WitmerLab at Ohio University

The book "Unearthing the Dragon" published in 2005 by Mark Norell (1957–2025)and Mick Ellison, with a blurred T. rex skull cast in the background. The T. rex is a specimen (AMNH 5027) from the American Museum of Natural History where Mark worked for many years.

I learned from the wonderful obit of Mark Norell in Current Biology by Pete Makovicky, Jim Clark, & @stevebrusatte.bsky.social (bit.ly/4rtBlEP) that Mark "was most proud of Unearthing the Dragon," so I pulled it off the shelf & read it cover to cover. It was like hearing Mark's voice again. 🥹

#HappyThanksgiving from WitmerLab! You have your holiday traditions, and we have ours! Yes, we CT scanned our turkey on our best turkey platter. Science has never been so delicious! And like any good dinosaur biologist, I prepared and accessioned the skeleton—OUVC 10789. 🦃🦖

OHIO researcher co-authors new study showing pterosaurs and birds evolved flight-ready brains in different ways A new study published in Current Biology, co-authored by Lawrence Witmer, now sheds light on how pterosaurs evolved the neurological structures required for powered flight.

Here's the version of the news release from Ohio University that provides a common language explanation of the project: www.ohio.edu/news/2025/11... 2/2

Life restoration by Matheus Fernandes showing a Triassic scene with the lagerpetid non-pterosaurian pterosauromorph Ixalerpeton with early pterosaurs flying overhead. The publication is here: https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)01467-8

Life restorations and labeled cranial (brain) endocasts of the lagerpetid Ixalerpeton and the pterosaur Allkaruen.

Happy to be a part of this big project led by Mario Bronzati & Matteo Fabbri—out today #OA in @currentbiology.bsky.social
bit.ly/3M5weun —on the brain endocast of a close pterosaur cousin & what it means for pterosaur brain evolution...maybe different from bird brain evolution. 1/2

Highly recommended! I just finished a cover-to-cover read, and it's a great addition to the avian sensory ecology literature with excellent discussions of the links between brain & behavior. I prefer reading paper books (better retention) but the whole thing is freely downloadable! bit.ly/482xPZm 🦉🧠

We went with the "lawnmower" analogy for Nigersaurus since it was an herbivore, but yup, I see toenail clipper, too.

Such great news! Always excited to hear about science being promoted in Athens and southeast Ohio. If you need help, give me shout!

Philippe Taquet & Witmer in Dr. Taquet's office (19 July 2007, Paris)

Restored skull and brain endocast of the rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur Nigersaurus taqueti (MNN GAD512). Published in November 2007 in PLOS ONE (Sereno et al. 2007: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0001230).

The paleo community is mourning the passing of giant. Philippe Taquet passed away on Sunday at 85. I was honored to meet him in his Paris office in 2007. Later that year, we published on a sauropod from his beloved Gadoufaoua in Niger, Africa, & named for him—Sereno et al. 2007: bit.ly/3WZLKdF 🦕

Former lab member Peter Rhynard did a great job presenting his undergrad honors thesis research on the skull of the Allosaurus specimen known as Big Al (MOR 693) at the #2025SVP meeting! Thanks to @seishirotada.bsky.social for the photos since I was unable to attend myself!

Your book King Tyrant is outstanding…and remains so! I was reading it about the same time that I was reviewing the Z&N manuscript, and yes, I noted a few passages that would be impacted, but whatever. I recommended in my review that Z&N read & cite your book! It’s so well researched & well written!

James Napoli, Witmer, and Cleveland Museum of Natural History Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology Caitlin Colleary with the holotype skull of Nanotyrannus (CMNH 7541) for CT scanning (June 2023).

James Napoli with the holotype skull of Nanotyrannus (CMNH 7541) for CT scanning (June 2023).

Cleveland Museum of Natural History Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology Caitlin Colleary with the holotype skull of Nanotyrannus (CMNH 7541) for CT scanning (June 2023).

