Francesco Della Giustina
@just-fre.bsky.social
63 followers 98 following 9 posts
🦴 Geologist and vertebrate paleontologist. 🌊 Interested in the evolution of Mesozoic marine predators. 📚 TA and PhD student at @universitedeliege.bsky.social 🌐 https://beacons.ai/_just_fre
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Reposted by Francesco Della Giustina
val-fisch.bsky.social
Are you tired of people constantly overestimating body size of marine reptiles? No longer!

We provide equations to estimate body size in ichthyosaurians, mosasaurids, and thalattosuchians.

1/4
Reposted by Francesco Della Giustina
just-fre.bsky.social
Grateful for the chance to present my #marinereptiles research at both #EAVP2025 and #SEB2025 over the past weeks.

Huge thanks to the organisers, and all my coauthors for their support and guidance!

Looking forward to the next conferences!
just-fre.bsky.social
Finally, we also demonstrated the importance of the postcranium for croc phylogenies, showing how some postcranial characters alter significantly the position of Allodaposuchidae within the Eusuchian phylogenetic tree, with crucial implications for the Crown-clade Crocodylia.

6/6 🧵
just-fre.bsky.social
Our study expands our global knowledge of allodaposuchid anatomy, focusing on the osteology and myology of the axial and appendicular skeletons, as well as the osteoderm pattern, all of which indicate a semi-aquatic lifestyle with possibly enhanced terrestrial locomotion.

5/6 🧵
just-fre.bsky.social
However, all allodaposuchid species are mainly represented by craniodental remains, inevitably making the postcranial record of this clade somewhat neglected.

4/6 🧵
just-fre.bsky.social
We identify it as an allodaposuchid, a group of crocs living in rivers and brackish waters of the islands of the southern European archipelago during the latest Cretaceous. Their diversity has increased significantly in recent years, with new species being described from Spain and France.

3/6 🧵
just-fre.bsky.social
The remains, now housed at the Institut Català de Paleontologia, were primarily excavated more than 30 years ago and have not received any attention since then. However, we estimate it to be the most complete crocodyliform from the Upper Cretaceous of Europe.

2/6 🧵
Reposted by Francesco Della Giustina
drcraigmc.bsky.social
🧵New paper + open database drop!
The Marine Organismal Body Size ( #MOBS ) Database is now live—85,000+ marine species, from plankton to whales, with standardized size data.
A huge leap for biodiversity, conservation, and climate science. #science #marinelife onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
MOBS 1.0: A Database of Interspecific Variation in Marine Organismal Body Sizes
Motivation Body size is a fundamental trait influencing an organism's life history, ecology, physiology and evolutionary dynamics. While extensive body-size databases exist for terrestrial vertebrat...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Reposted by Francesco Della Giustina
gsferreira.bsky.social
🚨🚨PhD position alert!🚨🚨
Do you like 🐢🐢? Or ecomorph evolution? I am offering a 36-month PhD position funded by the DFG about ecomorphology and neuroanatomy of turtles. Check out the ad here: www.senckenberg.de/en/career/sc...

Please share and if you have questions, send me a message 😉
Reposted by Francesco Della Giustina
feikosaur.bsky.social
New paper out! You wouldnt want to be at the wrong end of a Temnodontosaurus! He would either swollow you hole, or rip you to pieces! Many congrats to Giovanni Serafini for leading this project! Very happy it's out!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Reposted by Francesco Della Giustina
Reposted by Francesco Della Giustina
morethanadodo.bsky.social
Happy Birthday, Mary Anning!

This 195-million-year-old marine reptile was discovered in Lyme Regis at some time before 1836 by the British palaeontologist Mary Anning (1799–1847).
Reposted by Francesco Della Giustina
heatherfsmith.bsky.social
Introducing Asmodochelys leviathan, a new giant marine turtle from the Maastrichtian of Texas!
sjpp.springeropen.com/articles/10....
This new 72-million-year-old species was one of the sole survivors of an extinct lineage that patrolled the gulf coast of North America near the end of the Cretaceous
Reposted by Francesco Della Giustina
feikosaur.bsky.social
Paleontology oriented people please apply! Come work with us! Ask Lene about details ;)
just-fre.bsky.social
New on Bluesky, and already excited to share some big news — my first co-authored paper is out (and in OA)! You can find the link in the thread below.

Thanks to everyone involved in this project!
denverfowler.bsky.social
International collaborative research just published! Michailow et al (2025). Link in comms (free)

Photo: some nice teeth in our collection (left to right): tyrannosaur; duckbill hadrosaur; (top) crocodile; (bottom) raptor; tyrannosaur with wear mark

#fossilfriday #dinosaurs
just-fre.bsky.social
Hi Bluesky! Finally putting this account to use. I'm an early-career paleontologist working on aquatic animals, especially marine reptiles 🐊🌊.

Excited to connect with others in paleo, evo-bio, and anyone interested in ancient ecosystems!