Dave Blackburn explaining concept of “extended specimen” at idigbio workshop on Gondwanan research

The origin of the phylum, Bryozoa, has long been debated by researchers, but a new analysis of a fossil from the Cambrian of Australia and South China pushes back its origin by 35 million years! Read more at tinyurl.com/Bryozoa and bit.ly/BryozoaScan

New research from @UNED has identified what could be the largest terrestrial lizard fossil in Europe! An analysis of a fossil specimen suggests that a member of the Varanus genus was found in the Iberian Peninsula before previously expected. Read more at bit.ly/Hernandez2022

Calling all educators! MorphoSource is excited to release a holiday lesson plan activity for k-12 students. Students can explore festive 3D scans on MorphoSource and learn more about paleontology! Check it out at: bit.ly/MorphosourceHoliday

Exciting new research finds that dolphins and whales evolved their large brains before echolocation! This find adds evidence to the idea that large brains are necessary to support complex cognition. Check out their paper and scans: bit.ly/McCurryetal bit.ly/dolphinscan

What did dinosaurs eat? Fossilized gastric pellets can answer this question! Researchers have used regurgitalites of the Troodon formosus to explore the dino diet and found evidence of mammal remains. Read more at bit.ly/dinodiet and bit.ly/Alphadon

The marine iguana has its home on land and underwater, but what underlies its uniqueness? Scientists from @UAlberta reveal their distinct morphological features that give us clues into their evolutionary past. Read more at bit.ly/Paparella21 and bit.ly/iguanaCT

How do the specimens you see in zoos differ from their wild counterparts? Researchers from @FieldMuseum measured the trunk vertebrae in xenarthran species to see how wild vs captive ecology impacts bone microstructure. Check out bit.ly/Zack2021 and bit.ly/XenarthranCT

The era of big data is here, and it has exciting potential for revealing macroevolutionary drivers of biodiversity. Researchers at @uniofoxford shared CT scans of 149 bird species on MorphoSource (bit.ly/birdvariation) and new methods to quantify variation across bird taxa

Do your tooth roots indicate your body size? Recent research from @NCState uses the tooth root surface area to predict the body size of primates, which also helps researchers make sense of incomplete fossils! Read more at bit.ly/Deutsch2021 and check out the CT scans below!