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#pleistocene — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #pleistocene, aggregated by home.social.

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  1. New blog post!

    A little Ice Age leg bone for our new exhibit.

    life-from-a-certain-point-of-v

    As always, if you like these posts please leave a tip or become a subscriber. All proceeds support research and education at the Western Science Center.

    #paleontology #palaeontology #fossil #pleistocene #museum #scicomm

  2. New blog post!

    A little Ice Age leg bone for our new exhibit.

    life-from-a-certain-point-of-v

    As always, if you like these posts please leave a tip or become a subscriber. All proceeds support research and education at the Western Science Center.

    #paleontology #palaeontology #fossil #pleistocene #museum #scicomm

  3. 🐂 A surprisingly common bone in county museum collections across the Midwest — and one that’s often left unidentified — is the sternum. For the bison collections I've researched I usually see disarticulated individual segments, called sternebrae. They are the sixth most common post cranial element I’ve documented while out counting bones.

    The section shown here was most likely discovered during the construction of Interstate 94 — a story covered in Lost Bones #5.

    #Pleistocene #CitizenScience

  4. 🐂 A surprisingly common bone in county museum collections across the Midwest — and one that’s often left unidentified — is the sternum. For the bison collections I've researched I usually see disarticulated individual segments, called sternebrae. They are the sixth most common post cranial element I’ve documented while out counting bones.

    The section shown here was most likely discovered during the construction of Interstate 94 — a story covered in Lost Bones #5.

    #Pleistocene #CitizenScience

  5. Eremotherium for #FossilFriday.
    This towering giant ground sloth, Eremotherium laurillardi, stands in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Remounted on a custom steel armature during the 2019 renovation of the Hall of Fossils–Deep Time, its external support structure is a piece of engineering artwork in its own right.

    The animal reportedly contains more than 80% genuine fossil bone and stands 13 feet tall.

    #pleistocene #paleontology #iceage #groundsloth #citizenscience

  6. Eremotherium for #FossilFriday.
    This towering giant ground sloth, Eremotherium laurillardi, stands in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Remounted on a custom steel armature during the 2019 renovation of the Hall of Fossils–Deep Time, its external support structure is a piece of engineering artwork in its own right.

    The animal reportedly contains more than 80% genuine fossil bone and stands 13 feet tall.

    #pleistocene #paleontology #iceage #groundsloth #citizenscience

  7. It's a follow-up #FossilFriday
    The mysterious bone fragment I posted about last year has an ID! After examination by the Science Museum of Minnesota, as suspected, the specimen has been confirmed as a mastodon tooth cusp.

    A simple gravel‑bar discovery has turned into a scientific find — another reminder that Ice Age history is still hiding in plain sight across the Midwest.

    If you would you have recognized it let me know.

    #mastodon #mammut #pleistocene #paleontology #citizenscience #tooth

  8. It's a follow-up #FossilFriday
    The mysterious bone fragment I posted about last year has an ID! After examination by the Science Museum of Minnesota, as suspected, the specimen has been confirmed as a mastodon tooth cusp.

    A simple gravel‑bar discovery has turned into a scientific find — another reminder that Ice Age history is still hiding in plain sight across the Midwest.

    If you would you have recognized it let me know.

    #mastodon #mammut #pleistocene #paleontology #citizenscience #tooth

  9. RE: botany.social/@botanyone/11689

    how often do you read an article like this and then ask yourself: "Where are the biggest gaps in the seed-dispersal networks of Pleistocene America, and how can we stuff ground sloths and mastodons into them?"

    #pleistocene
    #mastodon
    #groundSloth

  10. RE: botany.social/@botanyone/11689

    how often do you read an article like this and then ask yourself: "Where are the biggest gaps in the seed-dispersal networks of Pleistocene America, and how can we stuff ground sloths and mastodons into them?"

