Ed Stanley

@drscanley.bsky.social

Research Scientist at the Florida Museum, PI on the NoCTURN research network. I use CT scanning and other imaging techniques to study the evolution, systematics and comparative morphology of reptiles, amphibians and all kinds of other critters.

Our latest paper started out as a DDIG project 14 years ago and grew into an interdisciplinary reassessment of Madagascar's oldest fossil lizard, showing that Konkasaurus mahalana is a gerrhosaur and the earliest known colonization from Africa by an extant Madagascan lineage. doi.org/10.1093/zool...

A CT scan of the fossil lizard Konkasaurus mahalana showing bones and osteoderms

Keeping it local for world lizard day- Rhineura floridana, also known as the Florida worm lizard or, brilliantly, the thunderworm, is a truly bizarre and wonderful creature. Eyeless, burrowing and restricted to the sandy soils of the sunshine state. What a fabulous weirdo!

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Delighted to receive my bizarre beast spiny mouse pins. I really love the video they put together, and am tickled that the armored, Eocene hedgehog thing, Pholidocercus, gets a shout out too!

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I’m excited for the upcoming publication of our paper summarizing the lessons learned from seven years of specimen digitization. The oVert project has produced tens of thousands of datasets and is changing the way people view and use collections.

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Happy Halloween! No eye of newt or toe of frog, but here's a (sort of) blindworm's sting! Atractaspis, or stiletto snakes are so-named as they have a sharpened tail that they can poke attackers with, in addition to some pretty formidable fangs! UF:herp:68168 Atractaspis irregularis.

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The Florida Museum of Natural History Is looking to hire a new assistant curator of vertebrate paleontology! I’m really excited about the addition of another dynamic and innovative colleague, continuing our run of hiring amazing new curators in ornithology, mammalogy and AI! t.co/4bC6tZQnT3

It’s wonderful to spend some time in Dorset during the summer. I’ve never appreciated how many lizards and snakes were within a few miles of my childhood home! Zootoca, Lacerta, Anguis and Natrix! 2/3rds of British reptile diversity in a few days! Will keep Vipera & Coronella for the next visit!

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