This glow-up also made me extremely happy! I think there’s fodder there for looking at how these hyperlongirostral dolphins build their rostra…

I was even featured in their newspapers… I will never be over these!! My research trip for my dissertation was the highlight of graduate school for me. #end

Lastly, I had a really great time visiting the town of Bünde. As a German minor in college, it was immensely rewarding to use this area of expertise as part of my PhD research. The staff at the Museum of Bünde were fantastic to work with!

Furthermore, the taxonomically-informative ear bones had been separated from the holotype skull. They were in East Berlin and unavailable for Rothausen to study in West Germany! This highlights the importance of returning to historic specimens as new data may be made available in unexpected ways.

My coauthors and I found that our initial results placing Eosqualodon as the sister genus of Squalodon is still supported, but also that Eosqualodon has some very unusual features, particularly in the morphology of the lower jaw.

Eosqualodon was initially given a thumbnail description in 1968 by distinguished paleontologist Karlheinz Rothausen, but despite the exquisite holotype, the taxon never received in-depth study.

Thank you thank you! Hearing you praise my figures is big, considering how well-done your own are! 🤩

Stay tuned for Eosqualodon! More on Squalodon’s sister taxon soon. /end

There’s still so much work to do— I am working on redescribing the squalodonts of Belluno, Italy, and that’s only the beginning of exploring interspecific variation/ontogeny, functional morphology, and even more! All of this can now be done with our basic taxonomy settled.

When we put seven squalodontid species as OTUs in phylogenetic analysis, we recovered them as a monophyletic group, supporting our morphological observations. We also recovered all homodont odontocetes as part of the crown group, so could homodonty have a single origin? It’s an interesting thought.

We found strong morphological similarities between all squalodontids, which include their quintessential “shark” teeth! Side note: I will never be over how gorgeous these incisors are. #fossilfriday