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WitmerLab at Ohio University

@witmerlab.bsky.social

21st-century approaches to fleshing out the past! Mission: to use the structure of past & present animals to interpret evolutionary history...and to share it!

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WitmerLab at Ohio University@witmerlab.bsky.social · last mo.

Happy July 4th! We'll celebrate the USA's 250th birthday with the iconic American dinosaur Brachiosaurus, discovered on July 4, 1900 in Colorado! A cast used to be mounted outside the Field Museum in Chicago but Elmer Riggs' holotype is still in the collection & a cast is at O'Hare airport. 🦕

The cast of the full skeleton of Brachiosaurus mounted outside the northwest terrace of the Field Museum in Chicago, silhouetted by the sun. I took this photo in 2011. In 2022, the cast was dismantled and recycled due to weathering damage, which is sad.Witmer in 2017 with the holotype femur (FMNH P 25107) of Brachiosaurus altithorax in the collections of Field Museum of Natural History. A page from the 1903 article in which Elmer Riggs names and figures the holotype skeleton of Brachiosaurus altithorax.Witmer in 2023 with the mounted Brachiosaurus skeleton at the United Airlines Terminal at O'Hare International Airport (Terminal 1, Concourse B). On that day in May 2023, the skeleton thankfully wasn't dressed up in a sports jersey or corporate garb which I think diminishes and cheapens the impact of the amazing skeleton.
WitmerLab at Ohio University@witmerlab.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Our "Unearthing a Story" dinosaur event at the Athens Public Library a couple days ago was a great success! Lotsa kids & parents—& it can be hard to tell who's more eager! I gave a little talk but the big thing is the hands-on opportunity to explore! Thanks to our team & APL!🦖🦕

The WitmerLab team that worked the "Unearthing a Story" event at the Athens Public Library. In front is Ohio University undergrad Casey Funk and standing (from left) former master's grad student Daniel Dunfee, former PhD student Ruger Porter, and Larry Witmer. Two boys explore the cast skull of Dromaeosaurus. We encourage the public to (gently) touch the specimens, and we're on hand to not just engage and explain but also to monitor the activity but frankly the parents generally are more concerned than we are. We want them to explore...I have glue. Photo by Casey Funk.Undergrad Casey Funk speaks with a young library patron about Allosaurus. Casey is a senior in the Ohio University College of Arts & Sciences pre-health track studying biology and psychology.This is the first time we've taken our T. rex foot along and it was a big hit. Kids (and adults) liked to line their foot up next to T. rex's to get a visceral sense of the scale! Photo by Casey Funk.
WitmerLab at Ohio University@witmerlab.bsky.social · 2mo ago

WitmerLab members will be putting on another public event at our local Athens Public Library next Tuesday, June 16th—https://bit.ly/4xrOiSM. Today, I put together a little exhibit at the library, too. It's all part of the library's June theme of "Unearth a Story." #FossilFriday 🦖🦕

Witmer stands next to a tall display cabinet filled with dinosaur skull casts at the Athens Public Library, which he just set up in advance of his upcoming public dinosaur event at the library next Tuesday, June 16th: https://bit.ly/4xrOiSM.
WitmerLab at Ohio University@witmerlab.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The workshop in Edinburgh, Scotland, for the Deep Time Cognition grant team was amazing! Stimulating, inspiring, and so much fun! We worked hard by day & almost as hard at the pub in the evenings, plus a fossil-collecting excursion! See ALT for comments. More photos coming! 🧠

Members of the Deep Time Cognition grant team outside the Royal Society of Edinburgh. From left: Ryan Ridgely, Milly Mead, Mathias Osvath, Helena Osvath, Fraser Weston, George Poon, Kristina Kverková, Simon Grendeus, Thibault Boehly, Lona Lalić, Adam Manning, Larry Witmer, Thomas Rejsenhus Jensen, Steve Brusatte, Pavel Němec.The Deep Time Cognition grant team met in the lovely Kelvin Room at the Royal Society of Edinburgh.Group photo of the Deep Time Cognition team at the shore of Wardie Bay at low tide to collect 335-million-year-old fossils (lots of fish and plants are known but we mostly found shark spiral coprolites). Here Steve Brusatte is giving us a run-down of the history and geology of the locality. The fact that the 300th anniversary of the birth of James Hutton, "the Father of Modern Geology," was the day we were there—and Hutton (and Darwin!) collected there—made it extra special!The four principal investigators (PIs) of the Deep Time Cognition grant paused at Wardie Shore for a photo. From left: Larry Witmer (Ohio University, USA), Mathias Osvath (project director, Lund University, Sweden), Steve Brusatte (University of Edinburgh, Scotland), and Pavel Němec (Charles University, Czechia).
WitmerLab at Ohio University@witmerlab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Surprised this week to find that a new dinosaur species bears my name—sorta. Paul Penkalski named a species of Pinacosaurus after a 2003 paper. P. hilwitnorum combines the authors Rob Hill, me (Witmer), & Mark Norell. Cool to see that our article—https://bit.ly/4nC5PTU—is still relevant!

