright.bsky.social and Lena Cole
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @daveyfwright.bsky.social @datadryad.bsky.social
October 27, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @daveyfwright.bsky.social @datadryad.bsky.social
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
Many thanks to @astigall.bsky.social for coming to OU last week to give an awesome colloquium talk & visit the Sam Noble Museum! It was a semester highlight for us in @oupaleobiology.bsky.social and (as always) it was super great to catch up and chat science with one of my favorite paleontologists!
November 9, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Many thanks to @astigall.bsky.social for coming to OU last week to give an awesome colloquium talk & visit the Sam Noble Museum! It was a semester highlight for us in @oupaleobiology.bsky.social and (as always) it was super great to catch up and chat science with one of my favorite paleontologists!
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
🚨New paper out in Palaeontology! Check it out if you're interested morphological evolution, fossil phylogenetics, and macroevolution 🧪
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data
Understanding the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of morphologic traits is fundamental to macroevolutionary research. Despite decades of major advances and key insights from molecular systema...
dx.doi.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:17 PM
🚨New paper out in Palaeontology! Check it out if you're interested morphological evolution, fossil phylogenetics, and macroevolution 🧪
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
Check it out if you're interested in modeling morphological evolution, its impact on fossil phylogenies, and the macroevolutionary inferences derived from them. There's a bit of a cautionary(?) tale about continuous characters in here, too. Can't believe they let me quote Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan!
October 27, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Check it out if you're interested in modeling morphological evolution, its impact on fossil phylogenies, and the macroevolutionary inferences derived from them. There's a bit of a cautionary(?) tale about continuous characters in here, too. Can't believe they let me quote Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan!
Seems like our students have been busy decorating Invertebrate Paleontology lab at the museum 🧪
October 27, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Seems like our students have been busy decorating Invertebrate Paleontology lab at the museum 🧪
A lot of great talks and posters by OU paleobiology students at the GSA meeting. Well done!
October 24, 2025 at 2:37 PM
A lot of great talks and posters by OU paleobiology students at the GSA meeting. Well done!
🧵The Geological Society of America / Paleontological Society annual meeting is next week! Here's a thread of research presentations involving OU Paleobiology:
October 14, 2025 at 9:39 PM
🧵The Geological Society of America / Paleontological Society annual meeting is next week! Here's a thread of research presentations involving OU Paleobiology:
New paper from Dr. Selina Cole's lab!
"Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA)"
"Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA)"
Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA) | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core
Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA)
www.cambridge.org
October 13, 2025 at 3:23 PM
New paper from Dr. Selina Cole's lab!
"Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA)"
"Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA)"
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
New paper!
"Fossil tip-dating reveals novelties on evolutionary and diversification trends in three Late Ordovician brachiopod genera (Atrypida, Anazygidae)" Yay for brachiopods! 🧪
"Fossil tip-dating reveals novelties on evolutionary and diversification trends in three Late Ordovician brachiopod genera (Atrypida, Anazygidae)" Yay for brachiopods! 🧪
Fossil tip-dating reveals novelties on evolutionary and diversification trends in three Late Ordovician brachiopod genera (Atrypida, Anazygidae) | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core
Fossil tip-dating reveals novelties on evolutionary and diversification trends in three Late Ordovician brachiopod genera (Atrypida, Anazygidae) - Volume 99 Issue 2
www.cambridge.org
October 2, 2025 at 3:36 PM
New paper!
"Fossil tip-dating reveals novelties on evolutionary and diversification trends in three Late Ordovician brachiopod genera (Atrypida, Anazygidae)" Yay for brachiopods! 🧪
"Fossil tip-dating reveals novelties on evolutionary and diversification trends in three Late Ordovician brachiopod genera (Atrypida, Anazygidae)" Yay for brachiopods! 🧪
Huge congrats to @crowleyk.bsky.social (Wright lab) and colleagues on publishing a major taxonomic revision of Paleocene gastropods!
September 15, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Huge congrats to @crowleyk.bsky.social (Wright lab) and colleagues on publishing a major taxonomic revision of Paleocene gastropods!
