Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Gabriel Ugueto @serpenillus.bsky.social · Aug 14

Placodonts are amazing! Exhibit A: Cyamodus orientalis. And no, this is NOT a turtle.

This is an illustration for my book (in preparation) You can see this one and another Placodont I reconstructed for my book in a new post exclusive for my patrons

Patreon.com/serpenillus

🐡 🎨 🧪 #paleontology 🐍

Reconstruction of Cyamodus orientalis on a blank background

3 27 140

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 7d

The Triassic was a time of weird reptiles of every description.

This is one of the more recent finds: Mirasaura from France. It's one of the drepanosaurs, an odd group of arboreal reptiles with superficially bird-like heads and, in some cases, equally superficially feather-like appendages.

A slightly cartoony illustration of a Mirasaura sitting on a mossy tree branch. The lizard-like animal has a long snout resembling a bird's beak, large eyes and a massive crest on its' back somewhat resembling a birds' wing feathers, as if someone stuck an entire wader's wing into his back. The animal has large eyes and it looking behnd him at a passing dragonfly.

5 73 240

Stephan Spiekman @stephanspiekman.bsky.social · 8d

PhD position available at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin on avialan ontogeny (birds and their closest non-avian dinosaur relatives)!

jobs.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/jobposting/e...

42/2025 Research Associate with the goal of a doctorate (f/m/d)

jobs.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin

1 24 21

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Serjoscha Evers @sirjoscha.bsky.social · 12d

News @ Urwelt-Museum Oberfranken (UMO) in Bayreuth: new ichthyosaur, Eurhinosaurus mistelgauensis, named today after UMO's prime excavation site, the Jurassic clay pit Mistelgau. @olorotitan.bsky.social beautifully reconstructed the to-be fossil on a belemnite battleground typical for the locality.

Freshly deceased Eurhinosaurus mistelgauensis on a Jurassic sea floor covered in Belemnite rostra (a "belemnite battleground"). Artwork by Andrey Atuchin.

2 28 77

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Richard Butler @richardjbutler.bsky.social · 20d

Check out the provisional programme for #SVP2025 #2025SVP - the Triassic symposium was so popular they are running it for the entire day!

vertpaleo.org/wp-content/u...

vertpaleo.org

4 7 23

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Prof Susie Maidment @tweetisaurus.bsky.social · Aug 27

Hi all, me, @richardjbutler.bsky.social and the amazing UK-US-Moroccan team are delighted to announce that.. we have a new specimen of Spicomellus AND IT'S WAY WEIRDER AND WAY COOLER THAN WE EVER IMAGINED!!

33 370 970

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Henry Gee @endofthepier.bsky.social · Aug 27

Meet Spiny Norman, the earliest known and definitely the most outrageously spiky ankylosaur ever discovered, as presented by @tweetisaurus.bsky.social & @richardjbutler.bsky.social in @nature.com. Q: how did it mate? A: carefully. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Extreme armour in the world’s oldest ankylosaur - Nature

The ankylosaurian dinosaur Spicomellus afer possessed a tail weapon and uniquely elaborate dermal armour.

www.nature.com

12 39

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Chris Stringer @chrisbstringer.bsky.social · Jul 31

Unusual fossil skin appendage is not a feather. Although large, elongated protrusions on a 247-million-year-old reptile fossil have some similarities to feathers, they are not feathers www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Unusual fossil skin appendage is not a feather

Although large, elongated protrusions on a 247-million-year-old reptile fossil have some similarities to feathers, they are not feathers.

www.nature.com

1 5 14

Stephan Spiekman @stephanspiekman.bsky.social · Jul 31

As the icing on a very special cake, our work forms the cover of Nature @nature.com this week, in large part thanks to the amazing reconstruction by @serpenillus.bsky.social!

Stephan Spiekman @stephanspiekman.bsky.social · Jul 23

I am proud and grateful to present a dream project today in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Meet #Mirasaura grauvogeli, a #wonderreptilewith skin appendages that rival feathers and hairs, challenging our view of reptile #evolution🪶🦎

1 5 22

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Gabriel Ugueto @serpenillus.bsky.social · Jul 30

I’m so excited and proud to have my illustration of Mirasaura in the cover of NATURE! Just wow! Especially happy to do that with such an amazing species and such wonderful research!

#paleoart #art

Cover of the latest issue of Nature, showing my illustration of Mirasaura

15 87 370

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Dr Orla Bath Enright @orlabe.bsky.social · Jul 31

Out today, our Nature cover debut! @stephanspiekman.bsky.social @she-paleo.bsky.social @nature.com @natureportfolio.nature.com

1 11

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · Jul 24

A paper in Nature describes a Triassic reptile with a crest of appendages on its back, which are neither feathers nor skin. The findings demonstrate that feathers or hair-like protrusions are not unique to birds and mammals. go.nature.com/4nZCySR #Paleosky 🧪

Reconstruction and illustration of Mirasaura in its natural forested environment, hunting insects. Credit: Gabriel Ugueto

2 16 59

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Gabriel Ugueto @serpenillus.bsky.social · Jul 23

BIG Congratulations to @stephanspiekman.bsky.social and colleagues for a once in a lifetime publication and thank sooo very much for confiding in me to illustrate this magnificent animal. Here is the link to the Nature paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09167-9

Illustration of Mirasaura on a blank background

5 27 130

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · Jul 23

Here's a newly uncovered fossil that's an evolutionary puzzle. Its plume is not made of feathers. But it's feather-ish. Here's my story (gift link): nyti.ms/40UUlAP

A 247-million-year-old reptile with a bizarre feather-like crest. Art by Tobias Wilhelm/State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart

6 71 330

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Richard Butler @richardjbutler.bsky.social · Jul 23

What a spectacular new specimen - huge congratulations to @stephanspiekman.bsky.social on an excellent paper with great accompanying art!

