Thomas Hegna
@thomashegna.bsky.social
Arthropod paleontologist, father, science educator in western New York. Teaches paleontology, Earth history, stratigraphy, and more at SUNY Fredonia. University of Iowa and Yale G&G alum. WIU refugee.
Little known fact about the glacial sediment near Lake Erie in our area. Sometimes, you can see a swath of this sediment in the swash zone of the beach—the waves sort them differently because they are denser than the other sediment. #sunyfredonia #geology #lakeerie #sedimentology #glacialsediment
October 2, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Little known fact about the glacial sediment near Lake Erie in our area. Sometimes, you can see a swath of this sediment in the swash zone of the beach—the waves sort them differently because they are denser than the other sediment. #sunyfredonia #geology #lakeerie #sedimentology #glacialsediment
Our Dunk is nearing completion. It now has a stand! #paleontology #geology #Devonian #sunyfredonia #3dprinting
September 30, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Our Dunk is nearing completion. It now has a stand! #paleontology #geology #Devonian #sunyfredonia #3dprinting
Another 3d printed skull to guess. It is harder than it looks.
September 15, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Another 3d printed skull to guess. It is harder than it looks.
I don't think I am exaggerating when I say this is the fastest brachiopod ever. Introducing the Brachio-Bot. #fredonia #paleontology #3dprinting
September 1, 2025 at 5:58 PM
I don't think I am exaggerating when I say this is the fastest brachiopod ever. Introducing the Brachio-Bot. #fredonia #paleontology #3dprinting
Guess who? Printed at about 1/2 scale.
August 21, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Guess who? Printed at about 1/2 scale.
Coming soon: The Trilo-bot 2.0®
June 3, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Coming soon: The Trilo-bot 2.0®
I bring you the latest advance in lophotrochozoan technology:
The Brachio-bot®
The Brachio-bot®
June 3, 2025 at 2:07 AM
I bring you the latest advance in lophotrochozoan technology:
The Brachio-bot®
The Brachio-bot®
New paper out describing the first fossil ovaries and unfertilized eggs in a primitive horseshoe crab. #paleontology #xiphosura #ordovician
May 30, 2025 at 2:41 PM
New paper out describing the first fossil ovaries and unfertilized eggs in a primitive horseshoe crab. #paleontology #xiphosura #ordovician
So, Tom, how have you been procrastinating the arthropod cuticle preservation paper? Oh, you know . . .
#Devonian #dunkleosteus #3dprinting
#Devonian #dunkleosteus #3dprinting
May 23, 2025 at 9:12 PM
So, Tom, how have you been procrastinating the arthropod cuticle preservation paper? Oh, you know . . .
#Devonian #dunkleosteus #3dprinting
#Devonian #dunkleosteus #3dprinting
New paper out! Open Access!
doi.org/10.1017/jpa....
doi.org/10.1017/jpa....
May 9, 2025 at 6:09 PM
New paper out! Open Access!
doi.org/10.1017/jpa....
doi.org/10.1017/jpa....
The trilobite special issue of the Journal of Paleontology is out (meant to pair with the ill-fated trilobite conference in Cincinnati).
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
March 7, 2025 at 6:32 PM
The trilobite special issue of the Journal of Paleontology is out (meant to pair with the ill-fated trilobite conference in Cincinnati).
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Who knows any other examples of trilobites in fiction out there? Ken Gass wrote the campy horror novella "Trilobites!" and Batti Dohm wrote "Stielauge, der Urkrebs: eine Chronik aus Urzeiten unsere Erde." I know there are a couple of kids books as well. #trilobites #paleontology
February 23, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Who knows any other examples of trilobites in fiction out there? Ken Gass wrote the campy horror novella "Trilobites!" and Batti Dohm wrote "Stielauge, der Urkrebs: eine Chronik aus Urzeiten unsere Erde." I know there are a couple of kids books as well. #trilobites #paleontology
Trust is hard to gain and easy to lose. One of the strengths that the USA had over the last century was trust.
Below is an except from review of a grant I was a part of that was submitted for funding to a non-US funding body. The trust is already gone.
Below is an except from review of a grant I was a part of that was submitted for funding to a non-US funding body. The trust is already gone.
February 21, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Trust is hard to gain and easy to lose. One of the strengths that the USA had over the last century was trust.
Below is an except from review of a grant I was a part of that was submitted for funding to a non-US funding body. The trust is already gone.
Below is an except from review of a grant I was a part of that was submitted for funding to a non-US funding body. The trust is already gone.
Finished 3d printed Uintatherium.
January 30, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Finished 3d printed Uintatherium.
Why can't we write species descriptions that use the word 'hansome' anymore?
December 5, 2024 at 8:04 PM
Why can't we write species descriptions that use the word 'hansome' anymore?
Liar. I know for a fact that you collected a trilobite on that beach. Believe it or not, that trilobite was a forgery. A forgery on a ROCK!
June 22, 2023 at 9:06 PM
Liar. I know for a fact that you collected a trilobite on that beach. Believe it or not, that trilobite was a forgery. A forgery on a ROCK!
A couple of giant crates arrived today that will have to live in the hallway for awhile. I spent way too much time making this sign to put on them. I think I need to 'distress' the paper for realism before putting it up.
June 22, 2023 at 6:02 PM
A couple of giant crates arrived today that will have to live in the hallway for awhile. I spent way too much time making this sign to put on them. I think I need to 'distress' the paper for realism before putting it up.