WitmerLab

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!

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

Finished skeletonizing this hyacinth macaw today & made this cranial kinesis vid. Full vid on the WitmerLab FB.

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

We were honored today to have Prof. Doug Futuyma as our OCEES annual Darwin speaker! His Evolutionary Biology text has inspired generations of students. I had him sign my 1st edition that I bought as an undergrad in 1979! He also signed my copy of his excellent new bird book!

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

I always enjoying giving a presentation to the @OhioU Museum Fundamentals class. We chat about holotypes & referred specimens, specimen acquisition & preparation, and accession & curation. Plus cool dinosaurs & exotic modern-day animals! Fun group w/ great questions! 🦖🦕🐊🦏🪶

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

It's #NationalFossilDay—https://t.co/OpmJ2G4gkl! We always try to do something outreach-y, and this year I gave an invited talk to the @OhioU Geology Club. The focus was how we use anatomical studies of modern-day species to shed light on the biology of extinct dinosaurs. 🦖🦕

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

For #TyrannosaurTuesday, here's @OhioU sophomore researcher Klazina McKeigan digging into the details of T. rex skulls using the brilliant 1/6-scale 3D print set of Stan (NHMAD 2020.00001) from @bhigr_ep. Klazina is training for a new project that you'll hear more about later! 🦖

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

#FossilFriday Had a packed house the other night for a lab tour for the @OhioU Geology Club. Over 2 hours of great questions & lotsa laughs! Thanks to Evan Doles & Abbie Fausnaugh for the photos! See ALT for captions. 🦖🦕🐊

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

Happening now... @OhioU undergrad Garnet Kish is starting in on a lovely anhinga carcass donated to us from @SeabirdStation in Miami. We always first respectfully explore the exterior before going inside. Dissection is a privilege we don't take lightly. Each specimen has a story.

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

Welcome to new @OhioU research undergrad Garnet Kish to the lab! She’s a junior biology student in the prestigious OHIO Honors program. Today was more albatross fun! Here Garnet marvels at the amazing automatic wing flexion-extension mechanism—all run by ligaments & tendons!

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

Success! Today, @OhioU senior Casey Funk & I extracted the brain from an albatross carcass for her project comparing real brains w/ digital endocasts. We extracted the brain with optic nerves & eyeballs still attached, which took some doing! More to see once it's formalin-fixed.

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

Two months ago I set up this little exhibit at the local Athens Public Library for their summer "Unearth a Story" series. We did a big public event there with tons more skulls a week later. But...summer's over & time for them to come back to the lab. I'm a little sad actually. 🦖

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

It's #InternationalCatDay and #caturday so we'll dip into the #PinkysDinosaurAdventure archives for an image of 8-week-old Pinky the Kitten with a somewhat larger friend.

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

The 2nd day of the @NHK TV documentary shoot took place in WitmerLab at @OhioU. They shot tons of B-roll since we have sooo many skulls! We also shot interviews with me perched in front of a workstation with data & 3D prints of brain endocasts of @SUEtheTrex & Triceratops. 2/2

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

Last week I hosted the Japanese TV network @NHK to film another fun documentary. The focus was T. rex & Triceratops. We CT scanned a replica T. rex braincase at @OhioHealth O'Bleness Hospital, recreating what we did with the real deal >20 yrs ago (see captions). More below⬇️ 1/2

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

#FossilFriday Not my normal adult beverage, but when a hard seltzer is called "Dinosaurs on TV" & I'm hosting a documentary film crew this weekend to make, yes, dinosaurs on TV, I'm buyin'! Plus, the brewer is Jackie O's, our favorite local brewery here in Athens, Ohio. 🦖🍺

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

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 @FieldMuseum but Elmer Riggs' holotype is still in the collection & a cast is at O'Hare airport.

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

Excited to see this #OA article ably led by Federico "Dino" Degrange come out today in @RoyalSociety Open Science on the brain endocast & feeding strategies of the Early Paleocene stem-anseriform Conflicto: https://t.co/ZvWkPa2wft. Proud to be on this team & work with Dino again!

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

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!🦖🦕

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

WitmerLab members will be putting on another public event at our local Athens Public Library next Tuesday, June 16th—https://t.co/6H4jEAcYnb. 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

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

WitmerLab members will be putting on another public event at our local Athens Public Library next Tuesday, June 16th—https://t.co/6H4jEAcYnb. 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

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

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! 🧠

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

Hey, @United, I respect your centennial and all, but is it necessary to desecrate a beloved landmark that for some of us makes @fly2ohare something of a destination airport? 🦕

[WitmerLab @WitmerLab]

After a stimulating 1st day of our meeting of our Deep Time Cognition grant team, bringing together scholars from Lund Univ (Sweden), Charles Univ (Czech Republic), Univ. of Edinburgh (Scotland) & Ohio Univ (USA). Thanks to @SteveBrusatte & his team for hosting us in Edinburgh!