Cary Woodruff

HA! I beat @arctomet.bsky.social *AND* Ben Creisler in posting a new paleo paper! 🏆😂 Just published in PeerJ, a paper with @histo-holly.bsky.social, Laura Rooney, & Joe Frederickson on what we believe is the *first* ceratobranchial (aka hyoid) ever found/reported from a pachycephalosaur.

We also question hyoids as reliable osteohistological recorders of growth - but we didn't, nor are we wading into any ontogimorph debates (but "Draco" ain't a real thing...)

It's also neat that for such an iconic group that we've known of for well over 100 years, this is a bone we've never seen before. And 2026 has been a good year for pachycephalosaur 'missing bones', 'cause we've found, and are reporting on, the two that were 'missing' 😎

And not just any pachycephalosaur - it's from the never debated, nor controversial *holotype* of "Dracorex" (and yes, I know what you're thinking: this bone was never reported in the holotypic description)

I'll be honest, it's not a 'stop the presses' kind of finding, but it suggests neat things about pachycephalosaur anatomy and feeding behavior: like, these weirdos probably had large and really developed tongues for moving food around in their mouths (makes sense with the short arms).

First, the paper: The first occurrence of a probable pachycephalosaurian hyoid element peerj.com/articles/217...

peerj.compeerj.com

If I had a nickel for every paleontologist with a pachycephalosaur tattoo posing with a pachycephalosaur fossil, I’d have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. Here's Sally Hurst & I at the MIP posing with a HUGE and new specimen of Prenocephale we're working on.

(*also, Sally & I did not plan to color coordinate... But, I got to the Institute first that day, so she's the one who needs to change...)

🎉🎉 *IT'S HUNTER'S BIRTHDAY*!!!! 🎉🎉 My baby boy turns *7* today! 7?! How can it be 7 years already?! Here's a big birthday steak for the big birthday man, and here's to the bestest boy! (and per tradition, the annual birthday growth curve)

Holy cow! 😲 Here are two great sauropod (🦕) papers that I've completely spaced on mentioning: 1) Anatomical network analysis of sauropodomorph cranial topology. 2) Built for bulk: posture, microanatomy and soft tissue shaped gigantism in Sauropoda. 🧵

"These findings suggest that sauropod gigantism was sustained by lineage-specific combinations of femoral geometry, internal architecture and articular soft tissues." (fig 6 from Silva Junior et al)

Which I think is hella cool & goes to show that sauropods just simply didn't get big throughout their evolutionary history. Throughout their history & throughout various clades, there were various ways - & various combos of those ways, that they could achieve their immense sizes. -fin

"Locally, the results suggest that, in most species, the bones of the braincase and the maxilla were especially susceptible to sustaining and enforcing major spatial constraints, which probably channelled their morphological evolution." (figs 4 & 5 from Schuurman et al)

2) "Narrow" vs "Wide-gauge" posture has a rich history in the sauropod literature. Silva Junior et al examined this via stress distribution, structural, and microanatomical analyses. Their findings show that:

doi.orgAnatomical network analysis of sauropodomorph cranial topologyThe cranium of sauropodomorph dinosaurs is relatively small and diverse in shape. However, the cranial topology of sauropodomorphs has not previously been investigated. The distinct pattern of physic...

First, here are the links to the papers: 1) doi.org/10.1111/pala... 2) doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

1) HOW did this paper slip under my radar for so long?! Doing an *INSANELY* cool study where they examined topological modules consisting of 42 nodes and 105 edges, Schuurman et al found that (& I have to quote them because it's a great line):

@thomascullen.bsky.social

I swear I was gonna do a tyrannosaur #FossilFriday even before Tromerosaurus dropped! 😅 Each time I'm at the Mongolian Institute of Paleontology, even I have to admire and drool over the 'baby' Tarbosaurus MPC-D 107/7. Check out the 'chicken wing'-sized articulated arm from this specimen!!!!🤩

Cary Woodruff reposted

Thomas Cullen

With all the news of museums being closed and/or defunded, I feel the message of our paper on the importance of natural history research (and the collections housing those specimens) is just as relevant (or more) today as it was when it was published. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Cary Woodruff reposted

Nukes of Hazard

@nukesofhazard.bsky.social

National security analyst & author @joecirin.bsky.social talked about the historical fallacy of national missile defense during the #CACNP26 annual conference earlier this month. 🔗 Listen to the Nukes of Hazard episode now: ow.ly/jAll50ZSlzc

I repeat: 🤮🤮🤮🤮

scientificamerican.comHow much is a T. Rex worth?Fossils are selling for tens of millions of dollars at auction. But why are the ancient creatures the hot new thing for the ultrarich?

