@dr-crocogator.bsky.social
Paleontologist at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Fossils are the best, like, really the best.
Happy #FossilFriday! Turkeys, like other birds, have fused toe bones (metatarsals). In their ancient cousin, T. rex, the bones are separate but still bare a lot of similarity to parts of the turkey, because they share a common ancestor. Can you see the family resemblance?
November 28, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! Turkeys, like other birds, have fused toe bones (metatarsals). In their ancient cousin, T. rex, the bones are separate but still bare a lot of similarity to parts of the turkey, because they share a common ancestor. Can you see the family resemblance?
Happy #FossilFriday! We are back from another great meeting of the @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social , this year in Birmingham, #England. We presented a poster each on collections problem-solving and 3D prints for outreach + loved getting to see the @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social
November 21, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! We are back from another great meeting of the @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social , this year in Birmingham, #England. We presented a poster each on collections problem-solving and 3D prints for outreach + loved getting to see the @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social
Happy #FossilFriday! We’re in #England for a conference and went to the #Jurassic Coast, in Lyme Regis. The shore here has loads of #fossil marine creatures from about 150 million years ago, like ammonites and belemnites, home of famed paleontologist Mary Anning in the early 1800s.
November 14, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Happy #FossilFriday! We’re in #England for a conference and went to the #Jurassic Coast, in Lyme Regis. The shore here has loads of #fossil marine creatures from about 150 million years ago, like ammonites and belemnites, home of famed paleontologist Mary Anning in the early 1800s.
Happy #FossilFriday! It’s #GarWeek so check out these 50 million year old #gar fish from #Utah at the Science Museum of Minnesota! This genus, Lepisosteus, goes back to the Cretaceous and is still swimming today! Thanks to @bellmuseum.bsky.social & @garlab.bsky.social for hyping these cool #fish!
November 7, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! It’s #GarWeek so check out these 50 million year old #gar fish from #Utah at the Science Museum of Minnesota! This genus, Lepisosteus, goes back to the Cretaceous and is still swimming today! Thanks to @bellmuseum.bsky.social & @garlab.bsky.social for hyping these cool #fish!
Happy #FossilFriday! It’s the last day of #Croctober so check out this amazing cast Macrospondylus 🐊, from the #Jurassic of #Germany at the Science Museum of Minnesota! It lived about 180 million years ago and would have spent nearly its whole life at sea, & even had super reduced front legs!
October 31, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! It’s the last day of #Croctober so check out this amazing cast Macrospondylus 🐊, from the #Jurassic of #Germany at the Science Museum of Minnesota! It lived about 180 million years ago and would have spent nearly its whole life at sea, & even had super reduced front legs!
Happy #FossilFriday! It’s #Croctober, so check out these #fossil teeth of Thoracosaurus at the Science Museum of Minnesota, an extinct #croc from the end of the age of the #dinosaurs and a bit after, that’s right, it survived the mass extinction! All from #SouthCarolina!
October 24, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! It’s #Croctober, so check out these #fossil teeth of Thoracosaurus at the Science Museum of Minnesota, an extinct #croc from the end of the age of the #dinosaurs and a bit after, that’s right, it survived the mass extinction! All from #SouthCarolina!
Happy #FossilFriday! This week the paleo team from the Science Museum of Minnesota was out picking up ancient #Bison bones here in #Minnesota! 🦬🦬🦬 The bones are in the river itself, which has zero visibility, so they have to be found by feel. A little chilly & mucky but some cool fieldwork!
October 17, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! This week the paleo team from the Science Museum of Minnesota was out picking up ancient #Bison bones here in #Minnesota! 🦬🦬🦬 The bones are in the river itself, which has zero visibility, so they have to be found by feel. A little chilly & mucky but some cool fieldwork!
Happy #FossilFriday! It’s #Croctober so check out these #fossils of the ‘Terror Croc’ Deinosuchus! These’re from South Carolina, about 80 million years ago, now at the Science Museum of Minnesota, incl. osteoderms (armor plates), & parts of 2 vertebrae from this croc that reached up to 35 feet long!
October 11, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Happy #FossilFriday! It’s #Croctober so check out these #fossils of the ‘Terror Croc’ Deinosuchus! These’re from South Carolina, about 80 million years ago, now at the Science Museum of Minnesota, incl. osteoderms (armor plates), & parts of 2 vertebrae from this croc that reached up to 35 feet long!
Recently the #paleontology team from the Science Museum of Minnesota + Hill Annex Paleontology Project visited the Southern Minnesota Museum of Natural History in Blue Earth, #Minnesota and made the local news! Check it out!
www.faribaultcountyregister.com/news/local-n...
www.faribaultcountyregister.com/news/local-n...
Blue Earth Museum has some special guests
The Southern Minnesota Museum of Natural History in Blue Earth, often called the Dinosaur Museum, had some very special guests come and visit recently. It was a group of professional and amateur paleo...
www.faribaultcountyregister.com
October 8, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Recently the #paleontology team from the Science Museum of Minnesota + Hill Annex Paleontology Project visited the Southern Minnesota Museum of Natural History in Blue Earth, #Minnesota and made the local news! Check it out!
www.faribaultcountyregister.com/news/local-n...
www.faribaultcountyregister.com/news/local-n...
