Jack Milligan, MSc
@pieceofasaurus.bsky.social
Palaeontologist at the University of Saskatchewan. Cretaceous paleoecology 🦖, stratigraphy, ichnology 👣, taphonomy, turtles 🐢 and ceratopsians. Laughing aficionado. Opinions are my own.
Pinned
Taphonomic history of a dinosaur skeleton from the upper Cretaceous Frenchman Formation, Canada: insights from ancient rhizoetchings and invertebrate bioerosion trace fossils
Bioerosion trace fossils are biogenic structures that record evidence of behaviour in hard substrates, including bone. While bioerosion trace fossils on bones produced by animals have been well doc...
www.tandfonline.com
I’m having a pretty awesome #TraceFossilTuesday, as my research @usask.bsky.social and the Royal Saskatchewan Museum on ancient plant and invertebrate bioerosion trace fossils on a Triceratops skeleton from Saskatchewan has been published in Ichnos!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
They’ve only waited 120Ma.
A new glimpse into theropod diversity from Early Cretaceous Australia: megaraptorids, an unenlagiine, and for the first time, carcharodontosaurians.
Read it here: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Artwork by Jonathan Metzger.
1/10
A new glimpse into theropod diversity from Early Cretaceous Australia: megaraptorids, an unenlagiine, and for the first time, carcharodontosaurians.
Read it here: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Artwork by Jonathan Metzger.
1/10
February 19, 2025 at 7:51 PM
They’ve only waited 120Ma.
A new glimpse into theropod diversity from Early Cretaceous Australia: megaraptorids, an unenlagiine, and for the first time, carcharodontosaurians.
Read it here: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Artwork by Jonathan Metzger.
1/10
A new glimpse into theropod diversity from Early Cretaceous Australia: megaraptorids, an unenlagiine, and for the first time, carcharodontosaurians.
Read it here: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Artwork by Jonathan Metzger.
1/10
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
From the field to the lab! Peter Rhynard, one of our 2024 field interns, volunteered over the winter break in the Paleo Prep Lab at the Cincinnati Museum Center, where he worked on fossils he helped excavate in the field!
February 7, 2025 at 10:01 PM
From the field to the lab! Peter Rhynard, one of our 2024 field interns, volunteered over the winter break in the Paleo Prep Lab at the Cincinnati Museum Center, where he worked on fossils he helped excavate in the field!
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
The current state of the #pachyrhinosaurus skull that I helped collect in September. Preparation is going amazingly so far and I’ve found numerous fossils surrounding it including an ulna, quadrate, ischium and teeth. Not to mention vertebrae and ribs. #fossilfriday
January 24, 2025 at 9:25 PM
The current state of the #pachyrhinosaurus skull that I helped collect in September. Preparation is going amazingly so far and I’ve found numerous fossils surrounding it including an ulna, quadrate, ischium and teeth. Not to mention vertebrae and ribs. #fossilfriday
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
Happy #ToothyTuesday from this pathological Daspletosaurus tooth from the 75 million year old sediments of the Judith River Formation.
This specimen has split carinae (the serrated edge) on the front side in an upside down "Y" pattern. Relatively uncommon, and a treat to find in the field. 🦖 🧪
This specimen has split carinae (the serrated edge) on the front side in an upside down "Y" pattern. Relatively uncommon, and a treat to find in the field. 🦖 🧪
February 4, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Happy #ToothyTuesday from this pathological Daspletosaurus tooth from the 75 million year old sediments of the Judith River Formation.
This specimen has split carinae (the serrated edge) on the front side in an upside down "Y" pattern. Relatively uncommon, and a treat to find in the field. 🦖 🧪
This specimen has split carinae (the serrated edge) on the front side in an upside down "Y" pattern. Relatively uncommon, and a treat to find in the field. 🦖 🧪
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
Continuing this fossil weirdness thread!
Thyreosaurus, Plourdosteus, Congruus, Megalotragus...
Thyreosaurus, Plourdosteus, Congruus, Megalotragus...
February 4, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Continuing this fossil weirdness thread!
