Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
@wensthomp.bsky.social
Palaeo + Seds PhD Candidate at University of Manitoba. PalaeoPoems science writer. Thompsonite. She/her
Pinned
Making myself visible on this Transgender Day of Visibility as a now publicly out trans woman!
Some people have known about my transition for a while now, but if you didn't, I go by Mira or M (as a nickname) and use she/her pronouns. Excited for my journey to live as my authentic self!
Some people have known about my transition for a while now, but if you didn't, I go by Mira or M (as a nickname) and use she/her pronouns. Excited for my journey to live as my authentic self!
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
Manitoba Museum Student Associate and Mitacs Fellow Urgon Snider’s Master’s thesis research is on microfossils. He’ll be working dissolving ancient rocks, extracting tiny fossils, and mounting them for our collections, expanding our understanding of 450-million-year-old ecosystems! #FossilFriday
October 24, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Manitoba Museum Student Associate and Mitacs Fellow Urgon Snider’s Master’s thesis research is on microfossils. He’ll be working dissolving ancient rocks, extracting tiny fossils, and mounting them for our collections, expanding our understanding of 450-million-year-old ecosystems! #FossilFriday
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
Did ceratopsian (horned) & ankylosaur (armored) dinosaurs walk together? Newly discovered dinosaur tracksite in Dinosaur Provincial Park (Alberta CA) suggests they did, similar to modern multi-species herds. News item includes comments by Yours Truly. 🧪🦖🐾
P.S. Quite a day for cool fossil finds!
P.S. Quite a day for cool fossil finds!
A set of 76-million-year-old tracks discovered in Canada might be the first evidence for different species of dinosaur herding together.
Remarkable set of tracks suggests different dinosaurs herded together
www.newscientist.com
July 23, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Did ceratopsian (horned) & ankylosaur (armored) dinosaurs walk together? Newly discovered dinosaur tracksite in Dinosaur Provincial Park (Alberta CA) suggests they did, similar to modern multi-species herds. News item includes comments by Yours Truly. 🧪🦖🐾
P.S. Quite a day for cool fossil finds!
P.S. Quite a day for cool fossil finds!
New research that Dr. Paul Durkin, one of my supervisors, worked on!
A set of 76-million-year-old tracks discovered in Canada might be the first evidence for different species of dinosaur herding together.
Remarkable set of tracks suggests different dinosaurs herded together
www.newscientist.com
July 23, 2025 at 10:05 PM
New research that Dr. Paul Durkin, one of my supervisors, worked on!
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
Here it is! Please welcome the AMAZING Mirasaura grauvogeli, a NEW MARVELOUS Drepanosaur published in NATURE today!
This astonishing reptile lived during the Middle Triassic in Europe and it possessed an amazing crest made of plume-like structures!
I was commissioned to bring it to life
#paleoart
This astonishing reptile lived during the Middle Triassic in Europe and it possessed an amazing crest made of plume-like structures!
I was commissioned to bring it to life
#paleoart
July 23, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Here it is! Please welcome the AMAZING Mirasaura grauvogeli, a NEW MARVELOUS Drepanosaur published in NATURE today!
This astonishing reptile lived during the Middle Triassic in Europe and it possessed an amazing crest made of plume-like structures!
I was commissioned to bring it to life
#paleoart
This astonishing reptile lived during the Middle Triassic in Europe and it possessed an amazing crest made of plume-like structures!
I was commissioned to bring it to life
#paleoart
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
Look at this perfect Triassic friend. Mirasaura was a "monkey lizard" with a prominent sail on its back that wasn't really like scales or feathers. Studying these fossils also revealed that the enigma Longisquama is a drepanosaur with a fan, too. I'll tell you more at @smithsonianmag.bsky.social
This Surprising Ancient Reptile Had a Colorful, Corrugated Sail on Its Back. New Research Suggests It Was Used to Communicate
A 247-million-year-old fossil from a German natural history museum reveals the secrets of Mirasaura
www.smithsonianmag.com
July 23, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Look at this perfect Triassic friend. Mirasaura was a "monkey lizard" with a prominent sail on its back that wasn't really like scales or feathers. Studying these fossils also revealed that the enigma Longisquama is a drepanosaur with a fan, too. I'll tell you more at @smithsonianmag.bsky.social
Really cool stuff, and I'm not just saying that because it shares my name!
I am proud and grateful to present a dream project today in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Meet #Mirasaura grauvogeli, a #wonderreptilewith skin appendages that rival feathers and hairs, challenging our view of reptile #evolution🪶🦎
Meet #Mirasaura grauvogeli, a #wonderreptilewith skin appendages that rival feathers and hairs, challenging our view of reptile #evolution🪶🦎
July 23, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Really cool stuff, and I'm not just saying that because it shares my name!
