Jeff Wilson Mantilla
@diapophysis.bsky.social
Paleontologist at the University of Michigan interested in sauropod dinosaur evolution, vertebrate paleontology of the Indian Subcontinent, and fossil trackways. Former Fulbright Fellow at Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla.
🇨🇴/ 🇺🇸 cafe con leche
🇨🇴/ 🇺🇸 cafe con leche
I also wanted to thank Raynsford Academy in Sandy for taking in my daughter while she has been in the UK while I was at SVP and then at the GSI conference. I had such a good time giving a small presentation there on Monday using local fossils collected by past and present students from the school.
November 21, 2025 at 2:44 PM
I also wanted to thank Raynsford Academy in Sandy for taking in my daughter while she has been in the UK while I was at SVP and then at the GSI conference. I had such a good time giving a small presentation there on Monday using local fossils collected by past and present students from the school.
I had fun participating in the Geological Survey of India’s 175 year celebration “Unearthing the Past, Shaping the Future” in Jaipur. I’m impressed by the positive energy and enthusiasm at this conference!
November 21, 2025 at 1:29 PM
I had fun participating in the Geological Survey of India’s 175 year celebration “Unearthing the Past, Shaping the Future” in Jaipur. I’m impressed by the positive energy and enthusiasm at this conference!
Come meet “chomper” at Lynnea Jackson’s poster this afternoon! She’s investigating functional aspects of tooth imbrications in early sauropods.
(Poster B508)
(Poster B508)
November 15, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Come meet “chomper” at Lynnea Jackson’s poster this afternoon! She’s investigating functional aspects of tooth imbrications in early sauropods.
(Poster B508)
(Poster B508)
On my way to #2025SVP #SVP2025. I'll be presenting a poster on behalf of Indian and U.S. colleagues on Friday afternoon — focused on a wonderful new turtle skull and on Indian Plate biotic endemism during the K-Pg. Stop by!
(The paper describing this new turtle is in review at JVP...)
(The paper describing this new turtle is in review at JVP...)
November 11, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Thought I'd share this fantastic photo that Hailu You sent me last week of a U.S. paleontological delegation visit to ZIgong Dinosaur Museum in 1984. Some giants of our field here (studying a giant): Jack McIntosh (far right) Dong Zhiming & Sankar Chatterjee (next to JSM) and Philip Bjork (at left).
September 12, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Thought I'd share this fantastic photo that Hailu You sent me last week of a U.S. paleontological delegation visit to ZIgong Dinosaur Museum in 1984. Some giants of our field here (studying a giant): Jack McIntosh (far right) Dong Zhiming & Sankar Chatterjee (next to JSM) and Philip Bjork (at left).
Joining the chorus of the many lamenting the passing of Mark Norell. We lost a great one! I admired his ability to combine field work, empirical work, and theory (e.g., ghost lineages). And with rock star aura. I also truly coveted his office—one of the greatest imaginable—the turret of the AMNH!
September 11, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Joining the chorus of the many lamenting the passing of Mark Norell. We lost a great one! I admired his ability to combine field work, empirical work, and theory (e.g., ghost lineages). And with rock star aura. I also truly coveted his office—one of the greatest imaginable—the turret of the AMNH!
perhaps not surprisingly, given his attention to anatomical detail, Schaeffer was a fastidious editor
(from Colbert's 1984 biographical sketch www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...)
(from Colbert's 1984 biographical sketch www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...)
May 14, 2025 at 3:19 PM
perhaps not surprisingly, given his attention to anatomical detail, Schaeffer was a fastidious editor
(from Colbert's 1984 biographical sketch www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...)
(from Colbert's 1984 biographical sketch www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...)
Currently enjoying Bobb Schaeffer's 1941 thesis on the evolution of the tetrapod tarsus . . . a really nice piece of work integrating anatomy, development, function, and ichnofossils across a broad range of taxa.
digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstreams/c...
digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstreams/c...
May 13, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Currently enjoying Bobb Schaeffer's 1941 thesis on the evolution of the tetrapod tarsus . . . a really nice piece of work integrating anatomy, development, function, and ichnofossils across a broad range of taxa.
digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstreams/c...
digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstreams/c...
Lovely new office succulent (Aloe brevifolia) courtesy of the UM Earth’s Mental Health Awareness Month! 👌🏽
May 7, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Lovely new office succulent (Aloe brevifolia) courtesy of the UM Earth’s Mental Health Awareness Month! 👌🏽
Congratulations to my friend Diego Pol for his well deserved induction into the Argentine National Academy of Science!
April 25, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Congratulations to my friend Diego Pol for his well deserved induction into the Argentine National Academy of Science!
Excited for TODAY's annual E.C. Case Lecture, which will be delivered by Jenny McElwain (University of Dublin). Her lecture is "Exploring Earth's Dynamic Atmosphere and Ecosystems with Fossil Plants."
The lecture is open to the public, with a reception to follow (see poster). Hope to see you there!
The lecture is open to the public, with a reception to follow (see poster). Hope to see you there!
April 15, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Excited for TODAY's annual E.C. Case Lecture, which will be delivered by Jenny McElwain (University of Dublin). Her lecture is "Exploring Earth's Dynamic Atmosphere and Ecosystems with Fossil Plants."
The lecture is open to the public, with a reception to follow (see poster). Hope to see you there!
The lecture is open to the public, with a reception to follow (see poster). Hope to see you there!
Great job by undergrad researcher Paulo Martins at the Michigan Geophysical Union presentation yesterday! His poster is on a titanosaur astragalus from the Late K of India—thus far the only one known from India or Madagascar during that interval.
April 4, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Great job by undergrad researcher Paulo Martins at the Michigan Geophysical Union presentation yesterday! His poster is on a titanosaur astragalus from the Late K of India—thus far the only one known from India or Madagascar during that interval.
