Eric Ekdale

Torsional flexibility of the thoracic spine is superior to that of the lumbar spine in cats: Implications for the falling cat problem - Higurashi - The Anatomical Record - Wiley Online Library anatomypubs-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.libproxy.sdsu.edu/doi/10.1002/...

Northern elephant seals are the true masters of the power nap.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/northern-elephant-seals-sleep-sea

Can fish hear? Studying fish ears in eighteenth-century natural history royalsocietypublishing.org/rsnr/article... | #NotesAndRecords #HistSci #NaturalHistory

So proud of students from my lab who presented at the @sandiegostate.bsky.social Student Symposium (S3) today! Also, if you’re in town, I am SDSU’s keynote speaker at the S3 Awards Ceremony, happening next Friday (3/6) at 8.30 am, Montezuma Hall @ The Student Union. See y’all there!

YouTube video by 9 News Australia Incredible whale fossil discovered buried on Victorian beach | 9 News Australia

youtu.be/aP0JRu0opMI?...

Tasmanian devil

🧍

New #DAWNDINOS paper!
We do predictive simulations of vertical height jumping in the Triassic theropod Coelophysis & extant (tinamou) bird Eudromia. Mainly as sensitivity analysis of what parameters are most important. We show how crucial tail mobility is.
royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article...

This is the most incredible footage of blue whales I’ve ever seen

Buddy you aren't kidding.

Season 1: Paleontologist Hans Sues on Dinosaurs, Life, and Cats! - YouTube Dinosaurs. Cats. Humans. Arguably the three greatest enigmas EVER. Fortunately, Smithsonian curator of vertebrate paleontology, Dr. Hans Sues, is willing and...

The loss of Hans Sues is devastating. 😞 I always enjoyed catching up with him at SVP and hearing about his research (and cats!).

My deepest, deepest sympathies go out to his wife and daughter. 💔 This is a huge loss to our community.

His humor and legacy will live on.

youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Just saw the incredibly sad news that Hans-Dieter Sues has passed away. Beyond his major contributions to paleontology, in all my interactions with him over the years, he was a stellar human being. He took great joy in life and in being a paleontologist. I learned so much from him.

Triceratops

The land-to-water transition impacts brain shape in caniform carnivorans Abstract. Mammals exhibit remarkable diversity in brain size and morphology, resulting from numerous ecological radiations throughout the Cenozoic. Althoug

land-to-water transition impacts brain shape in caniform carnivorans url: academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

A new kentriodontid dolphin (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Delphinida) from the Middle Miocene of the southeastern Pacific The origin of most modern families of dolphins and porpoises has to be found during the Early to Middle Miocene, presumably among the stock of early delphinidan forms generally attributed to the famil...

sciencepress.mnhn.fr/en/periodiqu...

A cast of the skeleton of Atopotarus. The skull is to the right and the ribcage and flippers are to the left, the hindlimbs are missing. The skeleton is lightly disarticulated, with the ribs splayed out; the two mandibles are somewhat askew. It is mounted on a white wall in NHM Los Angeles.

#fossilfriday A cast of the well-preserved skeleton of the middle Miocene pinniped Atopotarus courseni, a relative of the much larger Allodesmus. Discovered in 1952 in exposures of the Altamira Shale on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles; ~15-16 myo. 🐬🦖On display at @nhm.org

Please enjoy some speculative reconstruction humor for #FossilFriday

artistic depiction of the superficially wolf-like hoofed predator pakicetus, depicted with a sparse covering of hair

a skeletal mount of pakicetus

happy #fossilfriday! bonus: this is pakicetus, an early cetacean from eocene south asia. as the basal-most cetacean currently known, pakicetus was ambulatory on land, though its bone density, dental microwear, and position of the eyes could indicate semiaquatic habits
(art by sergio perez)

'Smiling' fossil discovered in Northumberland The unusual looking fossil is estimated to be a few hundred million years old dating to the Carboniferous period.

Oh what fresh horror...

