John Orcutt

Happy #FossilFriday from the Bonavista Peninsula of Newfoundland, home of several important Ediacaran localities within the fantastic Discovery Global Geopark!

Longtime wildlife-viewing aspiration achieved (at Port au Choix National Historic Site, Newfoundland)!

An entire wall of the Royal Ontario Museum occupied by a huge cast of the fossil bed at Mistaken Point, Newfoundland, with dozens of small, frond-like Fractofusus a huge orange and grey slab

A fossil of the fern-like Fractofusus on a dark grey slab next to a 3D model of what it might have looked like in life

The tiny early mammal Morganucodon, in both fossil and model form, with the skeleton of the early dinosaur Herrerasaurus looming in the background

An enormous, long-necked Barosaurus skeleton in the jagged, angular, and sunlit galleries of the Royal Ontario Museum

What does a paleontologist do when they’re on vacation? Go look at fossils! Is it healthy? Probably not, but when a museum does as fantastic a job with their exhibits as the @romtoronto.bsky.social, how could I resist spending part of a long Toronto layover there?

Skeletons of Pleistocene megafauna: the giant sloth Megalonyx, the Columbian mammoth, and the saber-toothed cat Smilodon, all mounted on a platform in front of windows with Seattle greenery in the background

Cast of the fossil of the tiny, salamander-like temnospondyl amphibian Micropholis next to a yellow and black model of the animal in life

Always a pleasure to find myself back "home" at the @burkemuseum.bsky.social, especially on #FossilFriday!

First ever skull from ‘Denisovan’ reveals what ancient people looked like Ancient proteins and calcified dental plaque identify heavy-browed fossil from China as a Denisovan.

Denisovan was a man. I mean, he was a Dragon Man.

Pink and white clover blooms in the lawn above the Ballard Locks

Two wild roses, each a different shade of pink, against a background of green leaves

A wild rose with a glimpse of Fidalgo Island shoreline in the background

A few glimpses of a Salish Sea spring before jetting off to an African savanna winter (taken at Seattle's Ballard Locks and the Anacortes ferry terminal)

As of this #FossilFriday, I'm officially hosting a symposium on Afrotheria at next year's IPC in Cape Town! There's still a lot to work out, but if you work on elephants, sea cows, aardvarks or any of their relatives (and can make it to South Africa) please consider being a part of this session!

Fossil display cases in front of colorful murals of life in central Oregon during the Eocene Epoch.

Fossil display cases in front of myself depicting the drier, grassier world of the Miocene Epoch

The fanged jaws of the cat-like sabertooth Pogonodon

Skulls of oreodonts, vaguely sheep-like animals that are superabundant in the John Day fossil record

One of the perks of doing research at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is getting to stroll through the exhibits afterwards. Besides telling a great story about climate change and evolution, they are a textbook example of how great paleoart can elevate a paleontology display.

The pyramidal peak of Sheep Rock, Oregon, with sagebrush in the foreground

The lab is working on describing some carnivores from Oregon's John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, so I had an excuse to run down to one of our planet's more dramatic fossiliferous landscapes (and my old stomping grounds) over our Spring Break.

Following up on my earlier announcement of a lab Bluesky page, I wanted to share our first post, which naturally had to feature long-time friend of the lab Teleoceras.

In the interest of fully divesting from the Tech Bro social media sites, I just started a BlueSky page for my lab! Give us a follow for research updates and news!

A weekend trip across the state to visit family culminated in finding myself in the midst of one of the Northwest's greatest natural spectacles.

Ex Africa semper aliquid novi!

Egypt's Fayum is an incredible window into a crucial interval in mammalian evolution. Thanks to a team led by researchers at Mansoura University, the Fayum bestiary is now one species larger.

Absolutely love the Ancient Egyptian-inspired name Bastetodon!

Just out: My first ever field-based paper in 25+ years in paleo

Carbonaceous macrofossils from the Ediacaran–Cambrian lower shale member of the Soltanieh formation, NW Iran.

Led by Najmeh Etemad-Saeed, w/ Shuhai Xiao, me, Kristin Bergmann, Andy Knoll

free URL: authors.elsevier.com/c/1ka1c14fdH...

A black and white photograph of a fossil scorpion, the front towards the right. Y ou can see mouthparts (chelicerae and pedipalps with pincers), four walking legs, and then a body and tail.

A colour photograph of a fossil scorpion, this time with the top pointing upwards. It also has nice pedipalps and a good body, but the limbs are a bit more scrappy than the other picture. It does have an impressive sting though.

A black and white reconstruction of this super cool fossil species by Jason Dunlop. It's beautifull stippled, and shows the scorpion in dorsal view, with the front upward. It looks a fair bit like a modern scorpion. The man is an amazing artist.

For #FossilFriday may I present to you an amazing scorpion, Pulmonoscorpius kirktonensis. It may look like the moult of a modern species, but these are actually ~330 million year old fossils, dissolved out of a rock from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 using acid.

