Kiersten Formoso, PhD(epressed)
@formorphology.bsky.social
Vertebrate Paleontologist & Assistant Professor @ Rutgers U | PhD from USC | Washed up Forbes 30 Under 30 | Tired | Was on that dino show | Avatar fan
And last (for now) but certainly not least, is this great piece on our study from science writer Asher Elbein for the esteemed yellow rectangle, National Geographic. www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
This Cretaceous 'Sea Monster' Attacked Prey Faster than Great White Sharks
By analyzing tail length and muscle power, paleontologists have explained the physics behind a mosasaur's deadly ability to lunge toward its prey.
nationalgeographic.com
Check out the Rutgers press release!! Really great folks to work with. They nailed our paper's findings. www.rutgers.edu/news/some-th...
Some of Those Ancient Sea Predators Were Built for Surprise Attacks
rutgers.edu
Got some exciting new mosasaur research out today in Current Biology! How fast could these predators burst? www.cell.com/current-biol...
Mosasaur tail morphology reveals burst swimming performance and ecological diversity
Formoso et al. develop a drag-based “slam-start” model to estimate lunge velocity in four mosasaurs from skeletal and muscle reconstructions. Tail curl amplitude mainly drives performance: russellosau...
cell.com
A little blog on my brand name, Formorphology. www.formorphology.com/post/what-s-...
What's in a name? Formorphology
To re-christen my website's blog, I figured I'd start by explaining my little brand name: Formorphology.I feel very lucky that I coined it when I did. It was January 2016, my senior year of college. I...
formorphology.com
Super happy to have published this excellent World View from @formorphology.bsky.social. Please go and give it a read, and let it guide your public outreach goals!
Kiersten Formoso, PhD(epressed)@formorphology.bsky.social · 3w agoHi! My World View in Nature Reviews Biodiversity was published today! Read about my three main aims when educating people about topics in natural history. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Hi! My World View in Nature Reviews Biodiversity was published today! Read about my three main aims when educating people about topics in natural history. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Three ideas to inspire curiosity in natural history education
Nature Reviews Biodiversity - Natural history can captivate the minds of all manner of people for a multitude of reasons, but a shifting media landscape demands adaptation from public educators....
nature.com
Come to Rutgers!!
Kiersten Formoso, PhD(epressed)@formorphology.bsky.social · 6mo agoHi! I'm not here very often, but I just launched my brand new lab website! I'm also hiring a !!! three-year !!! Postdoc. Interest form link can be found under "The Team" section. (Current domain name is temporary haha. FormorphologyLab dot com coming soon!) badger-mustard-h5jf.squarespace.com
Hi! I'm not here very often, but I just launched my brand new lab website! I'm also hiring a !!! three-year !!! Postdoc. Interest form link can be found under "The Team" section. (Current domain name is temporary haha. FormorphologyLab dot com coming soon!) badger-mustard-h5jf.squarespace.com
badger-mustard-h5jf.squarespace.com
WE ARE IN #AVATARFIREANDASH COUNTDOWN SEASON Learn about cool biology things through the lens of Avatar in my new series on IG and TikTok 💙 www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8khDGEH/
My first Avatar: Biology & Design video! Some science behind the flying animals of Pandora! Avatar 3 hype!!! #avatar #paleontology #science #biology #avatarfireandash #avatar3 #avatarthewayofwater #cr...
TikTok video by Formorphology
tiktok.com
Better yet, it's the Carcharodon hubbelli holotype, which highlights the transition from non-serrated "makos", formerly Isurus hastalis, into the modern species Carcharodon carcharias - and helped disprove the idea that the modern great white is closely related to "the meg"!
It's not only #FossilFriday, but also the 50th Anniversary of Jaws 🦈 one of my favorite movies. I'm celebrating by sharing this 5 million year old ancestral great white shark fossil from Peru's famed Pisco Formation. *Almost* a modern GWS, it doesn't quite have the tooth serrations of today's.
It's #MotionMonday Topic: Cursorial animals 🐆 🦌 🐕 Made my first influencer-y reel because people kept telling me I needed to start lol 😔
Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.
instagram.com
Arguably my second favorite Walking with Dinosaurs.
New Regal poster for Jurassic World Rebirth featuring the revamped mosasaurus. Love the dark on top, light on bottom countershading. Fun fact that we have fossil evidence of this! www.nature.com/articles/nat... (But don't ever do 4DX, it blows lol)
Me when someone asks a question after my conference talk:
FINE. I'll post on Bluesky. Twitter is toasted, man. What a tragedy and infuriating loss of the following I built there all because of one tech ghoul's ego.
Mammals after the K-Pg Extinction:
Is there Saurophaganax discourse on Bluesky too?
Proof that financial stability/comfort yields productivity or rather than financial discomfort stifles it: Had lofty research goals today. I was determined. But then I learned my rent is going up by more than I anticipated so I spent the WHOLE day doing intense money planning.
It's #MosasaurMonday! Here's a photo of one of the favs, Platecarpus tympaniticus @nhmla.bsky.social
Can't believe none of you ever told me that the music video plot to one of the greatest songs ever made is evolution
Was not expecting this YouTube Recap. I was fully expecting River of Dreams to be my top track, but everything else was up in the air. Top 1% of Billy Joel listeners though, what an HONOR.
CAN'T believe there's no Facebook mega group called "Academia Memes for Overworked Folks with Shattered Dreams" or something
Opened up Twitter and got jump scared by that stupid subscriber final sale thing. No, I'm not paying for that website. Not a cent. Sowwy.
Twitter is for coprolites, Bluesky is for exceptionally preserved Lagerstätte-derived specimens (No offense to the scientific coolness of coprolites)