Xavier Jenkins
@semifossorial.bsky.social
Paleontologist | NSF EAR Postdoctoral Fellow @AMNH | PhD @ ISU | Reptile origins, sensory evolution, and all things Permian 🦎🐢🐊
Pinned
Introducing a new Permian reptile: Scyllacerta creanae
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
New pantylid just dropped 👀 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Carboniferous recumbirostran elucidates the origins of terrestrial herbivory - Nature Ecology & Evolution
A new species of pantylid microsaur from the Late Carboniferous of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, has teeth with dental occlusion consistent with herbivory, indicating an early transition to this co...
www.nature.com
February 10, 2026 at 6:41 PM
New pantylid just dropped 👀 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Xavier Jenkins
Rauisuchus, the one who started it all, a friend-sized fella
(do not trust any other repurposed past skeletal reconstruction of this animal)
(do not trust any other repurposed past skeletal reconstruction of this animal)
January 30, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Rauisuchus, the one who started it all, a friend-sized fella
(do not trust any other repurposed past skeletal reconstruction of this animal)
(do not trust any other repurposed past skeletal reconstruction of this animal)
Reposted by Xavier Jenkins
Introducing a new Permian reptile: Scyllacerta creanae
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
January 23, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Introducing a new Permian reptile: Scyllacerta creanae
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
Reposted by Xavier Jenkins
Very excited to share Scyllacerta creanae, a new Permian stem-reptile from South Africa known from an aggregation of several individuals. This specimen provides unprecedented detail regarding the anatomy of the early reptile skull. 🦎
(1/🧵)
(1/🧵)
January 23, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Very excited to share Scyllacerta creanae, a new Permian stem-reptile from South Africa known from an aggregation of several individuals. This specimen provides unprecedented detail regarding the anatomy of the early reptile skull. 🦎
(1/🧵)
(1/🧵)
Reposted by Xavier Jenkins
First paper of 2026 is out for #FossilFriday, and the first of probably several ornithischian papers over the next interval. Here my coauthors and I describe some tantalizing bits that suggest that ornithischian diversity in the Morrison Formation is higher than previously recognized.
January 23, 2026 at 8:34 PM
First paper of 2026 is out for #FossilFriday, and the first of probably several ornithischian papers over the next interval. Here my coauthors and I describe some tantalizing bits that suggest that ornithischian diversity in the Morrison Formation is higher than previously recognized.
Reposted by Xavier Jenkins
This #FossilFriday we are pleased to have published the new younginid taxon Scyllacerta from the late Permian of South Africa 🇿🇦
This beautiful aggregation has the holotype and has been in the literature for 30 years as “juvenile Youngina”.
Photo taken before scanning at the @esrf.fr
This beautiful aggregation has the holotype and has been in the literature for 30 years as “juvenile Youngina”.
Photo taken before scanning at the @esrf.fr
January 23, 2026 at 7:25 PM
This #FossilFriday we are pleased to have published the new younginid taxon Scyllacerta from the late Permian of South Africa 🇿🇦
This beautiful aggregation has the holotype and has been in the literature for 30 years as “juvenile Youngina”.
Photo taken before scanning at the @esrf.fr
This beautiful aggregation has the holotype and has been in the literature for 30 years as “juvenile Youngina”.
Photo taken before scanning at the @esrf.fr
Introducing a new Permian reptile: Scyllacerta creanae
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
January 23, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Introducing a new Permian reptile: Scyllacerta creanae
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
Reposted by Xavier Jenkins
The origin of the tympanic fossa in reptiles revealed by a late Permian neodiapsid: new species Scyllacerta creanae onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #FossilFriday @semifossorial.bsky.social @morphobank.bsky.social
January 23, 2026 at 1:08 PM
The origin of the tympanic fossa in reptiles revealed by a late Permian neodiapsid: new species Scyllacerta creanae onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #FossilFriday @semifossorial.bsky.social @morphobank.bsky.social
Come work with the vertebrate paleontology team at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC this summer!
REU Students will have the opportunity to study and reconstruct the skulls of Permian and Triassic reptiles 😃
Reach out to me if you have any questions (: Apply by the 31st!!
REU Students will have the opportunity to study and reconstruct the skulls of Permian and Triassic reptiles 😃
Reach out to me if you have any questions (: Apply by the 31st!!
January 6, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Come work with the vertebrate paleontology team at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC this summer!
REU Students will have the opportunity to study and reconstruct the skulls of Permian and Triassic reptiles 😃
Reach out to me if you have any questions (: Apply by the 31st!!
