Erich Fitzgerald
@palaeowhales.bsky.social
220 followers 140 following 9 posts
Vertebrate palaeontologist at Museums Victoria: marine vertebrate evolution and a bit of Triceratops
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Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
Cochlear analysis of Kekenodon onamata, a late Oligocene stem whale, suggests they specialised in low-frequency hearing, a trait of raptorial feeding in fossil whales. Low-frequency hearing may be characteristic of raptorial macrophagous fossil cetaceans @joshcorrie @Blogozoic
It’s Prosqualodon! Important new paper by Maxi Gaetan and colleagues on this enigmatic austral fossil odontocete #FossilFriday

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Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
Fossil #whale skeletons are genuinely amazing. #Whales evolved from four-legged hooved mammals (their closest relatives are hippos), & don't have hind-legs today (but they do have a pelvis). This is a 40-million-year-old whale called Cynthiacetus at @mnhn.fr, with a full leg skeleton. #FossilFriday
FISH!!!! Big hypural bone (tail tip vertebra) of a large marine fish from the latest Miocene of Beaumaris, Victoria, which will be studied in a new project starting very soon!
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
Hello from the best natural history gallery in the world. 🤩
The gallery of comparative anatomy at #Paris' National Museum of Natural History contains literally thousands of skeletal specimens. In my opinion, it has never been surpassed. #museums
Incredible views of the external morphology of Indopacetus pacificus, the holotype specimen of which is from Queensland, Australia!
Pretty awesome sighting of Longman’s beaked whales (Indopacetus pacificus) in the Mozambique Channel, near Mayotte. So much to learn about these animals. One of the least known whale species in the world! Pictures: N. Bertrand
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
Should probably remind folks I’m also an illustrator, you might see my work out in the wild on a cover like this recent one for Scientific American
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
I started my career as a traditional painter, and I used to hand-paint gigantic canvas murals (like this 58’x14’ one from 2015 (c) Blue Rhino Studio). These days I’ve transitioned to doing the same kind of work, only digitally.
Quick comparison between a southern cassowary femur (top) and a recently found Late Miocene casuariid bird femur (bottom) from Beaumaris, Victoria
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
Landed in Perth ready for #SMM2024! Interested in the unique amphibious hearing abilities of pinnipeds? So am I!

Come see my talk on the evolutionary origins and anatomical evidence for amphibious hearing in seals!

Monday, 11:30am in Room 4 (Hearing Mechanisms) @marinemammalogy
Reposted by Erich Fitzgerald
New paper by Sanchez-Posada et al. in JVP: a new early Miocene dolphin, Romaleodelphis pollerspoecki, from Austria. Possibly related to Chilcacetus from Peru and some other poorly known long-snouted dolphins of the same time period. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
For #FossilFriday a trio of Early Miocene ‘shark-toothed cetacean’ teeth from Victoria, Australia