Marcus Brandel
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lostbones.bsky.social
Marcus Brandel
@lostbones.bsky.social
140 followers 330 following 78 posts
Coder 🖥️💾, Cycler 🚴‍♂, Independent Researcher 🐂🐴🐘🍃🐪🦥, Natural History Writer, Poor Golfer, Professional Nerd. Follow #LostBones to find out more about Pleistocene fossils or the Midwest https://linktr.ee/lostbones
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lostbones.bsky.social
🐻Happy #FossilFriday! This canine tooth was found at the bottom of Lake Bronson Reservoir in northern MN after draw down for dam replacement. Flagged in a pedestrian survey, likely from an American black bear (Ursus americanus). The site is pre-contact Native American, submerged nearly 90 years.
The bear tooth in situ, spent nearly 90 years submerged beneath the lake, and an estimated 250 to several thousand years on the landscape before the reservoir’s creation. The bear tooth in situ The bear tooth in the palm of my hand gave me the chill considering it cultural and spiritual significance. Reservoir after draining. The dam, completed in 1937 as part of a Works Progress Administration initiative that began in 1936, transformed the landscape into the current lake reservoir.
November 15, 2025 at 1:30 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
#lostBones This is the fourth full skeleton I’ve written about from the state - all proudly assembled by private individuals without institutional help.

If you know of others, or if you have your own skeleton haunting your basement or garage this Halloween #FossilFriday I’d love to hear the tale!
In a glacial outwash channel near Little Sauk, Minnesota, a local naturalist began discovering bison and horse bones in the thick black marl at the bottom of a river on his property. So, as one does, he and a family friend started visiting the river - wading in the neck-deep water feeling for bones with their feet! Eventually, they retrieved enough bones to construct the complete composite skeleton shown here. Bison skull sideview Bison skeleton in private collection.
October 31, 2025 at 11:02 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
#FossilFriday, The Midwest’s #Homotherium! A partial skullcap, the first Homotherium serum specimen found in Minnesota, recovered in 2008 from Tyson Spring Cave in Fillmore County.

The find, along with a Cervalces skullcap, was published by Chris Widga and colleagues in Boreas (Widga et al., 2012).
Image from Tyson Spring Cave (Website) Image from Illinois State Museum (Facebook), Figure from Widga et al. (2012). Homotherium serum and Cervalces from the Great Lakes Region, USA: geochronology, morphology and ancient DNA. Boreas, 41(4)
October 24, 2025 at 10:51 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
#FossilFriday - This rare Midwest partial skullcap and antler beam of Cervalces scotti marked the first stag-moose specimen found in Minnesota.

Recovered in 2008 from Tyson Spring Cave along with a Homothereium skullcap! Published by @widga.bsky.social in Boreas (Widga et al., 2012).

#Cervalces
Figue 3 or the specimen from Widga et al. (2012). Homotherium serum and Cervalces from the Great Lakes Region, USA: geochronology, morphology and ancient DNA. Boreas, 41(4) An early image of the specimen form Mather, D. (2009). A new twist in megafauna history. Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, March–April 2009. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources A map of Tyson Spring Cave's general location from Boreas (Widga et al., 2012).
October 18, 2025 at 12:11 AM
lostbones.bsky.social
🦥 #FossilFriday P68.40.1 - the rarest Minnesota fossil I’ve ever held in my hand: an ungual phalanx of #Megalonyxjeffersoni (Giant #GroundSloth). Discovered in a pile of excavated peat, this individual toe claw remains the singular specimen of this animal found in the state.
#Pleistocene #Fossil
Discovered in the late 1960s by a City of Minneapolis Park Board Department worker in a pile of excavated peat, this individual toe claw remains the singular specimen of this animal found in the state and is now in the Science Museum of Minnesota’s collection. Plate 2 from: Erickson, Bruce R. (1968). A Claw of Megalonyx (Ground Sloth) from Minnesota. In Volume 1: Paleontology, pp. 1–8. Plate 1 from: Erickson, Bruce R. (1968). A Claw of Megalonyx (Ground Sloth) from Minnesota. In Volume 1: Paleontology, pp. 1–8.
October 11, 2025 at 1:43 AM
lostbones.bsky.social
🐪 #LostBones 🐪 says Hmmm… A recent visit to the Jackson County Historical Society Museum revealed a camel calcaneus in the collection. But was this camel actually in Minnesota? More to come.
Jackson County: www.jchsmn.org
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#FossilFriday #Pleistocene #Camel #Palaeontology #CitizenScience
The camel calcaneus included with specimens form a 2015 study on a southern Minnesota section of the Des Moines which examined bison, horse, deer, and other skeletal remains found in the river, exploring their transport and any human interaction. Over 800 bones, including this calcaneus, were catalogued. Camel calcaneus Camel calcaneus
October 3, 2025 at 1:30 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
🐘🦥🐪 #FossilFriday: Meet the big boy, numero uno - Bison Skull 147 found in a peat deposit packed with bones in Anoka county Minnesota. Now housed at the #SouthernMinnesotaMuseumOfNaturalHistory