REU Students will have the opportunity to study and reconstruct the skulls of Permian and Triassic reptiles 😃
Reach out to me if you have any questions (: Apply by the 31st!!
Reposted by Xavier Jenkins
peerj.com/articles/204...
My first mammal project, which I started as an REU intern at the AMNH is finally published! Huge thanks to my mentors and coauthors on this project for all their help, and to the reviewers for their comments and suggestions!
My first mammal project, which I started as an REU intern at the AMNH is finally published! Huge thanks to my mentors and coauthors on this project for all their help, and to the reviewers for their comments and suggestions!
The petrosal and bony labyrinth of extinct horses (Perissodactyla, Equidae) and their implications for perissodactyl evolution
Perissodactyla, or odd-toed ungulates, are represented today by 16 species of rhinoceroses, tapirs, and horses. Perissodactyls were much more diverse in the past, having a rich fossil record spanning ...
peerj.com
January 5, 2026 at 3:42 PM
peerj.com/articles/204...
My first mammal project, which I started as an REU intern at the AMNH is finally published! Huge thanks to my mentors and coauthors on this project for all their help, and to the reviewers for their comments and suggestions!
My first mammal project, which I started as an REU intern at the AMNH is finally published! Huge thanks to my mentors and coauthors on this project for all their help, and to the reviewers for their comments and suggestions!
Reposted by Xavier Jenkins
more wiki comms and stuff
December 13, 2025 at 9:38 PM
more wiki comms and stuff
Buffa et al.’s paper on the enigmatic Permian reptile 🦎 Galesphyrus and the origin of Neodiapsida is out in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology! Read the thread 👇 for some important takeaways from our study
@valentinbuffa.bsky.social
#Paleontology #Reptile #Permian
doi.org/10.1080/1477...
@valentinbuffa.bsky.social
#Paleontology #Reptile #Permian
doi.org/10.1080/1477...
November 18, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Buffa et al.’s paper on the enigmatic Permian reptile 🦎 Galesphyrus and the origin of Neodiapsida is out in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology! Read the thread 👇 for some important takeaways from our study
@valentinbuffa.bsky.social
#Paleontology #Reptile #Permian
doi.org/10.1080/1477...
@valentinbuffa.bsky.social
#Paleontology #Reptile #Permian
doi.org/10.1080/1477...
Reposted by Xavier Jenkins
DR. TSOGTBAATAR FUNDRAISER: gofund.me/c8d8d1ab7
Donate to Help Dr. Tsogtbaatar, Icon of Mongolian Paleontology, organized by Lindsay Zanno
Renowned Mongolian paleontologist Dr. Khishigjav Tsogtbaatar is fig… Lindsay Zanno needs your support for Help Dr. Tsogtbaatar, Icon of Mongolian Paleontology
gofund.me
October 8, 2025 at 1:19 AM
DR. TSOGTBAATAR FUNDRAISER: gofund.me/c8d8d1ab7
It’s finally out!
Our work addressing the origins of reptiles is published in PCJ! peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10....
We use novel info gleaned from the scan data of dozens of stem reptiles to substantially revise our understanding of early reptile evolution #paleontology #herpetology
Our work addressing the origins of reptiles is published in PCJ! peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10....
We use novel info gleaned from the scan data of dozens of stem reptiles to substantially revise our understanding of early reptile evolution #paleontology #herpetology
August 28, 2025 at 12:22 PM
It’s finally out!
Our work addressing the origins of reptiles is published in PCJ! peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10....
We use novel info gleaned from the scan data of dozens of stem reptiles to substantially revise our understanding of early reptile evolution #paleontology #herpetology
Our work addressing the origins of reptiles is published in PCJ! peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10....
We use novel info gleaned from the scan data of dozens of stem reptiles to substantially revise our understanding of early reptile evolution #paleontology #herpetology
Huge thanks to Michel Laurin for his recommendation of my work on reptile origins in PCI Paleontology! First of many works to come (:
Also thanks to Valentin Buffa, David Majanović, and others for their reviews (:
paleo.peercommunityin.org/articles/rec...
Also thanks to Valentin Buffa, David Majanović, and others for their reviews (:
paleo.peercommunityin.org/articles/rec...
August 22, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Huge thanks to Michel Laurin for his recommendation of my work on reptile origins in PCI Paleontology! First of many works to come (:
Also thanks to Valentin Buffa, David Majanović, and others for their reviews (:
paleo.peercommunityin.org/articles/rec...
Also thanks to Valentin Buffa, David Majanović, and others for their reviews (:
paleo.peercommunityin.org/articles/rec...
