Stephanie Drumheller
@uglyfossils.bsky.social
Studying the evolution of archosaurs and their behaviors, one ugly fossil at a time. she/her
Pinned
My handle is UglyFossils because I study how #fossils form and what that can tell us about the ecosystems where these animals lived and died (taphonomy). While I do sometimes work on pretty fossils, I spend more time looking at ugly, scrappy bits that only another taphonomist could love.
And then, they made me their queen...
Well, no, but the mayor of Drumheller did stop by my talk to give me several pins, so that was unexpected, a little surreal, and also fantastic.
Well, no, but the mayor of Drumheller did stop by my talk to give me several pins, so that was unexpected, a little surreal, and also fantastic.
February 15, 2026 at 3:52 PM
And then, they made me their queen...
Well, no, but the mayor of Drumheller did stop by my talk to give me several pins, so that was unexpected, a little surreal, and also fantastic.
Well, no, but the mayor of Drumheller did stop by my talk to give me several pins, so that was unexpected, a little surreal, and also fantastic.
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
Now this is a movie plot!!! Someone understands grad school.
February 14, 2026 at 11:10 PM
Now this is a movie plot!!! Someone understands grad school.
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
This #paleoart shows 3 views of the Devonian brachiopod fossil Paraspirifer bownockeri; one is reconstructed w/ some epifauna and boreholes. These are fun to find; they're an impressive size (for brachiopods). I had an excellent specimen to use as a reference for this painting.
#FossilFriday #sciart
#FossilFriday #sciart
February 21, 2025 at 7:01 PM
This #paleoart shows 3 views of the Devonian brachiopod fossil Paraspirifer bownockeri; one is reconstructed w/ some epifauna and boreholes. These are fun to find; they're an impressive size (for brachiopods). I had an excellent specimen to use as a reference for this painting.
#FossilFriday #sciart
#FossilFriday #sciart
I would love to see something similar done with paleoart too.
🧪🏺 Update - authors have new paper showing how useless gen- #AI is for archaeological illustration.
All 400 images were multiply inaccurate (physically, socially, technologically, environmentally), even with improved prompts.
JUST USE HUMAN EXPERTS & ARTISTS
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
All 400 images were multiply inaccurate (physically, socially, technologically, environmentally), even with improved prompts.
JUST USE HUMAN EXPERTS & ARTISTS
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
February 14, 2026 at 2:36 PM
I would love to see something similar done with paleoart too.
Drive by Brachiosaurus-ing as I run my butt off between connecting gates in O'Hare:
February 13, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Drive by Brachiosaurus-ing as I run my butt off between connecting gates in O'Hare:
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
I want to spend more time writing about the amazing fossil discoveries paleontologists are unveiling each week. So I've started a newsletter!
You can subscribe, and read the first post, right here. Welcome to The Boneyard. 🦴
You can subscribe, and read the first post, right here. Welcome to The Boneyard. 🦴
Back to the Dinosaur Den
It’s always a pleasure to meet a stegosaur, like this friend outside the Dinosaur National Monument visitor center. I felt so small next to the reptiles. Not...
buttondown.com
February 13, 2026 at 7:00 PM
I want to spend more time writing about the amazing fossil discoveries paleontologists are unveiling each week. So I've started a newsletter!
You can subscribe, and read the first post, right here. Welcome to The Boneyard. 🦴
You can subscribe, and read the first post, right here. Welcome to The Boneyard. 🦴
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
Please enjoy our research paper on how Bluesky is the preferred home of academics of all stripes, including professors of rare moths. (Yes, we actually have lots of entomologists here).
academic.oup.com/icb/article-... 🧪
academic.oup.com/icb/article-... 🧪
February 12, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Please enjoy our research paper on how Bluesky is the preferred home of academics of all stripes, including professors of rare moths. (Yes, we actually have lots of entomologists here).
academic.oup.com/icb/article-... 🧪
academic.oup.com/icb/article-... 🧪
I've apparently got two first-authored fish papers in press now, so in honor of my new status as a fish paleontologist, here it the RTM's fish-within-a-fish fossil:
February 13, 2026 at 5:46 PM
I've apparently got two first-authored fish papers in press now, so in honor of my new status as a fish paleontologist, here it the RTM's fish-within-a-fish fossil:
The Royal Tyrrell Museum's galleries are like a Who's Who of famous death posture dinos:
February 13, 2026 at 12:06 AM
The Royal Tyrrell Museum's galleries are like a Who's Who of famous death posture dinos:
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
We sent out our Nile Crocodile mount for restoration. It’ll be included in a new upcoming exhibit and needed freshening up!
