Ben Miller
@extinctmonsters.bsky.social
Mostly posts about the art history of paleontology in museums. Exhibit developer at the Field Museum, opinions my own. he/him
Website: extinctmonsters.net
Website: extinctmonsters.net
Peabody Cenozoic hall glow-up. No particular reason, I just noticed I had before and after photos from the same vantage point.
February 17, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Peabody Cenozoic hall glow-up. No particular reason, I just noticed I had before and after photos from the same vantage point.
Their time has come
February 17, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Their time has come
Waiting for a gap in the crowd so I can get a picture of the T. rex—the eternal struggle
February 16, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Waiting for a gap in the crowd so I can get a picture of the T. rex—the eternal struggle
Checking on some pals
February 16, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Checking on some pals
No choice but to get a beer called Astrodon 🦕 (it was pretty good)
February 16, 2026 at 2:50 AM
No choice but to get a beer called Astrodon 🦕 (it was pretty good)
So here’s a panda climbing a tree. He went up and down a few times.
February 14, 2026 at 10:34 PM
So here’s a panda climbing a tree. He went up and down a few times.
Taking my nephew to see his first arapaima
February 14, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Taking my nephew to see his first arapaima
Also some contemporary animals. Neat that Liberia is putting out llama stamps.
February 14, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Also some contemporary animals. Neat that Liberia is putting out llama stamps.
My dad has gotten back into stamp collecting and gave me some cool vintage dinosaurs. These were issued by Fujairah (part of UAE) in the 60s and Somalia in 1999.
February 14, 2026 at 2:54 PM
My dad has gotten back into stamp collecting and gave me some cool vintage dinosaurs. These were issued by Fujairah (part of UAE) in the 60s and Somalia in 1999.
My random hill to die on is that if you're talking about Darwin on the Beagle or Darwin writing Origin of Species, you need to use an age-appropriate picture. Both of those things happened long before he was an old guy with a huge beard.
February 12, 2026 at 5:24 PM
My random hill to die on is that if you're talking about Darwin on the Beagle or Darwin writing Origin of Species, you need to use an age-appropriate picture. Both of those things happened long before he was an old guy with a huge beard.
Iris the alligator snapper says 😛
February 11, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Iris the alligator snapper says 😛
That part I know, there’s pics of it being built in Phil Fraley’s workshop
February 11, 2026 at 12:42 AM
That part I know, there’s pics of it being built in Phil Fraley’s workshop
Rare example of a perfect ad placement 😂
February 10, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Rare example of a perfect ad placement 😂
I cannot abide this wanton cruelty to ceratopsians
February 10, 2026 at 4:30 AM
I cannot abide this wanton cruelty to ceratopsians
For those keeping track, that means the only hadrosaur fossils of any size that the Sternbergs sold to NHM are the ones at the bottom of the Atlantic. The Kansas Xiphactinus and mosasaurs at NHM are Sternbergs, though.
February 8, 2026 at 4:10 PM
For those keeping track, that means the only hadrosaur fossils of any size that the Sternbergs sold to NHM are the ones at the bottom of the Atlantic. The Kansas Xiphactinus and mosasaurs at NHM are Sternbergs, though.
So it turns out this dude at NHM is *not* a Sternberg specimen, as I had assumed. The skull was collected by Gus Lindblad in '55 and the body by Wann Langston, Jr. in '58. Meaning the head and postcrania are not the same individual, as they have sometimes been listed.
February 8, 2026 at 4:07 PM
So it turns out this dude at NHM is *not* a Sternberg specimen, as I had assumed. The skull was collected by Gus Lindblad in '55 and the body by Wann Langston, Jr. in '58. Meaning the head and postcrania are not the same individual, as they have sometimes been listed.
Gary Staab is making an alarmingly large bison family that will travel among a number of museums this March. Some stops are only 1 day, so mark your calendars. www.si.edu/newsdesk/rel...
February 7, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Gary Staab is making an alarmingly large bison family that will travel among a number of museums this March. Some stops are only 1 day, so mark your calendars. www.si.edu/newsdesk/rel...
You know how reptiles pair their legs like this when they walk but mammals pair their legs like this? What is that called? I remember there are two p-words for it…
February 6, 2026 at 5:20 PM
You know how reptiles pair their legs like this when they walk but mammals pair their legs like this? What is that called? I remember there are two p-words for it…
I’m antsy for the end of winter, so here’s a couple of Miocene frogs for #FossilFriday
Miopelodytes from Nevada and Pelophylax from Spain.
Miopelodytes from Nevada and Pelophylax from Spain.
February 6, 2026 at 3:24 PM
I’m antsy for the end of winter, so here’s a couple of Miocene frogs for #FossilFriday
Miopelodytes from Nevada and Pelophylax from Spain.
Miopelodytes from Nevada and Pelophylax from Spain.
The solution was to give the animators actual ceratopsian trackways to place the feet into. Believable movement followed! But it was important that the scientific advisors stayed involved after the physical form of the animal was approved.
February 5, 2026 at 5:48 PM
The solution was to give the animators actual ceratopsian trackways to place the feet into. Believable movement followed! But it was important that the scientific advisors stayed involved after the physical form of the animal was approved.
For sure—signing off on a good model is only the first step. I'm pretty sure it's been long enough that I can share these WIP files from a project I worked on. The animator's first pass at making Triceratops run looked like the happiest puppy you've ever seen.
February 5, 2026 at 5:48 PM
For sure—signing off on a good model is only the first step. I'm pretty sure it's been long enough that I can share these WIP files from a project I worked on. The animator's first pass at making Triceratops run looked like the happiest puppy you've ever seen.
Not that I have anything specific to complain about atm, but this reddit post about museum work culture is really insightful:
February 2, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Not that I have anything specific to complain about atm, but this reddit post about museum work culture is really insightful:
Maybe we should just…bite the floor
February 1, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Maybe we should just…bite the floor
About 65 years later, John McIntosh and David Berman rediscovered the suppressed skull in the Carnegie collections. Within the decade, most of the Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus skeletons in North America were sporting casts of the correct head.
January 30, 2026 at 3:51 PM
About 65 years later, John McIntosh and David Berman rediscovered the suppressed skull in the Carnegie collections. Within the decade, most of the Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus skeletons in North America were sporting casts of the correct head.
Here's the fun part. The Carnegie Museum team found a new Apatosaurus at Dinosaur Nat'l Monument in 1909. It had a skull, which was low, flat, and unlike the speculative stand-ins. But Henry Osborn of AMNH basically bullied William Holland at the Carnegie not to contradict his reconstruction.
January 30, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Here's the fun part. The Carnegie Museum team found a new Apatosaurus at Dinosaur Nat'l Monument in 1909. It had a skull, which was low, flat, and unlike the speculative stand-ins. But Henry Osborn of AMNH basically bullied William Holland at the Carnegie not to contradict his reconstruction.