🔗 www.smmnh.com

#Pleistocene #AnokaSandPlain #BisonOccidentalis #Palaeontology #CitizenScience
In the early 1990s, construction activities unearthed a paleo-channel running through an ancient peat bog. This channel was packed with bison and other mammal remains. Local citizen Pat Cherney, along with his wife and several friends, salvaged everything they could before the bulldozers rolled in. Included in their efforts were over 100 skulls or partial skulls. Skull #147 is one of the largest specimens – an impressive 94 cm (37 in.) across the horn cores. These remains likely belong to the extinct species Bison occidentalis. Radiocarbon dating of othe In June 2024, the Southern Minnesota Museum of Natural History in Blue Earth, MN, acquired the collection. The museum is now fundraising to assemble a full skeleton from the site for an upcoming exhibit. Probing for bones at the site.
September 27, 2025 at 3:46 AM
lostbones.bsky.social
The Goodhue County Historical Society tops my list. Not only do they feature some of my favorite megafauna specimens—like bison, mammoth, and giant beaver—but they also offer an array of historical, archaeological, and regional displays highlighting the cultural and natural heritage of Red Wing.
Exhibit on the Archeological history or Reb Wing an Oneota native pottery. A display about the Pleistocene giant beaver. A display highlighting the historic brickyards in Reb Wing. A mammoth molar and proboscidean tusk on display at the museum. Want to know more? Here's a related #lostbones SubStack: https://open.substack.com/pub/marcusbrandel/p/lost-bones-4-a-dip-with-the-sea-creatures
September 21, 2025 at 3:49 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
Ribs! The third most common terrestrial mammal skeletal element found during my research in county historical societies - #2 (mandibles), #1 (teeth).

#counting #bones #lostbones #citizenscience
Rib bones Anoka County Historical Society Rib bones Melrose Area Historical Society Rib bones St. Cloud State University Rib bone Rice County Historical Society
September 12, 2025 at 11:35 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
A mastodon tooth and a bank robber's ear!? The Northfield Historical Society has both! Defeat Jesse James Days starts this week in Northfield Minnesota.

djjd.org
www.northfieldhistory.org/1876-bank-raid

Read more about the ear and the tooth in #LostBones #2. Link is in my profile. #CitezenScience
A mastodon tooth. A mastodon tooth. Article pertaining to tooth discovery.
August 29, 2025 at 1:21 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
#MnMuseums #FosssilFiday

Riverside Park Environmental Learning Center - New Ulm, Minnesota.
www.mnrivervalley.com/destination/...
August 22, 2025 at 4:20 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
Happy #FossilFriday - The Pleistocene cat Petra, found in a Virginia cave, is now on display at the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Inconclusive radiocarbon dating indicates it is over 50,000 years old.

Photo credit: www.virginiaplaces.org

@tarplifeadventures www.instagram.com/p/DNTSTdcRIE...
Dr. Alex Hasting working to free Petra (an ancient puma skeleton) fro Burja Cave. Burja Cave in Virginia, where Petra was found, is part of a karst system, formed in porous limestone which dissolves easily in slightly acidic rainwater, creating vertical muddy underground drainage systems.
August 15, 2025 at 12:46 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
an #Eocene #FossilFriday! 🐂 🐴🐘🦥🐪 This beautiful Megacerops skull is on display at the Trailside Museum in Crawford, Nebraska. Megacerops upper molars feature a diagnostic W-shaped outer shearing surface, adapted for slicing through leaves and other plant material.

trailside.unl.edu
#CitizenScience
A skull was discovered in Sioux County’s Chadron Formation—often referred to as the Titanotherium Beds—which outcrops in the valley of the North Platte River, northwest of Scotts Bluff, Nebraska. The formation consists of light green-gray sandy clay and dark red gravel beds, with fossil-rich layers throughout. Titanothere shull at the Trailside Museum. The facility also houses the famous “Clash of the Mammoths” exhibit. #BrontopsRobustus #Titanothere #TrailsideMusuem #Palaeontology #CitizenScience In this photo you can see the w-shaped cutting edge of the teeth
August 9, 2025 at 12:06 AM
lostbones.bsky.social
🐂 It’s a #Bisonbison #Alcesalces #FossilFriday! 🐴🐘🦥🐪 These #LostBones skulls come from Kittson County, Minnesota—the northeastern most county in the state.

