Dr. Jennifer Peteya
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Dr. Jennifer Peteya
@jennypeteya.bsky.social
180 followers 150 following 120 posts
Assistant Professor of Biology at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania - Bloomsburg. Paleontologist interested in exceptional preservation, especially the evolution and taphonomy of color production mechanisms in animals.
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jennypeteya.bsky.social
Amara says, "please support the Paleontological Research Institution!" Seriously, though, they need our help! Please donate if you can!

www.priweb.org/support

What does the toy have to do with the museum? It's from there! Who doesn't want a 5-foot eurypterid plush??
A cute baby in Jurassic Park pajamas hanging out with a 5-foot-long eurypterid plush from the Paleontological Research Institution in Ithaca, New York.
December 4, 2025 at 1:28 AM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
I had a baby almost 2 months ago, so I haven't been posting much. I just had to share this beauty that was hanging out in my car this morning! Maple Spanworm Moth. Bloomsburg, PA. #moth #invertebrate #insect
September 27, 2025 at 8:17 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
I am missing the western US something terrible this week, so for #FossilFriday, here's a throwback to my 2017 trip to Wyoming for the Tate Annual Summer Conference at Casper College. A Palaeogale skull I found in the White River Fm near Douglas during the field trip. It's now in their collection.
The right side of an unprepared white skull of a small weasel-like animal in white/tan matrix showing mostly the cranium. The skull sits on paper next to a water bottle with a black and white scale bar on it. The label reads "White River Fm near Douglas WY June 2 2017. Paleogale DF4223." "Paleogale" is spelled incorrectly. My hand holding up the skull of a small weasel-like animal partially covered in white/tan matrix. This view shows some of the teeth, partial left side of the face, and orbit. The label reads "White River Fm near Douglas WY June 2 2017." The cranium of an unprepared skull of a weasel-like animal partially covered in white/tan matrix. In-situ view of the unprepared skull of a small weasel-like animal with a metal hand lens on a black cord for scale.
July 25, 2025 at 6:44 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
One of these things is not like the others... #catlife
A little black cat making herself comfortable amongst some plush toys for a baby. The cat's pink tongue is sticking out in a large "blep."
July 17, 2025 at 11:35 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
For #FossilFriday, the amazing @amnh.org Edmontosaurus nearly covered in skin impressions! You can even see the folds and tears along the ribs in addition to the pebble-like texture of the skin. Collected in 1908 in Wyoming by Charles Sternberg.
Skeleton of a duck-billed dinosaur with skin impressions. Skull is pointing toward the viewer while the forelimb is directed upward. The animal is laying on its left side/back. A nerdy paleontologist wearing a neon and black-colored dinosaur dress smiling next to a skeleton of a duck-billed dinosaur covered in skin impressions. Pebble-textured skin impressions preserved along the sternum of the duck-billed dinosaur skeleton. The scapula and ribs of a duck-billed dinosaur skeleton covered in skin impressions. The impressions are so well preserved here that you can see the folds and tears of the skin along this portion of the dinosaur's body.
July 4, 2025 at 4:45 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
Rebirth Round 2!
A nerd in a red, orange, and gray Hawaiian-style Jurassic Park shirt between two Jurassic World Rebirth posters. The poster on the left is red and features the D. rex and three main characters in water. The poster on the right features a cliff with the pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus and the character Zora from the movie.
July 2, 2025 at 8:11 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
Happy #FossilFriday! We went to @amnh.org for the first time yesterday and it was fantastic! One of the highlights for me was the Velociraptor mongoliensis skull from the 1923 Mongolia expedition!
