Dr Suresh Singh
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palaeosingh.bsky.social
Dr Suresh Singh
@palaeosingh.bsky.social
• Vertebrate Palaeontologist @ The Open University, UK • Studying the links between morphology, ecology & evolution across deep time, with a focus on terrestrial tetrapods & ecosystems • 🌿- 🦕- 🦖
Pinned
For #FossilFriday, I thought I’d share my paper published earlier this year on the #macroevolution of carnivorous non-mammalian synapsids: www.nature.com/articles/s42...

May be of interest if you’re curious about the feeding morphology & ecology of Permian predators like Inostrancevia & Dimetrodon
🚨 UK Student Palaeo Research Opportunity 🚨

Brymbo Fossil Forest are offering students the chance to get involved in active palaeontology research & excavations ⚒️ at a unique #Carboniferous fossil site in Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 - See below for more details ⬇️

#Paleontology #Geology #Fieldwork #FossilFriday #ECR
February 13, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by Dr Suresh Singh
Revealing the hidden patterns of shark and ray diversity over the past 145 million years: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Revealing the hidden patterns of shark and ray diversity over the past 145 million years
Gardiner et al. reconstruct the diversity of sharks and rays across the past 145 million years using deep learning and an extensive dataset. Their results unveil previously hidden patterns, including ...
www.cell.com
January 24, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Dicynodonts survived multiple environmental upheavals & mass extinction events but finally met their end in the End-Triassic Mass Extinction (~201 Ma). Why they finally went extinct remains somewhat unclear - perhaps due to their increasing niche specialisation through the Late Triassic?

🧵 End.
January 16, 2026 at 11:40 AM
#Ischigualastia was among the largest of known dicynodonts & one of the last, evolving in the Late Triassic as the group declined. Nonetheless, despite becoming rarer, these latest dicynodonts grew larger, with the youngest species, #Lisowicia being the largest (rhino-sized).

6/
January 16, 2026 at 11:34 AM
#Dicynodonts were notably able to survive the worst mass #extinction event in history: the End-Permian event (~252 Ma). Despite this evolutionary bottleneck, they were able to diversify & regenerate a comparable level of diversity in the Triassic to their pre-extinction levels in the #Permian.

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January 16, 2026 at 11:28 AM
These herbivores possessed a unique beaked jaw & jaw adductor muscle arrangement that produced powerful & efficient cropping bites. They also had a rolling jaw joint that enabled them to effectively break down plant matter when eating. It’s thought these features contributed to their success.

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January 16, 2026 at 11:24 AM
#Dicynodonts were an ancient & successful group of #synapsids that lived from the middle of the #Permian to the end of the #Triassic. They were among the largest terrestrial animals of their time, only really surpassed when large dinosaurs began to evolve in the Late Triassic.

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January 16, 2026 at 11:17 AM
This specimen was found on a 1964 expedition that took BYU's James A. Jensen & a Harvard team of paleontologists to the #Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina. This formation has yielded an amazing array of animal & plant fossils from the #Carnian stage of the Late #Triassic (237-227 Ma).

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January 16, 2026 at 11:11 AM
Presenting a skull of the #dicynodont, Ischigualastia, at the BYU Museum of Paleontology in Provo, Utah 🇺🇸 for this #FossilFriday. This ancient, beaked herbivore was the size of a cow & lived in Argentina 🇦🇷 during the Late #Triassic (~230 Ma).

#Paleontology #Science

🧵 1/
January 16, 2026 at 11:04 AM
Reposted by Dr Suresh Singh
I need a mood booster, let's talk about capybaras.

Here's a capy demonstrating one of MANY ways they can move through the water: running along the bottom.

They're 'semi-aquatic' mammals, just like hippos, seals & beavers. They LOVE water.

(📷: Fernando Maidana)
January 6, 2026 at 1:49 PM
Reposted by Dr Suresh Singh
Selected species of Dimetrodon.

Here are various sketches showing some species of Dimetrodon, which was a quite diverse genus during the Early Permian. The genus includes about a dozen of species

#paleoart #sciart #synapsids
January 7, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by Dr Suresh Singh
Just in time for #FossilFriday
A highly diverse Pennsylvanian #tetrapod ichnoassemblage from the Semily Formation (Krkonoše Piedmont Basin, Czechia)

peerj.com/articles/204...