⚒️🧪🦀🦑 #evosky

National Fossil Day poster with green border and scene of prehistoric animals and forest. Text includes, National Fossil Day, Discovery, Science, Prehistoric Life, and October 15, 2025.

The Turtle Cove assemblage from John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is the theme for this year's #NationalFossilDay poster art! Check out the writeup on the NPS website!

www.nps.gov/articles/000...

Reconstructed skeleton of the huge, two-horned mammal Arsinoitherium.

I'm prepping a lecture on the afrotherian paleontology this #FossilFriday, so how could I not share the spectacular reconstruction of Arsinoitherium from the Fayum of Egypt on display at the Natural History Museum, London?

The tiled floors, Corinthian columns, and vaulted ceiling of Arundel Books

Two related things that make me proud of my home town of Seattle:

1) We're a @unesconow.bsky.social City of Literature

2) We have a strong contender for World's Most Beautiful Bookstore in Arundel Books

sticker design of an orange garibaldi fish swimming in front of kelp.

I designed a sticker to raise money for California wildfire relief - I have been wanting to draw something involving garibaldi fish, and seeing as they’re the state marine fish of California I figured now was a fitting time. Preorder period ends in a week - find all details below #marinelife

Paul Horiuchi's colorful, collage style Mural Amphitheater, with the bright white Space Needle against a cloudless blue sky in the background

Sunlight and shadow on the Gothic-inspired white arches of Minoru Yamasaki's Pacific Science Center

Collonade of the Northwest Rooms with a view of the Space Needle

Last full day on the West Side before heading back to Spokane. Spending it with some surprising sunshine and the Space Age architecture of the Seattle Center (site of the '62 World's Fair).

As always, the Olympics made photography easy today.

Maybe the most beautiful place in the world is on the lands of the Makah Nation, where the open Pacific meets the northwestern tip of the US at Cape Flattery.

Not a video, but as a bonus, please enjoy this photo of Lake Crescent and its surrounding peaks.

Next, the now dam-free and (in the right season) salmon-full Elwha River, also in Olympic National Park.

For so many reasons, things are stressful right now. I've always found the waters of the Olympic Peninsula to be endlessly soothing and refreshing, and I hope these videos bring some of that calm to your feed. First, off, Madison Falls in Olympic National Park.

Nighttime in the illuminated US Pavilion, Riverfront Park, Spokane

The buildings and bridges of Riverfront Park reflected in the dark waters of the Spokane River

Spokane icons along the edge of RIverfront Park, Spokane

The Gonzaga footbridge at night, its lights reflected in puddles

While I'm revisiting the highlights of 2024, I'd be remiss to not mention a very recent development that's my biggest personal news of the year: I got tenure!!! I'm thrilled to be able to spend the rest of my career at Gonzaga and in Spokane!

Colorful buildings rising above the streets and harbor of Valparaiso, Chile

The fanciest utilities building you'll ever see, the ornate Palacio de Aguas Corrientes, Buenos Aires

The wooden interior of Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesen in Wisconsin, built in conversation with the hills and valleys visible through the windows

The pulpit of Santísima Trinidad del Paraná, carved with Baroque figures and text in Guaraní

2024 culture highlights: Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpieces across the Midwest, the glories of porteño architecture in Buenos Aires, the monumental Jesuit missions of the Guaraní in Argentina and Paraguay, and the brightly-colored seaport of Valpairaiso, Chile.

Carnivorous pitcher plants in the bogs behind the line of dunes at Indiana Dunes National Park

The sun begins to set on a herd of guanacos on the steppes of Patagonia at Península Valdés

A rainbow in front of the wall of water that is Iguazú Falls

Cormorants and a great blue heron on a dock in front of the dense forests and snow-capped peaks of Vancouver Island

2024 nature highlights: there are too many to list, but it's hard to beat seeing flocks of seabirds on the Salish Sea, the diverse ecosystems of Indiana Dunes, the grandeur of Iguazu Falls, and the wildlife of Iberá and Patagonia.

Fossil clam shells in the shadow of the glowing white cliffs of Península Valdés, Argentina

A glyptodont shell and giant sloth skeleton in the Museo de Colonia, Uruguay

The huge ground sloth Megatherium in the ornate galleries of the Museo de la Plata, Argentina

Dippy the Diplodocus, one of the world's most famous and important dinosaur skeletons, in Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum

2024 paleontology highlights: museums from Pittsbugh to St. Paul and South American megafauna on display and in situ in Argentina and Uruguay!

Sunlight streaming through the skylights of the Stanley Field Hall at Chicago's Field Museum, illuminating dinosaurs, pterosaurs, elephants, and totem poles.

Me and two of my students at the end of a successful NAPC in Michigan.

Spotting wildlife on the NWSA field trip to Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge.

My student presenting his poster on carnivorous mammal fossils at the GSA section meeting in Spokane

2024 research highlights: taking the lab students to the GSA section meeting in Spokane and NAPC in Michigan, hosting the NW Scientific Association at Gonzaga, and collections visits to the great museums of the Midwest!