Thyreosaurus, Plourdosteus, Congruus, Megalotragus...
Thyreosaurus, Plourdosteus, Congruus, Megalotragus...
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
“Paleontology is often framed as stories of colonization and conquest — life colonized land, dinosaurs dominated the Mesozoic Era. Black rejects this framework, instead twining tales of communities into an ‘evolutionary romance.’”
A new book explores the evolutionary romance between plants and animals
Riley Black’s new book, When the Earth was Green, uses the latest research to envision the ancient worlds of our favorite prehistoric animals.
www.sciencenews.org
February 4, 2025 at 4:09 PM
“Paleontology is often framed as stories of colonization and conquest — life colonized land, dinosaurs dominated the Mesozoic Era. Black rejects this framework, instead twining tales of communities into an ‘evolutionary romance.’”
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
I promised to tell the backstory of the world's biggest #trilobite, so here's our 1998 discovery & excavation of the holotype of Isotelus rex. Length as recovered ~68 cm; original length ~72 cm. U. Ordovician, nr Churchill, MB 🇨🇦 Now on display in the @manitobamuseum.bsky.social #TrilobiteTuesday
February 4, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I promised to tell the backstory of the world's biggest #trilobite, so here's our 1998 discovery & excavation of the holotype of Isotelus rex. Length as recovered ~68 cm; original length ~72 cm. U. Ordovician, nr Churchill, MB 🇨🇦 Now on display in the @manitobamuseum.bsky.social #TrilobiteTuesday
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
Headline: "Did Giant Ice-Age Beast Carve These Vast Caves in South America?"
Me: "Yes."
Wrote about these megafauna-made mega-tunnels of in my book 'The Evolution Underground' (2017, Pegasus Books), pleased to see them still getting the attention they richly deserve.
🧪🦥🪨⚒️ #ichnology
Me: "Yes."
Wrote about these megafauna-made mega-tunnels of in my book 'The Evolution Underground' (2017, Pegasus Books), pleased to see them still getting the attention they richly deserve.
🧪🦥🪨⚒️ #ichnology
January 30, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Headline: "Did Giant Ice-Age Beast Carve These Vast Caves in South America?"
Me: "Yes."
Wrote about these megafauna-made mega-tunnels of in my book 'The Evolution Underground' (2017, Pegasus Books), pleased to see them still getting the attention they richly deserve.
🧪🦥🪨⚒️ #ichnology
Me: "Yes."
Wrote about these megafauna-made mega-tunnels of in my book 'The Evolution Underground' (2017, Pegasus Books), pleased to see them still getting the attention they richly deserve.
🧪🦥🪨⚒️ #ichnology
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
Taphonomic history of a dinosaur skeleton from the upper Cretaceous Frenchman Formation, Canada: insights from ancient rhizoetchings and invertebrate bioerosion trace fossils: Ichnos: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Taphonomic history of a dinosaur skeleton from the upper Cretaceous Frenchman Formation, Canada: insights from ancient rhizoetchings and invertebrate bioerosion trace fossils
Bioerosion trace fossils are biogenic structures that record evidence of behaviour in hard substrates, including bone. While bioerosion trace fossils on bones produced by animals have been well doc...
www.tandfonline.com
January 23, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Taphonomic history of a dinosaur skeleton from the upper Cretaceous Frenchman Formation, Canada: insights from ancient rhizoetchings and invertebrate bioerosion trace fossils: Ichnos: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
First pictures from Walking With Dinosaurs (2025)!!!
January 22, 2025 at 7:41 PM
First pictures from Walking With Dinosaurs (2025)!!!
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
I've got a new book coming out next month - all about how prehistoric plants changed the world - and I'd love for it to bloom wildly when it comes out.
Pre-orders make a massive difference, so please consider ordering a physical, ebook, or audio copy, and asking for it from your favorite library 🌱
Pre-orders make a massive difference, so please consider ordering a physical, ebook, or audio copy, and asking for it from your favorite library 🌱
When the Earth Was Green
Winner, A Friend of Darwin Award, 2024 A gorgeously composed look at the longstanding relationship between prehistoric plants and life on EarthFossils plants...
us.macmillan.com
January 2, 2025 at 9:29 PM
I've got a new book coming out next month - all about how prehistoric plants changed the world - and I'd love for it to bloom wildly when it comes out.
