Heather F. Smith. Ph.D.

✨ Celebrating our Early Career Researchers at the WAVP Conference! As our team dives into writing and submitting abstracts for the next Western Association of Vertebrate Paleontologists meeting, we’re reflecting on last year’s WAVP and the incredible achievements of our early career researchers

Last field season, we were excited to discover a new locality in the Cliff House Sandstone! The “Scap. Yard” preserves dozens of isolated teeth of marine vertebrates, especially the goblin shark Scapanorhynchus.

🦦 New BJLS paper out! MicroCT + 3D morphometrics test how otter inner‑ear shape varies across North American ecoregions. Vestibular morphology, esp lateral semicircular canal, tracks water discharge, w/high‑flow systems driving differences academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a... @squeacslab.bsky.social

We are excited to share our latest issue, featuring a variety of incredible papers! The cover for this issue features a paper describing cranial fossils of Mioproteus wezei providing the most complete skull of any fossil proteid salamander, by Syromyatnikova: doi.org/10.1002/ar.7...

🦖 Happy National Fossil Day! Our work in the San Juan Basin reminds us that fossils are more than ancient bones — they’re records of ecosystems, climates, & evolutionary change. From field discovery to careful lab preparation, our team is proud to help preserve & study these stories written in stone

🦖 Happy Natl Fossil Day (today) AND World Anatomy Day (tomorrow)! As a paleontologist, I ❤️ anatomy because it helps us connects living organisms to their evolutionary history As an anatomy journal editor, I'm amazed about how much there is still to discover about the structure & diversity of life

My new favorite Phoenix bakery, Dinersaur!

If you’re headed to GSA 2026, don’t miss our team’s presentation “Prolonged interactions between the Menefee Formation and Cliff House Sandstone indicate a dynamic nearshore environment during the Campanian”, presented by Ezekiel Vincent O'Callaghan, Madison Baaré, and Ronni Chavez on Oct 11th 2-4pm

I'm excited to share the latest article by @sjbpaleo.bsky.social , “Quantitative GIS based correlation of the Cliff House Sandstone between Tsaya and Chaco Canyons, New Mexico.” doi.org/10.3390/stra...

📢 New publication alert! 📢 We’re thrilled to share our latest article, “Quantitative GIS based correlation of the Cliff House Sandstone between Tsaya and Chaco Canyons, New Mexico.” www.mdpi.com/3042-884X/1/... It examines regional continuity of Cliff House Sst. in the western San Juan Basin, NM

Fossil teeth & microvertebrates are surprisingly scarce in the Menefee Formation, with isolated teeth and small bones rarely preserved. We were thrilled to locate one productive microsite where we can collect sediment and screen-wash to look for tiny specimens that don’t preserve well on the surface

Happy birthday to our co‑director, Brent Adrian — a driving force behind our basin‑wide paleo efforts and a steadfast champion of science. His field leadership, research insights, and enthusiasm for discovery help shape the future of our project. Here’s to another year of discovery!

Nice write-up by Midwestern University on the recent summit for rural STEM educators: www.midwestern.edu/news-stories...

A striking discovery in snake anatomy! In this @anatrecord.bsky.social Editor's Pick, researchers describe previously undocumented "quasi-haemapophyses" in the mid-trunk vertebrae of Atractaspis corpulenta kivuensis, revealing an extraordinary vertebral morphology. Read more: https://bit.ly/4A6KhUY

Shout out to our amazing geology team, Zeke O'Callaghan, Ronni Chavez & Madison Baaré, who have been mapping the complex stratigraphic transition b/w the Menefee Fm & overlying Cliff House Sandstone in Tsaya Canyon. They’re presenting our findings at the next Geological Society of America conference

🛡️ New microCT scans are giving us our first look inside the armor of the nodosaur Invictarx zephyri! These heavily armored, plant eating dinosaurs roamed the San Juan Basin (and elsewhere in North America) during the Cretaceous.

🐶Excited to share that our chapter on canid anatomy and special senses has been published in a new volume on Canine Science! link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

🐢 Memorable moment from our recent field season from a terrestrial locality in the Menefee Formation, another Campanian unit in the San Juan Basin. One of the highlights of the summer was the discovery of a remarkably complete baenid turtle shell preserved in a hard sandstone ledge

I had a wonderful time working w/educators last week at the National Rural STEM Summit. In my workshop, "Innovative Anatomy: Animal Skulls & Evolutionary Biology in the Classroom," we explored how skeletal specimens can be powerful tools for teaching anatomy, evolution, ecology & comparative biology

🦈Highlights from our recent SJB field season this past summer, including explorations of our marine Cliff House "Hills Have Eyes" locality, practically exploding w/marine vertebrates, including chondrichthyans (cartilaginous fishes), actinopterygians (ray-finned fishes) & a few mosasaur specimens

Don't miss this banger AR issue! From the dinosaur cognition debate to updates on Dunkleosteus anatomy to hadrosaur crests, the issue contains tons of exciting new paleo and evolutionary biology papers, many of which are open access: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494...

