Sophie M.

“Why Are We Funding This?” Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.

Every year around Thanksgiving, I see tons of grad students post heartbreaking messages on social media about how their loved ones don’t understand or support their decision to study what seems like something pointless or silly.

Perhaps my American Scientist essay can help!

🧪🌎🦑 #SciComm

Mirasaura

Pair of large turtles floating in the ocean, with one on top of the other. The top turtle's head and flipper are visible, while the bottom turtle's shell is the only part that can be seen.

Green turtles mating at Beveridge Reef in the South Pacific for #Twosday

Because the world needed ANOTHER species in Mamenchisaurus...

Dai, H., Hu, XF., Tan, C. et al. A new mamenchisaurid sauropod dinosaur from the upper jurassic of Southwest China reveals new evolutionary evidence from East Asian eusauropods. Sci Rep (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...

My article has been published today in @peerj.bsky.social peerj.com/articles/20388 #Paleontology

It’s hard to believe Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age is tomorrow! It feels like the announcement was just yesterday.

Terrible Lizards: Nanotyrannus or not? The biggest news in palaeontology this year dropped just in time for us to miss it with last month’s episode but we’re giving it the full hour this time. The idea that there’s a miniature tyrannosaur ...

So we're slightly late to the party given that the big news dropped a month ago, but here's a full hour of the #TerribleLizards #Podcast where @iszi.com and I talk about #Nanotyrannus and what it all means for T. rex and tyrannosaur research going forwards. terriblelizards.libsyn.com/nanotyrannus

biiiiig stretch!

The occiput of Amargasaurus (Sauropoda, Dicraeosauridae): Reconstruction of the craniocervical muscular insertions with comments on feeding strategy Sauropods achieved gigantism partly through neck elongation, but the role of soft tissues remains unclear. We reconstruct the craniocervical muscles of Amargasaurus cazaui (Lower Cretaceous, Argentin....

The occiput of Amargasaurus (Sauropoda, Dicraeosauridae): Reconstruction of the craniocervical muscular insertions with comments on feeding strategy - Militello - Journal of Anatomy - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

I would sell my entire soul for all my fellow science communicators to stop ending the "story of the dinosaurs" at the end-cretaceous extinction and dive into, even briefly, the story of cenozoic birds. I'm also willing to offer cash, I just don't have much of it.

Thylacoleo, the Incredible Marsupial Lion — Tetrapod Zoology Among the most striking and interesting of extinct mammals is the so-called marsupial lion of Australia, or Thylacoleo carnifex …

One of my favourite #Pleistocene mammals - and, yes, it has a role in #PrehistoricPlanetIceAge - is the big predatory marsupial #Thylacoleo. Here's an introduction to this fantastic animal.... tetzoo.com/blog/2025/11... #marsupials

Psilopterus, a relatively diminutive terror bird and among the last of its kind.

It is very odd. I feel like I’m always talking to the same 5-6 people no matter what I post or reply to, which isn’t a bad thing by any means but Twitter felt much livelier!

There’s pros and cons, and how I feel overall changes from day to day. On the whole, I’m happier here but I do miss the engagement and discussions!

I find it in small pockets with great infrequency, and I really miss how easy it felt to start conversations or get feedback on things.

I’m glad it’s working out for you! I’ve felt a little isolated here, personally, but I also post less frequently than I did on Twitter since my life has gotten busier. I’m sure there’s a correlation there.

It has its benefits, but the low engagement can be very discouraging at times.

I need to go back and watch it again! The Titanis scene has overridden it in my memory completely.

A comparative approach to the evolution of kissing Kissing can be observed across the animal kingdom. This presents an evolutionary puzzle, since the fitness benefits of kissing are unclear. We use a n…

The evolution of kissing
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Thanks to Marc for a great review of our new book! "...a tremendous amount of work went into this book... there’s no other work that unites everything we know about them, their palaeoenvironments, and their modern day afterlife like Spinosaur Tales..". #dinosaurs #books
@chiffchat.bsky.social

A brown running Hamadasuchus

The Kem Kem was home to a few terrestrial crocodylomorphs, and the 2m-long predator Hamadasuchus is one of the more intimidating ones!

Size comparison below ⬇️

#sciart #paleoart

#SurvivingEarth
OUR FIRST LOOK AT (FINISHED?) VFX FOOTAGE OF ISCHIGUALASTIA!
The SE team used practical FX to simulate the sloppy mouth of the creature!

A collage of 9 different realistic plush plecos- L190 Royal Pleco, L027 Xingu Royal, L046 Zebra Pleco, L200 Green Phantom, L239 Blue Panaque, L128 Blue Phantom, L114 Leopard Cactus, Common pleco and L018 Gold Nugget

Pleco plushies are in stock again over at www.palaeoplushies.com !!

Support a small business (me and my sister) this holiday season, so we can keep doing this!

Lots of my Twitter friends made the move here, but I can’t deny that Bluesky feels like a ghost town by comparison. Nothing could ever make me go back, though.

2 mosasaur noggins. In white on the right is the incomplete original, and on the left is our finished digital reconstruction in lavender

Happy #MosasaurMonday from Eustace, the holotype skull of Jormungandr walhallensis discovered in North Dakota by the NDGS.

We were tasked with taking this not-quite-complete skull (right) and digitally restoring it for display at the NDGS as well as a library just a few miles from the dig site 🧪

Detail of a larger painting showing the trilobites Eldredgeops rana.

Working on invertebrate #paleoart at the moment, knowing I'm probably making mistakes despite best efforts, consulting primary literature etc. Inverts are much like fossil plants: there are few accessible resources on their appearance so we must wing it, or go down deep rabbit holes to restore them.

Yes, this!!!
While Mark's talking about restoring #invertebrates in this thread, everything he says is EXACTLY the same with plants.

#Palaeoartists aren't disinterested in inverts or #plants or #fish, there just aren't any (or many) accessible resources on them. #paleobotany #paleoart #sciart

The difference between sweet potatoes and yams » Colin Purrington's blog Every year at Thanksgiving, families in the United States sit down to argue about politics and the difference between sweet potatoes and yams. This page details how to tell them apart and explains how...

In several days you'll likely be sitting next to an ignorant relative who is 100% convinced he knows the difference between a sweet potato and a yam. Here's my primer on the topic. #thanksgiving #sweetpotato #yam #botany 🍠 colinpurrington.com/yams-versus-...

A large ceramic sculpture of a Carnotaur (think T-Rex but has horns coming out of their head over their eyes) done with black underglaze. This piece features sgraffito markings and my signature California Poppies crawling up it's sides and back. Also noting that the dinosaur looks rather happy.

A photo of the back of the piece to show more of the Poppies curving up and around the back. The flower and it's stem have been coloured in using orange and green underglazes.

Carnotaur Totem 🦖✨

This friend will be available in my next shop update coming this Friday at 9am PT! 👀👀

Link for bookmarking: shop.lioninthetrees.com

#art #pottery #sciart

And here the results from the Solnhofen #paleostream! This image depicts large parts of the terrestrial fauna of the Altmühltal Formation, the best understood part of the litographic limestone formations of Germany. There were several reasons for gong onto land despite...