1 Sept

I said it, & I mean it, in this new article by @sciam.bsky.social on the ever increasing conflicts between academic & commercial paleo: “I really think that, in a very short period of time, we will see someone killed in the United States over a dinosaur" www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

26 Aug

Did you know that we had nicknamed a special 🦕in honor of Dolly Parton? "Dolly" is the first dino with a respiratory infection. And "Dolly" is also a new genus. Teaser image: I often use pieces of art as human scale bars, but I could think of nothing more fitting than Dolly with "Dolly."

18 Aug

If I had a nickel for #Hunter under a cast of the #Tyrannosaurus MOR 555 at a museum where I did a graduate degree, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice... @museumoftherockies.bsky.social @romtoronto.bsky.social

17 Aug

To say that Hunter was *excited* to see the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile is an understatement! 🤣 #KeepitOscar

30 July

A reminder, but back in 2022, we honored Dr. Fauci as the human scale bar in our sauropod respiratory infection paper. "Human scale bar is the exemplar of pandemic education and rationalism, Dr. Anthony Fauci." 🧵

30 July

Rand Paul's 'investigative committee' is nothing more than a paper tiger, and this witch hunt and repeated attacks against Dr. Fauci are completely fictitious and unfounded.

30 July

I'm thankful to Dr. Fauci and everyone who works to keep us safe from global health issues, and as a scientist, I stand with Fauci.

12 June

I'll die on this scientific hill: If you don't need bs signed authorization to use written information from a paper, you shouldn't need bs signed authorization to use visual information from a paper either (of course proper citation/credit given in both cases is a must...).

26 May

🦬❤️🦬❤️🦬❤️🦬❤️

22 May

Stegosaurus = "Murica-Lizard"

21 May

A true pilgrimage to paleo Mecca. This is *THE* type locality of the Morrison Formation. I laughed. I cried. I prayed to the Old Gods (Marsh, Cope, Hatcher, Gilmore, Lull, & Mook) for Morrison success, & I may have left an offering. Thanks to Amy Atwater for this opportunity!!!!

30 Apr

This made me laugh for a good 5 minutes 🤣 Although asking if someone thinks Brontosaurus was a real dinosaur is really a better first date question.

24 Apr

I need *your* help with a project I'm working on! There are many dog-related sayings in English (ex "every dog has its day") If you know of other dog-isms, please let me know, and 2) What I'm really looking for: dog-related sayings in other languages & their meanings! Thanks in advance!

8 Apr

*THIS* is a dog at peace 😊

7 Apr

Giraffe-like regional cervical elongation AND *multiple sets of gastral baskets* - from an early sauropodomorph?!?! (plus tons of other cool stuff) The axial osteology of Macrocollum by Fonseca et al. is a great read, and an awesome study!

doi.orgpendingpublicationsPending Publication

7 Apr

And the paper: André O Fonseca, Fabiula P de Bem, Vitória Z Dalle-Laste, Maurício S Garcia & Rodrigo T Müller (2026) Osteology of the axial skeleton of Macrocollum itaquii (Dinosauria: Sauropodomorpha) and its implications for early sauropodomorph cervicalization doi: doi.org/10.1093/zool...

Cary Woodruff reposted

Dr. Todd L. Green

@thecassowarykid.bsky.social

27 Mar

Replying to @thecassowarykid.bsky.social

It took almost a month for Scientific Reports to upload the final version, but here it is! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comUltraviolet light illuminates species-specific biofluorescent casque patterns in cassowaries (Casuarius) - Scientific ReportsCassowaries possess prominent keratinous and bony cranial ornaments, called casques, which have been suggested to function in visual signaling. Despite possessing vividly colored head and neck skin, c...

25 Mar

I JUST GOT AN ORIGINAL COPY OF J.B. HATCHER'S 1901 MONOGRAPH ON DIPLODOCUS CARNEGII!!!!! *AND* IT WAS SIGNED BY HATCHER!!!!!!!!!

IMO, one of the really cool things about the new Alnashetri paper is that it (potentially) further pushes back lineages, AND it emphasizes that formations - particularly the Morrison - likely harbored a bonanza of diverse smaller-bodied dino clades. 🧵

Since troodontids were around, phylogenetically maybe dromaeosaurids too. And with Paraves, how farfetched is it to think oviraptorosaurs were around? (yes, IYKYK) And *IF* an alvarezsauroid + definitive Paraves, then a Morrison therizinosaur isn't impossible.

AND *if* Drinker is really a pachycephalosaur, and Yinlong was bouncing around in coeval China, why not a little Morrison ceratopsian? -fin