Chris Widga
@widga.bsky.social
Director of the Earth and Mineral Sciences Museum & Art Gallery at Penn State. Here for museums, fossils, not-fossils, and geo-nerdom. Sucker for good jazz. Personal account. #museums #paleontology #geology #scicomm #naturalhistory
Two things about this....
North Dakota mammoths need paleontologists, seriously, please. (They must be everywhere up there, but still only a few for the state)
And...I knew I liked Beulah for a reason.
North Dakota mammoths need paleontologists, seriously, please. (They must be everywhere up there, but still only a few for the state)
And...I knew I liked Beulah for a reason.
You had me at "a whole lot of mammoths" 🦣
Some updates on what we have been working on lately here at NDGS Paleo.
T. rex and a whole lot of mammoths!
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
T. rex and a whole lot of mammoths!
www.yahoo.com/news/article...
November 26, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Two things about this....
North Dakota mammoths need paleontologists, seriously, please. (They must be everywhere up there, but still only a few for the state)
And...I knew I liked Beulah for a reason.
North Dakota mammoths need paleontologists, seriously, please. (They must be everywhere up there, but still only a few for the state)
And...I knew I liked Beulah for a reason.
Reposted by Chris Widga
Mammoth spotted in South Poland!
Actually, a to-scale model by Studio Kamyk for the Jegiellonian University Nature Education Centre, Krakow. 😍
Actually, a to-scale model by Studio Kamyk for the Jegiellonian University Nature Education Centre, Krakow. 😍
November 25, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Nice piece on the Hillsborough mastodon from New Brunswick, Canada.
Fun fact: a replica of this mastodon is on display at the Museum of the Middle Appalachians in Saltville, Virginia.
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
Fun fact: a replica of this mastodon is on display at the Museum of the Middle Appalachians in Saltville, Virginia.
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
Unearthing 75,000-year-old mastodon bones
A mammoth-like creature that once roamed Hillsborough in the southeastern area of the province now lives packed away in a New Brunswick Museum research centre.
www.cbc.ca
November 25, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Nice piece on the Hillsborough mastodon from New Brunswick, Canada.
Fun fact: a replica of this mastodon is on display at the Museum of the Middle Appalachians in Saltville, Virginia.
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
Fun fact: a replica of this mastodon is on display at the Museum of the Middle Appalachians in Saltville, Virginia.
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
Reposted by Chris Widga
For my (fellow) American friends: an old #JohnsFreezer blog post (from the glory days) with fun facts about turkey anatomy. Happy Thanksgiving-to-come!
whatsinjohnsfreezer.com/2012/11/22/a...
(image has "graphic media" label because it shows a turkey dissection; nothing worse than that)
whatsinjohnsfreezer.com/2012/11/22/a...
(image has "graphic media" label because it shows a turkey dissection; nothing worse than that)
Have an Anatomically Awesome Thanksgiving!
Hey, Americans and others happening to be gobbling down Meleagris gallopavo today– don’t forget to practice your anatomy! Such a great opportunity. Dig in to that carcass and horrify/am…
whatsinjohnsfreezer.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:33 PM
For my (fellow) American friends: an old #JohnsFreezer blog post (from the glory days) with fun facts about turkey anatomy. Happy Thanksgiving-to-come!
whatsinjohnsfreezer.com/2012/11/22/a...
(image has "graphic media" label because it shows a turkey dissection; nothing worse than that)
whatsinjohnsfreezer.com/2012/11/22/a...
(image has "graphic media" label because it shows a turkey dissection; nothing worse than that)
Reposted by Chris Widga
Was on the BBC talking about cool extinct megacritters and science in Florida! Check it out!
Scientist Spotted 🦣 BBC talked to our paleontologist Advait Jukar about fossils preserved in Florida's freshwater springs and how they help researchers understand our past and present biodiversity.
Diving into Florida’s prehistoric cave of Ice Age secrets
www.bbc.com/reel/video/p...
Diving into Florida’s prehistoric cave of Ice Age secrets
www.bbc.com/reel/video/p...
Diving into Florida’s prehistoric cave of Ice Age secrets
The state's blue sinkholes are the silent reminders of the time when giants roamed the Earth.
www.bbc.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Was on the BBC talking about cool extinct megacritters and science in Florida! Check it out!
Reposted by Chris Widga
Forgotten women of paleontology: Estella Bergere Leopold ⚒️🧪
paleonerdish.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/f...
paleonerdish.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/f...
Forgotten women of paleontology: Estella Bergere Leopold.
Paleoecological records suggest that the transition to agriculture marked a pivotal turning point in the environmental history of our planet. Tropical forests have been reduced by agricultural expa…
paleonerdish.wordpress.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Forgotten women of paleontology: Estella Bergere Leopold ⚒️🧪
paleonerdish.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/f...
paleonerdish.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/f...
Reposted by Chris Widga
Jack M. Craig, Whitney L. Fisher, Allan S. Thomas, S. Blair Hedges & Sudhir Kumar (2025)
Completing a molecular timetree of Afrotheria
Frontiers in Bioinformatics 5: 1710926
doi: doi.org/10.3389/fbin...
www.frontiersin.org/journals/bio...