Gabriel Ugueto @serpenillus.bsky.social · Jul 23

Here it is! Please welcome the AMAZING Mirasaura grauvogeli, a NEW MARVELOUS Drepanosaur published in NATURE today!
This astonishing reptile lived during the Middle Triassic in Europe and it possessed an amazing crest made of plume-like structures!

I was commissioned to bring it to life
#paleoart

Illustration showing a pair of Mirasaura perched on fern fronds. The green animals show their tall orange, brown and white crests while a small beetle flies over one of them

1 6 19

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Natural History Museum, London @nhm-london.bsky.social · Jul 25

What has a bird-like skull, a lizard-like body and a clawed tail?

It's a drepanosaur! New research has revealed another odd thing about these bizarre Triassic reptiles: a feather-like structure that's nothing to do with birds!

Find out all about it for #FossilFriday 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Bizarre new fossil reptile had crest unlike anything seen before | Natural History Museum

Mirasaura grauvogeli is changing our understanding of reptile evolution.

www.nhm.ac.uk

13 37

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Reinhold Leinfelder @leinre.bsky.social · Jul 24

Herzlichen Glückwunsch an Sie und Ihr Team, lb. Herr Spiekmann. Die fesche Mirasaura hat es dann gestern ja sogar in die 20:15-Tagesschau geschafft, heute in die Süddeutsche
www.sueddeutsche.de/wissen/miras...

Mirasaura grauvogeli: Fossil verändert Verständnis von Reptilien und Federn

Ein 247 Millionen Jahre altes Fossil aus Frankreich zeigt: Reptilienhaut kann mehr als gedacht - nämlich auch Federn bilden, die keine sind.

www.sueddeutsche.de

1 1 3

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Reinhold Leinfelder @leinre.bsky.social · Jul 24

The feature of the Smithsonian on Mirasaura is here
www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-...

This Surprising Ancient Reptile Had a Colorful, Corrugated Sail on Its Back. New Research Suggests It Was Used to Communicate

A 247-million-year-old fossil from a German natural history museum reveals the secrets of Mirasaura

www.smithsonianmag.com

1 1

Stephan Spiekman @stephanspiekman.bsky.social · Jul 25

We found melansomes in the crest. Their shape tells us about the tissue type but can also inform on color patterns. In our case, we could only sample a small section, and it revealed a darker, brownish color. The reconstruction of the whole crest is an artist impression, not hard scientific data

1 1

Stephan Spiekman @stephanspiekman.bsky.social · Jul 25

Indeed, bone can be excluded. We also exclude blood vessels. This tissue would have been made up of keratinous dead cells, as are hairs, feathers, and the outer layers of scales. The central ridge is likely some sort of differentiation of the same tissue, but it's hard to know what or how for sure.

1 1

Stephan Spiekman @stephanspiekman.bsky.social · Jul 25

Possibly, although these isolated specimens were never considered to be plant remains. They looked too different. Nobody really knew what they were, but they were at some point tentatively identified as the remains of shark egg capsules!

1

Stephan Spiekman @stephanspiekman.bsky.social · Jul 24

I definitely will. There's a good chance that'll happen. :)

1

Stephan Spiekman @stephanspiekman.bsky.social · Jul 24

Thanks for covering this. It was great chatting with you again about the weirdness of Triassic reptiles. I loved the piece! :)

1 1

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Naturkundemuseum Stuttgart @smnstuttgart.bsky.social · Jul 23

Check out @stephanspiekman.bsky.social's thread to learn more about #Mirasaura!

Stephan Spiekman @stephanspiekman.bsky.social · Jul 23

I am proud and grateful to present a dream project today in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Meet #Mirasaura grauvogeli, a #wonderreptilewith skin appendages that rival feathers and hairs, challenging our view of reptile #evolution🪶🦎

1 6

Reposted by Stephan Spiekman

Asher Hellbein @asherelbein.bsky.social · Jul 23

Also, a further congratulations and thanks to @stephanspiekman.bsky.social for his work on Mirasaura, and for taking the time to chat with me for the NatGeo piece!

Stephan Spiekman @stephanspiekman.bsky.social · Jul 23

I am proud and grateful to present a dream project today in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Meet #Mirasaura grauvogeli, a #wonderreptilewith skin appendages that rival feathers and hairs, challenging our view of reptile #evolution🪶🦎

1 3 19