Pre-orders make a massive difference, so please consider ordering a physical, ebook, or audio copy, and asking for it from your favorite library 🌱
Pre-orders make a massive difference, so please consider ordering a physical, ebook, or audio copy, and asking for it from your favorite library 🌱
I’m having a pretty awesome #TraceFossilTuesday, as my research @usask.bsky.social and the Royal Saskatchewan Museum on ancient plant and invertebrate bioerosion trace fossils on a Triceratops skeleton from Saskatchewan has been published in Ichnos!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Taphonomic history of a dinosaur skeleton from the upper Cretaceous Frenchman Formation, Canada: insights from ancient rhizoetchings and invertebrate bioerosion trace fossils
Bioerosion trace fossils are biogenic structures that record evidence of behaviour in hard substrates, including bone. While bioerosion trace fossils on bones produced by animals have been well doc...
www.tandfonline.com
January 21, 2025 at 10:17 PM
I’m having a pretty awesome #TraceFossilTuesday, as my research @usask.bsky.social and the Royal Saskatchewan Museum on ancient plant and invertebrate bioerosion trace fossils on a Triceratops skeleton from Saskatchewan has been published in Ichnos!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
Just in time for the year's end: an updated geochronology chart from the ICS:
stratigraphy.org/ICSchart/Chr...
stratigraphy.org/ICSchart/Chr...
December 31, 2024 at 2:21 PM
Just in time for the year's end: an updated geochronology chart from the ICS:
stratigraphy.org/ICSchart/Chr...
stratigraphy.org/ICSchart/Chr...
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
The last new dinosaur of 2024? Pang et al. 2024 A New Species of Ankylosaurian Dinosaur——Tianzhenosaurus chengi sp. nov., from the Late Cretaceous of Tianzhen County, Shanxi Province, China cnki.net/KCMS/detail/...
December 30, 2024 at 5:44 PM
The last new dinosaur of 2024? Pang et al. 2024 A New Species of Ankylosaurian Dinosaur——Tianzhenosaurus chengi sp. nov., from the Late Cretaceous of Tianzhen County, Shanxi Province, China cnki.net/KCMS/detail/...
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
I am really fond of this piece showing Nanuqsaurus walking under the northern lights in a cold winter day during the Late Cretaceous! Even if I did this illustration a while back I think it is the best one to wish everyone:
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
#paleoart #sciart #dinosaurs
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
#paleoart #sciart #dinosaurs
December 25, 2024 at 1:35 PM
I am really fond of this piece showing Nanuqsaurus walking under the northern lights in a cold winter day during the Late Cretaceous! Even if I did this illustration a while back I think it is the best one to wish everyone:
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
#paleoart #sciart #dinosaurs
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
#paleoart #sciart #dinosaurs
Christmas came early this year! The Royal Saskatchewan Museum put two turtle fossils I found and excavated on display! A nearly complete skull of an unidentified Baenid, and a right xiphiplastron of a large Axestemys.
#TurtleTuesday
#Paleontology
#TurtleTuesday
#Paleontology
December 25, 2024 at 3:59 AM
Christmas came early this year! The Royal Saskatchewan Museum put two turtle fossils I found and excavated on display! A nearly complete skull of an unidentified Baenid, and a right xiphiplastron of a large Axestemys.
#TurtleTuesday
#Paleontology
#TurtleTuesday
#Paleontology
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
In celebration of #Crustmas & the amazing burrowing powers of crustaceans, here's a figure I made for my book 'The Evolution Underground' (2017, Pegasus Books), featuring burrows made by a variety of crustaceans. Figure key in the alt-text.