Happy #FossilFriday! This past weekend the paleo team from the Science Museum of Minnesota brought a bunch of fun #fossils to the annual show of the #Minnesota Mineral Club. We had fun talking #dinosaurs 🦕, #crocodiles 🐊, Giant #Beavers 🦫 (the new state fossil!) and sooo much more!
October 3, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! This past weekend the paleo team from the Science Museum of Minnesota brought a bunch of fun #fossils to the annual show of the #Minnesota Mineral Club. We had fun talking #dinosaurs 🦕, #crocodiles 🐊, Giant #Beavers 🦫 (the new state fossil!) and sooo much more!
Happy #FossilFriday! We had an amazing #CroctoberFest this past Saturday at @badweatherbrew.bsky.social ! We brought a LOT of #crocodile #fossils from the Science Museum of Minnesota, I gave 2 talks + there were live crocodilians. Absolutely 10/10! 🐊🍻🐊
September 26, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! We had an amazing #CroctoberFest this past Saturday at @badweatherbrew.bsky.social ! We brought a LOT of #crocodile #fossils from the Science Museum of Minnesota, I gave 2 talks + there were live crocodilians. Absolutely 10/10! 🐊🍻🐊
Happy #FossilFriday! Meet Paludirex, a BIG #crocodile from #Australia, one of many crocs coming from the Science Museum of Minnesota to @badweatherbrew.bsky.social for #CroctoberFest tomorrow (Sat, Sept 20)! We’ll be there 12-5pm with sooo much + I’m giving two talks, come raise a glass with us! 🐊🍺🐊
September 19, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! Meet Paludirex, a BIG #crocodile from #Australia, one of many crocs coming from the Science Museum of Minnesota to @badweatherbrew.bsky.social for #CroctoberFest tomorrow (Sat, Sept 20)! We’ll be there 12-5pm with sooo much + I’m giving two talks, come raise a glass with us! 🐊🍺🐊
Happy #FossilFriday! CroctoberFest is just 8 days away at @badweatherbrew.bsky.social Come see this awesome jaw of Gryposuchus, an extinct croc from South America about 15 million years ago, and SO much from the Science Museum of #Minnesota on Saturday, Sept 20 (12-5pm)! 🐊🍻🐊
September 12, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! CroctoberFest is just 8 days away at @badweatherbrew.bsky.social Come see this awesome jaw of Gryposuchus, an extinct croc from South America about 15 million years ago, and SO much from the Science Museum of #Minnesota on Saturday, Sept 20 (12-5pm)! 🐊🍻🐊
Happy #FossilFriday! We are just 15 days away from #Croctoberfest, a collab with the Science Museum of Minnesota and @badweatherbrew.bsky.social Diplocynodon darwini here is just one of many crocs that’ll be out Sept 20 for the big day! You gotta see this 48-ish million-yr-old croc from Germany! 🐊🍺🐊
September 5, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! We are just 15 days away from #Croctoberfest, a collab with the Science Museum of Minnesota and @badweatherbrew.bsky.social Diplocynodon darwini here is just one of many crocs that’ll be out Sept 20 for the big day! You gotta see this 48-ish million-yr-old croc from Germany! 🐊🍺🐊
Happy #FossilFriday! Yesterday we were at the Minnesota State Fair from the Science Museum of Minnesota with a bunch of fun stuff including an actual Triceratops humerus. Thanks to @twincitiespbs.bsky.social for hosting us for the day!
August 29, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! Yesterday we were at the Minnesota State Fair from the Science Museum of Minnesota with a bunch of fun stuff including an actual Triceratops humerus. Thanks to @twincitiespbs.bsky.social for hosting us for the day!
Bonus #FossilFriday! We went out today looking for #fossils from the Time of the Dinosaurs. We found some #shark vertebrae & a #crocodile tooth! Part of the science we do at the Science Museum of #Minnesota!
🦈🐊
🦈🐊
August 22, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Bonus #FossilFriday! We went out today looking for #fossils from the Time of the Dinosaurs. We found some #shark vertebrae & a #crocodile tooth! Part of the science we do at the Science Museum of #Minnesota!
🦈🐊
🦈🐊
Happy #FossilFriday! This week the paleo team from the Science Museum of #Minnesota was at Dino Days at Union Depot (down the road in St Paul) Such a great turnout, we were slammed the whole time. Happy to talk #dinosaurs with the next generation! 🦖🦕
August 22, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! This week the paleo team from the Science Museum of #Minnesota was at Dino Days at Union Depot (down the road in St Paul) Such a great turnout, we were slammed the whole time. Happy to talk #dinosaurs with the next generation! 🦖🦕
Happy #FossilFriday! Curious about these #fossils and what’s in the boxes? Come find out this Wednesday when the paleo team from the Science Museum of Minnesota will be at Dino Days at Union Depot, St Paul (Aug 20, 10am-12pm). It’ll be a roaring good time!