Just out in Contributions from the UMMP — the first article in the Lance Grande festschrift, authored by Eric Hilton, Willy Bemis, and @friedmanlab.bsky.social "Interconnected patterns of natural history: the career and contributions of Lance Grande."
deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027....
deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027....
April 3, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Just out in Contributions from the UMMP — the first article in the Lance Grande festschrift, authored by Eric Hilton, Willy Bemis, and @friedmanlab.bsky.social "Interconnected patterns of natural history: the career and contributions of Lance Grande."
deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027....
deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027....
AND … UM Earth/Paleo PhD student Lynnea Jackson performed with the Campus Symphony Orchestra.
They began with D’un
Matin de Printemps by Lili Boulanger, then something by Saint-Saens, and then played Stravinsky’s
Firebird Suite. Wonderful!
They began with D’un
Matin de Printemps by Lili Boulanger, then something by Saint-Saens, and then played Stravinsky’s
Firebird Suite. Wonderful!
April 1, 2025 at 2:03 AM
AND … UM Earth/Paleo PhD student Lynnea Jackson performed with the Campus Symphony Orchestra.
They began with D’un
Matin de Printemps by Lili Boulanger, then something by Saint-Saens, and then played Stravinsky’s
Firebird Suite. Wonderful!
They began with D’un
Matin de Printemps by Lili Boulanger, then something by Saint-Saens, and then played Stravinsky’s
Firebird Suite. Wonderful!
So great to see (virtually) UM Earth Major & Paleo Minor Ben Woodmansee perform with the Campus Philharmonia Orchestra.
Program:
-Moncayo, Huapango
-Faure, Pelleas et Melisande
-Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5, movement 4
Have to say I am partial to the Faure, but I enjoyed all the pieces.
Program:
-Moncayo, Huapango
-Faure, Pelleas et Melisande
-Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5, movement 4
Have to say I am partial to the Faure, but I enjoyed all the pieces.
April 1, 2025 at 1:01 AM
So great to see (virtually) UM Earth Major & Paleo Minor Ben Woodmansee perform with the Campus Philharmonia Orchestra.
Program:
-Moncayo, Huapango
-Faure, Pelleas et Melisande
-Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5, movement 4
Have to say I am partial to the Faure, but I enjoyed all the pieces.
Program:
-Moncayo, Huapango
-Faure, Pelleas et Melisande
-Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5, movement 4
Have to say I am partial to the Faure, but I enjoyed all the pieces.
Here’s the photo!
March 24, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Here’s the photo!
A beautiful sight! Yesterday during a bike ride we came across a group of 8-12 deer swimming across the Huron River. There is a dam across the River nearby that is about 50 m across…I would guess that it is about 3-4 m deep.
Video by my friend Herb Meingast.
Video by my friend Herb Meingast.
March 10, 2025 at 7:50 PM
A beautiful sight! Yesterday during a bike ride we came across a group of 8-12 deer swimming across the Huron River. There is a dam across the River nearby that is about 50 m across…I would guess that it is about 3-4 m deep.
Video by my friend Herb Meingast.
Video by my friend Herb Meingast.
Cheered by this tiny ducky on the plinth holding the pegmatite-invaded granite outside the North University Building (home to EES). Kudos to whoever placed it there and to all who left it!
February 26, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Cheered by this tiny ducky on the plinth holding the pegmatite-invaded granite outside the North University Building (home to EES). Kudos to whoever placed it there and to all who left it!
I found nothing matching this description in Texas ... the only reference to Cerrito de la Cruz I could find was from a Claude Hibbard Contributions paper describing a Pleistocene porcupine from Aguascalientes, México. Any help would be welcomed ... !
February 17, 2025 at 5:39 PM
I found nothing matching this description in Texas ... the only reference to Cerrito de la Cruz I could find was from a Claude Hibbard Contributions paper describing a Pleistocene porcupine from Aguascalientes, México. Any help would be welcomed ... !
More on the early 20th c. lantern slides found by UMMP Collection Managers Jen Bauer & Adam Rountrey...
Some slides document field sites, like the image below titled "Excavating the phytosaur plates | Cerita d. l. Cruz / 31"].
Some slides document field sites, like the image below titled "Excavating the phytosaur plates | Cerita d. l. Cruz / 31"].
February 17, 2025 at 5:39 PM
More on the early 20th c. lantern slides found by UMMP Collection Managers Jen Bauer & Adam Rountrey...
Some slides document field sites, like the image below titled "Excavating the phytosaur plates | Cerita d. l. Cruz / 31"].
Some slides document field sites, like the image below titled "Excavating the phytosaur plates | Cerita d. l. Cruz / 31"].
There are many reasons to say WTF??!!! to 2025 … the Winter Trail Fest is a a great one. Beautiful to run through snowy Michigan woods.
February 15, 2025 at 11:18 PM
There are many reasons to say WTF??!!! to 2025 … the Winter Trail Fest is a a great one. Beautiful to run through snowy Michigan woods.
I've been thinking about the Sandwalk at Down House, which Darwin used daily. Walking can create a state-of-mind in which brain regions coordinating rules and concepts are turned down, while motor and sensory controls are turned up—allowing ideas and impressions to commingle in unexpected ways.
February 12, 2025 at 9:20 PM
I've been thinking about the Sandwalk at Down House, which Darwin used daily. Walking can create a state-of-mind in which brain regions coordinating rules and concepts are turned down, while motor and sensory controls are turned up—allowing ideas and impressions to commingle in unexpected ways.
UMMP polar plunge into the Huron River!! Bracing, exhilarating, and yes invigorating!
February 1, 2025 at 9:08 PM
UMMP polar plunge into the Huron River!! Bracing, exhilarating, and yes invigorating!