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Marcus Brandel

@lostbones.bsky.social

130 followers 330 following 71 posts

Coder 🖥️💾, Cycler 🚴‍♂, Independent Researcher 🐂🐴🐘🍃🐪🦥, Natural History Writer, Poor Golfer, Professional Nerd. Follow #LostBones to find out more about Pleistocene fossils or the Midwest https://linktr.ee/lostbones

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Marcus Brandel @lostbones.bsky.social · Apr 19

#FossilFriday 🦥 Bison bones, found east of Melrose, MN in Apr 1967 by Ivan Brouwer near I-94, were shared with his friend Bob Freeman Sr. Rumored plans for a full skeleton mount by Bob remain unconfirmed. The skeleton's existence is still under investigation!

#LostBones:
medium.com/@dbrake40/lo...

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Reposted by Marcus Brandel

cenofreak88.bsky.social @cenofreak88.bsky.social · 1d

Second installment of #gomphtober2025 skeleton of gomphotherium from Mt. Diablo, California. Was on display at UC Berkeley, don't know if it still is.

#fossilfriday #prehistoriccalifornia #gomphotherium #cenozoic #miocene #elephant #fossil

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Marcus Brandel @lostbones.bsky.social · 18h

Let the cup of spinosaur goodness runith over!

Marcus Brandel @lostbones.bsky.social · 18h

Sweet Jesus Tom! - that's a banger of a specimen.

Marcus Brandel @lostbones.bsky.social · 18h

🦥 #FossilFriday P68.40.1 - the rarest Minnesota fossil I’ve ever held in my hand: an ungual phalanx of #Megalonyxjeffersoni (Giant #GroundSloth). Discovered in a pile of excavated peat, this individual toe claw remains the singular specimen of this animal found in the state.
#Pleistocene #Fossil

Discovered in the late 1960s by a City of Minneapolis Park Board Department worker in a pile of excavated peat, this individual toe claw remains the singular specimen of this animal found in the state and is now in the Science Museum of Minnesota’s collection.

Plate 2 from: Erickson, Bruce R. (1968). A Claw of Megalonyx (Ground Sloth) from Minnesota. In Volume 1: Paleontology, pp. 1–8.

Plate 1 from: Erickson, Bruce R. (1968). A Claw of Megalonyx (Ground Sloth) from Minnesota. In Volume 1: Paleontology, pp. 1–8.

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Marcus Brandel @lostbones.bsky.social · 18h

Croctober continues!

dr-crocogator.bsky.social @dr-crocogator.bsky.social · 18h

Happy #FossilFriday! It’s #Croctober so check out these #fossils of the ‘Terror Croc’ Deinosuchus! These’re from South Carolina, about 80 million years ago, now at the Science Museum of Minnesota, incl. osteoderms (armor plates), & parts of 2 vertebrae from this croc that reached up to 35 feet long!

Reposted by Marcus Brandel

dr-crocogator.bsky.social @dr-crocogator.bsky.social · 3d

Recently the #paleontology team from the Science Museum of Minnesota + Hill Annex Paleontology Project visited the Southern Minnesota Museum of Natural History in Blue Earth, #Minnesota and made the local news! Check it out!

www.faribaultcountyregister.com/news/local-n...

Blue Earth Museum has some special guests

The Southern Minnesota Museum of Natural History in Blue Earth, often called the Dinosaur Museum, had some very special guests come and visit recently. It was a group of professional and amateur paleo...

www.faribaultcountyregister.com

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Reposted by Marcus Brandel

Anthony Tackles Dead Cows @mosasaurologist.bsky.social · 8d

It's the first ##FossilFriday for Croctober! Here is the prototype reconstruction of Deinosuchus schwimmeri, from the late Cretaceous of Georgia and other places around the south.

I finally got a Pic with me in it for scale so you can see just how huge this dead gator was.🐊🧪

Gigantic skeleton of a gator in the museum atrium with curator for scale

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Reposted by Marcus Brandel

Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 7d

Come and hear me talk SEA MONSTERS - both of the cryptozoological sort and the ancient fossil sort - at Dorset Museum and Art Gallery, Dorchester (UK) - on Fri 21st November. I'll be signing and selling books too :) www.dorsetmuseum.org/whats-on/sea...