#paleontology #fossil #dinosaur
#paleontology #fossil #dinosaur
August 15, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! Curious about these #fossils and what’s in the boxes? Come find out this Wednesday when the paleo team from the Science Museum of Minnesota will be at Dino Days at Union Depot, St Paul (Aug 20, 10am-12pm). It’ll be a roaring good time!
#paleontology #fossil #dinosaur
#paleontology #fossil #dinosaur
Bonus #FossilFriday! I recently did a piece with a news group in Rochester, #Minnesota, about our State Fossil work at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Get a glimpse of the southernmost record of Giant Beaver in our state!
www.kaaltv.com/news/minneso...
www.kaaltv.com/news/minneso...
Minnesota state fossil believed to have roamed Freeborn County during last ice age
The giant beaver is believed to have roam the state during the last ice age, and fossils of it have been found in the metro area and Freeborn county.
www.kaaltv.com
August 8, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Bonus #FossilFriday! I recently did a piece with a news group in Rochester, #Minnesota, about our State Fossil work at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Get a glimpse of the southernmost record of Giant Beaver in our state!
www.kaaltv.com/news/minneso...
www.kaaltv.com/news/minneso...
Happy #FossilFriday! We had our big annual Dino Fest at the Science Museum of Minnesota this week and boy was it packed with awesome things! From science talks to tables from our vault to guest tables from other scientists + a special T. rex show and live animals. So much to see! 🦖🤩🦕
August 8, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! We had our big annual Dino Fest at the Science Museum of Minnesota this week and boy was it packed with awesome things! From science talks to tables from our vault to guest tables from other scientists + a special T. rex show and live animals. So much to see! 🦖🤩🦕
Happy #FossilFriday! Dino Fest is almost here at the Science Museum of #Minnesota and we are so excited! Check out this piece from local @wcconews.bsky.social The big day is Saturday (Aug 2) from 11am to 3pm. It's jam-packed with dinosaurs and other ancient life! 🦖❤️🦕
www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/vi...
www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/vi...
Science Museum of Minnesota brings back Dino Fest
Dr. Alex Hastings shares a preview of the forthcoming event, which focuses on all things prehistoric.
www.cbsnews.com
August 1, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! Dino Fest is almost here at the Science Museum of #Minnesota and we are so excited! Check out this piece from local @wcconews.bsky.social The big day is Saturday (Aug 2) from 11am to 3pm. It's jam-packed with dinosaurs and other ancient life! 🦖❤️🦕
www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/vi...
www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/vi...
Get pumped for Dino Fest and learn about Minnesota's new State Fossil in this piece by our friends at local @fox9mn.bsky.social then join us at the Science Museum of Minnesota this Saturday, Aug. 2nd for the big day, 11am to 3pm. We have got sooo much happening!
www.fox9.com/video/1680644
www.fox9.com/video/1680644
All about the MN State Fossil
In July, the giant beaver become the MN state fossil. Alex Hastings, the Fitzpatrick Chair of Paleontology from the Science Museum of Minnesota, tells us about the significance of the fossil.
www.fox9.com
July 30, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Get pumped for Dino Fest and learn about Minnesota's new State Fossil in this piece by our friends at local @fox9mn.bsky.social then join us at the Science Museum of Minnesota this Saturday, Aug. 2nd for the big day, 11am to 3pm. We have got sooo much happening!
www.fox9.com/video/1680644
www.fox9.com/video/1680644
Happy #FossilFriday! We had a great time last night at Indeed Brewing in #Minneapolis, talking #dinosaurs! We brought fun stuff from the Science Museum of Minnesota and got such a great turnout. Some awesome questions and a super engaged audience, totally a 10/10 night! 🦖❤️🦕
July 25, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! We had a great time last night at Indeed Brewing in #Minneapolis, talking #dinosaurs! We brought fun stuff from the Science Museum of Minnesota and got such a great turnout. Some awesome questions and a super engaged audience, totally a 10/10 night! 🦖❤️🦕
Happy #FossilFriday! We spent the last 1.5 weeks digging for #dinosaurs in #Montana! Pretty sure we’ve got Triceratops, duck-billed dinosaur and ornithomimid (ostrich mimics) in the mix of dinosaurs from the site! Part of the science we do at the Science Museum of Minnesota!
July 18, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! We spent the last 1.5 weeks digging for #dinosaurs in #Montana! Pretty sure we’ve got Triceratops, duck-billed dinosaur and ornithomimid (ostrich mimics) in the mix of dinosaurs from the site! Part of the science we do at the Science Museum of Minnesota!
Happy #FossilFriday! The paleo team at the Science Museum of #Minnesota was out recently in New Ulm, MN looking for bones eroding from Ice Age gravel on the river. We found this piece of large mammal skull, a bison tooth and a teeny lil’ baby toad! Nice sunny day to be on the river!
July 4, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! The paleo team at the Science Museum of #Minnesota was out recently in New Ulm, MN looking for bones eroding from Ice Age gravel on the river. We found this piece of large mammal skull, a bison tooth and a teeny lil’ baby toad! Nice sunny day to be on the river!