February 11, 2026 at 11:00 PM
We sent out our Nile Crocodile mount for restoration. It’ll be included in a new upcoming exhibit and needed freshening up!
Borealopelta really is just obscenely beautiful. Just a jaw-dropping fossil.
February 11, 2026 at 10:49 PM
Borealopelta really is just obscenely beautiful. Just a jaw-dropping fossil.
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
Dinosaur
swim
tracks.
These scratches were made by the clawed feet of dinosaurs similar to the little carnivore Coelophysis, around 200 million years ago, as the reptiles paddled in a lake’s shallows.
Most dinosaur swim tracks described so far were made by carnivores. 🧪
swim
tracks.
These scratches were made by the clawed feet of dinosaurs similar to the little carnivore Coelophysis, around 200 million years ago, as the reptiles paddled in a lake’s shallows.
Most dinosaur swim tracks described so far were made by carnivores. 🧪
February 10, 2026 at 4:20 AM
Dinosaur
swim
tracks.
These scratches were made by the clawed feet of dinosaurs similar to the little carnivore Coelophysis, around 200 million years ago, as the reptiles paddled in a lake’s shallows.
Most dinosaur swim tracks described so far were made by carnivores. 🧪
swim
tracks.
These scratches were made by the clawed feet of dinosaurs similar to the little carnivore Coelophysis, around 200 million years ago, as the reptiles paddled in a lake’s shallows.
Most dinosaur swim tracks described so far were made by carnivores. 🧪
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
There’s more to know, but you can get caught up with this paper by @uglyfossils.bsky.social @boydpaleo.bsky.social et al.
Biostratinomic alterations of an Edmontosaurus “mummy” reveal a pathway for soft tissue preservation without invoking “exceptional conditions”
Removal or protection from biostratinomic agents of decomposition, such as predators and scavengers, is widely seen as a requirement for high-quality preservation of soft tissues in the fossil record....
journals.plos.org
February 10, 2026 at 3:00 AM
There’s more to know, but you can get caught up with this paper by @uglyfossils.bsky.social @boydpaleo.bsky.social et al.
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
Paleontologists used to think that dino skin impressions required rapid burial, soon after death, to be preserved.
But now we know there’s not a single pathway to exceptional preservation, and desiccation often plays a role. Look at this chunk of hadrosaur tail, so dried the skin shrunk to bone. 🧪
But now we know there’s not a single pathway to exceptional preservation, and desiccation often plays a role. Look at this chunk of hadrosaur tail, so dried the skin shrunk to bone. 🧪
February 10, 2026 at 2:57 AM
Paleontologists used to think that dino skin impressions required rapid burial, soon after death, to be preserved.
But now we know there’s not a single pathway to exceptional preservation, and desiccation often plays a role. Look at this chunk of hadrosaur tail, so dried the skin shrunk to bone. 🧪
But now we know there’s not a single pathway to exceptional preservation, and desiccation often plays a role. Look at this chunk of hadrosaur tail, so dried the skin shrunk to bone. 🧪
I have to admit, the name is making this kind of hilarious for me too.
February 9, 2026 at 11:00 PM
I have to admit, the name is making this kind of hilarious for me too.
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
I found this fossil vertebra on the floor of a hotel spa in Egypt! #urbangeology
February 9, 2026 at 2:24 AM
I found this fossil vertebra on the floor of a hotel spa in Egypt! #urbangeology
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
“Please keep your hands away from the bitey end”
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"Always wash your hands before you leave the lab"
"Always wash your hands before you leave the lab"
"What's the method variability?"
February 8, 2026 at 3:14 PM
“Please keep your hands away from the bitey end”
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
A 95 million year old angiosperm leaf preserved as an impression in an iron-cemented sandstone. The original leaf may have gone, but you can still see where invertebrates nibbled it.
From Dakota Formation, Kansas. Cenomanian, probably.
#FossilFriday ⚒🌏🔬🌱🍃🌳
From Dakota Formation, Kansas. Cenomanian, probably.
