ALMOST went this year… there’s always next year

The paper itself is #OA and here.... anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar… #dinosaurs #FossilFriday

T. rex the Tool Maker -- Testing Controversial Claims About Dinosaur Smarts tetzoo.com/blog/2024/4/22… #dinosaurs #FossilFriday

This is truly an awesome design!

Attention: This is NOT a crocodilian. This is arguably the most famous Choristoderan: Champsosaurus

PSA: 'crown' in a phylogenetic tree does not mean 'the clade that includes the youngest lineages'.. it means, specifically, 'clade subtended by living taxa'. An extinct clade does not and cannot have a 'crown'. The crown vs stem bit of nomenclature was devised for a reason.

AWESOME!

For book research this week, I've been diving into the marabou stork found only at the hobbit cave, Liang Bua. Absolutely incredible bird, I am blown away by the image of these giant birds flying around Flores. nationalgeographic.com/science/articl…
Art by Gabriel Ugueto Gabriel N. U.

Attention: This is NOT a crocodilian. This is arguably the most famous Choristoderan: Champsosaurus

This beautiful long-necked animal is Hyphalosaurus, a choristoderan

Gambit sized here

This beautiful long-necked animal is Hyphalosaurus, a choristoderan

At work on a commission

First contact with Champsosaurus

Gabriel N. U. here's the arm from our specimen. Some of the orange is skin/scales. They're not obvious but they're there. hence we stopped prep to assess how to approach it. We have most of the skeleton articulated, but was coming out head first, so head long gone.

At work on a commission

First contact with Champsosaurus

More animals I encountered last week in central Florida 🧵

A huge Florida Softshell (Apalone ferox). It is always so informative to see how turtles walk… and look at that extraoral tissue! References!

Last week I was working remotely from central Florida (Tampa area) and I got to photograph one of the most beautiful ducks: Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa), which are rare in Miami

Back with more Dicraeosaurid sauropod studies