An elated paleontologist wearing a neon and black-colored dinosaur dress with pink dinosaur earrings sitting next to three Mongolian dinosaur specimens behind a glass case. The paleontologist is holding "All About Dinosaurs" by Roy Chapman Andrews, who was involved in the 1923 Central Asiatic Expedition that recovered the Velociraptor skull in the case. A semi-rostral view of a small, elongate, light-colored meat-eating dinosaur skull with gorgeous tooth preservation and some rust-colored matrix still attached. Snout toward the left. A view of the side of a small, elongate, light-colored meat-eating dinosaur skull with gorgeous tooth preservation and some rust-colored matrix still attached. Snout toward the left. A semi-caudal view of a small, elongate, light-colored meat-eating dinosaur skull with gorgeous tooth preservation and some rust-colored matrix still attached. Snout toward the left.
June 27, 2025 at 4:15 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
And now for something completely different.
A Jurassic World T. rex and the book "All About Dinosaurs" by Roy Chapman Andrews.
June 26, 2025 at 1:36 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
We made it to the Collider Jurassic World Rebirth pre-screening in NYC! @tyrannosaurtj.bsky.social @jurassicpedia.bsky.social #jurassicworldrebirth
Two heat-drenched morons in front of a theater screen featuring the Jurassic World Rebirth logo and three characters in water in front of the Distortus rex abomination. A heat-drenched Jurassic World fan in front of the Jurassic World Rebirth movie poster. Jurassic World popcorn in front of a theater screen featuring the Jurassic World Rebirth logo and three characters in water in front of the Distortus rex abomination.
June 25, 2025 at 10:03 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
Not even born yet and my daughter's dinosaur books already fill more than 1 cubby....
A child's bookshelf filled with stuffed animals on the bottom and a mix of dinosaur and animal kids books on top.
June 22, 2025 at 8:49 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
Got to see living horseshoe crabs in the wild this past weekend! They're one of my favorite modern invertebrates, but I've never seen them alive in the wild before!! We were a bit too early for the full spawn, but I'm still so happy! #horseshoecrab #limulus
A male horseshoe crab (arthropod with a large head, spikey opisthosoma, and sword-like tail called a telson) with several slipper snails on its opisthosoma. He leaves a trail in the sand as he scuttles back toward the ocean. Slaughter Beach, Delaware. A female horseshoe crab partially buried in sand. Her head (cephalothorax) is almost completely buried. Slaughter Beach, Delaware. A male and female horseshoe crab attached to each other on the beach. The male is on the left and the female below him on the right. Slaughter Beach, Delaware. A male and female horseshoe crab getting splashed by ocean water as they attempt to reach the beach together. The male is a lighter brown color while the female is a darker brown-gray color. Cape Henlopen, Delaware.
May 5, 2025 at 10:04 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
Had a lot of fun talking fossil color with Nittany Mineralogical Society in State College last night!
April 17, 2025 at 11:47 AM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
The business end of a Chinese mantis.
A microscope view of the raptorial appendages of a tan-green praying mantis. The forelimbs are lined with spikes like a saw.
April 14, 2025 at 7:15 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
Comparative Biology of Invertebrates started looking at arthropods in lab today. Some of my favorites, including a fluffy ghost crab!
A small white and tan-colored crab with fluffy walking legs, white pinchers, and large, dark eyes. Labeled as a "Ghost Crab" in the background. A series of brown-colored horseshoe crab molts laid out on a black-colored table. Four are ventral-up while one is dorsal-up. Ventral up horseshoe crabs are oriented telson-right, cephalothorax-left. Legs are reminiscent of a face hugger from the movie Alien. A curled up Atlantic Mantis shrimp, showing its face, antennae, and tail. It sits on a blue dissecting tray.
April 7, 2025 at 7:32 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
CW: gore

In case you ever wondered, opossums have a two-pronged penis!
CW content warning: a two-pronged severed Virginia Opossum penis in a fluid-filled glass on a dark brown desk. Collected with proper permits. CW content warning: a two-pronged severed Virginia Opossum penis in a fluid-filled glass on a dark brown desk. Collected with proper permits.
April 5, 2025 at 12:43 AM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
Student made me this chubby little guy and I love it!