Sea Monsters Past and Present | Dr Darren Naish – Dorset Museum & Art Gallery

Join esteemed author and palaeozoologist Dr Darren Naish as he explores our developing ideas about sea monsters past and present, a subject that combines developments in palaeontology with studies of ...

www.dorsetmuseum.org

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Marcus Brandel @lostbones.bsky.social · 8d

It was an adventure as always! #volunteerwork

dr-crocogator.bsky.social @dr-crocogator.bsky.social · 8d

Happy #FossilFriday! This past weekend the paleo team from the Science Museum of Minnesota brought a bunch of fun #fossils to the annual show of the #Minnesota Mineral Club. We had fun talking #dinosaurs 🦕, #crocodiles 🐊, Giant #Beavers 🦫 (the new state fossil!) and sooo much more!

Marcus Brandel @lostbones.bsky.social · 8d

🐪 #LostBones 🐪 says Hmmm… A recent visit to the Jackson County Historical Society Museum revealed a camel calcaneus in the collection. But was this camel actually in Minnesota? More to come.
Jackson County: www.jchsmn.org
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#FossilFriday #Pleistocene #Camel #Palaeontology #CitizenScience

The camel calcaneus included with specimens form a 2015 study on a southern Minnesota section of the Des Moines which examined bison, horse, deer, and other skeletal remains found in the river, exploring their transport and any human interaction.

Over 800 bones, including this calcaneus, were catalogued.

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Reposted by Marcus Brandel

dr-crocogator.bsky.social @dr-crocogator.bsky.social · 15d

Happy #FossilFriday! We had an amazing #CroctoberFest this past Saturday at @badweatherbrew.bsky.social ! We brought a LOT of #crocodile #fossils from the Science Museum of Minnesota, I gave 2 talks + there were live crocodilians. Absolutely 10/10! 🐊🍻🐊

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Marcus Brandel @lostbones.bsky.social · 14d

🐘🦥🐪 #FossilFriday: Meet the big boy, numero uno - Bison Skull 147 found in a peat deposit packed with bones in Anoka county Minnesota. Now housed at the #SouthernMinnesotaMuseumOfNaturalHistory

🔗 www.smmnh.com

#Pleistocene #AnokaSandPlain #BisonOccidentalis #Palaeontology #CitizenScience

In the early 1990s, construction activities unearthed a paleo-channel running through an ancient peat bog. This channel was packed with bison and other mammal remains. Local citizen Pat Cherney, along with his wife and several friends, salvaged everything they could before the bulldozers rolled in. Included in their efforts were over 100 skulls or partial skulls.

Skull #147 is one of the largest specimens – an impressive 94 cm (37 in.) across the horn cores. These remains likely belong to the extinct species Bison occidentalis. Radiocarbon dating of othe

In June 2024, the Southern Minnesota Museum of Natural History in Blue Earth, MN, acquired the collection. The museum is now fundraising to assemble a full skeleton from the site for an upcoming exhibit.

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Marcus Brandel @lostbones.bsky.social · 20d

The Goodhue County Historical Society tops my list. Not only do they feature some of my favorite megafauna specimens—like bison, mammoth, and giant beaver—but they also offer an array of historical, archaeological, and regional displays highlighting the cultural and natural heritage of Red Wing.

Exhibit on the Archeological history or Reb Wing an Oneota native pottery.

A display about the Pleistocene giant beaver.

A display highlighting the historic brickyards in Reb Wing.

A mammoth molar and proboscidean tusk on display at the museum.
Want to know more? Here's a related #lostbones SubStack: https://open.substack.com/pub/marcusbrandel/p/lost-bones-4-a-dip-with-the-sea-creatures

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Reposted by Marcus Brandel

dr-crocogator.bsky.social @dr-crocogator.bsky.social · 21d

Happy #FossilFriday! Meet Paludirex, a BIG #crocodile from #Australia, one of many crocs coming from the Science Museum of Minnesota to @badweatherbrew.bsky.social for #CroctoberFest tomorrow (Sat, Sept 20)! We’ll be there 12-5pm with sooo much + I’m giving two talks, come raise a glass with us! 🐊🍺🐊

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Reposted by Marcus Brandel

Silvia Pineda-Munoz, PhD - Climate Ages @climateages.bsky.social · 24d

Ancient DNA from mastodons reveals they weren’t just roaming the Ice Age
these giants migrated with warming and cooling climates.