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
This is very cool! A new placoderm (armoured) fish from the Devonian, the age of fishes: Elmosteus lundarensis. It was found in the Interlake region of Manitoba. And no, it's not named for Elmo.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Move over, Jurassic Park. Manitoba was home to newly discovered 390-million-year-old extinct fish | CBC News
A research team from the University of Manitoba has discovered a new genus of placoderm fish, named Elmosteus lundarensis, one of the earliest fish to develop bones, a jaw and teeth.
www.cbc.ca
July 19, 2025 at 2:59 PM
This is very cool! A new placoderm (armoured) fish from the Devonian, the age of fishes: Elmosteus lundarensis. It was found in the Interlake region of Manitoba. And no, it's not named for Elmo.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
#FossilFriday - explore the stunning armoured plates of a 390-million-year-old placoderm fish fossil from Manitoba! 🐟
Image shows the central and postorbital plates of Elmosteus lundarensis gen. et comb. nov. Read the full study by Jobbins et al. (2025): buff.ly/g6sEO4A
#PaleoSky #Fossils #NHM
Image shows the central and postorbital plates of Elmosteus lundarensis gen. et comb. nov. Read the full study by Jobbins et al. (2025): buff.ly/g6sEO4A
#PaleoSky #Fossils #NHM
July 18, 2025 at 7:01 AM
#FossilFriday - explore the stunning armoured plates of a 390-million-year-old placoderm fish fossil from Manitoba! 🐟
Image shows the central and postorbital plates of Elmosteus lundarensis gen. et comb. nov. Read the full study by Jobbins et al. (2025): buff.ly/g6sEO4A
#PaleoSky #Fossils #NHM
Image shows the central and postorbital plates of Elmosteus lundarensis gen. et comb. nov. Read the full study by Jobbins et al. (2025): buff.ly/g6sEO4A
#PaleoSky #Fossils #NHM
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
New paper day! Phil Bell led a great study on some *INSANELY COOL* titanosaur tracks our expedition found in Mongolia. The scales in particular are extra awesome - they're like little pyramids, and they *may* have helped with scratch digging and/or walking on sandy surfaces!
July 17, 2025 at 5:16 PM
New paper day! Phil Bell led a great study on some *INSANELY COOL* titanosaur tracks our expedition found in Mongolia. The scales in particular are extra awesome - they're like little pyramids, and they *may* have helped with scratch digging and/or walking on sandy surfaces!
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
A new paper of mine just came out in the Journal of Anatomy! Learn more about Conoryctes and why the insides of its bones are important on my website. Or, check out the open-access paper here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Digging into the rise of mammals
gregfunston.com/2025/07/14/d...
Digging into the rise of mammals
gregfunston.com/2025/07/14/d...
Digging into the rise of mammals
A new study of mine has just been published in the Journal of Anatomy! The paper is open access, courtesy of UC Davis, so it is free to access and read for all. You can find it here. The paper is p…
gregfunston.com
July 14, 2025 at 6:10 PM
A new paper of mine just came out in the Journal of Anatomy! Learn more about Conoryctes and why the insides of its bones are important on my website. Or, check out the open-access paper here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Digging into the rise of mammals
gregfunston.com/2025/07/14/d...
Digging into the rise of mammals
gregfunston.com/2025/07/14/d...
Today, I mourn the loss of the forest I spent my youth exploring on the edges of Thompson, Manitoba. Cut down to prevent forest fires from potentially jumping the river and destroying the city. 1/4
July 10, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Today, I mourn the loss of the forest I spent my youth exploring on the edges of Thompson, Manitoba. Cut down to prevent forest fires from potentially jumping the river and destroying the city. 1/4
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
I want there to be places for trans paleontologists beyond the student and volunteer level. I want us to have access to more than labor that principally benefits curators and profs. Students I meet now, I want to see as leaders in the field before I’m subject to taphonomic agents.
June 22, 2025 at 7:57 PM
I want there to be places for trans paleontologists beyond the student and volunteer level. I want us to have access to more than labor that principally benefits curators and profs. Students I meet now, I want to see as leaders in the field before I’m subject to taphonomic agents.
Recently got to see the always incredible Borealopelta markmitchelli in its new display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum! #FossilFriday
June 20, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Recently got to see the always incredible Borealopelta markmitchelli in its new display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum! #FossilFriday
Very nice dromaeosaur claw found by the Tyrrell Museum crew in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta this week. #FossilFriday
June 6, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Very nice dromaeosaur claw found by the Tyrrell Museum crew in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta this week. #FossilFriday
Had another great season in Dinosaur Provincial Park looking at bones and bentonite. Expect to see some really exciting results from this soon 👀!
June 6, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Had another great season in Dinosaur Provincial Park looking at bones and bentonite. Expect to see some really exciting results from this soon 👀!
Love Ruby Crowned Kinglets, one of my favourite early spring migrants here in Manitoba. This one was so curious about what I was doing!
