Kelsey Jenkins, PhD
@reptiliferous.bsky.social
Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History Paleontologist, herpetologist, and Cajun. Love fossils, phylogenetics, and reptiles. (she/her). Cooking adventures on instagram @cook_with_kels
New research out today! Some animals have three eyes?! This eye isn't for "seeing" per se, but it's connected to a part of the brain responsible for regulating body temperature. So if you see a lizard basking out in the sun to get warm, oftentimes this eye plays a central role. But there's more...
New research out today! Some lizards lose their ears over the course of evolutionary history. This isn’t uncommon for fossorial species, like snakes and other limbless lizards. But, other instances often go without explanation. We look at one such instance, in a group known as the “sand lizards.”
We’re hiring a herpetology curator @nhm-london.bsky.social - come join us! jobs.nhm.ac.uk/internal/Job...
Senior Curator in Charge, Herpetology:South Kensington
jobs.nhm.ac.uk
My fellow naturalists, I figured out how to break google AI.
Today's #PaleoArt Highlight features Dakota Wraith by paleotufts_studios 🦖🎨 Four baby #T.rex wander from their nest into the #HellCreek forest at night. It seems fun… except they are not the top predators They’re being hunted 👀 by a #Dakotaraptor It just needs to find them first
Idk about you, but the this is my favorite stage of writing a manuscript.
It is with the heaviest heart that I say Hans Sues has passed away. He was an excellent postdoctoral advisor, and I’m so grateful to have even had a fraction of time with his mentorship. I know our community is heartbroken at this loss.
Twas my first #SICB2026, and what a lovely meeting! As a paleo, I don’t always know what the right meetings are for me, but such a welcoming environment!
Surprise, there's a fourth paper! Just out today, we segmented the skull of the Permian stem reptile Protorothyris, so you don't have to! Work done with Adam Behlke and @hanssues.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... All meshes also available on Morphosource.
Kelsey Jenkins, PhD@reptiliferous.bsky.social · 8mo agoThird: New work that helps us understand the evolution of herbivory in a charismatic little group of Permo-Triassic stem reptiles, led by Selena Martinez! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Third: New work that helps us understand the evolution of herbivory in a charismatic little group of Permo-Triassic stem reptiles, led by Selena Martinez! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Procolophonids display unique tooth morphologies in relation to reptilian herbivory | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core
Procolophonids display unique tooth morphologies in relation to reptilian herbivory
cambridge.org
Kelsey Jenkins, PhD@reptiliferous.bsky.social · 8mo agoSecond: Recent phylogenies of early amniotes and stem reptiles have really been in a state of flux lately. Why might that be? With @lizardmanmeyer.bsky.social and Anjan Bhullar, we explore the effects of taxonomic sample on our understanding of these relationships: academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
Second: Recent phylogenies of early amniotes and stem reptiles have really been in a state of flux lately. Why might that be? With @lizardmanmeyer.bsky.social and Anjan Bhullar, we explore the effects of taxonomic sample on our understanding of these relationships: academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
Phylogenetic paradigm shifts in early amniote evolution
Abstract. The dichotomy within Amniota (mammals and reptiles) was recognized early in the history of phylogenetic systematics, and with it developed a cano
academic.oup.com
Kelsey Jenkins, PhD@reptiliferous.bsky.social · 8mo agoA few new papers out recently that I'm excited to share with you! First: How well could stem reptiles hear? www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A few new papers out recently that I'm excited to share with you! First: How well could stem reptiles hear? www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Evidence for high-frequency hearing in a Permian stem reptile - Nature Communications
Hearing evolved in most amniotes by the late Permian, but its origins in reptiles remain poorly understood. Here, using biomechanical and morphometric analyses, the authors show that high frequency hearing likely had evolved in reptiles by the late Permian.
nature.com
I'm recruiting a PhD student to join the lab at @gtsciences.bsky.social in Fall 2026! Broad taxonomic and topical freedom under the umbrella of vertebrate joint form and function. Information here: www.manafzadeh.com – please share 🦴🩻
Armita R. Manafzadeh@armanafzadeh.bsky.social · last yr.✨Some news✨: after finishing my postdoc, I’ll be starting my lab as an Assistant Professor at Georgia Tech. Join us in Atlanta to study how joints work and where they come from!