A specimen of Pinacosaurus that was described in 2003 by Rob Hill, me (Witmer), and the late great Mark Norell was made the holotype of a new species—Pinacosaurus hilwitnorum—in an article this week by Paul Penkalski. By combining the first three letters of each author's name, he honored our 2003 collaboration (https://bit.ly/4nC5PTU). Paul Penkalski studying ankylosaurian dinosaur skulls in WitmerLab in 2015. Here's a link to his 2026 Historical Biology article reviewing the systematics of Pinacosaurus and naming P. hilwitnorum: https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2026.2633178
WitmerLab at Ohio University@witmerlab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Excited to welcome Justyna Słowiak of the Institute of Paleobiology at the Polish Academy of Sciences for a couple weeks. We're collaborating on aspects of skull evolution of the Mongolian tyrannosaurid Tarbosaurus. Stay tuned for more from Dr. Słowiak—& from our collaboration!🦖

Justyna Słowiak of the Institute of Paleobiology at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, seated at a bench in WitmerLab surrounded by casts of skull bones of the Mongolian tyrannosaurid Tarbosaurus.
WitmerLab at Ohio University@witmerlab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Had a great time this week at the RoyalTyrrell Museum, culminating in the CurrieFest symposium yesterday, honoring Phil Currie's 50 years in Alberta! It was a special day—and a total surprise for Phil! Otherwise, I was in the collections & had a full day on my own in the exhibits!

Phil Currie and me (Witmer) at the CurrieFest event, celebrating Phil's 50 years in Alberta and honoring his contributions to paleontology and his profound influence on so many people, myself included!An amazing complete skeleton of the tyrannosaurid Gorgosaurus (TMP 1999.33.1 ) in the collections of the Tyrrell Museum. An amazing complete skeleton of the tyrannosaurid Gorgosaurus (TMP 1999.33.1 ) in the collections of the Tyrrell Museum. This specimen is notable for a number of reasons, especially for having a complete gastral basket (that is, belly ribs called gastralia).I had a full day in the exhibits on Monday when the Tyrrell Museum is closed to the public. I was able to climb into several exhibits to study original fossil specimens, but also take some great photos of the wonderful exhibits without museum patrons in the way.
WitmerLab at Ohio University@witmerlab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Congratulations to graduating senior Grace Vance who defended her honors thesis on cranial vascular adaptations for diving in seals this week & submitted it today! We'll send it off for publication soon. Grace is a truly impressive person with a bright future! Off to Purdue for her PhD!

Graduating Ohio University senior Grace Vance holds her complete and submitted senior honors thesis on cranial vascular adaptations for deep diving in seals. In front of her on a table is the skull of an adult male hooded seal.Graduating Ohio University senior Grace Vance presents her senior honors thesis research on cranial vascular adaptations for deep diving in seals.Grace Vance presents her seal research poster to Dr. Kenneth C. and Gayle A. Reed at today's Research Fair for our Ohio Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies (OCEES). Dr. Reed is a generous donor to our OCEES student programs, funding multiple fellowships. Graduating Ohio University senior Grace Vance holds her complete and submitted senior honors thesis on cranial vascular adaptations for deep diving in seals. Standing next to her is Witmer, Grace's proud research mentor.
WitmerLab at Ohio University@witmerlab.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Excited to report that Scripps School of Journalism student @eric-boll.bsky.social published his master's thesis research (which I helped supervise) on aspects of news coverage of paleo in the 1990s in @historicalbiology.bsky.social: bit.ly/41VMS4e. It also elicited an editorial: bit.ly/4spzQH9! 🦖

Eric Boll peers through the jaws of Tyrannosaurus rex, along with a copy of the Michael Crighton novel Jurassic Park, which according to his research was, along with the movie, a major influence on news coverage of paleontology and dinosaurs in the 1990s.
Eric Boll@eric-boll.bsky.social · 4mo ago

A huge thank you to @cooperpalaeo.bsky.social for writing an editorial about my recent publication in @historicalbiology.bsky.social! It feels fantastic to know that others recognize the value of my work! Check out the editorial by clicking this link: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A picture of Eric Boll posed in the jaw of a T. rex with a copy of the Jurassic Park novel also in the jaws.
WitmerLab at Ohio University@witmerlab.bsky.social · 5mo ago

@ohiouniversity.bsky.social undergrad researcher in our lab Klazina McKeigan spent her Spring Break in Chicago & visited the Field Museum. She snapped photos with such luminaries as @suethetrex.bsky.social, the Chicago Archaeopteryx, & a mount Majungasaurus—same one she's been learning in our lab!

Ohio University freshman Klazina McKeigan at the Field Museum in Chicago with SUE the T. rex (FMNH PR 2081).Ohio University freshman Klazina McKeigan at the Field Museum at the new Chicago Archaeopteryx exhibit. Ohio University freshman Klazina McKeigan at the Field Museum in Chicago with Majungasaurus (FMNH PR 2100).
WitmerLab at Ohio University@witmerlab.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Another @ohiouniversity.bsky.social undergrad joining our lab is bio freshman Klazina McKeigan. She's in the selective @ouhcom.bsky.social Early Assurance Program—she's already accepted into our med school! But for now Klazina is starting research on her other passion—dinosaurs! See ALT for details.

Another Ohio University undergraduate joining our lab this semester is Klazina McKeigan, a freshman in Biological Sciences. As a high-school senior, Klazina was accepted into the highly competitive Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Early Assurance Program, meaning that she's already been accepted to our medical school (where I'm also faculty)! But for now, Klazina is starting research on her other passion, which is dinosaurs! As a kid, she visited dino haunts like the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, and this week (our spring break) she's been in Chicago visiting the Field Museum. This semester she's been digging into skull structure of birds and reptiles...and now starting into dinosaurs, as with the disarticulated Majungasaurus skull she's working on here! Stay tuned for more!
WitmerLab at Ohio University@witmerlab.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Evan Doles, geology undergrad in our @OhioU Honors Tutorial College, has been digging into extant anatomy this semester to build a foundation for studying dinosaurs. Lately he’s been dissecting a common extant dinosaur, a domestic pigeon, which he finished today. 🦖🕊️

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