April 19, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Love Ruby Crowned Kinglets, one of my favourite early spring migrants here in Manitoba. This one was so curious about what I was doing!
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
Colossal made designer Canis, not dire wolves. So what was Aenocyon dirus really like? I dig in at NatGeo with insights (and puns) from @ashinonyx.bsky.social, @widga.bsky.social, and @tarpits.org’s Emily Lindsey.
Is this really a dire wolf? Here’s the how ‘de-extinct’ pups compare to the real thing.
Genetics and behavior complicate efforts to bring back extinct species.
www.nationalgeographic.com
April 14, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Colossal made designer Canis, not dire wolves. So what was Aenocyon dirus really like? I dig in at NatGeo with insights (and puns) from @ashinonyx.bsky.social, @widga.bsky.social, and @tarpits.org’s Emily Lindsey.
Making myself visible on this Transgender Day of Visibility as a now publicly out trans woman!
Some people have known about my transition for a while now, but if you didn't, I go by Mira or M (as a nickname) and use she/her pronouns. Excited for my journey to live as my authentic self!
Some people have known about my transition for a while now, but if you didn't, I go by Mira or M (as a nickname) and use she/her pronouns. Excited for my journey to live as my authentic self!
March 31, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Making myself visible on this Transgender Day of Visibility as a now publicly out trans woman!
Some people have known about my transition for a while now, but if you didn't, I go by Mira or M (as a nickname) and use she/her pronouns. Excited for my journey to live as my authentic self!
Some people have known about my transition for a while now, but if you didn't, I go by Mira or M (as a nickname) and use she/her pronouns. Excited for my journey to live as my authentic self!
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
I promised to tell the backstory of the world's biggest #trilobite, so here's our 1998 discovery & excavation of the holotype of Isotelus rex. Length as recovered ~68 cm; original length ~72 cm. U. Ordovician, nr Churchill, MB 🇨🇦 Now on display in the @manitobamuseum.bsky.social #TrilobiteTuesday
February 4, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I promised to tell the backstory of the world's biggest #trilobite, so here's our 1998 discovery & excavation of the holotype of Isotelus rex. Length as recovered ~68 cm; original length ~72 cm. U. Ordovician, nr Churchill, MB 🇨🇦 Now on display in the @manitobamuseum.bsky.social #TrilobiteTuesday
Officially a PhD Candidate now!
January 31, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Officially a PhD Candidate now!
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
Ever wonder what snow in the swamp would look like? This is 5 miles into the Louisiana swamps in the Atchafalaya basin... it's unreal... having lived down there for the first 28 years of my life, we never saw anything like this.
Smashed records.
Curtesy of Garrett Roberts.
Smashed records.
Curtesy of Garrett Roberts.
January 25, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Ever wonder what snow in the swamp would look like? This is 5 miles into the Louisiana swamps in the Atchafalaya basin... it's unreal... having lived down there for the first 28 years of my life, we never saw anything like this.
Smashed records.
Curtesy of Garrett Roberts.
Smashed records.
Curtesy of Garrett Roberts.
Foraminifera from the Campanian Foremost Formation of Alberta for #FossilFriday. This figure comes from my paper published last week. The species found suggest marginal marine environments preserved in the formation experienced differences in oxygen and nutrient levels spacially and over time.
December 27, 2024 at 3:20 PM
Foraminifera from the Campanian Foremost Formation of Alberta for #FossilFriday. This figure comes from my paper published last week. The species found suggest marginal marine environments preserved in the formation experienced differences in oxygen and nutrient levels spacially and over time.
Today the main paper from my MSc was published! It focuses on the palaeoenvironments preserved in the Campanian Foremost Formation in Southern Alberta.
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/palaios...
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/palaios...
MULTI-PROXY PALEOENVIRONMENTAL AND PALEOECOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE FOREMOST FORMATION (UPPER CRETACEOUS, CAMPANIAN) OF ALBERTA | PALAIOS | GeoScienceWorld
Abstract. The Foremost Formation of southern Alberta, Canada, is the basal member of the Cretaceous (Campanian) Belly River Group and has been
pubs.geoscienceworld.org
December 22, 2024 at 2:51 PM
Today the main paper from my MSc was published! It focuses on the palaeoenvironments preserved in the Campanian Foremost Formation in Southern Alberta.
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/palaios...
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/palaios...
Reposted by Mira Thompson 🏳️⚧️
A paleontological smorgasbord for #FossilFriday @usask.bsky.social
Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Mosasaurus, and Rhamphorhynchus.
Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Mosasaurus, and Rhamphorhynchus.
December 13, 2024 at 9:10 PM
A paleontological smorgasbord for #FossilFriday @usask.bsky.social
Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Mosasaurus, and Rhamphorhynchus.
Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Mosasaurus, and Rhamphorhynchus.