Chris Widga

Back to the Dinosaur Den It’s always a pleasure to meet a stegosaur, like this friend outside the Dinosaur National Monument visitor center. I felt so small next to the reptiles. Not...

I want to spend more time writing about the amazing fossil discoveries paleontologists are unveiling each week. So I've started a newsletter!

You can subscribe, and read the first post, right here. Welcome to The Boneyard. 🦴

John Day Fossil Beds – Interpretive Ranger Individual Placement - Kimberly, OR Northwest Youth Corps – 640 Hour Individual Placement National Park Service John Day Fossil Beds National Monument Kimberly, Oregon – 16 Weeks Title: Interpretive Ranger Individual Placement (640 Ho...

Interpretation internship at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument through the Northwest Youth Corps

nwyouthcorps.workbrightats.com/jobs/1278887

Holotype mandible of Platybelodon barnumbrowni at the University of Nebraska State Museum.

#FossilFriday for Barnum Brown’s birthday there’s no better time to feature Platybelodon barnumbrowni and to discuss these strange shovel tusked proboscideans!

Field experience opportunity! ptrm.org/seeking-a-pa...

Archie the Mammoth's Champion Profile | Glow Big Red 2026 Help Archie the Mammoth's champion efforts for Glow Big Red 2026

Our museum is part of the University's fund-drive: pardon the NPR-style interruption, but consider donating if you want to support public science.

Wonderful donors are matching gifts, so it's a great chance to help us keep connecting the public with natural history.

go.unl.edu/unsmglowbigred

Bones of a fossil dwarf elephant, barely a meter tall at the withers, that lived in Sicily during the Pleistocene. Other species lived on other Mediterranean islands, some to the arrival of humans. Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi, Siracusa, Sicily.

Perhaps this is a folk memory? In the Pleistocene dwarf elephants lived on Mediterranean islands such as Sicily and Crete. Some were barely a meter tall at the withers. Now extinct. Some species existed until the arrival of humans 12,000 years ago. This fossil is at the museum in Siracusa, Sicily.

Top left: 3D surface of a fossil elephant tooth (Palaeoloxodon faloneri) and false colour map recording differences in surface elevation with respect to a reference point. All distances reported in mm. White scale bar on left, 1 cm. Top right: map of Italy with Sicily shaded darker grey. Specimens of the fossil elephants Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis and Palaeoloxodon falconeri were collected from caves on the West of Sicily. Centre right: greyscale photomicrograph of a P. falconeri tooth (MGP-PD 24731; DP4 or M1). White scale bar, at top right, 500 microns. At the bottom: bivariate plot of the average number of pits versus the average number of scratches in P. falconeri, P. mnaidriensis, P. antiquus, extant proboscideans and extant ungulates.

Feeding strategies of the Pleistocene insular dwarf elephants Palaeoloxodon falconeri and Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis from Sicily (Italy) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @flaviastrani.bsky.social @unizar.es @iucaunizar.bsky.social @datadryad.bsky.social @datadryad.bsky.social

VOLUNTEER ON A DINOSAUR DIG: We run one of the only free dinosaur digs in the USA. We work public land and the fossils go in our public museum, forever. It's hard work, but we find some cool things. If this sounds like you, we're taking applications. Link in comms. #dinosaurs

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Illustration titled "Mastodon Giganteus" from 1852, showing detailed black-and-white drawings of several fossilized mastodon bones. The bones, labeled Fig. 1 to Fig. 6, include long limb bones and joint fragments with rough textures and surface irregularities. Each bone is displayed with anatomical accuracy, highlighting their size and structure. The top of the page states "Plate XXV" with a scale indicating one inch to a foot. The illustration provides a scientific view of the extinct North American mastodon's skeletal features for study.

🦣 The Mastodon giganteus of North America /.
Boston: J. Wilson, 1852..

[Source]

🚨Our new study is out! We've put AI to good use, to classify and identify dinosaur footprints!

Dinosaur footprints are more common than bones. But to figure out which dinosaur made a track, we need to do the Cinderella thing, and match a footprint to a foot. And that's hard.

Excited to be part of this cool new theory paper exploring how lagged ecological responses at the species and community level can lead to reduced ecosystem function and often seemingly paradoxical responses at different timescales. Nice work by @mishastemkovski.bsky.social leading this one!

