Amniota Lab

Great to have Marianne Brasil from Western Washington University visiting #AmniotaLab to work in the collections! 🦴🔍 She studies primate evolution combining modern primate data and the fossil record.
Thank you for sharing your passion for paleoanthropology with us!

We were delighted to host Dr. Khizar Samiullah from Ghazi University 🇵🇰 at #AmniotaLab
He shared his work on Neogene mammal fossils from the classical Siwalik sequences, and highlighted the work still ahead💪

Virtual endocast of the Late Miocene Hoplitomeryx matthei (Artiodactyla, Hoplitomerycidae) and brain evolution in insular ruminants | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Mammals often follow peculiar evolutionary trajectories on islands, with some Pleistocene insular large mammals exhibiting reduced relative brain size. However, the antiquity of this phenomenon remain...

New #AmniotaLab study: the first digital endocast 🧠 of the five-horned ruminant 🦌 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘹 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪 from Miocene Gargano (Italy) reveals a distinct evolutionary path among island mammals

👏 @pierreorgebin.bsky.social @robertorozzi.bsky.social

🔗 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Biochronological and paleobiogeographic implications of the Dama-like deer sample from the latest Early Pleistocene of Cal Guardiola (NE Iberia) Different species of Dama-like deer usually included in the genus Pseudodama, occurred in the European Plio-Pleistocene. In this paper, the medium-siz…

🦌 A new #AmniotaColLab study led by Elpiniki-Maria Parparousi (with AmniotaLab’s Leonardo Sorbelli) describes a latest Early Pleistocene Dama-like deer from Cal Guardiola (NE Iberia).

🔗 Read more:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#Paleontology #Pleistocene #Fossils

Some pics from our #PALEONILE meeting today! We discussed paleo🦴, geology🪨, archaeology🏺 & geochronology🕰️

Team from MfN, TU Berlin, LIAG Hannover, Institute of Archaeology Prague, plus Al Neelain University & Khartoum Natural History Museum, Sudan 🇸🇩

@mfnberlin.bsky.social @tuberlin.bsky.social

"تمساح السودان".. اكتشاف نادر على نهر عطبرة عمره 90 ألف سنة كشفت دراسة حديثة عن أول سجل لتمساح منقرض من العصر البليستوسيني المتأخر في أفريقيا، ما يعيد رسم خريطة تنوع جنس “كروكودايلوس” خلال هذه الحقبة.

The latest publication from Khalafallah Salih about the exceptional fossil croc 🐊 from #Sudan was just featured on Al Jazeera!

Don't miss it:
www.aljazeera.net/science/2025...

#PALEONILE project @mfnberlin.bsky.social

Some of our past and current #AmniotaLab members just got back from the #CPEG meeting in Zurich so happy to have met so many fantastic and inspiring people!

Huge thanks to @cpeg-cpb25.bsky.social for a great conference, and for recognizing our poster as one of the best! An honor to be part of it 🙌

A new late Pleistocene fossil crocodile from Sudan reveals hidden diversity of Crocodylus in Africa - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - A new late Pleistocene fossil crocodile from Sudan reveals hidden diversity of Crocodylus in Africa

More #AmniotaLab science! 📢

Khalafallah Salih et al. describe a new Late Pleistocene crocodile from #Sudan 🐊
the first 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘺𝘭𝘶𝘴 from this period in Africa, and distinct from all known species!

Just the beginning for the #PALEONILE project 🌍🦴

🔗 Read more: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Just out! This #AmniotaLab study led by 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 on 𝘗𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘺𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴 🦎 across the Balearics finds that bite force & morphology vary within populations, but don’t scale up to macroevolutionary scales

🔗 More:
academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...

#Evolution #Lizards #FunctionalMorphology

Great to have @evomorpholab.bsky.social visiting us!
A fantastic few days of sharing ideas, methods, and common interests.
Looking forward to more collaboration ahead!
#EvolutionaryBiology #Paleobiology #AmniotaLab

Amniota Lab members working in the collections at the Museum für Naturkunde, surrounded by bones.

Some collection work at the @mfnberlin.bsky.social
🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴👀

#AmniotaLab #MfNBerlin

A brown rock, with a lighter fossil insect in it. The fossil has a head with antennae (left), then a pronotum (~shiled shape plate), and then long wings with prominent veins. Under these you can make out some of the walking legs. Inset is a close up of a long structure towards the back of the animal, which it used to lay eggs in life.

For #FossilFriday meet an ancestor of today's cockroaches, mantises and termites. This lovely animal is Sysciophlebia, and lived ~295 million years ago, in what is today Germany 🇩🇪 . It was 3.6cm long, and was a female. How do we know?

⚒️🧪🦀🦑 #evosky

⚠️The website's new look ⬇️🎊
palass.org

#Website #palaeontology

Expanding habitat suitability under changing climate and land use may drive rapid expansion of Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii) in Bangladesh Eco-climatic and other environmental gradients significantly influence the geographic distribution of reptiles. In Bangladesh, the known range of Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii) has expanded extensi...

