It was amazing to see my feature story on invasive hornets lead off @nytimes.com Science section earlier this week! This story was months in the making and introduced me to some great people as I reported on the ground in South Carolina. 🧵 with link to story at the end!

Scientists exploring the abyss off of Australia just discovered a sprawling whale necropolis. This cetacean cemetery was deposited over 5 million years and is crawling with undescribed species! Had a blast covering this and working with @wwrfd.bsky.social: www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

Scientists discover ‘graveyard’ of whale skeletons in an ocean abyss off Australia

Deposited over millions of years, the whale necropolis is covered with deep-sea species, many of which are new to science.

nationalgeographic.com

Add fire salamanders to the growing list of biofluorescent critters! Under UV light, these salamanders display a constellation of lights and secrete glowing goo! Was great working with @mtrgovich.bsky.social on this for @nationalgeographic.bsky.social: www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...

Fire salamanders may scare away predators with fluorescent glowing goo

Despite being in the scientific spotlight for centuries, the fire salamander’s biofluorescence was overlooked until now.

nationalgeographic.com

A new fossil site for #FossilFriday! Paleontologists just described a new Ediacaran site in Northwest Canada that preserves the earliest evidence of complex critters like Dickinsonia that crawled along the ancient seafloor. Latest for @sciam.bsky.social: www.scientificamerican.com/article/thes...

These bizarre fossils represent some of the earliest moving, sexually reproducing life ever discovered

New trove of fossils reveals that ancestral animals likely emerged in the deep sea

scientificamerican.com

Opabinia in color! 🐡🎨 I did these in 2014 and didn't want to make a lot of changes in cleaning up the basic design, but I kind of want to do one with updated order.

New Ancient Centipede Ancestor for #FossilFriday! The latest creature from the Waukesha Biota, Wisconsin's cradle of Silurian critters, is Waukartus muscularis, a marine myriapod whose legs were primed to crawl onto land. Latest for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/s...

How Ancient Centipede Ancestors Conquered the Earth

nytimes.com

Move over unfrozen caveman lawyer, Neanderthal dentist has arrived! A 59,000-year-old tooth from a Siberian cave preserves evidence that Neanderthals used stone drills to treat dental pain! Latest for National Geographic was a ton of fun to write-up: www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...

This may be the earliest evidence of Neanderthal ‘dentists’

A hole drilled into a 60,000-year-old molar suggests that Neanderthals practiced complex dental care long before modern humans.

nationalgeographic.com

During the Cretaceous, marine reptiles had to be wary of another monster in the deep: a giant octopus larger than a bus with a bone-breaking bite! Scientists have released the 'Cretaceous Krakens'! Latest for National Geographic: www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

Jaw fossils suggest a 60-foot octopus was the ‘kraken’ of the Cretaceous

The ancient cephalopod, Nanaimoteuthis haggarti, appears to have been an apex predator that rivaled mosasaurs to rule prehistoric seas.

nationalgeographic.com

Bruce is the Boss. This creative kea is the alpha male at a wildlife reserve in New Zealand despite missing his upper beak. That's because Bruce has mastered a new jousting-like attack that knocks his rivals on their heels! Latest for National Geographic: www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...

Watch Bruce the parrot defeat his rivals with only half a beak

While the kea parrot’s beak would normally be considered essential for survival, Bruce has innovated other ways of commanding respect.

nationalgeographic.com

A newly described fossil from Utah reveals a pincer-wielding sea creature from the Cambrian. It may be one of the oldest relatives of spiders, scorpions and horseshoe crabs (Not an April Fool's joke, I swear!) 🕷️ 🦂 Latest for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/s...

Fossil of Pincer-Wielding Crawler Reveals Origins of Spiders, Scorpions and Others

nytimes.com

To put its foot down, T. rex used its tippy toes! New research on the dinosaur's biomechanics found that the tyrannosaur hit the ground toe first and utilized short strides to accelerate, much like how modern birds run.🦖 Really fun story for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/s...

T. Rex Ran on Its Tiptoes ‘Like an 8-Ton Chicken’

nytimes.com

T. rex might have looked something like an eight-ton chicken clucking about in the barnyard. Or put more soberly: T. rex may have walked in a kinda bird-like way. My thoughts on an intriguing new study for @jack-tamisiea.bsky.social article in @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/s...

T. Rex Ran on Its Tiptoes ‘Like an 8-Ton Chicken’

nytimes.com

Thanks to @jack-tamisiea.bsky.social for this beautiful coverage of our new paper in @nationalgeographic.bsky.social

Jack Tamisiea@jack-tamisiea.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Can apes imagine? A tea party-like experiment with a bonobo revealed that the ape could track pretend juice and grapes. The fascinating research features Kanzi, the late, great primate prodigy! New story for @nationalgeographic.bsky.social: www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...

Can apes imagine? A tea party-like experiment with a bonobo revealed that the ape could track pretend juice and grapes. The fascinating research features Kanzi, the late, great primate prodigy! New story for @nationalgeographic.bsky.social: www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...

Can bonobos use their imagination?

