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witmerlab.bsky.social
WitmerLab at Ohio University
@witmerlab.bsky.social
3.3K followers 550 following 160 posts
21st-century approaches to fleshing out the past! Mission: to use the structure of past & present animals to interpret evolutionary history...and to share it!
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witmerlab.bsky.social
From all your friends at WitmerLab at Ohio University, have a Merry Christmas, a happy holiday season, and a safe and productive new year! 🎄 ☃️🎅

This year, Jane the tyrannosaur received the special gift of being designated the holotype of a new species of Nanotyrannus, N. lethaeus! 🦖
December 25, 2025 at 12:35 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
Why Santa's elves hate dinosaurs...! 🎄🎅🦖
Why Santa's elves hate dinosaurs...! 🎄🎅🦖. A Santa's hat hangs from the jaws of a festive Tarbosaurus.
December 24, 2025 at 8:44 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
Getting in the spirit...! 🎄🎅🦖🎁
Getting in the spirit...! The bony foot of the ornithomimosaur Gallimimus busts through a Christmas stocking with the caption "Dinosaurs make the best stocking stuffers...!"
December 23, 2025 at 10:25 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
Apparently Bill Simpson, longtime Collections Manager of fossil vertebrates at the ⁦‪@FieldMuseum‬⁩ in Chicago, is retiring—after 46 yrs! Bill has always been so helpful, including pulling out the skull of ⁦‪@SUEtheTrex‬⁩ for study multiple times! Happy Retirement, Bill! 🎥: Emily Rieff #FossilFriday
December 19, 2025 at 6:03 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
Earlier this week, John Noble Wilford (1933–2025)—giant of science journalism & Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at the @nytimes.com for 50 yrs—passed away. I almost froze when he phoned me to report on my 2001 article in @science.org. Few science reporters like him remain today.
To honor the passing of John Noble Wilford, on a table sit a copy of the New York Times from Aug 3 2001, showing his front-page article covering the publication of an article I wrote in Science, which is also on the table. Also in the photo is a copy of Wilford's book The Riddle of the Dinosaur, published in 1985 and which I read as a young grad student.
December 12, 2025 at 8:41 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
#FossilFriday The awesome new article in Science by
@griffinlabpaleo.bsky.social et al. adds more evidence for the validity of Nanotyrannus by showing that the hyoid bone in the holotype has adult bone histology. Here are some more images showing the ceratobranchial bone in place in the skull. 🦖
Volume renderings of CT scan data of the holotype skull of Nanotyrannus lancensis (CMNH 7541). The top image is mostly a left lateral view. The bottom image is a ventral view showing the caudal half of the hyoid bone preserved in place. Additional images (all in ventral view) of the holotype skull of Nanotyrannus lancensis (CMNH 7541). The top right image is from the original 1946 article by Charles Gilmore showing the full ceratobranchial hyoid bone in place. The bottom photograph (that I snapped in 2005 when I had the skull on loan for study & CT scanning) shows the caudal half of the hyoid bone preserved in place. The top left image is similar to the bottom image but is grayscale except for the hyoid bone. The main photograph (again, that I snapped in 2005 when I had the skull on loan for study & CT scanning) shows the caudal half of the hyoid bone of Nanotyrannus (CMNH 7541) preserved in place, but it's more of a front view. Notice the broken end of the ceratobranchial in a close-up in the inset.
December 5, 2025 at 10:28 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
I learned from the wonderful obit of Mark Norell in Current Biology by Pete Makovicky, Jim Clark, & @stevebrusatte.bsky.social (bit.ly/4rtBlEP) that Mark "was most proud of Unearthing the Dragon," so I pulled it off the shelf & read it cover to cover. It was like hearing Mark's voice again. 🥹
The book "Unearthing the Dragon" published in 2005 by Mark Norell (1957–2025)and Mick Ellison, with a blurred T. rex skull cast in the background. The T. rex is a specimen (AMNH 5027) from the American Museum of Natural History where Mark worked for many years.
December 1, 2025 at 5:32 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
#HappyThanksgiving from WitmerLab! You have your holiday traditions, and we have ours! Yes, we CT scanned our turkey on our best turkey platter. Science has never been so delicious! And like any good dinosaur biologist, I prepared and accessioned the skeleton—OUVC 10789. 🦃🦖
November 27, 2025 at 5:31 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
Happy to be a part of this big project led by Mario Bronzati & Matteo Fabbri—out today #OA in @currentbiology.bsky.social
bit.ly/3M5weun —on the brain endocast of a close pterosaur cousin & what it means for pterosaur brain evolution...maybe different from bird brain evolution. 1/2
Life restoration by Matheus Fernandes showing a Triassic scene with the lagerpetid non-pterosaurian pterosauromorph Ixalerpeton with early pterosaurs flying overhead. The publication is here: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)01467-8 Life restorations and labeled cranial (brain) endocasts of the lagerpetid Ixalerpeton and the pterosaur Allkaruen.
November 26, 2025 at 5:15 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
Highly recommended! I just finished a cover-to-cover read, and it's a great addition to the avian sensory ecology literature with excellent discussions of the links between brain & behavior. I prefer reading paper books (better retention) but the whole thing is freely downloadable! bit.ly/482xPZm 🦉🧠
"Bird Brains and Behavior: A Synthesis" book by Georg Striedter & Andrew Iwaniuk, surrounded by birds skulls and 3D printed brain endocasts of, from left, ostrich, golden eagle, African grey parrot, American crow, and wild turkey. The pale turquoise endocast is that of a New Caledonian crow.
November 20, 2025 at 5:45 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
The paleo community is mourning the passing of giant. Philippe Taquet passed away on Sunday at 85. I was honored to meet him in his Paris office in 2007. Later that year, we published on a sauropod from his beloved Gadoufaoua in Niger, Africa, & named for him—Sereno et al. 2007: bit.ly/3WZLKdF 🦕
Philippe Taquet & Witmer in Dr. Taquet's office (19 July 2007, Paris) Restored skull and brain endocast of the rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur Nigersaurus taqueti (MNN GAD512). Published in November 2007 in PLOS ONE (Sereno et al. 2007: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0001230).
November 18, 2025 at 5:41 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
Former lab member Peter Rhynard did a great job presenting his undergrad honors thesis research on the skull of the Allosaurus specimen known as Big Al (MOR 693) at the #2025SVP meeting! Thanks to @seishirotada.bsky.social for the photos since I was unable to attend myself!
November 13, 2025 at 5:47 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
We'll close out this #FossilFriday with the obvious choice of Nanotyrannus. I couldn't share this CT scanning session at the time (June 2023) but can now. @jgn-paleo.bsky.social brought the holotype Cleveland skull he had on loan, and CMNH VP curator Caitlin Colleary & I joined in the fun!
James Napoli, Witmer, and Cleveland Museum of Natural History Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology Caitlin Colleary with the holotype skull of Nanotyrannus (CMNH 7541) for CT scanning (June 2023). James Napoli with the holotype skull of Nanotyrannus (CMNH 7541) for CT scanning (June 2023). Cleveland Museum of Natural History Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology Caitlin Colleary with the holotype skull of Nanotyrannus (CMNH 7541) for CT scanning (June 2023). Witmer with the holotype skull of Nanotyrannus (CMNH 7541) for CT scanning (June 2023). I had this same skull on loan in my Ohio University lab for study and CT scanning for over a year and, as far as I can tell, never appeared in a photo with it. I didn't my chance this time!
October 31, 2025 at 6:51 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
Shamini Bundell ‪@shamini.bsky.social at @nature.com, knowing that I had written the N&V commentary (rdcu.be/eNv94) on the Zanno & Napoli article on Nanotyrannus, contacted me earlier this week to film a quick video that provides some background. Shamini did a great job with it! I need a haircut.
nature.com Nature @nature.com · Oct 30
Decades of debate over the identity of a medium-sized Cretaceous predator may finally be over