    #pleistocene
    #mastodon
    #groundSloth

  11. my features published in @CurrentBiology this year, issue 13: Sparta the sleeping cave lion cub serves as the mascot for this feature about the #Pleistocene #megafauna that has gone missing one way or another.

    proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2 #science #ecology #evolution #genome #extinction #lions

  12. my features published in @CurrentBiology this year, issue 13: Sparta the sleeping cave lion cub serves as the mascot for this feature about the #Pleistocene #megafauna that has gone missing one way or another.

    proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2 #science #ecology #evolution #genome #extinction #lions

  13. For #FossilFriday, meet "Junior." I was able to take these photos recently at the new Bison: Standing Strong Smithsonian exhibit in Washington, DC.

    Junior is a massive Bison latifrons skull with horns over six feet wide. He was discovered along the Snake River near a reservoir in southeastern Idaho.

    Marie L. Hopkins, Idaho's first female paleontologist, excavated Junior and in 1951

    #womenwhodig #pleistocene #bison #paleontology #citizenscience

    Hopkins, M. L. (1951) doi.org/10.2307/1375374

  14. For #FossilFriday, meet "Junior." I was able to take these photos recently at the new Bison: Standing Strong Smithsonian exhibit in Washington, DC.

    Junior is a massive Bison latifrons skull with horns over six feet wide. He was discovered along the Snake River near a reservoir in southeastern Idaho.

    Marie L. Hopkins, Idaho's first female paleontologist, excavated Junior and in 1951

    #womenwhodig #pleistocene #bison #paleontology #citizenscience

    Hopkins, M. L. (1951) doi.org/10.2307/1375374

  15. 🐻 For #FossilFriday 🐂🦥🐴🐪🐟 a new #LostBones article is out on Substack! This one is a deep-deep dive into brown bear (Ursus arctos) and giant short-faced bears (Arctodus simus) in the Midwest and Surrounding areas.

    Please share to get out the word!

    See it thru the link in my bio or here: marcusbrandel.substack.com/p/l

    #Ursusarctos #Arctodussimus #Bears #GiantShortFacedBears #pleistocene #holocene #paleontology #iceage #fossil #citizenscience #sciencemuseumofmn

  16. 🐻 For #FossilFriday 🐂🦥🐴🐪🐟 a new #LostBones article is out on Substack! This one is a deep-deep dive into brown bear (Ursus arctos) and giant short-faced bears (Arctodus simus) in the Midwest and Surrounding areas.

    Please share to get out the word!

    See it thru the link in my bio or here: marcusbrandel.substack.com/p/l

    #Ursusarctos #Arctodussimus #Bears #GiantShortFacedBears #pleistocene #holocene #paleontology #iceage #fossil #citizenscience #sciencemuseumofmn

  17. Payre fossil teeth reveal regional diversity among Europe’s earliest Neanderthals

    A team led by the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana studied fossil teeth from the Payre site in southeastern France. The material comes from nine teeth found in layers linked to the Middle Pleistocene, around 250,000 years ago...

    More information: archaeologymag.com/2026/05/pay

    Follow @archaeology

    #archaeology #archeology #archaeologynews #anthropology #pleistocene #neanderthal

  18. Payre fossil teeth reveal regional diversity among Europe’s earliest Neanderthals

    A team led by the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana studied fossil teeth from the Payre site in southeastern France. The material comes from nine teeth found in layers linked to the Middle Pleistocene, around 250,000 years ago...

    More information: archaeologymag.com/2026/05/pay

    Follow @archaeology

    #archaeology #archeology #archaeologynews #anthropology #pleistocene #neanderthal

  19. #FossilFriday The final tooth—12 of 12—is SMM P2024.5.1, a lower molar found at Mississippi Gateway Regional Park (Brooklyn Park, MN) in 2023.

    Twelve 3D printed reproductions of the molars are also underway and are now receiving their final paint touches. Once complete, the original specimens will be carefully packed and shipped to UC Irvine’s W. M. Keck Carbon Cycle AMS Facility (KCCAMS) for radiocarbon dating.