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
As a paleontologist, here's something incredible about the geosciences program at OU:
1. Overall freshmen enrollment has been * increasing * in recent years.
2. We have more students in our * Paleobiology * Bachelor of Science program than any other option (including the general geosciences path)
1. Overall freshmen enrollment has been * increasing * in recent years.
2. We have more students in our * Paleobiology * Bachelor of Science program than any other option (including the general geosciences path)
Undergraduate Programs
The University of Oklahoma
www.ou.edu
September 5, 2025 at 5:11 PM
As a paleontologist, here's something incredible about the geosciences program at OU:
1. Overall freshmen enrollment has been * increasing * in recent years.
2. We have more students in our * Paleobiology * Bachelor of Science program than any other option (including the general geosciences path)
1. Overall freshmen enrollment has been * increasing * in recent years.
2. We have more students in our * Paleobiology * Bachelor of Science program than any other option (including the general geosciences path)
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
New updated preprint! Many thanks to reviewers for their suggestions and helpful advice for improving our manuscript. Check it out if you're interested in fossils, phylogenies, and modeling morphologic evolution! 🧪
Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data
Understanding the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of morphologic traits is fundamental to macroevolutionary research. Despite decades of major advances and key insights from molecular systemat...
www.biorxiv.org
September 2, 2025 at 5:07 PM
New updated preprint! Many thanks to reviewers for their suggestions and helpful advice for improving our manuscript. Check it out if you're interested in fossils, phylogenies, and modeling morphologic evolution! 🧪
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
I'm hoping to take 1 MSc & 1 PhD student next year in the areas of Phylogenetic, Computational, and/or Evolutionary Paleobiology. Please reach out if you are interested in joining the @oupaleobiology.bsky.social, especially if interested in working on fossil echinoderms. Link for more info below. 🧪
News
PhD and MSc positions in Phylogenetic, Computational, and/or Evolutionary Paleobiology [Posted September 2025. Deadline is January 15, 2026. See below for information about the lab, student opportu…
daveyfwright.wordpress.com
September 2, 2025 at 3:51 PM
I'm hoping to take 1 MSc & 1 PhD student next year in the areas of Phylogenetic, Computational, and/or Evolutionary Paleobiology. Please reach out if you are interested in joining the @oupaleobiology.bsky.social, especially if interested in working on fossil echinoderms. Link for more info below. 🧪
Congratulations to @crowleyk.bsky.social (Wright lab) and colleagues on their new publication examining niche evolution in gastropods across the K-Pg extinction!
Global climate model comparisons of niche evolution in turritelline gastropods across the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Global climate model comparisons of niche evolution in turritelline gastropods across the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction
www.cambridge.org
August 29, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Congratulations to @crowleyk.bsky.social (Wright lab) and colleagues on their new publication examining niche evolution in gastropods across the K-Pg extinction!
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
New @oupaleobiology.bsky.social logo just dropped
August 23, 2025 at 4:36 PM
New @oupaleobiology.bsky.social logo just dropped
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
Very proud of @oupaleobiology.bsky.social graduate students @crowleyk.bsky.social & Alysha Zazubec for their contributions to the 2025 field season on Anticosti Island. I'm particularly excited about the fantastic echinoderm fossils they found this year!
Another day in the field with the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History team on Anticosti Island. Here, Lena and I are joined by OU Geosciences grad students Kiera Crowley (Wright lab) and Alysha Zazubec (Cole lab)
August 21, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Very proud of @oupaleobiology.bsky.social graduate students @crowleyk.bsky.social & Alysha Zazubec for their contributions to the 2025 field season on Anticosti Island. I'm particularly excited about the fantastic echinoderm fossils they found this year!
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
Mandatory airport photo of the combined Anticosti Island field teams of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and the American Museum of Natural History. Grateful for the assistance of students and staff. The core team remains for another week of field work 🧪
August 13, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Mandatory airport photo of the combined Anticosti Island field teams of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and the American Museum of Natural History. Grateful for the assistance of students and staff. The core team remains for another week of field work 🧪
New paper for #FossilFriday by Sam Noble Museum / OU paleontologists Lena Cole and Davey Wright, with AMNH collaborator Melanie Hopkins. Check it out!
