Marcus Brandel
@lostbones.bsky.social
Coder 🖥️💾, Cycler 🚴♂, Independent Researcher 🐂🐴🐘🍃🐪🦥, Natural History Writer, Poor Golfer, Professional Nerd. Follow #LostBones to find out more about Pleistocene fossils or the Midwest https://linktr.ee/lostbones
Pinned
#FossilFriday 2nd of the OG 12 mammoth finds from New Ulm, MN 🦣. This molar is split lengthwise—rare compared to the usual broken plates. Chewing surface’s gone, but you can still some jaw and roots.
New Ulm discoveries continue! More in Lost Bones #3 (free on Substack): marcusbrandel.substack.com
New Ulm discoveries continue! More in Lost Bones #3 (free on Substack): marcusbrandel.substack.com
Up From the Abyss of Time
open.substack.com/pub/walrod/p...
open.substack.com/pub/walrod/p...
Up From the Abyss of Time
On the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs as Public Art
open.substack.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Up From the Abyss of Time
open.substack.com/pub/walrod/p...
open.substack.com/pub/walrod/p...
The Science Museum of Minnesota has scanned the Northfield Mastodon molar for palaeontology outreach. See the link is in my profile for more or on Substack goto: marcusbrandel.substack.com/p/lost-bones...
Please share to help support my volunteer work!
#Mastodon #Pleictocene #CitizenSceince
Please share to help support my volunteer work!
#Mastodon #Pleictocene #CitizenSceince
Lost Bones #2 Update
The mastodon tooth featured in the Lost Bones #2 storyline is now available in 3D
marcusbrandel.substack.com
December 6, 2025 at 6:30 PM
The Science Museum of Minnesota has scanned the Northfield Mastodon molar for palaeontology outreach. See the link is in my profile for more or on Substack goto: marcusbrandel.substack.com/p/lost-bones...
Please share to help support my volunteer work!
#Mastodon #Pleictocene #CitizenSceince
Please share to help support my volunteer work!
#Mastodon #Pleictocene #CitizenSceince
Happy #FossilFriday! 🐴🐘🐪💀 This gorgeous horse mandible comes from Brown County, Minnesota. Collected by a friend of mine under permit in a state park earlier this year. The bone is deceptively heavy, suggesting it has been partially mineralized.
To read more like this: marcusbrandel.substack.com
To read more like this: marcusbrandel.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! 🐴🐘🐪💀 This gorgeous horse mandible comes from Brown County, Minnesota. Collected by a friend of mine under permit in a state park earlier this year. The bone is deceptively heavy, suggesting it has been partially mineralized.
To read more like this: marcusbrandel.substack.com
To read more like this: marcusbrandel.substack.com
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Happy #FossilFriday! A little while back some of us from the Science Museum of Minnesota visited the Southern Minnesota Museum of Natural History (@smmnh.sky.social) in Blue Earth, #Minnesota. Nice place with a great cast of Lythronax (type of tyrannosaur), touchable footprints and so much more!
December 5, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! A little while back some of us from the Science Museum of Minnesota visited the Southern Minnesota Museum of Natural History (@smmnh.sky.social) in Blue Earth, #Minnesota. Nice place with a great cast of Lythronax (type of tyrannosaur), touchable footprints and so much more!
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Something ancient and wonderful for the weekend! 🤩
The world’s oldest known sculpture of a horse!
This tiny figurine was carved from mammoth ivory by an Ice Age artist some 40,000 years ago!
📷 by me
#Archaeology
The world’s oldest known sculpture of a horse!
This tiny figurine was carved from mammoth ivory by an Ice Age artist some 40,000 years ago!
📷 by me
#Archaeology
November 29, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Something ancient and wonderful for the weekend! 🤩
The world’s oldest known sculpture of a horse!
This tiny figurine was carved from mammoth ivory by an Ice Age artist some 40,000 years ago!
📷 by me
#Archaeology
The world’s oldest known sculpture of a horse!
This tiny figurine was carved from mammoth ivory by an Ice Age artist some 40,000 years ago!
📷 by me
#Archaeology
#FossilFriday 2nd of the OG 12 mammoth finds from New Ulm, MN 🦣. This molar is split lengthwise—rare compared to the usual broken plates. Chewing surface’s gone, but you can still some jaw and roots.