    #LostBones #Pleistocene #Equus #MinnesotaHistory #Paleontology #CitizenScience

  20. #FossilFriday The final tooth—12 of 12—is SMM P2024.5.1, a lower molar found at Mississippi Gateway Regional Park (Brooklyn Park, MN) in 2023.

    Twelve 3D printed reproductions of the molars are also underway and are now receiving their final paint touches. Once complete, the original specimens will be carefully packed and shipped to UC Irvine’s W. M. Keck Carbon Cycle AMS Facility (KCCAMS) for radiocarbon dating.

    #LostBones #Pleistocene #Equus #MinnesotaHistory #Paleontology #CitizenScience

  21. Fossils from Chinese Cave Fill Crucial Gap in History of Gigantopithecus blacki

    Deep inside a limestone cave in southern China, paleontologists have uncovered an assemblage of thirteen fossilize…
    #NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Science #China #Climate #climatechange #Early-MiddlePleistocenetransition #Fossil #Gigantopithecus #Gigantopithecusblacki #Greatape #Guangxi #Hominid #paleoclimate #Pleistocene #Primate #Teeth #YanliCave1
    newsbeep.com/us/708719/

  22. #Neanderthal #brains measure up to ours—literally
    If you look at Neanderthal and #HomoSapiens #skulls, they’re visibly different: Neanderthal are lower and longer, ours tend to be rounder.
    New results suggest there’s more variation in brain size among modern people than between Neanderthals and #Pleistocene Homo sapiens. And because brain size is actually a terrible way to predict cognitive capability, Neanderthals could have be more like us than previous studies claimed.
    arstechnica.com/science/2026/0

  23. #Neanderthal #brains measure up to ours—literally
    If you look at Neanderthal and #HomoSapiens #skulls, they’re visibly different: Neanderthal are lower and longer, ours tend to be rounder.
    New results suggest there’s more variation in brain size among modern people than between Neanderthals and #Pleistocene Homo sapiens. And because brain size is actually a terrible way to predict cognitive capability, Neanderthals could have be more like us than previous studies claimed.
    arstechnica.com/science/2026/0

  24. Study: Cave Lions were Distinct Species that Occasionally Bred with Ancestors of Today’s Lions

    The extinct Eurasian cave lion (Panthera spelaea) and today’s African and Asian lions (Panthera leo) belong to separate…
    #NewsBeep #News #Wildlife #aDNA #Africanlion #Asianlion #AU #Australia #Cavelion #dna #Eurasia #Europe #Gene #Genome #lion #NorthAmerica #Panthera #Pantheraleo #Pantheraleospelaea #Pantheraspelaea #Pleistocene #protein #Science
    newsbeep.com/au/729379/

  25. "If there happened to be nuts and seeds and their favorite plants, that was great. If there happened to be a dead mammoth over there or a dead horse or whatever else, they ate that. Or if there happened to be some poop of a horse over there, they ate that." cbc.ca/news/science/frozen-squ

    #Pleistocene #Arctic #ecosystems #climateChange

  26. "If there happened to be nuts and seeds and their favorite plants, that was great. If there happened to be a dead mammoth over there or a dead horse or whatever else, they ate that. Or if there happened to be some poop of a horse over there, they ate that." cbc.ca/news/science/frozen-squ

    #Pleistocene #Arctic #ecosystems #climateChange

  27. New blog post! Sometimes a fragment of a bone is all you need:

    life-from-a-certain-point-of-v

    As always, if you enjoy this content please consider leaving a tip or becoming a subscriber. All proceeds support research and education at the Western Science Center.

    #paleontology #palaeontology #fossil #pleistocene #museum

  28. New blog post! Sometimes a fragment of a bone is all you need:

    life-from-a-certain-point-of-v

    As always, if you enjoy this content please consider leaving a tip or becoming a subscriber. All proceeds support research and education at the Western Science Center.