(P.S. The plane's registration number is an Easter egg.) 🧪🦀
(P.S. The plane's registration number is an Easter egg.) 🧪🦀
December 18, 2024 at 3:05 PM
In celebration of #Crustmas & the amazing burrowing powers of crustaceans, here's a figure I made for my book 'The Evolution Underground' (2017, Pegasus Books), featuring burrows made by a variety of crustaceans. Figure key in the alt-text.
(P.S. The plane's registration number is an Easter egg.) 🧪🦀
(P.S. The plane's registration number is an Easter egg.) 🧪🦀
A paleontological smorgasbord for #FossilFriday @usask.bsky.social
Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Mosasaurus, and Rhamphorhynchus.
Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Mosasaurus, and Rhamphorhynchus.
December 13, 2024 at 9:10 PM
A paleontological smorgasbord for #FossilFriday @usask.bsky.social
Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Mosasaurus, and Rhamphorhynchus.
Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Mosasaurus, and Rhamphorhynchus.
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
Wyenberg-Henzler TCA, Fowler DW, Currie PJ, Sullivan C. The category-modifier system: a hierarchical classification scheme for vertebrate tooth marks. Paleobiology. Published online 2024:1-19. doi:10.1017/pab.2024.43
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The category-modifier system: a hierarchical classification scheme for vertebrate tooth marks | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
The category-modifier system: a hierarchical classification scheme for vertebrate tooth marks
www.cambridge.org
December 10, 2024 at 10:05 PM
Wyenberg-Henzler TCA, Fowler DW, Currie PJ, Sullivan C. The category-modifier system: a hierarchical classification scheme for vertebrate tooth marks. Paleobiology. Published online 2024:1-19. doi:10.1017/pab.2024.43
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
Apex is now on view! Thought to be the largest & one of the most complete Stegosaurus specimens ever found, Apex will be studied by Museum scientists. All resulting 3D digital models, including new CT scans taken at the Museum, will be made available for researchers.
December 8, 2024 at 3:10 PM
Apex is now on view! Thought to be the largest & one of the most complete Stegosaurus specimens ever found, Apex will be studied by Museum scientists. All resulting 3D digital models, including new CT scans taken at the Museum, will be made available for researchers.
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
Brontotheres are often described as being rhino-like, because of forms with big horns like Megacerops, but not all brontotheres were so conspicuously ornamented. This skull belongs to Telmatherium, a relatively small brontothere that lived in western North America about 44 million years ago. 🧪
December 8, 2024 at 5:14 PM
Brontotheres are often described as being rhino-like, because of forms with big horns like Megacerops, but not all brontotheres were so conspicuously ornamented. This skull belongs to Telmatherium, a relatively small brontothere that lived in western North America about 44 million years ago. 🧪
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
Brachychampsa was a shell-busting croc. While the teeth at the front of this 75-66 million-year-old croc’s jaw are pointed, those towards the back are bulbous and suited to cracking shelled prey like freshwater clams and small turtles. This skeleton’s based on Brachychampsa from southern Utah. 🧪
December 7, 2024 at 2:12 PM
Brachychampsa was a shell-busting croc. While the teeth at the front of this 75-66 million-year-old croc’s jaw are pointed, those towards the back are bulbous and suited to cracking shelled prey like freshwater clams and small turtles. This skeleton’s based on Brachychampsa from southern Utah. 🧪
Reposted by Jack Milligan, MSc
These slightly bloated-looking footprints come from a variety of mid-Cretaceous dinosaurs (hadrosaurs, ceratopsians, and theropods). They’re found in coal mines in Carbon Co, Utah. #FossilFriday
December 6, 2024 at 4:25 PM
These slightly bloated-looking footprints come from a variety of mid-Cretaceous dinosaurs (hadrosaurs, ceratopsians, and theropods). They’re found in coal mines in Carbon Co, Utah. #FossilFriday
First #FossilFriday on the new app! Please enjoy this Chasmosaurus belli from Dinosaur Provincial Park in southern Alberta.
November 29, 2024 at 3:12 PM
First #FossilFriday on the new app! Please enjoy this Chasmosaurus belli from Dinosaur Provincial Park in southern Alberta.