Front view of a 3D printed green blob creature with four arms, also known as a tardigrade or moss piglet. Side view of a 3D printed green blob creature, also known as a tardigrade or moss piglet.
April 4, 2025 at 2:02 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
New student in my office today.

Comparative Biology of Invertebrates is starting Arthropoda today!!!
A 5ft long tan-colored plush resembling a eurypterid in a student's chair in a messy college office. Side view of a 5ft long tan-colored plush resembling a eurypterid in a student's chair in a college office. Blurry finger in lower right corner.
April 3, 2025 at 3:22 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
Amara Alexis Davis, hatching August 3rd, 2025. @tyrannosaurtj.bsky.social
A brown-colored Tyrannosaurus and a green-colored Tyrannosaurus looking lovingly at a smaller green baby Tyrannosaurus in a forest setting. Meant to be reminiscent of The Lost World Jurassic Park Doe, Buck, and Baby. A baby announcement on a background of grey and red rocks. A white onesie that says "Jurassic Park: Life Found a Way, coming August 2025" sits on a Jurassic Park baby blanket with a Tyrannosaurus on it. A small baby Tyrannosaurus in an eggshell sits on the upper right side and an ultrasound image of a baby's head sits on the lower left side.
March 30, 2025 at 5:16 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
Visited the updated Cleveland Museum of Natural History last weekend and thought I'd post Happy the Haplocanthosaurus for #FossilFriday! I was so excited to see the new and improved mount! Happy is ~155 million years old from the Morrison Fm of Colorado.
Side view of the skeleton of a large long-necked dinosaur against a white background. This is Happy's new mount. Front and side view of the skeleton of a large long-necked dinosaur. This is Happy's new mount. Happy's old mount, as of 2018. A model of Dunkleosteus, a large extinct fish, is in the foreground. The skeleton of a large meat-eating dinosaur stands in front of the skeleton of a large long-necked dinosaur in the background.
March 28, 2025 at 9:35 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
Go horseshoe crab!! #2025MMM
A molt of a horseshoe crab on a tan-colored sand beach appearing to look longingly at a lighthouse across the water. From Cape Henlopen, Delaware.
March 14, 2025 at 2:02 AM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
Colleague received mostly dead/dying sea urchins today that were supposed to arrive alive yesterday. Her sad loss is my gain, given I work on dead things! I have lots of fun class and research plans for these cuties.
A group of 7 sea urchins with spines attached on a black table. One has white spines while the others are mostly green and purple. The oral side of a dead green-colored sea urchins showing a white Aristotle's Lantern in the center. The oral side of a living sea urchins showing soft tissue over the Aristotle's Lantern.
March 12, 2025 at 10:04 PM
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Comparative Biology of Invertebrates lab exam day....
SpongeBob drawn on a whiteboard with an arch above his head that says Question 25 On Side Counter.
March 10, 2025 at 3:10 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
Went back to Montour Preserve (PA) to try to get better photos/video of the snow geese. Huge flock hanging out with tundra swans and a couple of mallards!
A flock of white geese with black wing tips flying against a blue sky. A flock of white birds sitting in water. Photo includes mostly snow geese (foreground) and a few tundra swans or trumpeter swans (background). A flock of white birds swimming and standing in water/on ice. Foreground is four tundra swans. Background is a mix of snow geese and other swans.
March 2, 2025 at 8:15 PM
jennypeteya.bsky.social
It's hard to tell because I didn't have my real camera, but #LIFER! Snow geese at Lake Chillisquaque at Montour Preserve, PA. #birdsseen2025
March 1, 2025 at 10:15 PM
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We're discussing annelid worms in Comparative Invertebrate Biology tomorrow and I found out Bobbit Worms are called Eunice aphroditois. All hell is breaking loose in my PowerPoint...
A PowerPoint slide with a scary-looking jawed worm wearing a granny wig. Slide says, "Not your granny's worm, Sonny!"
February 27, 2025 at 12:53 AM