Witmer with the holotype skull of Nanotyrannus (CMNH 7541) for CT scanning (June 2023). I had this same skull on loan in my Ohio University lab for study and CT scanning for over a year and, as far as I can tell, never appeared in a photo with it. I didn't my chance this time!

We'll close out this #FossilFriday with the obvious choice of Nanotyrannus. I couldn't share this CT scanning session at the time (June 2023) but can now. @jgn-paleo.bsky.social brought the holotype Cleveland skull he had on loan, and CMNH VP curator Caitlin Colleary & I joined in the fun!

Shamini Bundell ‪@shamini.bsky.social at @nature.com, knowing that I had written the N&V commentary (rdcu.be/eNv94) on the Zanno & Napoli article on Nanotyrannus, contacted me earlier this week to film a quick video that provides some background. Shamini did a great job with it! I need a haircut.

The following key question can now be asked. Why, even before the discovery of NCSM 40000, did a scientific consensus consolidate so quickly around the hypothesis that all Nanotyrannus specimens are juvenile T. rex, especially given the well-known short-comings that should, at least, have dictated more caution?That’s a question perhaps more suited to historians or sociologists, but fascinat-ing, if uncomfortable, issues abound. For example, some advocates for the validity of Nanotyrannus do not have advanced degrees or are not employed by universities or museums, raising the spectre of the role of influence, elitism and the protective ivory tower of academia. Other factors to consider are the related issues of commercial fossil collecting and the ethics of studying fossils that are in pri-vate hands rather than public museums. Many specimens relevant to this debate were commercially collected and remain privately...

held, and many of these have come to attention thanks to social media, auction catalogues and television documentaries. The ethics policies of some professional societies and journals oppose the publication of studies about specimens in private collections for valid reasons, such as issues relating to access and reproducibility of results11, although there is the conflicting ethical concern about wilfully ignoring relevant scientific data12. All of these issues have affected the Nanotyrannus debate, but it’s also probable that the consensus emerged quickly simply because it was so useful to finally have what were deemed juvenile T. rex specimens, despite the persistent concerns of a minor-ity of scientists. Given the investment in the consensus view, that side is unlikely to go down without a fight, but this exceptionally researched study by Zanno and Napoli puts Nanotyrannus on a solid foundation.

This @witmerlab.bsky.social piece about l'affair Nanotyrannus is extremely sharp and even-handed about some of the dynamics that made this particular argument so contentious and -- occasionally -- bitter

rdcu.be/eNv94

The figure used in my News & Views commentary. I generated the CT-based rendering of the holotype skull of Nanotyrannus lancensis (CMNH 7541), based on a recent scan. The lower image was done by the Nature art department.

Here's the free link to the print version that I'm permitted to share: https://rdcu.be/eNv94. You can't download it but you can screen-capture its two pages if you really need a copy.

Our casts of (bottom) the holotype of Nanotyrannus lancensis (CMNH 7541), (middle) the newly named holotype of N. lethaeus (BMRP 2002.4.1), and (top) T. rex (AMNH 5027). We published on CMNH 7541 in 2010 (http://bit.ly/3X5nCGm).

Today's bombshell in @nature.com by Lindsay Zanno & James Napoli @jgn-paleo.bsky.social (bit.ly/4qBE6ng) shows that putative juvvy T. rex fossils actually are Nanotyrannus. I reviewed the manuscript, so Nature invited me to write the News & Views commentary. Free link: rdcu.be/eNv94 🦖

Wow, do I ever agree! I get into some of this towards the end of my News & Views piece (rdcu.be/eNv94) but didn't have the space—and to your point, I'm not independent and not a sociologist. It would be a fascinating sociological study...elitism, ivory towers, etc.

No argument from me! I often run away from theropods and toward sauropods (we're about to submit a big sauropod manuscript)...but then I have to return to theropods because birds are theropods.

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Witmer with a 3D print of the brain endocast of Tyrannosaurus rex on exhibit at the Fukui Prefecture Dinosaur Museum in Fukui, Japan, based on CT scanning of AMNH 5117.