In a series of tea party-like experiments, a bonobo was able to identify imaginary juice and grapes.

nationalgeographic.com

We’ve been lucky to work with many famous scientists across history, and we look after many of their specimens today. Some of the most important are Charles Darwin's, which have been part of new research to understand more about them. Find out what's been revealed 👇 www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Contents of jars collected by Charles Darwin revealed in new scans | Natural History Museum

Almost two centuries after Charles Darwin’s pioneering voyage, his specimens are still inspiring groundbreaking new science.

nhm.ac.uk

Who are you calling a featherweight?!? Meet Xenovenator, a new species of troodontid from Mexico that sported a bony knob that may have been used to head-butt rival raptors. Latest for @nytimes.com featuring some awesome art from @dragonsofwales.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/s...

You Wouldn’t Want to Butt Heads With This Small Dinosaur

nytimes.com

🪰 The frog book New York ;Doubleday, Page, 1907. [Source]

For #FossilFriday a small #IsleofWight iguanodontian dinosaur tibia in the collections @nhm-london.bsk.social. What makes it special is that it is from the Gideon Mantell collection. The fossil takes me back 125 million years but its history casts me back to the 1820s.

14,400 years ago, a wolf puppy scarfed down woolly rhino scraps. Researchers recovered genetic material from the wolf's final meal and used it to recreate the genome of one of the last woolly rhinos! 🐺 🦏 Latest for @nationalgeographic.bsky.social: www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

Researchers recover a woolly rhino genome from inside a frozen wolf's stomach

The work marks the first time an Ice Age animal’s complete genome has been recovered from tissue preserved inside another ancient animal.

nationalgeographic.com

ACTUAL GOOD NEWS EVERYONE: The Paleontological Research Institution and the Museum of the Earth have made it through the crisis! Thanks to everyone who shared or donated-every donation mattered! Please share the good news just as widely!⚒️🧪🦑 Together we did #savePRI www.ithaca.com/news/ithaca/...

‘Every Single Dollar Mattered’: Donations Save Museum of the Earth From Foreclosure

Just days before a year-end foreclosure deadline, the Museum of the Earth has paid off its mortgage following a wide fundraising campaign that rescued the Ithaca area landmark.

ithaca.com

Meet Manipulonyx ('Manipulating claw') a bizarre new #dinosaur from Mongolia whose hands featured a giant claw, two side digits and a set of spikes that were ideal for clutching eggs! Latest for @nytimes.com featuring paleoart from @joschuaknuppe.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/s...

This Dinosaur Really Knew How to Get a Grip

nytimes.com

You don't need a brain to appreciate a good night of sleep! New research revealed that jellyfish and sea anemones sleep for around 8 hours a day—the same amount as humans—and even get groggy! 🪼 Latest for @science.org with a great edit from @david-grimm.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

Jellyfish sleep a lot like us—and for the same reasons

Study adds to evidence that sleep likely evolved among ancient animals as a means of repairing neurons

science.org

In 2012, Patrick Keating and his dog, Kitty, teamed up to make an incredible fossil discovery on a Nova Scotia beach on the Northumberland Strait. What they found in rocks along the shore was the rib cage, backbone and partial sail of a sail-back amphibian – the first ever discovered here.

Celebrating the first #FossilFriday of 2026 by revisiting an old Smithsonian display focusing on a diverse array of rudists, bizarre bivalve mollusks that bit the big one at the end of the Cretaceous. Well, probably. Ammonites might've lingered around for the after-party, so who knows? ⚒️🧪🦪

Starting the new year by looking back at the top ten discoveries of 2025 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History featuring new pterosaurs, manta rays, dog domestication and much more! www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/nation...

A New Pterosaur, Ancient Asteroid Brine and More Discoveries from the National Museum of Natural History in 2025

The year’s most notable findings also include insights into dog and sheep domestication and a new species of manta ray in the museum’s collection

smithsonianmag.com

A festive #FossilFriday from the Cincinnati airport, one of the few (only?) places where you can eat Skyline chili amongst ice age megafauna!

Thousands of years ago, giant owls chowed down (and threw up) in a Caribbean cave. The bones they left behind were a boon to bees. Scientists recently discovered that one species made nests in the empty tooth sockets of rodent skulls. 🦉🦴🐝 Latest for @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/s...

When the Bones Were Good, These Bees Buried Their Babies

nytimes.com

I love hearing about fossils that hold more than meets the eye, especially when they hint at how different species interacted millions of years ago! In this article by @jack-tamisiea.bsky.social, scientists found fossil evidence that ancient bees nested in tooth cavities of dead rodents' skulls 🧪🐝💀

When the Bones Were Good, These Bees Buried Their Babies

nytimes.com

A Distinguished Dome: Yesterday the Smithsonian announced the acquisition of one of the most complete Pachycephalosaurus skull ever discovered! Read more about what museum scientists have in store for this spectacular specimen at the link below! #FossilFriday www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/nation...

What Do You Get a Museum That Has Almost Everything for the Holidays? One of the Most Spectacular Dome-Headed Dinosaur Skulls Ever Unearthed

The National Museum of Natural History’s new Pachycephalosaurus skull sheds light on enigmatic group of dinosaurs and will be on display during the holiday season

smithsonianmag.com

Say hello to Salwasiren qatarensis, a diminutive dugong relative discovered in Qatar's remarkable Al Maszhabiya that dates back to the Early Miocene! The site's fossils show that sea cows have been doing their thing in the Arabian Gulf for more than 20 million years! www.si.edu/newsdesk/rel...

Ancient Manatee Relative Reveals That Sea Cows Have Engineered the Arabian Gulf’s Seagrass Ecosystems for Over 20 Million Years

si.edu