Whale fall mug. Incredibly time consuming and meticulous work, but stunning results

Strange, Shovel-Tusked Elephants Puzzled Paleontologists, Until Experts Took a Closer Look at Their Teeth The animals' extended lower jaws were seemingly made for scooping, but research over the past few decades has found they could do a lot more than initially expected

Shovel-tuskers! Ancient elephants like Amebelodon are an evolutionary success story, and we’re only just starting to understand how they used their exceptional jaws. I’ll tell you more at Smithsonian. 🧪

Strange, Shovel-Tusked Elephants Puzzled Paleontologists, Until Experts Took a Closer Look at Their Teeth The animals' extended lower jaws were seemingly made for scooping, but research over the past few decades has found they could do a lot more than initially expected

share.google/juKL6Jtf8b0E...

The beauty of slag Maybe it’s not just a brownfield or a wastescape. Maybe it’s a novel ecosystem.

palate cleanser: read about curious nerds, slow science, and the Chicago slag barrens among gorgeous photos in the golden hour at #MarianByrnesPark.

#WildCalumet #GreatNearby

mag.uchicago.edu/science-medi...

Wait. It's possible to have some sort of balance? Clearly I'm doing something wrong! Must try harder.

A Deinotherium tooth from the Pliocene of western Kenya, along with a reconstruction of these giants by Mauricio Antón
#FossilFriday

Scientists in the Parks positions now up! 🧵1/n

Dinosaur National Monument
conservation-legacy.breezy.hr/p/099ae6a935...

Montezuma Castle National Monument, AZ
conservation-legacy.breezy.hr/p/9d3abc1c9e...

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, NE
conservation-legacy.breezy.hr/p/7a746df3f5...

Frontiers | Significant northwest shift in suitable climate expected for North American bison by the year 2100 IntroductionMany species are shifting their geographic ranges in response to changing climate, and identifying climate impacts on future species distribution...

As a paleontologist, I'm not usually invested in any particular outcome of research, except to learn new things. However, I was saddened by the results of this one. Great work by Alex, but it doesn't look good for bison in the lower 48 over the next 75 years. www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco...

How scientists can contribute to the social movements essential to protecting climate and nature - npj Climate Action Scientists have much to contribute to the growing social movements pushing for urgent and transformative change to address the climate and biodiversity crises. Depending on their skills, interests and...

There is much to be done, at all levels.

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

We are now accepting applications for #IsoCamp2026! Join us in beautiful New Mexico June 15th-26th to learn about stable isotopes from expert instructors and get hands-on instrument training. The application deadline is February 28th. For more information, or to apply, go to isocamp.org. Pls share!

This is appropriate. I feel like rivers are the soul of all the places I've lived.
Close to Susquehanna/Juniata now, but lived on the Watauga (2016-2023), the Sangamon (2007-2016), the Wakarusa (2000-2005ish). Home river however, will always be the Platte.

Greenland is rich in natural resources – a geologist explains why Greenland’s rare earth element deposits may be among the world’s largest by volume.

I appreciate this from @us.theconversation.com by Jonathan Paul.

However, I think it’s making a mistake I commonly hear geologists make with regards to current events.

I have a hunch that this mistake is one of the reasons geology programs are struggling 🧵🛠️🪨🧪

theconversation.com/greenland-is...

Front view of a Columbian mammoth fossil skull displayed in a museum case, showing the massive domed cranium, large nasal opening, and a long, curved tusk resting in front of the skull.

Happy #FossilFriday! The Columbian #Mammoth was one of the largest species of mammoth to walk the Earth and roamed North America until ~11,000 years ago. The skull of one of these giants (#MOR604) is on display in the #Cenozoic Corridor at #MOR.

Only 7 more days to apply for an NMNH Research Undergrad internship/experience! naturalhistory.si.edu/research/nat...

Image of an Alaskan bog with water and red moss in the foreground and trees in the background.

Let’s make 2026 the year of the bog. The world’s most unique and interesting plants, clean water, cooler climate. Bogs deserve our thanks, care, and deep respect. Please join me and love a bog today.

After reviewing nearly 200 applications from prospective grad students and postdocs over the past few months for a couple different 🧪⚒️ postings, here are some tips, at least as they apply to North American positions. I hope they help future applicants. Share with your networks. 🧵