Read more: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
October 31, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by WitmerLab at Ohio University
asherelbein.bsky.social
This @witmerlab.bsky.social piece about l'affair Nanotyrannus is extremely sharp and even-handed about some of the dynamics that made this particular argument so contentious and -- occasionally -- bitter

rdcu.be/eNv94
The following key question can now be asked. Why, even before the discovery of NCSM 40000, did a scientific consensus consolidate so quickly around the hypothesis that all Nanotyrannus specimens are juvenile T. rex, especially given the well-known short-comings that should, at least, have dictated more caution?That’s a question perhaps more suited to historians or sociologists, but fascinat-ing, if uncomfortable, issues abound. For example, some advocates for the validity of Nanotyrannus do not have advanced degrees or are not employed by universities or museums, raising the spectre of the role of influence, elitism and the protective ivory tower of academia. Other factors to consider are the related issues of commercial fossil collecting and the ethics of studying fossils that are in pri-vate hands rather than public museums. Many specimens relevant to this debate were commercially collected and remain privately... held, and many of these have come to attention thanks to social media, auction catalogues and television documentaries. The ethics policies of some professional societies and journals oppose the publication of studies about specimens in private collections for valid reasons, such as issues relating to access and reproducibility of results11, although there is the conflicting ethical concern about wilfully ignoring relevant scientific data12. All of these issues have affected the Nanotyrannus debate, but it’s also probable that the consensus emerged quickly simply because it was so useful to finally have what were deemed juvenile T. rex specimens, despite the persistent concerns of a minor-ity of scientists. Given the investment in the consensus view, that side is unlikely to go down without a fight, but this exceptionally researched study by Zanno and Napoli puts Nanotyrannus on a solid foundation.
October 30, 2025 at 10:00 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
Today's bombshell in @nature.com by Lindsay Zanno & James Napoli @jgn-paleo.bsky.social (bit.ly/4qBE6ng) shows that putative juvvy T. rex fossils actually are Nanotyrannus. I reviewed the manuscript, so Nature invited me to write the News & Views commentary. Free link: rdcu.be/eNv94 🦖
The figure used in my News & Views commentary. I generated the CT-based rendering of the holotype skull of Nanotyrannus lancensis (CMNH 7541), based on a recent scan. The lower image was done by the Nature art department. Here's the free link to the print version that I'm permitted to share: https://rdcu.be/eNv94. You can't download it but you can screen-capture its two pages if you really need a copy. Our casts of (bottom) the holotype of Nanotyrannus lancensis (CMNH 7541), (middle) the newly named holotype of N. lethaeus (BMRP 2002.4.1), and (top) T. rex (AMNH 5027). We published on CMNH 7541 in 2010 (http://bit.ly/3X5nCGm).
October 30, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Reposted by WitmerLab at Ohio University
stevebrusatte.bsky.social
Interested in fossils? Brains? Reptiles?