    #paleontology #palaeontology #fossil #pleistocene #museum

  29. 🐴 #YearOfTheHorse #FossilFriday 🐟🐘🦥🐴🐪 Specimen SMM P2025.8.6 — originally MNH 779 in the Minnesota Historical Society collection — comes from Nicollet County near St. Peter, Minnesota.

    Molar #11 of 12 in the statewide Ice Age horse project. All twelve will be heading to UC Irvine’s KCCAMS Facility for radiocarbon dating this summer.

    Follow the full 12 tooth journey in Lost Bones #4 and its updates through the link in my bio.

    #LostBones #Pleistocene #Equus #Paleontology #CitizenScience

  30. 🐴 #YearOfTheHorse #FossilFriday 🐟🐘🦥🐴🐪 Specimen SMM P2025.8.6 — originally MNH 779 in the Minnesota Historical Society collection — comes from Nicollet County near St. Peter, Minnesota.

    Molar #11 of 12 in the statewide Ice Age horse project. All twelve will be heading to UC Irvine’s KCCAMS Facility for radiocarbon dating this summer.

    Follow the full 12 tooth journey in Lost Bones #4 and its updates through the link in my bio.

    #LostBones #Pleistocene #Equus #Paleontology #CitizenScience

  31. 🐘 #MuseumSpotlight #FossilFriday 🐟🐘🦥🐴🐪 How often do you see a life‑sized mastodon full reconstruction?

    I happened across this fantastic display recently in the Entering the Ice Age exhibition at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton, Ohio. If you have nature‑ or paleo‑curious kids—I highly recommend a visit.

    They also have an excellent giant ground sloth and short‑faced bear skeletal replicas.

    boonshoft.org/

    #OhioMuseums #Pleistocene #Mastodon #Palaeontology #Ohio

  32. 🐘 #MuseumSpotlight #FossilFriday 🐟🐘🦥🐴🐪 How often do you see a life‑sized mastodon full reconstruction?

    I happened across this fantastic display recently in the Entering the Ice Age exhibition at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton, Ohio. If you have nature‑ or paleo‑curious kids—I highly recommend a visit.

    They also have an excellent giant ground sloth and short‑faced bear skeletal replicas.

    boonshoft.org/

    #OhioMuseums #Pleistocene #Mastodon #Palaeontology #Ohio

  33. 🐂 #LostBones #FossilFriday 🐟🐘🦥🐴🐪 This month I'm back out #CountingBones. At the Winnebago Area Museum a quiet storage room revealed bison and horse remains from two Blue Earth River sites

    Shout out: this museum has been entirely volunteer run for half a century — the kind of stewardship that will help keep Ice Age stories alive.

    Museum: winnebagoareamuseum.org

    Learn about the Lost Bones project: marcusbrandel.substack.com/abo
    .
    .
    .
    #Pleistocene #MnMuseums #Bison #Horse #Palaeontology #CitizenScience

  34. 🐂 #LostBones #FossilFriday 🐟🐘🦥🐴🐪 This month I'm back out #CountingBones. At the Winnebago Area Museum a quiet storage room revealed bison and horse remains from two Blue Earth River sites

    Shout out: this museum has been entirely volunteer run for half a century — the kind of stewardship that will help keep Ice Age stories alive.

    Museum: winnebagoareamuseum.org

    Learn about the Lost Bones project: marcusbrandel.substack.com/abo
    .
    .
    .
    #Pleistocene #MnMuseums #Bison #Horse #Palaeontology #CitizenScience

  35. Anthropology.net: The Bag Before the Bowl: Pleistocene Origins of Mobile Container Technology. “The new database, published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, documents 739 Pleistocene mobile containers drawn from 210 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.”

    https://rbfirehose.com/2026/05/15/the-bag-before-the-bowl-pleistocene-origins-of-mobile-container-technology-anthropology-net/
  36. Anthropology.net: The Bag Before the Bowl: Pleistocene Origins of Mobile Container Technology. “The new database, published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, documents 739 Pleistocene mobile containers drawn from 210 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.”

    https://rbfirehose.com/2026/05/15/the-bag-before-the-bowl-pleistocene-origins-of-mobile-container-technology-anthropology-net/
  37. 🐂 Happy #Minnesota #FossilFriday! 🦥🐴🐘🐪 These large upper bison molars — plus partial maxilla — are part of a 2024 donation to the Melrose Area Museum. The collection, contributed by a museum board member, also includes horn cores, mandibles, individual teeth, and other Ice Age materials.

