Head of paleontology @naturalsciences & Associate Research Professor @NCSUBioSci. President of @JurassicFDN. https://xitter.cf/t.co/mavods7lCl

Raleigh, North Carolina
Joined November 2012
If you haven't heard... the Dueling Dinosaurs experience is now open @NaturalSciences. It was an eight-year journey to get here filled with amazing moments and fueled by the hearts and souls of so many. Let's look back.
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New MADEx paper led by @gravelmonkey_76 in @sedimentology: we refine the geology & paleoenvironment of Mongolia’s Bayanshiree Fm, home to iconic taxa like Segnosaurus & Garudimimus. A 95.5–89.6 Ma age ties it to the peak of the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum🌡 doi.org/10.1111/sed.70054
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They say things happen in three... It's been a busy couple of months w/ the announcement of our new pachycephalosaur #dinosaur #Zavacephale, resurrection of #Nanotyrannus, and now, published today, the final of our big impact papers of 2025... direct dating of dinosaur fossils!
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This is seriously cool stuff… direct dating eggshell is a huge advance. We are already dating dinosaur eggs worldwide, and we can't wait better to constrain questions about #dinosaur ecology and evolution!
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Whew. A little thing happened today. Honored to have done this work with the outstanding @JGN_Paleo. I was a skeptic when I stepped into this, but no denying it #Nanotyrannus is valid. @JGN_Paleo and I left no stone unturned. And by the way, there are juvi T. rex, stay tuned...
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incredible artwork by Anthony Hutchings. A pack of #Nanotyrannus attacking a juvenile T. rex... too on the nose?
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It's real. And it's spectacular. Sometimes, one fossil really can change everything you think you know. NEW PAPER (see bottom of thread) AND 🧵
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New insights into early therizinosaur evolution! Newly described cranial bones of Falcarius utahensis—the oldest known therizinosaur—reveal key transitions in skull form and feeding anatomy. Freimuth & Zanno: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wi…
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What are the biggest questions in #paleontology? New paper out now in Paleobiology led by Smith & Kiessling with ~200 coauthors, on the relevance of our field, methods, & museum collections to climate & biodiversity research🦖 #FossilFriday @PaleoSoc 🔗 cambridge.org/core/journals/…
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Lindsay Zanno retweeted
#FossilFriday Many questions unanswered or even we have not thought about them left behind the sciences. A team of >200 scientists globally joined to answer these mysterious/untouched questions to recover the hidden knowledges. Find BIG team’s BIG Questions paper in the comment.
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Announcing Zavacephale! So excited to share this cute little beastie with the world! Zavacephale is the oldest and most complete pachy. It’s also a juvenile with a full set of combat headgear! Check out our paper published in Nature today. nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
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The night sky in the #gobi desert of #mongolia does not disappoint. We even caught the total lunar eclipse! #MADEx2025 #dinodig25 @NaturalSciences @NCStateBioSci @NCStateSciences
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For our final week, we set up base camp in the southernmost Gobi. We made some spectacular discoveries… tiny crocs, embryonic dinos, minuscule coprolites filled w/ lizard bones, and mammals that scurried about under dinosaur feet. This place is magic. #MADEx2025 #dinodig25
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Stopped at the Flaming Cliffs for a night of sleeping under the stars on our way to base camp 3 in the southernmost Gobi. Still bone and eggshell to be found. Be still my beating heart. #MADEx2025 #dinodig25
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