Erich Fitzgerald
banner
palaeowhales.bsky.social
Erich Fitzgerald
@palaeowhales.bsky.social
Vertebrate palaeontologist at Museums Victoria: marine vertebrate evolution and a bit of Triceratops
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
Cochlear analysis of Kekenodon onamata, a late Oligocene stem whale, suggests they specialised in low-frequency hearing, a trait of raptorial feeding in fossil whales. Low-frequency hearing may be characteristic of raptorial macrophagous fossil cetaceans @joshcorrie @Blogozoic
February 19, 2025 at 9:38 AM
It’s Prosqualodon! Important new paper by Maxi Gaetan and colleagues on this enigmatic austral fossil odontocete #FossilFriday

aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
February 20, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
New publication: taxonomy and classification of every fossil mammal species in Australasia—Wallace Line to New Zealand!

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
An annotated checklist of Australasian fossil mammals
Australasia has had a rich history of discovery of fossil mammals, with the first specimens collected within Wellington Caves, New South Wales and described by Richard Owen in 1838. Currently, a to...
www.tandfonline.com
February 10, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
Fossil #whale skeletons are genuinely amazing. #Whales evolved from four-legged hooved mammals (their closest relatives are hippos), & don't have hind-legs today (but they do have a pelvis). This is a 40-million-year-old whale called Cynthiacetus at @mnhn.fr, with a full leg skeleton. #FossilFriday
February 7, 2025 at 8:23 AM
FISH!!!! Big hypural bone (tail tip vertebra) of a large marine fish from the latest Miocene of Beaumaris, Victoria, which will be studied in a new project starting very soon!
February 7, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
Hello from the best natural history gallery in the world. 🤩
The gallery of comparative anatomy at #Paris' National Museum of Natural History contains literally thousands of skeletal specimens. In my opinion, it has never been surpassed. #museums
January 22, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Incredible views of the external morphology of Indopacetus pacificus, the holotype specimen of which is from Queensland, Australia!
Pretty awesome sighting of Longman’s beaked whales (Indopacetus pacificus) in the Mozambique Channel, near Mayotte. So much to learn about these animals. One of the least known whale species in the world! Pictures: N. Bertrand
December 1, 2024 at 11:35 PM
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
Should probably remind folks I’m also an illustrator, you might see my work out in the wild on a cover like this recent one for Scientific American
November 17, 2024 at 2:29 AM
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
I started my career as a traditional painter, and I used to hand-paint gigantic canvas murals (like this 58’x14’ one from 2015 (c) Blue Rhino Studio). These days I’ve transitioned to doing the same kind of work, only digitally.
November 17, 2024 at 2:40 AM
Quick comparison between a southern cassowary femur (top) and a recently found Late Miocene casuariid bird femur (bottom) from Beaumaris, Victoria
November 16, 2024 at 11:18 PM
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
Landed in Perth ready for #SMM2024! Interested in the unique amphibious hearing abilities of pinnipeds? So am I!

Come see my talk on the evolutionary origins and anatomical evidence for amphibious hearing in seals!

Monday, 11:30am in Room 4 (Hearing Mechanisms) @marinemammalogy
November 10, 2024 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
New paper by Sanchez-Posada et al. in JVP: a new early Miocene dolphin, Romaleodelphis pollerspoecki, from Austria. Possibly related to Chilcacetus from Peru and some other poorly known long-snouted dolphins of the same time period. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
November 8, 2024 at 7:41 PM
For #FossilFriday a trio of Early Miocene ‘shark-toothed cetacean’ teeth from Victoria, Australia
November 7, 2024 at 10:44 PM