If any of these are your donations and you have more info, please reach out through the link in my profile.
www.facebook.com/KittsonCount...
Moose, Alcesalces, skull displayed at the Kittson County, Minnesota historical society. The county is known as “where Minnesota begins.” Bison skullcap - the Kittson County collection includes five bison skullcaps, possibly recovered from the Red River, three bison horn cores, and numerous postcranial elements. Moose, wapiti, and other mammal materials are also represented. Bison skullcap
August 1, 2025 at 5:22 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
#FossilFriday Bison teeth are resilient. I helped with an archaeological survey last Saturday at the bottom of Lake Bronson, MN, where the reservoir was recently drawn down for dam replacement. These teeth survived nearly 90 years below the lake—and 250 to several thousand on the landscape prior.
Several bison teeth, believed to originate from a pre-contact Native American settlement. Lake basin exposed for dam. The dam was originally completed in 1937 as part of a Works Progress Administration initiative that began in 1936.
July 25, 2025 at 9:23 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
🐴 #LostBones #FossilFriday 🐟🐘🦥🐪 In the summer of 2012, students from the Geology Department at Gustavus Adolphus College collected over 800 bones along the Des Moines River near Jackson, Minnesota.

This crunchy but beautiful left horse femur was recovered as part of the project.

www.jchsmn.org
Horde femurr now housed, along with many other specimens from the project, at the Jackson County Historical Society in Lakefield, Minnesota In 2015 Dominic Delmont would submit a theses on the project - History and Taphonomy of Bison Bones From the Des Moines River Horse femur. In 2015 Dominic Delmont would submit a theses on the project - History and "Taphonomy of Bison Bones From the Des Moines River"
July 18, 2025 at 5:19 AM
lostbones.bsky.social
Today’s #FossilFriday - a tribute to Minnesota’s Cretaceous rocks and one of its earliest fossil finds: Terminonaris robusta (originally classified as Teleorhinus). A partial snout of Terminonaris was excavated in 1969 at the Hill Annex Mine, Calumet, MN.

#LostBones #Terminonarus #CitizenScience
The excerpt here was published in a 1983 article in Minnesota Conservation Volunteer and features some wonderful vintage paleoart by Ken Sander. #Cretaceous #Minnesota #Crocodile #Terminonarusrobusta #Palaeontology #CitizenScience Hill Annex Paleontology Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/373774663482849 More Lost Bones: https://medium.com/@dbrake40 Snout of Terminonaris robusta found at Hill Annex Mine. Contrary to the internet these days, Minnesota does have fossiliferous Cretaceous formations - and yes, even dinosaurs. The major formations, the Windrow in southern Minnesota and the Coleraine in northern Minnesota, are indeed present, though mostly buried well beneath the surface. But iron mining on Minnesota’s Mesabi Range has done some digging for us.
July 11, 2025 at 11:51 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
🐂 #LostBones #FossilFriday An eye-to-orbit visit is always best! Bison skeleton, currently on display at the Paynesville Area Historical Society, reconstructed by William Scheirel after a dredging operation on his farm.

paynesvillehistorical.org

#Pleistocene #Bison #Palaeontology #CitizenScience
Bison sleeton originally displayed at Zapf's Leather Shop in Paynesville, the skeleton was donated to the historical society in the mid-1990s. Mounted bison skeleton
July 4, 2025 at 9:58 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
🐂🐴 #CountingBones #FossilFriday 🐟🐘🦥🐪 The second most common bison element, above molars, across the state of Minnesota is the mandible.
Lost Bones: medium.com/@dbrake40
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#Pleistocene #Bison #Palaeontology #Fossils #CitizenScience #Mandible #LostBones
Bison mandible Cottonwood river Bison mandible Pope County Bison mandibles Pope County Bison mandibles Melrose Minnesota
June 20, 2025 at 12:52 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
🐂 #LostBones #FossilFriday 🐘🦥🐴🐪🍃 This striking bison femur discovered in Glenwood Minnesota near the now-defunct ski hill in Barsness Park was donated to the Pope County Historical Society in 1999.