@peerj.bsky.social #ichnology #paleontology #paleobiology
January 9, 2026 at 11:59 AM
Reposted by Dr Suresh Singh
Earliest Cenozoic ammonoids:

Machalski, M., Olszewska-Nejbert, D., Landman, N.H. et al. Ammonite survival across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary confirmed by new data from Denmark. Sci Rep 15, 45802 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Ammonite survival across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary confirmed by new data from Denmark - Scientific Reports
We provide a reassessment of the hypothesis of ammonite survival across the Cretaceous–Paleogene (Maastrichtian–Danian) boundary, based on new data from the lower Danian Cerithium Limestone Member at ...
doi.org
January 1, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Dr Suresh Singh
A chunk of Weald Clay from SE England, covered with fragments of ferns, conifers and other seed plants from 130 million years ago.

Mesofossils may not look as appealing as large hand specimens, but can provide a better snapshot of vegetation.

#FossilFriday ⚒🌏🌱🔬🌿🌲
December 19, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Dr Suresh Singh
For #fossilfriday, The New York Times has written a good article about the Paleontological Research Institution, what the museum means to the field of Paleontology, and its current financial situation (much improved even from a few weeks ago).

🧪🦑⚒️🦣 #paleontology

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/s...
An Engine of Fossil Discovery Fights Its Own Extinction
www.nytimes.com
December 19, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Dr Suresh Singh
Apparently Bill Simpson, longtime Collections Manager of fossil vertebrates at the ⁦‪@FieldMuseum‬⁩ in Chicago, is retiring—after 46 yrs! Bill has always been so helpful, including pulling out the skull of ⁦‪@SUEtheTrex‬⁩ for study multiple times! Happy Retirement, Bill! 🎥: Emily Rieff #FossilFriday
December 19, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Nice new study by Martinez & Jenkins on procolophonid #parareptile tooth morphology & dietary #evolution ⬇️ Great to see their quantitative comparison to living reptiles 🦎 to infer procolophonid feeding habits 🍽️

#Paleontology #Science #Permian #Triassic

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Procolophonids display unique tooth morphologies in relation to reptilian herbivory | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core
Procolophonids display unique tooth morphologies in relation to reptilian herbivory
www.cambridge.org
December 19, 2025 at 2:08 PM
#Stegosaurus is perhaps most known for the bony plates along its back. Their function is still unknown, but it has been proposed that they may been displays to help deter predators or attract mates. Or perhaps thermoregulation structures. Still much to learn about these #dinosaurs!

🧵 End.
December 19, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Sophie is a #Stegosaurus stenops, a species found across the Morrison Formation in western USA 🇺🇸, with fossil found across Wyoming, Colorado & Utah. It lived during the Late #Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago, and was a herbivore (plant-eater) 🌿.

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December 19, 2025 at 11:45 AM
It’s not actually known whether Sophie was a female as it’s very difficult to sex extinct animals, especially dinosaurs, when all we have are their bones. This specimen was named after the daughter of the donor who helped the NHMUK to acquire the fossils.

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December 19, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Sophie was not yet an adult when she died, so despite being 5.5 metres long & 2.9 metres tall, she still had some growing left to do! It’s thought that not many #dinosaurs reached their max size as just surviving to adulthood was difficult (especially with all the larger predators about… ).

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December 19, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Sophie was discovered in 2003 at Red Canyon Ranch in Wyoming, USA 🇺🇸. Her fossilised skeleton encompasses ~360 bones & is around 85% complete, making her perhaps the most complete #stegosaurus skeleton in the world. She was put on permanent display at the NHMUK 🇬🇧 at the end of 2014.

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December 19, 2025 at 11:22 AM
A somewhat festive snapshot for this last #FossilFriday before Christmas! 🎄 - Presenting Sophie the #Stegosaurus, one of the most complete stegosaur skeletons ever found, proudly on display front & centre in the Earth Hall at the @nhm-london.bsky.social.

#Paleontology #Science

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December 19, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Reposted by Dr Suresh Singh
New #paleoart on #FossilFriday: #Tiktaalik sees the world. Discussions of early #tetrapods often focus on limbs and lungs, but major changes also took place in their eyes. Seeing further and clearer than any animal before, they were the first to clearly see sunsets, stars, and the moon. #sciart
December 12, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Dr Suresh Singh
The Vertebrate Paleontology students did a great job 3D printing and painting skulls—look at that homology!
December 12, 2025 at 3:08 PM