Post your last photo of DC to show what a hell-hole it is. That’s one green hell-hole. Taken from the top of the National Cathedral.
Jeremy Yoder says no war@jbyoder.org · last yr.Post your last photo of DC to show what a hell-hole it is. Stealing cat-valor from @colincarlson.bsky.social but this is apparently the very latest photo I’ve taken in DC
I am proud and grateful to present a dream project today in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41... Meet #Mirasaura grauvogeli, a #wonderreptilewith skin appendages that rival feathers and hairs, challenging our view of reptile #evolution🪶🦎
Mesquite 4 beta released! Many new features, esp. phylogenomic. Check out the trailer and longer video on the home page: www.mesquiteproject.org, and use the download link there to get a copy. Feedback welcome! Ask and discuss on our new Google Group (groups.google.com/g/mesquite-p...).
The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology is having a virtual town hall meeting tomorrow, Thursday, 22 May 2025, to discuss this year's annual meeting as well as to address logistics for future SVP meetings. Please attend if interested!
New paper from the lab: Our teeth arose as sensory organs on the outside of the body of ancient jawless fish.!! Congrats to Yara Haridy and the team! Background and video: phys.org/news/2025-05... Open Access Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... News and Views: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Teeth first evolved as sensory tissue in the armored exoskeletons of ancient fish, fossil scans find
Anyone who has ever squirmed through a dental cleaning can tell you how sensitive teeth can be. This sensitivity gives important feedback about temperature, pressure—and yes, pain—as we bite and chew ...
phys.org
Our report on employment is out in Paleobiology (They did let us append that the paper was accepted before the election/changes to NSF and other granting agencies) Employment in paleontology: status and trends in the United States | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Employment in paleontology: status and trends in the United States | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Employment in paleontology: status and trends in the United States
cambridge.org
That moment when you're almost done writing the Discussion section, and you realize you need to run more analyses.
Learning about third eyes at the Smithsonian today!
Day 8 of photoshopping @lastweektonight.com's John Oliver with fossils in the hopes that he saves the Paleontological Research Institution This Yorktown Formation Mercenaria in our collections might make a nice desk for our H. sapiens (if this were to scale) #molluskmonday #savePRI
Dr. Brendan Anderson@fossilsndcoffee.bsky.social · last yr.Day 7 of photoshopping @lastweektonight.com's John Oliver onto fossils in the hopes that he saves the Paleontological Research Institution Fossil is the Jurassic prototeuthinid squid Plesioteuthis prisca (PRI 70607), comedian is H. sapiens. #savePRI #MuseumoftheEarth #fossils 🦑⚒️
Hey, academics! Have you signed a book contract lately? You should report your royalty/advance rate anonymously on this spreadsheet. Are you negotiating, or about to be negotiating, a book contract? You should take a look at the spreadsheet. docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Academic publishing rates sharing
docs.google.com
New pub alert! 🚨 and the final installment of papers from my dissertation! Really happy to share this work on Triassic cynodonts that reveals surprising growth differences, helping to reshape our understanding of stem mammal evolution #ThinSectionThursday #Paleontology #Cynodonts #Triassic
Disparate life histories in coeval Triassic cynodonts and their implications for the evolution of mammalian life histories | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Disparate life histories in coeval Triassic cynodonts and their implications for the evolution of mammalian life histories
cambridge.org
How’s your research going today? Because I’ve been oscillating between these two extremes.
I’ve been waiting so long to share the most beautiful dinosaur display I’ve ever seen for #FossilFriday - spotted in downtown DC 😍
I was too lost in the scientific sauce to #FossilFriday today, so please enjoy an old pic from the Dr. Seuss gallery in New Orleans. What kind of creature even is this?