Actually a very common fossil, but preserved in a way that looks like the mouth inside the mouth of an alien. It's actually a crinoid stem, an ancient sea lilly. I'd totally put this on my mantlepiece tho (or maybe make greetings cards...)
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

#Bats produce echolocation calls through the mouth or nose, which place different demands on their skull morphology. This #RSOS paper hypothesized that peak frequency, a key measure of echolocation performance, may shape their skull variation: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

Scientists discover chameleon’s telephone-cord-like optic nerves once overlooked by Aristotle and Newton C hameleons’ wandering eyes have fascinated and puzzled scientists since the days of ancient Greece. Now, after millennia of study, modern imaging has revealed the secret of their nearly 360-degree vi...

A work colleague in neuro/ophthalmology was telling me about how chameleons have unique coiled optic nerves. Turns out this was learned largely from digitized specimens in oVert. I remember when oVert was a grant proposal. Such an amazing resource 💚 www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/scie...

Our paper on convergent regressive evolution of genes involved in oral anatomy of myrmecophagous mammals is now officially published @molbioevol.bsky.social

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag009

A pair of clam shells, slightly askew, protruding from a gray sandstone concretion. There is a circular drill hole from a predatory snail in the clam.

#molluskmonday A well-preserved clam (Macoma sp.) with a naticid snail boring, protruding from a fine sandstone concretion. Middle Pleistocene Port Orford Formation, Oregon.

A kākāpō chick in a nest with an egg. Credit: Deidre Vercoe

The first #kakapo chick for four years hatched two days ago (on Valentine’s Day for those who like to anthropomorphise!). Here’s Tiwhiri-A1-2026 in Yasmine’s nest. 📸: Deidre Vercoe. www.doc.govt.nz/news/media-r... #kakapo2026 #conservation #parrots #birds

YouTube video by Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC) Fossil Whales of the Pacific Northwest and the Evolution of Baleen

#worldwhaleday Last week I was invited by @paleowin.bsky.social to give a lecture at her institution (SWOCC) on the evolution of whales. If you want to learn about about the origin of baleen and the importance of fossils from the Pacific Northwest, watch here: 🐬🦖🧪 www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7jg...

Oh my god she uploaded a slow motion video and it's amazing. He's just like me fr running as best he can and still going backwards over and over!

An light tan colored fossil earbone of an extinct baleen whale measuring about 7 cm long, next to a scale bar. It is heart shaped.

Two ear bones of a fossil baleen whale in dorsal view. They are heart shaped, and the tympanic cavity is evident in this view.

Happy #ValentinesDay! ❤️ Here is the heart-shaped earbone (tympanic bulla) of the early baleen whale Eomysticetus whitmorei from the Oligocene epoch of South Carolina. #whaleontology 🐬🦖

A diagram showing fossil and modern baleen whales and toothed whales, with representative skulls; Basilosaurus is shown as the common ancestor of both lineages. Coronodon, Aetiocetus, Fucaia, and Maiabalaena are all baleen whales present, leading to modern Balaenoptera; Xenorophus, Simocetus, Olympicetus, Eosqualodon are shown leading to the modern bottlenose dolphin Tursiops.

#fossilfriday On Tuesday I gave a guest lecture at Southwestern Oregon Community College on the evolution of whales and dolphins, with an emphasis on fossils from Oregon and Washington (Aetiocetus, Simocetus). Here is one of my nicer slides from the presentation. #whaleontology 🐬🦖

The most wonderful time of the year @sandiegostate.bsky.social, when we get to celebrate the one and only Chucky D, and his incredible contributions to science. Can’t wait to visit him at Westminster Abbey next month! A few glimpses from today’s celebrations. Happy Darwin Day everyone!

See you all today! Happy Darwin Day to everyone.

Sensory Perception in a Changing World graphic. The graphic has a black background. The text in the top right says: Special Issue. Next line: Sensory Perception in a Changing World Next line: Guest Editors: Almut Kelber, Kathleen M. Gilmour and Sanjay Sane Next line: the Journal of Experimental Biology logo Left side of graphic: image showing a moth drinking nectar from a cluster of white flowers against two large circular green leaves

Read our new Special Issue, Sensory Perception in a Changing World, guest edited by Almut Kelber, Kathleen Gilmour and Sanjay Sane, featuring Reviews & Commentaries discussing the impact of environmental change on how animals perceive their surroundings

tinyurl.com/5t3mkrny