#FossilFriday ⚒🌏🔬🌱🍃🌳
February 6, 2026 at 3:17 PM
A 95 million year old angiosperm leaf preserved as an impression in an iron-cemented sandstone. The original leaf may have gone, but you can still see where invertebrates nibbled it.
From Dakota Formation, Kansas. Cenomanian, probably.
#FossilFriday ⚒🌏🔬🌱🍃🌳
From Dakota Formation, Kansas. Cenomanian, probably.
#FossilFriday ⚒🌏🔬🌱🍃🌳
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
Maybe a bit late for web timing, but ehy, NEW PAPER ON #fossilfriday!!!
I am proud to present you Haolong dongi gen. nov. sp. nov., a new hadrosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of China!
The specimen, almost complete, is a juvenile iguanodontian from the Yixian Formation of the Barremian (125 Mya).
I am proud to present you Haolong dongi gen. nov. sp. nov., a new hadrosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of China!
The specimen, almost complete, is a juvenile iguanodontian from the Yixian Formation of the Barremian (125 Mya).
February 6, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Maybe a bit late for web timing, but ehy, NEW PAPER ON #fossilfriday!!!
I am proud to present you Haolong dongi gen. nov. sp. nov., a new hadrosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of China!
The specimen, almost complete, is a juvenile iguanodontian from the Yixian Formation of the Barremian (125 Mya).
I am proud to present you Haolong dongi gen. nov. sp. nov., a new hadrosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of China!
The specimen, almost complete, is a juvenile iguanodontian from the Yixian Formation of the Barremian (125 Mya).
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
I've been singing this to myself all day
February 7, 2026 at 6:39 PM
I've been singing this to myself all day
I'll be scratching a travel/research destination off of my bucket list next week:
February 5, 2026 at 1:50 PM
I'll be scratching a travel/research destination off of my bucket list next week:
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
More on DinoTracker, our new free app for classifying and identifying dinosaur footprints!
The app I wish I had as a grad student...
From our pals @iflscience.com
www.iflscience.com/did-ai-just-...
The app I wish I had as a grad student...
From our pals @iflscience.com
www.iflscience.com/did-ai-just-...
Cinderella Dinosaurs: How Do You Match Footprints To Dinosaurs? A New AI App Can Help With That
“I think AI has a bright future in paleontology,” dinosaur expert Steve Brusatte told IFLScience.
www.iflscience.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:27 PM
More on DinoTracker, our new free app for classifying and identifying dinosaur footprints!
The app I wish I had as a grad student...
From our pals @iflscience.com
www.iflscience.com/did-ai-just-...
The app I wish I had as a grad student...
From our pals @iflscience.com
www.iflscience.com/did-ai-just-...
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
Opportunity for women students in paleontology! The Winifred Goldring Award will be presented to three women graduate students and the AWG Undergraduate Paleontology Award will be presented to a student pursuing a career in paleontology. Due April 30th. More information here: tinyurl.com/msdc3m68
February 2, 2026 at 1:47 AM
Opportunity for women students in paleontology! The Winifred Goldring Award will be presented to three women graduate students and the AWG Undergraduate Paleontology Award will be presented to a student pursuing a career in paleontology. Due April 30th. More information here: tinyurl.com/msdc3m68
Attending a responsible conduct of research workshop for NSF compliance today, and whew, some of the areas covered on the agenda have become awkwardly topical given some of the conversations surrounding community ethics in ScienceSky this week.
February 4, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Attending a responsible conduct of research workshop for NSF compliance today, and whew, some of the areas covered on the agenda have become awkwardly topical given some of the conversations surrounding community ethics in ScienceSky this week.
Reposted by Stephanie Drumheller
Let‘s open this question up: who are the kindest, most wholesome paleontologists you know (Current/retired/historical/whatever)? Who SHOULD be featured in documentaries?
I’m tired of doomering, let’s focus on the bright lights among us.
I’m tired of doomering, let’s focus on the bright lights among us.
Ok, so is there any non-creep paleo figure the public would recognize from the 80s through 2000s?
February 2, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Let‘s open this question up: who are the kindest, most wholesome paleontologists you know (Current/retired/historical/whatever)? Who SHOULD be featured in documentaries?
I’m tired of doomering, let’s focus on the bright lights among us.
I’m tired of doomering, let’s focus on the bright lights among us.