    If you’re into Midwest deep time stories, follow along and explore the full project in my bio.

    #MelroseAreaHistoricalSociety #Pleistocene #Bovid #Bones #Palaeontology #Fossils #CitizenScience

  38. 🐂 Happy #Minnesota #FossilFriday! 🦥🐴🐘🐪 These large upper bison molars — plus partial maxilla — are part of a 2024 donation to the Melrose Area Museum. The collection, contributed by a museum board member, also includes horn cores, mandibles, individual teeth, and other Ice Age materials.

    If you’re into Midwest deep time stories, follow along and explore the full project in my bio.

    #MelroseAreaHistoricalSociety #Pleistocene #Bovid #Bones #Palaeontology #Fossils #CitizenScience

  39. 🐴🐘🐪 This tooth survived the end of the Ice Age in a gravel pit. 🦷

    Found 5 miles east of Montevideo, this lower horse molar may have belonged to one of the last Equus roaming Minnesota before their disappearance from North America. It’s tooth 10 in the 12 specimen project tracing Minnesota’s Ice Age horses.

    Follow the whole 12 tooth journey in Lost Bones #4 thru the link in my bio.

    #LostBones #FossilFriday #Pleistocene #Equus #MinnesotaHistory #Paleontology #CitizenScience #RadiocarbonDating

  40. 🐴🐘🐪 This tooth survived the end of the Ice Age in a gravel pit. 🦷

    Found 5 miles east of Montevideo, this lower horse molar may have belonged to one of the last Equus roaming Minnesota before their disappearance from North America. It’s tooth 10 in the 12 specimen project tracing Minnesota’s Ice Age horses.

    Follow the whole 12 tooth journey in Lost Bones #4 thru the link in my bio.

    #LostBones #FossilFriday #Pleistocene #Equus #MinnesotaHistory #Paleontology #CitizenScience #RadiocarbonDating

  41. African #frogs haven’t forgotten the ice ages. Scientists can tell by where they live floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/ paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10

    "the #CongoRainforest remained stable throughout the #Pleistocene ice ages. But as Earth’s #climate cooled and dried, the #Congo’s forest borders receded in some places, creating pockets of more or less stable forested areas called #refugia... they aligned with the modern diversity of frogs... & with the small distributions of #endemic species."

  42. 🦥🐴🐘🐪 #FossilFriday — A lower horse molar (SMM P2025.8.7) from Olmsted County is specimen 9 of 12 headed for radiocarbon dating.

    Olmsted County has produced multiple Ice Age finds over the years, including several mammoth tusks and both mammoth and mastodon teeth from county gravel deposits—many of which I’ve posted about previously.

    On Substack:
    open.substack.com/pub/marcusbr

    👇 What will the dates show—Ice Age or more recent?
    .
    .
    #Pleistocene #Equus #Paleontology #CitizenScience #RadiocarbonDating

  43. #FossilFriday #MnMuseum highlight: Carver County Historical Society. Carver County’s past is on display, anchored by a mammoth molar amid exhibits on Indigenous history, agriculture, and military service.

    The molar was found in 2000 at the W. Mueller & Sons gravel pit in Chaska, when Mori Willemsen’s clamshell dredge—dropping through 100 feet of water—hauled up a proboscidean tooth.

    carvercountyhistoricalsociety.

    #pleistocene #palaeontology #CitizenScience
    Source: Chaska Herald, April 5, 2001, p. 1.