🐢San Juan Basin Paleo Project abstracts accepted for #SVP2026! We evaluated the Coniacian-Santonian turtle fauna of the Crevasse Canyon Formation (New Mexico), including evidence for one of the earliest known plastomenid turtles and a reassessment of the baenid turtle "Neurankylus notos"

🦖 We've started an account for the San Juan Basin Paleontology Project, @sjbpaleo.bsky.social. We'll be sharing updates on our fieldwork, fossil studies, and other related research. Follow to keep up with our paleo adventures in the Late Cretaceous SJB of New Mexico! 🐢🦈🐊🐟

📣 We’re thrilled to announce that the 6th Circular of the IPC7 is now available! Don’t miss out on the latest updates as we prepare to welcome paleontologists from around the world to Cape Town, South Africa in 2026! 📥 Download -> www.ipc7.site

SVP Sues the Trump Administration for Shrinking Bears Ears National Monument Now THIS is what I want my membership dues going towards @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social vertpaleo.org/svp-sues-the...

Congratulations to my colleague & friend, Dr. Randy Nydam on his new position as Senior Assoc Dean for Academic Affairs at Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine! It has been a privilege to work with Randy & learn from one of the most knowledgeable anatomy educators & squamate paleontologists I know

Catch-up post from my recent trip to the amazing Melbourne Museum. #FossilFriday

🐢San Juan Basin Paleo Project abstracts accepted for #SVP2026! We re-evaluated the Coniacian-Santonian turtle fauna of the Crevasse Canyon Formation (New Mexico), including evidence for one of the earliest known plastomenids and a reassessment of "Neurankylus notos"

On a recent trip to Melbourne, I was excited to meet an icon. “Horridus” is an authentic67 Ma Triceratops horridus skeleton on permanent display at Melbourne Museum. Each element has been scanned, and several are presented as interactive, rotating holograms. The exhibit is incredibly immersive!

Having fun representing @anatrecord.bsky.social at #IFAA2026! #Anatomy2026

Pleased to share our latest special issue: Feeding biomechanics in vertebrates & beyond! The issue brings together studies spanning insects, fishes & mammals to explore feeding biomechanics anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494... Guest Editors: Böhmer & Winkler

African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) paper now in @anatrecord.bsky.social's Feeding Biomechanics Special Issue! Using dissection & diceCT, we show powerful bites aren't just about bigger muscles—muscle architecture, skull mechanics & fascia may be key🐺 anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Honored to have been part of this award-winning special issue and grateful to see our work recognized with a 2026 APEX Award for Publication Excellence! Congratulations to the guest editors, authors, reviewers, and everyone who contributed to highlighting the incredible fossil record of China

📢 Call for Papers: The Anatomical Record is seeking submissions for a Special Issue on Strepsirrhine Anatomy, Ecology, and Evolution. We welcome original research, reviews & commentaries exploring strepsirrhine functional anatomy, phenotypic plasticity & evolutionary history 🐒 📅 Deadline: November 1

Excited to receive print copies of the latest issue of Lithodendron, which includes our recent article on Campanian Ophiomorpha fossils from the Menefee Fm.-Cliff House Sandstone transition, San Juan Basin, New Mexico! Link to the article: petrifiedforestfieldinstitute.org/lithodendron...

Excellent time at San Diego Natural History Museum's "Nat at Night" event last weekend, featuring dire wolves, Ankylosaurus, Lambeosaurus, assorted turtles, grey whales, and more! 🦖🐢🐋

Check out our new August issue! anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494... The cover features a new 3D anatomical atlas of the heads of the veiled chameleon, Chamaeleo calyptratus by Alice Leavey et al.: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

⭐ We're pleased to share that our Impact Factor has increased to 2.6! While IF is only one bibliometric measure of journal influence, it's still encouraging to see this positive trajectory. Thank you to our authors, reviewers, editorial board members & readers for their contributions and support!

🦈 San Juan Basin Paleo Project's outreach fossil prep activity at the latest SPS meeting was a great time! Ben Goode gave an excellent presentation on our recent Cliff House research. Then we set up a hands-on activity where attendees could prep & extract fossil teeth from blocks we collected

📣 New issue out now! The Anatomical Record (Vol. 309, Issue 7) From duck-billed dinosaur bone microstructure 🦖 to dire wolf debates 🐺 and rare cetacean anatomy 🐬—explore the latest in evolutionary & integrative anatomy. 🔗 anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494...

🐉 Had a blast doing STEM outreach at Phoenix Fan Fusion! We brought real animal skulls for a “Predator vs Prey” challenge & 3D‑printed a Gungan, Predator alien & dragon‑looking (but real!) Pachycephalosaurus. Turns out Predator isn’t built for predation…and Gungans are basically all cartilage!