Completing a molecular timetree of Afrotheria
Frontiers in Bioinformatics 5: 1710926
doi: doi.org/10.3389/fbin...
www.frontiersin.org/journals/bio...
Frontiers | Completing a molecular timetree of Afrotheria
Afrotheria, the superorder that includes aardvarks, elephants, elephant shrews, hyraxes, manatees, and tenrecs, is home to some of the most charismatic and w...
doi.org
November 23, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Jack M. Craig, Whitney L. Fisher, Allan S. Thomas, S. Blair Hedges & Sudhir Kumar (2025)
Completing a molecular timetree of Afrotheria
Frontiers in Bioinformatics 5: 1710926
doi: doi.org/10.3389/fbin...
www.frontiersin.org/journals/bio...
Completing a molecular timetree of Afrotheria
Frontiers in Bioinformatics 5: 1710926
doi: doi.org/10.3389/fbin...
www.frontiersin.org/journals/bio...
Reposted by Chris Widga
Scientist Spotted 🦣 BBC talked to our paleontologist Advait Jukar about fossils preserved in Florida's freshwater springs and how they help researchers understand our past and present biodiversity.
Diving into Florida’s prehistoric cave of Ice Age secrets
www.bbc.com/reel/video/p...
Diving into Florida’s prehistoric cave of Ice Age secrets
www.bbc.com/reel/video/p...
Diving into Florida’s prehistoric cave of Ice Age secrets
The state's blue sinkholes are the silent reminders of the time when giants roamed the Earth.
www.bbc.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Scientist Spotted 🦣 BBC talked to our paleontologist Advait Jukar about fossils preserved in Florida's freshwater springs and how they help researchers understand our past and present biodiversity.
Diving into Florida’s prehistoric cave of Ice Age secrets
www.bbc.com/reel/video/p...
Diving into Florida’s prehistoric cave of Ice Age secrets
www.bbc.com/reel/video/p...
My first image of this femur with an Eric for scale!
For #FossilFriday: one of the very first fossils of the American mastodon ever discovered. This specimen was found at Big Bone Lick, KY, US, in 1739 by a French military expedition, then sent back to Paris for study. On display at the Galerie de Paléontologie et d’Anatomie comparée in Paris. 🧪
November 21, 2025 at 11:42 PM
My first image of this femur with an Eric for scale!
Reposted by Chris Widga
Happy #FossilFriday! In October, UNSM doubled our holdings of an unusual extinct species, Dasypus bellus, which literally translates to “beautiful armadillo.”✨ It was about twice the size of the modern nine-banded armadillo. These specimens are from 12-25 thousand years ago.🦴
#fossils #paleontology
#fossils #paleontology
November 21, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! In October, UNSM doubled our holdings of an unusual extinct species, Dasypus bellus, which literally translates to “beautiful armadillo.”✨ It was about twice the size of the modern nine-banded armadillo. These specimens are from 12-25 thousand years ago.🦴
#fossils #paleontology
#fossils #paleontology
Reposted by Chris Widga
Alas, this article on our reptile decomposition research does not come in a scratch-and-sniff format. However, if you'd like to see what my students, colleagues, and I have been up to with our decomposing lizards and crocodylians, here's your chance. 🧪
CSI: Cretaceous. A reptile body farm is shedding light on how dinosaurs died.
Here’s how scientists are solving the “dinosaur death pose” mystery and others.
www.nationalgeographic.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Alas, this article on our reptile decomposition research does not come in a scratch-and-sniff format. However, if you'd like to see what my students, colleagues, and I have been up to with our decomposing lizards and crocodylians, here's your chance. 🧪
Reposted by Chris Widga
Not just ancient humans from Denisova cave but also secret Yaks. Secret Ancient Yaks! That’s you told.
Our manuscript on bovine deep-time paleogenomics at Denisova Cave and in the broader mid-latitude Asia is online! doi.org/10.1093/gbe/... 🦬🦴🧬
Main findings in the 🧵 below ⬇️
@cpgsthlm.bsky.social @genomebiolevol.bsky.social #aDNA
Main findings in the 🧵 below ⬇️
@cpgsthlm.bsky.social @genomebiolevol.bsky.social #aDNA
Paleogenomics Reveals a Loss of Bovine Lineages in Mid-latitude Asia Over the Last 200,000 Years
Abstract. Bovines have a complex yet poorly understood evolutionary history that is characterized by admixture and diversity loss during the Late Pleistoce
doi.org
November 20, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Not just ancient humans from Denisova cave but also secret Yaks. Secret Ancient Yaks! That’s you told.
It's a nice change to open up the news to see Dick Mol and mammoths. I have much respect for what they are doing. The model may not work everywhere, but it seems to be working at Maasvlakte. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/a...
A Day at the Beach Hunting Mammoths
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:18 PM
It's a nice change to open up the news to see Dick Mol and mammoths. I have much respect for what they are doing. The model may not work everywhere, but it seems to be working at Maasvlakte. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/a...
I am the market for this mug.
