paleochick

[paleochick]

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A post shared by Ashley Hall (@lady_naturalist)

Scientists are tired of being silenced. Meet 6 top scientists standing up for truth. Watch the films and #LetScienceSpeak. Link in bio @letscispeak. · · · #instascience #science #scicomm #scientists #research #climate #stem #actonclimate #nature #ocean #animals #scienceiscool #health #biology #maths #engineering #chemistry #physics https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn_ekfaATAw/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=7rb5mpg43m9j

[paleochick]

BeLEAF me---I am SO EXCITED that tomorrow is the first day of fall & today is #FossilFriday! This fossil sassafras leaf @goCMNH reminds us that deciduous trees lived in the Cretaceous Period meaning that #dinosaurs experienced crunchy, falling leaves, too! Do you think they enjoyed them as much as we do? 🍁🍃 #FirstDayofFall #AutumnalEquinox (at Cleveland Museum of Natural History) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn_cNwOA_yQ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=w7h2hjtquilp

[paleochick]

Happy #MuseumMonday! Today I hosted our virtual program, Museum Mondays! Are you a teacher that needs a way to jump start your school week? Tune in every Monday for a different natural history and science-themed 20 minute program. For more information, visit: http://www.cmnh.org/museummondays (at Cleveland Museum of Natural History) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnjLGxqAFrr/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zfdn827t2gys

[paleochick]

Happiest moment of my dreary day? Getting to know our newest program bird, The Professor! He or she (not sure of the sex yet) is a full sized adult bird! Not all owls are large! Eastern screech owls evolved a few color morphs: red, gray, and brown. The red morph screech owls are gorgeous, aren't they? Can I have an owl as a pet, you may ask? No. Most wild birds are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and even if you could, they are wild animals at heart and have specific needs that we cannot provide in our homes as we can with other birds. The mammals, birds, and reptiles that I work with at the Museum are unable to be released back to the wild. These once injured animals have been rehabilitated by kind specialists and now are ambassadors for their species in our educational programs for the public. Some have eye injuries, others have broken and healed wings, but no matter the injury, we love and respect them just the same. If you are ever in Cleveland, be sure to stop in our Perkins Wildlife Center and Woods Garden @goCMNH! (at Cleveland Museum of Natural History) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnZppK_gWez/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1hdxcqfittqy

[paleochick]

Hey, @modcloth: This isn't a Tyrannosaurs rex! Please stop production of this item immediately. It looks to be Heterodontosaurus tuckii, right, friends?

[paleochick]

A new pterosaur was described today! Welcome, Caelestiventus (CELL-est-EEH-vent-us) hanseni! What you need to know: ▪210 million years old ▪Wingspan: 5 feet ▪Pterosaurs evolved before dinosaurs ▪The fossils were discovered in of Utah ▪Caelestiventus is a close relative of Dimorphodon, originally found in the early Jurassic of Britain ▪Pterosaurs were already geographically widespread and thriving in a variety of environments very early in their evolution So exciting! Congratulations to all involved @brighamyounguniversity! Can't wait to see what else this specimen can tell us! Paleoart by Michael Skrepnick Images: @byu #pterosaur #notadinosaur #paleontology #bones #naturalhistory #museumcollections #scicomm #teeth #wearestemsquad #fossil #caelestiventus

[paleochick]

I found a mini tardigrade island surrounded by a sea of concrete in the middle of my patio. #tiniesthabitataward

[paleochick]

Happy #WorldElephantDay! Did you know that during the Pleistocene, or Ice Age, two different families of proboscideans roamed North America? Mammoth and mastodon! Several of these enormous animals ended up forever entombed at my old "sticking" grounds @thelabreatarpits, where I worked for 7 years. Pictured is a Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi). Large-scale models of these animals can be seen in front of the Museum. An incredible Ice Age treasure trove, The La Brea Tar Pits have the most complete fossil record of the Pleistocene, 50,000 - 10,000 years ago, because of "tar" or asphaltum, which kept their bones incredibly well preserved--even collagen can be extracted from the bones and tusks. What is "tar"? Tar is a sticky substance that is actually made of plankton and other organics that were converted to crude oil over millions of years and with lots of heat and pressure. It is SO sticky that yes, it can even trap large animals like proboscideans! Stop in to The Tar Pits and Museum if you're ever in Los Angeles! It is a MUST SEE.