popecountymuseum.com

#GlenwoodMN #Pleistocene #Bison #Bisonbison #Paleontology #CitizenScience
June 13, 2025 at 1:02 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
🐂 #LostBones #FossilFriday The huge Pine County History Museum in Askov (MN) occupies an entire high school, features a café, a full-sized replica of the Wright brothers' plane, and a Bison skull!
www.pinecountyhistoricalsociety.org
medium.com/@dbrake40

#Pleistocene #Palaeontology #CitizenScience
Full size replica of the Wright Brothers' Wright flyer This lone Bison occidentalis skull measures 79 m (31 inches) across its horn cores. It was part of a collection of bones unearthed by the Alexander Construction Co. along a creek in Pine County in the spring of 1968. After a study conducted by the University of Minnesota, this skull was the only specimen from the unearthed bone bed that returned to Pine County. Construction site inspector holds the bison skull in 1968 after its discovery. Just you average wooden car.
May 30, 2025 at 12:46 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
Its #mammalmonday!
Castorioides ohioensis is now the Minnesota State Fossil! As of today the Giant Beaver legislation made it to the Governor's desk. Upon his signature will become Minnesota's newest state symbol! Take that Iowa ;)
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One Step:
t.co/5Pmp7Ba3Km
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LostBones: marcusbrandel.substack.com
Castorioides ohioensis skull next to a modern beaver skull I prepared. Giant beaver replica at the Bell Museum of Minnesota
May 26, 2025 at 4:49 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
🐂🐴 #LostBones #FossilFriday Bison specimens from Martin County, MN. I was short on time, so this museum will need a revisit as there are some equine specimens along with the bovine here—spot them? 😉

www.mchsmn.org
medium.com/@dbrake40
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#Bison #Horse #Palaeontology #CitizenScience #Pleistocene
Bison molar display with a couple equine molar nestled in the rear middle. Sweet bison horn core Some nice bison specimens but what species is that humerus? ;)
May 23, 2025 at 1:42 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
🐂 #LostBones #FossilFriday Small museums that pack a punch? The Winnebago Area Museum in southern MN. spans three buildings in Winnebago. It also holds the distinction of being completely volunteer-run since 1977!
www.winnebagoareamuseum.org
medium.com/@dbrake40
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#Pleistocene #CitizenScience
Bison and horse bones along with some artefacts. A mammoth tusk and tooth. Along with my favorite mammoth, bison, and horse specimens, the museum features exhibits on three prehistoric Native American cultures that once inhabited the area, as well as displays highlighting the city's history, military memorabilia, and pioneer life in Winnebago and the surrounding townships.
May 16, 2025 at 7:39 PM
lostbones.bsky.social
🐘#LostBones #FossilFriday🐂🦥🐴🐪🐟🍃 The hunt for Pleistocene horses continues. A recent visit to the Jackson County Historical Society Museum revealed a horse mandible, teeth, and femur, but they have been radiocarbon dated to ~200 BP.

www.jchsmn.org
medium.com/@dbrake40
#Pleistocene #CitizenScience
Horse femur part of a 2015 study on a southern Minnesota section of the Des Moines River by Gustavus Adolphus College and Bates College, which examined bison and other skeletal remains found in the river, exploring their transport, modification, and any human interaction. Over 800 bones were catalogued, primarily bison, ranging in age from 200 to 1000 years BP. Horse mandible part of a 2015 study on a southern Minnesota section of the Des Moines River by Gustavus Adolphus College and Bates College, which examined bison and other skeletal remains found in the river, exploring their transport, modification, and any human interaction. Over 800 bones were catalogued, primarily bison, ranging in age from 200 to 1000 years BP. Horse teeth part of a 2015 study on a southern Minnesota section of the Des Moines River by Gustavus Adolphus College and Bates College, which examined bison and other skeletal remains found in the river, exploring their transport, modification, and any human interaction. Over 800 bones were catalogued, primarily bison, ranging in age from 200 to 1000 years BP. Site photos part of a 2015 study on a southern Minnesota section of the Des Moines River by Gustavus Adolphus College and Bates College, which examined bison and other skeletal remains found in the river, exploring their transport, modification, and any human interaction. Over 800 bones were catalogued, primarily bison, ranging in age from 200 to 1000 years BP.
May 9, 2025 at 1:53 PM