Expanding north when forests returned, retreating south when ice advanced.

Their story of resilience and collapse has lessons for today.
🧪 #SciComm
buff.ly/Ut9PO3w

DNA From Extinct Mastodons Reveals a Story of Climate and Collapse

Ancient genomes show how Mastodons repeatedly migrated with warming and cooling climates, and why their story matters today. A team of scientists opened an ancient box...

climateages.com

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Reposted by Marcus Brandel

Tim Fedak PhD @timfedak.bsky.social · 28d

For #FossilFriday - ancient DNA shows the #NovaScotia mastodons are older than thought, and have migrated into the Atlantic region multiple times over the past 500,000 years. In Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... ⚒️

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Reposted by Marcus Brandel

Chris Widga @widga.bsky.social · 28d

It lives!!! 🦣🦣🦣🧪

Repeated climate-driven dispersal and speciation in peripheral populations of Pleistocene mastodons | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Repeated climate-driven dispersal and speciation in peripheral populations of Pleistocene mastodons

Coastal mastodon mitochondrial genomes contextualize species distributions and dispersal patterns near southern glacial limits.

www.science.org

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Marcus Brandel @lostbones.bsky.social · 28d

Ribs! The third most common terrestrial mammal skeletal element found during my research in county historical societies - #2 (mandibles), #1 (teeth).

#counting #bones #lostbones #citizenscience

Rib bones Anoka County Historical Society

Rib bones Melrose Area Historical Society

Reposted by Marcus Brandel

dr-crocogator.bsky.social @dr-crocogator.bsky.social · 29d

Happy #FossilFriday! CroctoberFest is just 8 days away at @badweatherbrew.bsky.social Come see this awesome jaw of Gryposuchus, an extinct croc from South America about 15 million years ago, and SO much from the Science Museum of #Minnesota on Saturday, Sept 20 (12-5pm)! 🐊🍻🐊

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Reposted by Marcus Brandel

dr-crocogator.bsky.social @dr-crocogator.bsky.social · Aug 29

Happy #FossilFriday! Yesterday we were at the Minnesota State Fair from the Science Museum of Minnesota with a bunch of fun stuff including an actual Triceratops humerus. Thanks to @twincitiespbs.bsky.social for hosting us for the day!

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Marcus Brandel @lostbones.bsky.social · Aug 29

A mastodon tooth and a bank robber's ear!? The Northfield Historical Society has both! Defeat Jesse James Days starts this week in Northfield Minnesota.

djjd.org
www.northfieldhistory.org/1876-bank-raid

Read more about the ear and the tooth in #LostBones #2. Link is in my profile. #CitezenScience

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Reposted by Marcus Brandel

dr-crocogator.bsky.social @dr-crocogator.bsky.social · Aug 22

Bonus #FossilFriday! We went out today looking for #fossils from the Time of the Dinosaurs. We found some #shark vertebrae & a #crocodile tooth! Part of the science we do at the Science Museum of #Minnesota!
🦈🐊

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Marcus Brandel @lostbones.bsky.social · Aug 22

#MnMuseums #FosssilFiday

Riverside Park Environmental Learning Center - New Ulm, Minnesota.
www.mnrivervalley.com/destination/...

Reposted by Marcus Brandel

dr-crocogator.bsky.social @dr-crocogator.bsky.social · Aug 22

Happy #FossilFriday! This week the paleo team from the Science Museum of #Minnesota was at Dino Days at Union Depot (down the road in St Paul) Such a great turnout, we were slammed the whole time. Happy to talk #dinosaurs with the next generation! 🦖🦕

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Reposted by Marcus Brandel

Dr. Win @paleowin.bsky.social · Aug 16

Welp. Partial rhino skull and associated jaws. Unfortunately the back half rotted away. But still yay!

Bottom of two jaws and a row of teeth visible

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