Reposted by Xavier Jenkins
And I named one of them!!! Meet Aulacephalodon kapoliwacela - the Iron Hog - the first and so far only geikiid known from the Luangwa Basin! I worked on this taxon for my Master's thesis, and it's been lovely
August 7, 2025 at 3:05 PM
And I named one of them!!! Meet Aulacephalodon kapoliwacela - the Iron Hog - the first and so far only geikiid known from the Luangwa Basin! I worked on this taxon for my Master's thesis, and it's been lovely
Now introducing Amenoyengi mpunduensis ('many-tooth from Mpundu'), a small moradisaurine captorhinid from the late Permian of Zambia with multiple rows of teeth! #Permian #Paleontology 😄
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
August 7, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Now introducing Amenoyengi mpunduensis ('many-tooth from Mpundu'), a small moradisaurine captorhinid from the late Permian of Zambia with multiple rows of teeth! #Permian #Paleontology 😄
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Xavier Jenkins
Other new species from Permian Zambia described in the JVP memoir include the temnospondyl Rhineceps karibaensis, the gorgonopsid Arctops umulunshi, and the captorhinid Amenoyengi mpunduensis
August 7, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Other new species from Permian Zambia described in the JVP memoir include the temnospondyl Rhineceps karibaensis, the gorgonopsid Arctops umulunshi, and the captorhinid Amenoyengi mpunduensis
Reposted by Xavier Jenkins
In what may be one of Earth’s craziest forms of mimicry, researchers in 2023 reported a species of rove beetle that grows a termite puppet on its back to fool real termites into feeding it.
Learn more during #InsectWeek: scim.ag/40mj1S8
Learn more during #InsectWeek: scim.ag/40mj1S8
Beetle grows ‘termite’ on back to steal food
Puppet helps insect trick real termites into feeding it
scim.ag
June 25, 2025 at 7:38 PM
In what may be one of Earth’s craziest forms of mimicry, researchers in 2023 reported a species of rove beetle that grows a termite puppet on its back to fool real termites into feeding it.
Learn more during #InsectWeek: scim.ag/40mj1S8
Learn more during #InsectWeek: scim.ag/40mj1S8
Happy to announce that this fall I’ll be a Kalbfleisch and Frick Postdoctoral Research fellow at the American Museum of Natural History @amnh.org
I’ll work with Dr. Roger Benson on more early reptile evolution, sensory anatomy, and more. Super excited!
I’ll work with Dr. Roger Benson on more early reptile evolution, sensory anatomy, and more. Super excited!
May 9, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Happy to announce that this fall I’ll be a Kalbfleisch and Frick Postdoctoral Research fellow at the American Museum of Natural History @amnh.org
I’ll work with Dr. Roger Benson on more early reptile evolution, sensory anatomy, and more. Super excited!
I’ll work with Dr. Roger Benson on more early reptile evolution, sensory anatomy, and more. Super excited!
Successfully passed my dissertation defense here at ISU! These past five years have been amazing. Fell in love with research, started my family with @thezoiejenkins.bsky.social , and couldn’t have asked for a better advisor in @gondwannabe.bsky.social #Dissertation #PhD
April 18, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Successfully passed my dissertation defense here at ISU! These past five years have been amazing. Fell in love with research, started my family with @thezoiejenkins.bsky.social , and couldn’t have asked for a better advisor in @gondwannabe.bsky.social #Dissertation #PhD
Gemini is using Pterosaur Heresies as one of it's sources now. Extremely concerning...
March 26, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Gemini is using Pterosaur Heresies as one of it's sources now. Extremely concerning...
Extremely detailed paper on the anatomy Thadeosaurus, with increased phylogenetic support for Tangasauridae 🦎 🌊 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
The neodiapsid Thadeosaurus colcanapi from the upper Permian of Madagascar
The enigmatic neodiapsid Thadeosaurus colcanapi (Lower Sakamena Formation, southwestern Madagascar), sole species of the genus Thadeosaurus, is revised here. The attribution of 12 of the 21 referred ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Extremely detailed paper on the anatomy Thadeosaurus, with increased phylogenetic support for Tangasauridae 🦎 🌊 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Xavier Jenkins
The St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site is looking for help with funding and crews to excavate an ~1/2 acre of bone beds in the Early #Jurassic (~200 million). We need big excavation equipment. Check out fossils and how you can help in the images attached.
February 4, 2025 at 10:23 PM
The St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site is looking for help with funding and crews to excavate an ~1/2 acre of bone beds in the Early #Jurassic (~200 million). We need big excavation equipment. Check out fossils and how you can help in the images attached.