Sophie M.
@sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
1.9K followers 2.3K following 1.9K posts
Writer for Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs - Creator of the speculative evolution project "A New Age of Reptiles" - Natural History and Palaeontology Pop Culture - 27 - (she/her) -
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Reposted by Sophie M.
amnh.org
It’s Fossil Friday! This archival image, snapped in 1966, depicts Museum visitors gazing up at the mounted remains of Gorgosaurus. This slender tyrannosaur was smaller than its gigantic cousin T. rex, reaching lengths of up to 30 ft (9 m) and weights of 2,200 lbs (1,000 kg).
A photo of two Museum visitors gazing up at a mounted Gorgosaurus. The animal’s bones are posed on its hind legs, standing straight up with its tail dragging behind it. The Museum visitors’ backs are turned, facing the dinosaur.
Reposted by Sophie M.
chasmosaurs.bsky.social
C. M. Kosemen, artist extraordinaire and friend of the blog, just uploaded this lovely review of some very strange French trading cards featuring all sorts of prehistoric critters. If you like Vintage Dinosaur Art give it a watch, you won't regret it!
So Bizarre! 🇫🇷🐍 Reviewing Obscure French Palaeo Trading Cards
YouTube video by cmkosemen
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Sophie M.
tetzoo.bsky.social
Today I attended The Colour of Dinosaurs at MAST Mayflower Studios in Southampton, a made-for-kids blend of science advocacy and theatre, with tons of music. It revolves around the work of Jakob Vinther, who plays himself, but also emphasises the diversity of its human cast and... cont
Mayflower Studios in Southampton. The Colour of Dinosaurs on stage. The Colour of Dinosaurs on stage.
Reposted by Sophie M.
pdmannion.bsky.social
New paper @journalsystpal.bsky.social with Drew Moore @stonybrooku.bsky.social re-evaluating diplodocoid sauropod dinosaur phylogeny + biogeography, including illustrating synapomorphies, with implications for the early evolution of the major lineages: doi.org/10.1080/1477... @es-ucl.bsky.social
Reposted by Sophie M.
milogaillard2.bsky.social
#FossilFriday I decided to try bring awareness to a dinosaur from where I live: California. Enter Augustynolophus morrisi. Discovered in the Moreno Formation, this hadrosaur lived sometime around 70-66 million years ago, and is the state dinosaur of California. 1/2
Reposted by Sophie M.
palaeojules.bsky.social
A very happy #FossilFriday to everyone except this poor Darwinopterus, which has unfortunately succumbed to whatever ailed it. This is actually a redrawing of a Dead Darwinopterus which I drew years ago, only with updated anatomy. #paleoart #paleontology #pterosaurs #jurassic #sciart
A freshly dead darwinopterus corpse with a cream and brown body, and a blue headrest and tail. It's wings are folded partially and it's hard and tail are pulled up back. This position is based on the idea of it falling through the waters of a lake, or settled at the bottom with some of it's buoyancy keeping parts of it afloat.
Reposted by Sophie M.
Reposted by Sophie M.
cascoclauda.bsky.social
hello gorgeous 😍 a warm welcome to xiphodracon goldencapensis, a new ichthyosaur described from the uk's famous jurassic coast by @deanrlomax.bsky.social, massare and maxwell! the holotype is absolutely stunning, congrats to the team 🥳
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
a photograph of the xiphodracon holotype, a nearly complete skeleton preserved three-dimensionally
Reposted by Sophie M.
doublebeam.bsky.social
For #FossilFriday, it's a *NEW PACHYCEPHALOSAURID*(!), and a project that is very near and dear to my heart. Let's welcome #Brontotholus_harmoni!
Reposted by Sophie M.
mosasaurologist.bsky.social
Injuries are actually fairly common to find in fossil specimens, even in the seaway that used to cover Kansas!

This #FossilFriday pic is the end of the tail of a Clidastes mosasaur. The gnarly mass in the middle is around 6 vertebrae that fused together due to trauma, likely an infected bite.🧪
Brown mosasaur vertebrae om yellow Niobrara chalk coalesced into a frothy bone mass due to injury
Reposted by Sophie M.
extinctmonsters.bsky.social
The Peale mastodon at the National Portrait Gallery in 2021.

