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
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
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?url=https%3A...
aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
February 20, 2025 at 10:17 PM
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?url=https%3A...
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
New Aussie dinos, including the first records of carcharodontosaurians and unenlagiines here!
Major advance in Aussie theropod dinosaurs by @monashuniversity.bsky.social and Museums Victoria PhD student @dinoman-jake.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Evolutionary and paleobiogeographic implications of new carcharodontosaurian, megaraptorid, and unenlagiine theropod remains from the upper Lower Cretaceous of Victoria, southeast Australia
The Early Cretaceous non-avian theropod body fossil record of Victoria, Australia dominantly comprises isolated dental and postcranial remains. Numerous specimens have been collected from both the ...
www.tandfonline.com
February 19, 2025 at 10:59 PM
New Aussie dinos, including the first records of carcharodontosaurians and unenlagiines here!
Major advance in Aussie theropod dinosaurs by @monashuniversity.bsky.social and Museums Victoria PhD student @dinoman-jake.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Evolutionary and paleobiogeographic implications of new carcharodontosaurian, megaraptorid, and unenlagiine theropod remains from the upper Lower Cretaceous of Victoria, southeast Australia
The Early Cretaceous non-avian theropod body fossil record of Victoria, Australia dominantly comprises isolated dental and postcranial remains. Numerous specimens have been collected from both the ...
www.tandfonline.com
February 19, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Major advance in Aussie theropod dinosaurs by @monashuniversity.bsky.social and Museums Victoria PhD student @dinoman-jake.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
New publication: taxonomy and classification of every fossil mammal species in Australasia—Wallace Line to New Zealand!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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
New publication: taxonomy and classification of every fossil mammal species in Australasia—Wallace Line to New Zealand!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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
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
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
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!
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
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
Incredible views of the external morphology of Indopacetus pacificus, the holotype specimen of which is from Queensland, Australia!
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
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
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
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.
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
Quick comparison between a southern cassowary femur (top) and a recently found Late Miocene casuariid bird femur (bottom) from Beaumaris, Victoria
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
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
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
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
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
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....
For #FossilFriday a trio of Early Miocene ‘shark-toothed cetacean’ teeth from Victoria, Australia
November 7, 2024 at 10:44 PM
For #FossilFriday a trio of Early Miocene ‘shark-toothed cetacean’ teeth from Victoria, Australia