[paleochick]

THE MEG movie was a blast! Thanks to @capitolw65th for having Lee and I out to talk about the REAL science of the real extinct O. #megalodon! We had a blast! This is a must see for sci-fi and shark fans alike, no doubt. GO SEE IT! (at Capitol Theatre)

[paleochick]

HAPPY #FossilFriday from Dunk 'n donuts! 😂 (at Cleveland Museum of Natural History)

[paleochick]

Science communicator is not a title I take lightly. (Read on) What is #scicomm? Science communication is the public communication of science-related topics to non-experts through various methods (informal or formal education, exhibitions, journalism, social media platforms, and more.) WHY have I spent YEARS creating my social media brand on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook? • I believe that everyone is innately curious about the world around us and I want to show YOU how awesome the world actually IS. • Because museums need advocates. *Because scientists ARE diverse and need to be seen AND heard. • Because YOU are all real people with brains who want to see cool things! Right now, we have more power through the internet than anyone who has EVER lived before us, and we should be using it for good. For fun. For education. To show people that spiders and snakes aren't monsters. For education. Even if someone only takes away from my post that an opossum has 13 nipples, at least they learned one new thing! From tours at the Tar Pits to Twitter tweets, it has been over a decade now that I've worked in science education and its many forms in many different institutions and I'm not stopping anytime soon.

[paleochick]

You walk past them everyday. They literally grow on trees, buildings, and rocks. These two literally landed on my driveway. What ARE they? A #lichen (LIE-Ken) is a combination of algae living among filaments of multiple fungi in a symbiotic relationship because...who wouldn't want to live with FUNGI? (BA-DUMP-SHH) Lichen: ✅Evolved 400+ million years ago ✅Are food for reindeer 🎅 ✅Grow SLOW. Rhizocarpon geographicum grows extremely slowly and can reach an age of over 1000 years! ✅Are used by scientists to show changes in the environment (they absorb pollution!) This is called lichen biomonitoring. ✅Slowly destroy rocks by producing chemicals and expanding/contracting. This is called biological weathering. I know Instagram is terrible for links, but check out this article by @edyong209 for a fun read: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/07/how-a-guy-from-a-montana-trailer-park-upturned-150-years-of-biology/491702/ #scicomm #wearestemsquad #science #iamanaturalist #fungi #symbiosis #ohio #getoutside #explore #themoreyouknow

[paleochick]

HAPPY #FossilFriday! Look at this GORGEOUS specimen! Allow me to gush. [LONG POST!] Anhanguera santannae (AMNH22555) is one of the BEST preserved pterosaur fossils in the world and we have been lucky enough to have it at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History for the last several months. It is SO rare to get this quality of preservation in the fossil record. Why? Taphonomy: the study of what happens to an organism after death. You have to die in the right time in the right place and then lie undisturbed for millions (MILLIONS!) of years until a bipedal ape finds you, digs you up and tries to makes sense of you. Paleontologists really are superheroes when you think about it. This pterosaur and many other beautifully preserved three-dimensional fossils have been found in carbonate concretions in the Romualdo Member of the Santana Formation (Araripe Basin, northeastern Brazil). Some 25 species of fossil fishes have often been found with stomach contents preserved, helping paleontologists to better study predator–prey relationships. Pterosaurs, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, crocodylomorphs, plants, and even dinosaurs have been found here. Limestone accretions formed nodules around dead organisms, preserving soft and hard parts of their anatomy. These nodules are then taken to a lab and etched away with acid, revealing beautiful bone inside. The American Museum of Natural History (@amnh) creates traveling exhibitions of incredible quality (we've had several now!) and I can't wait to see what they have in store for the future! 📷 1-4: mine 📷 5: Pinheiro 2017 from https://peerj.com/articles/3285/ #pterosaurs #anhanguera #museum #naturalhistorymuseum #science #cle #fossil #fridayfeeling #notadinosaur #wearestemsquad #wearescience #scicomm #amnh #cleveland

[paleochick]

THANKS to friend @cill_reim for sending this @originalfunko #JurassicPark wounded Dr. Ian Malcolm ALL THE WAY FROM AUSTRALIA. Because holy crap people can be that awesome. He will have a place of honor and many adventures in our home. You rock, Priscilla!

[paleochick]

Trying to take time to enjoy the small things.

[paleochick]

Follow my former institution, @alfpaleo an incredible museum of #paleontology!

[paleochick]

How's your #plasticfreejuly going? Do you know of a corporation or facility that needs to ditch single use plastic? Have them order @vegware! (YES those are compostable straws!!!) Vegware replaces conventional plastics with various plant-based materials that are BPI certified compostable, meaning that it can be taken to your local area composing facility. For us here in Cleveland, that's @rustbeltriders. I order their products for my larger museum events, and am actively trying to get our cafe to make the switch entirely. Be the change! There are solutions out there, it just takes persistence. #plasticfree #bpicertified #bethechange #zerowaste #plasticpollutionsolution #plasticfreeliving #ecofriendly #greenliving