3D print of the brain endocast of Tyrannosaurus rex on exhibit at the Fukui Prefecture Dinosaur Museum in Fukui, Japan, based on CT scanning of AMNH 5117.

We published on the braincase and endocast of tyrannosaurs way back in 2009: https://bit.ly/47fChUf

More on National Fossil Day here: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fossilday/index.htm

It's #NationalFossilDay here in the USA, so here's a photo of our T. rex brain endocast based on a US national fossil—AMNH 5117. The surprise was to see it on exhibit in Japan at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. Feel free to print one of your own: skfb.ly/Mqsq ! 🦖

If you haven't read—or re-read in a while—Bakker's 1986 classic The Dinosaur Heresies, it's well worth doing. I read it in 1986 & again on my recent trip to Japan. Got a pb copy for $10 for the long trip (1st photo) rather than take my signed 1st ed (got John Gurche to sign his cover art, too!). 🦖

Excited to see this new #OA article out on turtle head vasculature, led by @seishirotada.bsky.social. It was part of Sei's PhD diss. So much fun injection, dissection, sawing, & µCT of turtles & lizards in the lab with Sei and DJ Morgan—leading to this really nice article! doi.org/10.1186/s133... 🐢

We have a new paper out! Turtle ancestors evolved a shell—but what else? We found that an unique rostral vasculature was also obtained gradually along the lineage, and that one of the earliest turtles Proganochelys likely retained a mostly ancestral state!🐢 sjpp.springeropen.com/articles/10....

Happy Birthday, T. rex! 🎉🎂 120 years ago today (1905), fossils collected in Montana were given the name Tyrannosaurus rex. Here’s the "sitting" mount of the T. rex known as Bucky (TCM 2001.90.1) at the National Museum of Nature & Science, which I visited last week in Tokyo. 🦖

#FossilFriday Good times last week at the National Museum of Nature & Science in Tokyo with Seishiro Tada and Takanobu Tsuihiji and the "sitting" mount of the T. rex known as Bucky (TCM 2001.90.1). 🦖

After spending so much time with smallest/youngest specimen of Tarbosaurus, I'm thrilled finally to be face to face with among the largest known Tarbosaurus specimens (MPC-D 107/2) at the stunning Fukui Prefecture Dinosaur Museum in Japan.

Excited to be in Fukui, Japan, for the 6th International Symposium on Asian Dinosaurs #ISAD2025 which starts today. Fukui is a dinosaur town (my kind of town!), with life-size robotic dinosaurs around town! 🦖

Having a great time in the dinosaur collections of the National Museum of Nature & Science in Tsukuba, Japan, just outside Tokyo. Many wonderful fossils like this beautiful skull of Thescelosaurus NSM PV 24661.

Excited to be in Japan for the 6th International Symposium on Asian Dinosaurs #ISAD2025 in Fukui later this week. In Tokyo now for research. Was delighted last night for a surprise reunion with these folks who trained in WitmerLab: Seishiro Tada, Meg Wakui, Hirochika Ueda, & Takanobu Tsuihiji!

I know and feel your pain! So frustrating!

Shaken to hear Mark Norell passed—good friend, trusted colleague, giant in our field. Coincidentally, I got the news as I was working on my talk for the Intl. Symp. on Asian Dinosaurs in Fukui later this month. Here's my slide on Mark’s impact on Asian dinosaur science. It hurt to add 1957–2025. 😥

Another black-and-white photo of me (Witmer) with my personal T. rex skull (doesn't everyone have a personal T. rex skull?). The photo was used in a news article announcing my arrival at Ohio University. Since my research lab wasn't ready for me yet, the photoshoot was at my house. I wasn't too thrilled that the photo caption noted that the skull was "stored in his garage," which, yes, is kinda funny, but I didn't want bone thieves breaking into my house!

Here's the shot from that 1995 photoshoot they used in the article. My research lab wasn't ready yet, so the photog came to my house & I pulled my T. rex skull out of the garage & set it up on the lawn! 30 years later, I'm still teaching anatomy & doing paleo research! 💀🦖 2/2