Want to study how reptile (particularly squamate) brains and senses changed over time?

Want to be part of an international team studying the evolution of cognition?

Then apply for our Univ of Edinburgh PhD project!

e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
Project | E5 Doctoral Training Partnership | E5 Doctoral Training Partnership
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e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk
October 16, 2025 at 11:11 AM
witmerlab.bsky.social
It's #NationalFossilDay here in the USA, so here's a photo of our T. rex brain endocast based on a US national fossil—AMNH 5117. The surprise was to see it on exhibit in Japan at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. Feel free to print one of your own: skfb.ly/Mqsq ! 🦖
Witmer with a 3D print of the brain endocast of Tyrannosaurus rex on exhibit at the Fukui Prefecture Dinosaur Museum in Fukui, Japan, based on CT scanning of AMNH 5117. 3D print of the brain endocast of Tyrannosaurus rex on exhibit at the Fukui Prefecture Dinosaur Museum in Fukui, Japan, based on CT scanning of AMNH 5117. We published on the braincase and endocast of tyrannosaurs way back in 2009: https://bit.ly/47fChUf More on National Fossil Day here: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossilday/index.htm
October 15, 2025 at 8:20 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
If you haven't read—or re-read in a while—Bakker's 1986 classic The Dinosaur Heresies, it's well worth doing. I read it in 1986 & again on my recent trip to Japan. Got a pb copy for $10 for the long trip (1st photo) rather than take my signed 1st ed (got John Gurche to sign his cover art, too!). 🦖
October 12, 2025 at 9:14 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
Excited to see this new #OA article out on turtle head vasculature, led by @seishirotada.bsky.social. It was part of Sei's PhD diss. So much fun injection, dissection, sawing, & µCT of turtles & lizards in the lab with Sei and DJ Morgan—leading to this really nice article! doi.org/10.1186/s133... 🐢
Seishiro Tada dissects a snapping turtle head that previously had been injected and then microCT scanned. DJ Morgan (left) and Sei Tada (right) use the band saw to sagittally section a loggerhead sea turtle head. 3D volumetric rendering of a green sea turtle head (OUVC 11893) that had been injected with a barium-latex medium to visualize the vascular system. New research article out today! https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-025-00403-3
October 7, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by WitmerLab at Ohio University
seishirotada.bsky.social
We have a new paper out! Turtle ancestors evolved a shell—but what else? We found that an unique rostral vasculature was also obtained gradually along the lineage, and that one of the earliest turtles Proganochelys likely retained a mostly ancestral state!🐢 sjpp.springeropen.com/articles/10....
October 7, 2025 at 9:02 AM
witmerlab.bsky.social
Happy Birthday, T. rex! 🎉🎂 120 years ago today (1905), fossils collected in Montana were given the name Tyrannosaurus rex. Here’s the "sitting" mount of the T. rex known as Bucky (TCM 2001.90.1) at the National Museum of Nature & Science, which I visited last week in Tokyo. 🦖
October 5, 2025 at 1:09 AM
witmerlab.bsky.social
#FossilFriday Good times last week at the National Museum of Nature & Science in Tokyo with Seishiro Tada and Takanobu Tsuihiji and the "sitting" mount of the T. rex known as Bucky (TCM 2001.90.1). 🦖
October 3, 2025 at 1:26 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
After spending so much time with smallest/youngest specimen of Tarbosaurus, I'm thrilled finally to be face to face with among the largest known Tarbosaurus specimens (MPC-D 107/2) at the stunning Fukui Prefecture Dinosaur Museum in Japan.
September 29, 2025 at 11:06 PM
witmerlab.bsky.social
Excited to be in Fukui, Japan, for the 6th International Symposium on Asian Dinosaurs #ISAD2025 which starts today. Fukui is a dinosaur town (my kind of town!), with life-size robotic dinosaurs around town! 🦖
September 25, 2025 at 11:40 PM