⚠️ 𝘋𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘪𝘢 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘪 is on the move in Bangladesh! 🐍🌾

A new #AmniotaLab study shows a 5-fold increase in suitable habitat since 2015 driven by climate shifts, land use, and dispersal corridors. Rising encounters raise urgent public health concerns.

🔗 Read more: herpetozoa.pensoft.net/article/1434...

Malformations in Trilobites from the Silurian and Devonian of Europe.
sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2025/06/malf...

An artist's reconstruction of a pair of the small mammal Nujalikodon cassiopeiae facing one another on a rock enjoying a peaceful sunset in the Rhaetelv Formation, Greenland. There are stars in the sky to the left and trees outlined against the red of the sunset, with a passing pterosaur flying over. Artist: Pedro Andrade; CC BY NC 4.0.

The oldest definitive docodontan from central East Greenland sheds light on the origin of the clade onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @morphobank.bsky.social @paleodb.bsky.social

Was uns 60 Millionen Jahre stabile Ökosysteme über den heutigen Artenverlust lehren Eine neue Studie unter Leitung der Universität Göteborg mit Beteiligung von Forschenden aus dem Museum für Naturkunde Berlin und Spanien zeigt, wie große urzeitliche Pflanzenfresser auf tiefgreifende ...

Was uns 60 Millionen Jahre stabile Ökosysteme über den heutigen Artenverlust lehren

www.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/de/museum/me...

Was uns 60 Millionen Jahre stabile Ökosysteme über den heutigen Artenverlust lehren Eine neue Studie unter Leitung der Universität Göteborg mit Beteiligung von Forschenden aus dem Museum für Naturkunde Berlin und Spanien zeigt, wie große urzeitliche Pflanzenfresser auf tiefgreifende ...

What 60 million years of stable ecosystems teach us about today’s loss of species:

www.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/en/museum/me...

Don't miss this thread! A new publication from #AmniotaLab led by @fernandoblancos.bsky.social. Enormous work!🦏🐘

9/ This paper is the result of over 7 years of work—a true collective effort. Huge thanks to all my co-authors for making this possible! @ohsanisidro.bsky.social @singerstone.bsky.social @amniotalab.bsky.social et al.

📸 @singerstone.bsky.social

🚨 PhD Opportunity!
Join Mozes Blom’s group at @mfnberlin.bsky.social to study the demographic history of New Guinea bird populations 🐦🌴
#PhD #Ornithology #Evolution #Genomics
🗓️Apply by 11.06.2025
More info 👇

Fossil bone now identified as the pelvis of Dimetrodon teutonis

Researchers from the ongoing Bromacker project excavating at the fossil site

CT scans at #mfnberlin revealed a pelvis from #Bromacker as 𝘋𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴, shedding light on its anatomy and movement. The 290-million-year-old site still holds much undiscovered knowledge, calling for more #research! Learn more: bit.ly/dimetrodon-p... 🔨 Credits: T. Martens (1), A. End (2) 📸

Some members of the #AmniotaLab are exploring the paleontological collections in London this week!
Stay tuned for more cool paleo stuff

Skeleton of the Cretaceous enanitornithine bird Longipteryx

#FossilFriday The long-snouted Cretaceous enantiornithine bird Longipteryx chaoyangensis

Now featuring belemnites and Baculites!

Some pictures of our latest lab meeting. So many of us, we had to bring in an extra table!
Always a joy to gather as the #AmniotaLab and share science, laughs, and plans for what’s next.

It was such a pleasure to host Marco Cherin and Beatrice Azzarà from the THOR project last week at the @mfnberlin.bsky.social!
Great conversations, shared curiosity, and wonderful company.
Looking forward to the next one 🙌 Come back soon!

An articulated skeleton of Eucyon monticinensis (Carnivora: Canidae) from the latest Miocene of Verduno (Italy) Abstract. The genus Eucyon includes several Late Miocene–Early Pleistocene canid species, the earliest of which, Eucyon davisi, is regarded as basal in the

🐾 Just in! Our latest #AmniotaLabCollab 📚🔍

The most complete 𝘌𝘶𝘤𝘺𝘰𝘯 skeleton in Europe, from the Late Miocene site of Verduno, Italy 🇮🇹 offers new insights into canid evolution!

#Paleontology #Canidae #Fossils #AmniotaColLab

🔗 Read more:
academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...

211-0238/25-2N Tenure-track Assistant Professor and Curator of Paleontology Tenure-track Assistant Professor and Curator in Paleontology Natural History Museum Denmark Faculty of Science University of Copenhagen The Natural History Muse

The Natural History Museum Denmark is hiring a new Tenure-Track Assistant Professor and Curator of (Vertebrate) Palaeontology! Could it be you or someone you know‽ spread the word! Really excited to have a new colleague to work on our amazing collections! 🧪🏛️

candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...