New paper! The 1st publication from our NSF grant investigating local to global biodiversity patterns in marine invertebrates across the O-S boundary is out! Here, we describe a new crinoid from Anticosti Island & use Bayesian tip-dating approaches to quantify uncertainty in its stratigraphic age 🧪
Phylogenetic position and stratigraphic uncertainty of a new flexible crinoid from the Ordovician–Silurian boundary of Anticosti Island (Québec, Canada) | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core
Phylogenetic position and stratigraphic uncertainty of a new flexible crinoid from the Ordovician–Silurian boundary of Anticosti Island (Québec, Canada)
www.cambridge.org
July 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
New paper for #FossilFriday by Sam Noble Museum / OU paleontologists Lena Cole and Davey Wright, with AMNH collaborator Melanie Hopkins. Check it out!
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
Flexible crinoids are really cool group of rare & morphologically distinct fossil echinoderms. They originated during the Ordovician but substantially increase in diversity, disparity, & abundance in the Silurian after the mass extinction, so a new taxon near the boundary is a significant discovery.
July 24, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Flexible crinoids are really cool group of rare & morphologically distinct fossil echinoderms. They originated during the Ordovician but substantially increase in diversity, disparity, & abundance in the Silurian after the mass extinction, so a new taxon near the boundary is a significant discovery.
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
I'll have more info in a few weeks when I get back from fieldwork but I'll be recruiting 2 graduate students to begin in 2026 (1 PhD, 1 MS). My lab investigates macroevolutionary dynamics using phylogenetic methods & the fossil record. Please share with students having strong research interests!
July 22, 2025 at 2:56 PM
I'll have more info in a few weeks when I get back from fieldwork but I'll be recruiting 2 graduate students to begin in 2026 (1 PhD, 1 MS). My lab investigates macroevolutionary dynamics using phylogenetic methods & the fossil record. Please share with students having strong research interests!
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
Need to include "future leader of the National Academy of Sciences" on the list of possibilities when paleobiology students ask where their careers may take them
Is this bringing paleontology to the "high table"?
Paleontologist to lead U.S. national academy
The prestigious organization faces funding challenges and political controversies
www.science.org
July 17, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Need to include "future leader of the National Academy of Sciences" on the list of possibilities when paleobiology students ask where their careers may take them
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
TFW you're about to leave for fieldwork so you create t-shirts for the team of researchers, staff, and students. This year's intrepid, multi-institutional team involves folks from the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History & the American Museum of Natural History. Does anyone else do this? 🧪
July 16, 2025 at 3:45 PM
TFW you're about to leave for fieldwork so you create t-shirts for the team of researchers, staff, and students. This year's intrepid, multi-institutional team involves folks from the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History & the American Museum of Natural History. Does anyone else do this? 🧪
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
i'm a broken record on this topic but god i love being a paleontologist 🧪
July 15, 2025 at 2:01 AM
i'm a broken record on this topic but god i love being a paleontologist 🧪
Celebrating 2 years since Lyndsey Farrar joined the Invertebrate Paleontology team at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History! Lyndsey manages day-to-day collections operations & improvement, coordinates volunteers, engages in public outreach, & helps curators care for millions of specimens
July 10, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Celebrating 2 years since Lyndsey Farrar joined the Invertebrate Paleontology team at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History! Lyndsey manages day-to-day collections operations & improvement, coordinates volunteers, engages in public outreach, & helps curators care for millions of specimens
Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU
📰 Assistant Professor in OU Mewbourne + Assistant Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology @samnoblemuseum, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 has received a Junior Faculty Fellowship 🧪
👀 OU News: ou.edu/news/article...
📮Wright's feature in The Norman Transcript: link.ou.edu/4jXPPrG
👀 OU News: ou.edu/news/article...
📮Wright's feature in The Norman Transcript: link.ou.edu/4jXPPrG
June 23, 2025 at 2:45 PM
📰 Assistant Professor in OU Mewbourne + Assistant Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology @samnoblemuseum, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 has received a Junior Faculty Fellowship 🧪
👀 OU News: ou.edu/news/article...
📮Wright's feature in The Norman Transcript: link.ou.edu/4jXPPrG
👀 OU News: ou.edu/news/article...
📮Wright's feature in The Norman Transcript: link.ou.edu/4jXPPrG