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Paleobiology Research Group at OU

@oupaleobiology.bsky.social

260 followers 190 following 23 posts

Our labs investigate the diversity, ecology, & evolution of fossil invertebrates @ The University of Oklahoma (Geosciences) & Sam Noble Museum of Natural History

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Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · Nov 19

Welcome! This account is dedicated to promoting research, education, & outreach in paleobiology at the University of Oklahoma and Sam Noble Museum of Natural History!

Professors/Curators of Invertebrate Paleontology: @daveyfwright.bsky.social and Lena Cole

Invertebrate Paleontology - Sam Noble Museum

With nearly one million specimens from every major invertebrate fossil group, the invertebrate paleontology collection is among the most scientifically important in North America. It contains nearly 3,000 primary type specimens and about 7,000 figured specimens. The majority of samples in the collection include detailed ancillary information on geographic and stratigraphic occurrence. The collection represents

samnoblemuseum.ou.edu

Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · 10h

Burnett, E., Soreghan, M., and Cole, S.R. Variation in shell morphometry of Neothauma in Lake Tanganykia, Africa

Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · 10h

Stigall, A.L., Wright, D.F., and Censullo, S.M. Species-level diversity dynamics during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event: a phylogenetic case study of Laurentian brachiopod lineages.

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Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · 10h

Soto, G.E., Cole, S.R., Wright, D.F., and Hopkins, M.J. Complex morphological variation within the trilobite Celtencrinurus laurentinus (Twenhofel, 1928), based on newly discovered specimens from Anticosti Island, Quebec.

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Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · 10h

Bell, N.J.M., Cole, S.R., Wright, D.F., Ausich, W.I., and Cournoyer, M. Environmental controls on niche space occupation and feeding ecology of Late Ordovician (Katian) crinoid communities.

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Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · 10h

Zazubec, A. and Cole, S.R. The order of survival: clade confections in Silurian crinoids.

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Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · 10h

Cole, S.R., Ausich, W.I., Cournoyer, M., and Wright, D.F. Echinoderms from the Neuville Lagerstätte (Late Ordovician, Québec, Canada): an exceptional taphonomic window into biotic interactions and functional ecology.

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Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · 10h

Crowely, K.D. and Wright, D.F. On the Origin of the Flexibilia: modeling the rise and ecomorphological radiation of a major crinoid clade in a Bayesian phylogenetic framework.

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Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · 10h

Wright, D.F. Unraveling the evolutionary origin and macroevolutionary dynamics of crown group Crinoidea (Echinodermata) using fossils, genes, and phylogenies

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Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · 10h

🧵The Geological Society of America / Paleontological Society annual meeting is next week! Here's a thread of research presentations involving OU Paleobiology:

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Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · 1d

New paper from Dr. Selina Cole's lab!

"Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA)"

Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA) | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core

Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA)

www.cambridge.org

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Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · 12d

New paper!

"Fossil tip-dating reveals novelties on evolutionary and diversification trends in three Late Ordovician brachiopod genera (Atrypida, Anazygidae)" Yay for brachiopods! 🧪

Fossil tip-dating reveals novelties on evolutionary and diversification trends in three Late Ordovician brachiopod genera (Atrypida, Anazygidae) | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core

Fossil tip-dating reveals novelties on evolutionary and diversification trends in three Late Ordovician brachiopod genera (Atrypida, Anazygidae) - Volume 99 Issue 2

www.cambridge.org

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Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · 29d

Huge congrats to @crowleyk.bsky.social (Wright lab) and colleagues on publishing a major taxonomic revision of Paleocene gastropods!

Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Sep 5

As a paleontologist, here's something incredible about the geosciences program at OU:

1. Overall freshmen enrollment has been * increasing * in recent years.
2. We have more students in our * Paleobiology * Bachelor of Science program than any other option (including the general geosciences path)

Undergraduate Programs

The University of Oklahoma

www.ou.edu

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Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Sep 2

New updated preprint! Many thanks to reviewers for their suggestions and helpful advice for improving our manuscript. Check it out if you're interested in fossils, phylogenies, and modeling morphologic evolution! 🧪

Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data

Understanding the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of morphologic traits is fundamental to macroevolutionary research. Despite decades of major advances and key insights from molecular systemat...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Sep 2

I'm hoping to take 1 MSc & 1 PhD student next year in the areas of Phylogenetic, Computational, and/or Evolutionary Paleobiology. Please reach out if you are interested in joining the @oupaleobiology.bsky.social, especially if interested in working on fossil echinoderms. Link for more info below. 🧪

News

PhD and MSc positions in Phylogenetic, Computational, and/or Evolutionary Paleobiology [Posted September 2025. Deadline is January 15, 2026. See below for information about the lab, student opportu…

daveyfwright.wordpress.com

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Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · Aug 29

Congratulations to @crowleyk.bsky.social (Wright lab) and colleagues on their new publication examining niche evolution in gastropods across the K-Pg extinction!

Global climate model comparisons of niche evolution in turritelline gastropods across the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core

Global climate model comparisons of niche evolution in turritelline gastropods across the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction

www.cambridge.org

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Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Aug 23

New @oupaleobiology.bsky.social logo just dropped

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Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Aug 21

Very proud of @oupaleobiology.bsky.social graduate students @crowleyk.bsky.social & Alysha Zazubec for their contributions to the 2025 field season on Anticosti Island. I'm particularly excited about the fantastic echinoderm fossils they found this year!

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Aug 8

Another day in the field with the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History team on Anticosti Island. Here, Lena and I are joined by OU Geosciences grad students Kiera Crowley (Wright lab) and Alysha Zazubec (Cole lab)

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Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Aug 13

Mandatory airport photo of the combined Anticosti Island field teams of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and the American Museum of Natural History. Grateful for the assistance of students and staff. The core team remains for another week of field work 🧪

A happy group of 8 people...most of them wearing fossil-themed shirts

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Paleobiology Research Group at OU @oupaleobiology.bsky.social · Jul 25

New paper for #FossilFriday by Sam Noble Museum / OU paleontologists Lena Cole and Davey Wright, with AMNH collaborator Melanie Hopkins. Check it out!

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Jul 24

New paper! The 1st publication from our NSF grant investigating local to global biodiversity patterns in marine invertebrates across the O-S boundary is out! Here, we describe a new crinoid from Anticosti Island & use Bayesian tip-dating approaches to quantify uncertainty in its stratigraphic age 🧪

Phylogenetic position and stratigraphic uncertainty of a new flexible crinoid from the Ordovician–Silurian boundary of Anticosti Island (Québec, Canada) | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core

Phylogenetic position and stratigraphic uncertainty of a new flexible crinoid from the Ordovician–Silurian boundary of Anticosti Island (Québec, Canada)

www.cambridge.org

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Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Jul 24

Flexible crinoids are really cool group of rare & morphologically distinct fossil echinoderms. They originated during the Ordovician but substantially increase in diversity, disparity, & abundance in the Silurian after the mass extinction, so a new taxon near the boundary is a significant discovery.

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Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Jul 22

I'll have more info in a few weeks when I get back from fieldwork but I'll be recruiting 2 graduate students to begin in 2026 (1 PhD, 1 MS). My lab investigates macroevolutionary dynamics using phylogenetic methods & the fossil record. Please share with students having strong research interests!

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Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Jul 17

Need to include "future leader of the National Academy of Sciences" on the list of possibilities when paleobiology students ask where their careers may take them

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Jul 16

Is this bringing paleontology to the "high table"?

Paleontologist to lead U.S. national academy

The prestigious organization faces funding challenges and political controversies

www.science.org

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Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Jul 16

TFW you're about to leave for fieldwork so you create t-shirts for the team of researchers, staff, and students. This year's intrepid, multi-institutional team involves folks from the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History & the American Museum of Natural History. Does anyone else do this? 🧪

A gray t-shirt which a drawing of an enrolled trilobite that says, "Anticosti Island 2025 Research Team | OMNH x AMNH Paleontology"

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Reposted by Paleobiology Research Group at OU

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Jul 15

i'm a broken record on this topic but god i love being a paleontologist 🧪

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