November 14, 2025 at 1:30 AM
I am the market for this mug.
Reposted by Chris Widga
In the immortal words of Sir Mix-a-Lot: "And ugh, double-up, ugh, ugh".
2 doggy papers are so much better than 1. Both studies a testament to slow science & international collaboration between brilliant people. What it's all about.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
2 doggy papers are so much better than 1. Both studies a testament to slow science & international collaboration between brilliant people. What it's all about.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The emergence and diversification of dog morphology
Dogs exhibit an exceptional range of morphological diversity as a result of their long-term association with humans. Attempts to identify when dog morphological variation began to expand have been con...
www.science.org
November 13, 2025 at 7:30 PM
In the immortal words of Sir Mix-a-Lot: "And ugh, double-up, ugh, ugh".
2 doggy papers are so much better than 1. Both studies a testament to slow science & international collaboration between brilliant people. What it's all about.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
2 doggy papers are so much better than 1. Both studies a testament to slow science & international collaboration between brilliant people. What it's all about.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Chris Widga
Reposted by Chris Widga
Behold, a 3D rotating image of a probable dinosaur regurgitalite (fossil vomit) that also contains the type specimen of a newly described Cretaceous pterosaur from Brazil, Bakiribu waridza! Muito obrigado e parabéns, Prof. @alinemghilardi.bsky.social & colegas. 🧪🪨🦖🤮
You can see Bakiribu fossil in 3D! Access it here: www.morphosource.org/projects/000...
November 12, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Behold, a 3D rotating image of a probable dinosaur regurgitalite (fossil vomit) that also contains the type specimen of a newly described Cretaceous pterosaur from Brazil, Bakiribu waridza! Muito obrigado e parabéns, Prof. @alinemghilardi.bsky.social & colegas. 🧪🪨🦖🤮
Reposted by Chris Widga
If you're a #teacher interested in a great #openaccess write up on reading #phylogenetic trees, check out www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/learn/system... created by @jonhendricks.bsky.social and Elizabeth Hermsen.
2.1 Reading Trees
Chapter contents: Systematics — 1. Taxonomy — 2. Phylogenetics —— 2.1 Reading trees ← —— 2.2 Building trees —— 2.3 Character mapping —— 2.4 Phylogenetic trees and classificationParts of a tree A phylo...
www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:05 PM
If you're a #teacher interested in a great #openaccess write up on reading #phylogenetic trees, check out www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/learn/system... created by @jonhendricks.bsky.social and Elizabeth Hermsen.
Reposted by Chris Widga
For anyone who can live in Flordia, a great opportunity in an amazing collection:
FMNH is looking for an experienced full-time Collections Manager II or III as Director of Invertebrate Paleontology Collections within the Department of Natural History.
🧪⚒️🦑
explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
FMNH is looking for an experienced full-time Collections Manager II or III as Director of Invertebrate Paleontology Collections within the Department of Natural History.
🧪⚒️🦑
explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
University of Florida - Details - FLMNH Collections Manager II / FLMNH Collections Manager III
explore.jobs.ufl.edu
November 11, 2025 at 4:20 PM
For anyone who can live in Flordia, a great opportunity in an amazing collection:
FMNH is looking for an experienced full-time Collections Manager II or III as Director of Invertebrate Paleontology Collections within the Department of Natural History.
🧪⚒️🦑
explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
FMNH is looking for an experienced full-time Collections Manager II or III as Director of Invertebrate Paleontology Collections within the Department of Natural History.
🧪⚒️🦑
explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...
Reposted by Chris Widga
This handsome mastodon on display in London is one and the same as Missourium, a chimeric super-mastodon created by showman Albert Koch in 1840. Multiple skeletons were combined to extend its length to 40 feet, and the tusks were mounted sideways so they looked like aggressive tusks.
November 11, 2025 at 4:56 PM
This handsome mastodon on display in London is one and the same as Missourium, a chimeric super-mastodon created by showman Albert Koch in 1840. Multiple skeletons were combined to extend its length to 40 feet, and the tusks were mounted sideways so they looked like aggressive tusks.
Reposted by Chris Widga
A high-resolution digital map allows people to plan their routes along the ancient roads of the Roman Empire
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
go.nature.com/4nHZmoM
‘Google Maps’ for Roman roads reveals vast extent of ancient network
Nature - A high-resolution digital map nearly doubles the known length of the ancient road network.
go.nature.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Reposted by Chris Widga
the demon's parlor - 2020 #surrealism #popsurrealism #sculpture #handmade #mixedmedia #ooak #noai #airdryingclay #polymerclay #art #artwork #ellenjewett #botanical #slowart #maximalism #wabisabi #sculpture #crocodile
November 6, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Reposted by Chris Widga
An enthusiastic baby Deinotherium giganteum tries to keep up with its mother as they take a walk in #Greece six million years ago 🐘🐘🐘 #paleoart #sciart #proboscidea
June 17, 2025 at 4:40 PM
An enthusiastic baby Deinotherium giganteum tries to keep up with its mother as they take a walk in #Greece six million years ago 🐘🐘🐘 #paleoart #sciart #proboscidea