It’s the 1st mounted fossil skeleton displayed in the US (1805), and 2nd worldwide. Its original viewers didn’t know about evolution. Even extinction was a new concept. More fossils interpreted as history and art, please! #FossilFriday
Mastodon skeleton with long tusks on a gravel bed between two white columns in an art gallery. Seen from the front. Same in profile. Tusks are nearly a third of total length Same from passenger side rear view Same from driver side rear view. Red curtain entrance to exhibit is visible from
This angle
Reposted by Sophie M.
davehone.bsky.social
In advance of the publication of my new book with @markwitton.bsky.social, "Spinosaur Tales" (Nov 6th), for #FossilFriday, here's a nice close up of a tooth of Baryonyx sitting in the jaw of the holotype. More spinosaur goodness coming in the next weeks as I desperately try to promote the book.
Reposted by Sophie M.
susieoftraken.bsky.social
A 300 million year old Sigillaria tree trunk, in front of a mural depicting those steamy Carboniferous coal swamp forests.

On display in Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid.

#FossilFriday ⚒🌏🌱🧪🌿🔬
A Sigillaria tree trunk, in front of a mural depicting the Carboniferous swamp forest. About 1.75 m tall

On display in Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid.
sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
Check out this lovely thread celebrating one of the most artistically impactful dinosaur books ever published!
tjalamont.bsky.social
🧵1/10 @sophiesaurus98.bsky.social posted a great thread the other day about a beloved childhood dinosaur book and her young ideas about it. I thought I'd chime in with my own. I got this book for my 5th birthday in 1965(!) It was written by Jane Werner Watson (author of a zillion Golden Books) and--
The cover of a book called "Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Reptiles," showing a color illustration of a brachiosaurus eating ferns while half submerged in a swamp, with an Allosaurus in the background along with a flying pteranosaur. The book is worn, with tape holding the binding.
Reposted by Sophie M.
valdosaurus.bsky.social
For #FossilFriday some iguanodontian dorsal vertebrae with ossified tendons which would have formed a crisscross pattern. First appeared Late Jurassic associated with increased mass and quadrupedality. From #IsleofWight in the collections of @nhm-london.bsky.social.
sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
I only wish it could premiere in time for Halloween! The vibes are delightfully spooky.
Reposted by Sophie M.
burrowingowl.bsky.social
New burrowing owl behavior for me today-- taking a bath in the rain! So cool! 🪶
sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
I'm infatuated with this weirdo John Sibbick knockoff Dromaeosaurus from a Spanish trading card series. The artist wasn't identified so I can't properly credit them. It's like a reptilian rotisserie chicken, complete with hideous leathery wrinkles and toothy grin. A real monster!
A wrinkly, poultry-shaped Dromaeosaurus with purple skin, shown in portrait and in full body. It stands in a crouched posture, almost quadrupedally. The portrait shows a detailed view of its scaly face, showing off a fanged grin and jowled facial skin.
sophiesaurus98.bsky.social
I visited the zoo a few days before it happened, those exact wild dogs were the first I ever saw in person. It was all anyone talked about for weeks after it happened and few people I talked to about it seemed to blame the dogs, which was refreshing. They’ve since been replaced with cheetahs!
Reposted by Sophie M.
arminreindl.bsky.social
Day 9 of #Croctober, featuring Rioarribasuchus
Outwardly a fascinating and imo quite underappreciated animal given the strange, forward-pointing spines on the tail scutes
But while it looks unique, Rioarribasuchus is better known for being central to the Aetogate controversy
An illustration of "Rioarribasuchus" by Jeff Martz. It is shown as a robust animal with extensive armor plating and a small triangular head. The front limbs are shorter than the hindlimbs and the tail features a ridge of forward pointing spines throughout most of of its length.
Reposted by Sophie M.
serpenillus.bsky.social
I am currently working on MANY commissions. Here are some sneak peeks of two. I cannot share anything else about them yet!

#paleoart #sciart #reptiles #art
Detail of a WIP progress line drawing Detail of a WIP illustration
Reposted by Sophie M.
paleosoc.bsky.social
Fossil Frogs and Toads of North America is a 3 chaptered book on frog paleoherpetology, now on sale for 30% off with a PS discount! When you add frog to your cauldron this Halloween, appreciate the millions of years of evolution that made them!🐸
#Paleontology #Herpetology #Frogs #PSBookReview
Reposted by Sophie M.
arctomet.bsky.social
Yuta Tsukiji, Soki Hattori & Yoichi Azuma (2025)
First didactyl theropod track from the Lower Cretaceous Kitadani Formation, Tetori Group, Fukui, Japan
Cretaceous Research 106249
doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.cr...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Redirecting
doi.org