A loose study of Soldat und Tod by Hans Larwin, featuring a younger, alive version of Tobias, my undead gunslinger. During his time in the military, he went on his fair share of missions, none of them with goals he believed in.
Happy #FossilFriday, check out this skull from a juvenile Gryposaurus! These hadrosaurs called North America their home roughly 75 million years ago, and this particular individual would have enjoyed the lush jungle that makes up the Kaiparowits Formation. (1/2) #paleontology#dinosaur#science
For #FossilFriday, we're taking a look at not true fossils, but preserved mud cracks. Below this incredible natural cast of a Eubrontes track, the wide mudcracks were formed during a period of drought and later preserved by water carrying sediment. (1/3) #paleontology#ichnology
Happy #FossilFriday, these are the broken lower leg bones (fibulae) of the tyrannosaurs Teratophoneus and Lythronax! Partial healing has occurred in both specimens, indicating the animals lived with the breaks for a short time before dying. (1/2) #paleontology#pathology#paleopathology#dinosaur#science
@punkpaleo Any idea what killed them? Like obviously having a broken leg is bad, but is there any sign that infection is what did them in? Or does starvation seem more likely?
Happy #FossilFriday, here's a natural cast of a hadrosaur track from the Blackhawk Formation in Utah! Groups of hadrosaurs walked across a squishy swamp during the Early Cretaceous, leaving behind prints that would have later been filled in by sand. (1/2) #paleontology#ichnology#dinosaur#science
These and many other tracks were recovered from coal mines in Carbon County, Utah. This is a map of fossils found in the Kenilworth Mine; note how the hadrosaur tracks cluster around the tree roots. This map and the track are housed at the Prehistoric Museum in Price, Utah. (2/2)
@punkpaleo I assume the hadrosaurs were eating vegetation from the trees, and that's why their tracks clustered around the tree roots? Or are there other likely explanations for this behavior?
Like, might they have used the trees as scratching posts, like bison do (American bison prefer eating grass over trees, apparently)?
@skyfaller I think this scale works great for everyone, though it's definitely more geology/paleontology specific with the grain size scale, and there's a geologic time scale on the back. Honestly, I just use this because it was given to me by a very lovely volunteer/retired geologist I used to work with!
@punkpaleo A brief search on Amazon turned up photo scales for forensics / crime scenes as the top hits. If I have to choose between cosplaying a cop or a paleontologist, the choice is obvious!
Happy #FossilFriday! This is the partial pelvis of Supersaurus, just one of many sauropods living in the Morrison Formation during the Late Jurassic. It was certainly among the largest, with estimates putting its body length at easily over 100 feet. (1/2) #paleontology#dinosaur#science