New Ulm discoveries continue! More in Lost Bones #3 (free on Substack): marcusbrandel.substack.com
New Ulm discoveries continue! More in Lost Bones #3 (free on Substack): marcusbrandel.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:01 AM
#FossilFriday 2nd of the OG 12 mammoth finds from New Ulm, MN 🦣. This molar is split lengthwise—rare compared to the usual broken plates. Chewing surface’s gone, but you can still some jaw and roots.
New Ulm discoveries continue! More in Lost Bones #3 (free on Substack): marcusbrandel.substack.com
New Ulm discoveries continue! More in Lost Bones #3 (free on Substack): marcusbrandel.substack.com
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Happy #FossilFriday! Turkeys, like other birds, have fused toe bones (metatarsals). In their ancient cousin, T. rex, the bones are separate but still bare a lot of similarity to parts of the turkey, because they share a common ancestor. Can you see the family resemblance?
November 28, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! Turkeys, like other birds, have fused toe bones (metatarsals). In their ancient cousin, T. rex, the bones are separate but still bare a lot of similarity to parts of the turkey, because they share a common ancestor. Can you see the family resemblance?
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Happy #FossilFriday! We are back from another great meeting of the @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social , this year in Birmingham, #England. We presented a poster each on collections problem-solving and 3D prints for outreach + loved getting to see the @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social
November 21, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! We are back from another great meeting of the @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social , this year in Birmingham, #England. We presented a poster each on collections problem-solving and 3D prints for outreach + loved getting to see the @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
A Dusky Moorhen with chick at Lane Cove National Park, Sydney NSW, for the #CootsAndMoorhens theme of #BirdOfTheDay. October 2004.
#birds #photography #birdphotography #birding #nature #naturephotography
#birds #photography #birdphotography #birding #nature #naturephotography
November 15, 2025 at 2:31 PM
A Dusky Moorhen with chick at Lane Cove National Park, Sydney NSW, for the #CootsAndMoorhens theme of #BirdOfTheDay. October 2004.
#birds #photography #birdphotography #birding #nature #naturephotography
#birds #photography #birdphotography #birding #nature #naturephotography
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Happy #FossilFriday! It’s #GarWeek so check out these 50 million year old #gar fish from #Utah at the Science Museum of Minnesota! This genus, Lepisosteus, goes back to the Cretaceous and is still swimming today! Thanks to @bellmuseum.bsky.social & @garlab.bsky.social for hyping these cool #fish!
November 7, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! It’s #GarWeek so check out these 50 million year old #gar fish from #Utah at the Science Museum of Minnesota! This genus, Lepisosteus, goes back to the Cretaceous and is still swimming today! Thanks to @bellmuseum.bsky.social & @garlab.bsky.social for hyping these cool #fish!
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Happy #FossilFriday! We’re in #England for a conference and went to the #Jurassic Coast, in Lyme Regis. The shore here has loads of #fossil marine creatures from about 150 million years ago, like ammonites and belemnites, home of famed paleontologist Mary Anning in the early 1800s.
November 14, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Happy #FossilFriday! We’re in #England for a conference and went to the #Jurassic Coast, in Lyme Regis. The shore here has loads of #fossil marine creatures from about 150 million years ago, like ammonites and belemnites, home of famed paleontologist Mary Anning in the early 1800s.
🐻Happy #FossilFriday! This canine tooth was found at the bottom of Lake Bronson Reservoir in northern MN after draw down for dam replacement. Flagged in a pedestrian survey, likely from an American black bear (Ursus americanus). The site is pre-contact Native American, submerged nearly 90 years.
November 15, 2025 at 1:30 PM
🐻Happy #FossilFriday! This canine tooth was found at the bottom of Lake Bronson Reservoir in northern MN after draw down for dam replacement. Flagged in a pedestrian survey, likely from an American black bear (Ursus americanus). The site is pre-contact Native American, submerged nearly 90 years.
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Two Hartebeest molars in a maxilla, from the Last Interglacial of Turkana, Kenya--a time period in which we desperately need more research! #FossilFriday
October 31, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Two Hartebeest molars in a maxilla, from the Last Interglacial of Turkana, Kenya--a time period in which we desperately need more research! #FossilFriday
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
happy #fossilfriday and halloween 🎃 in celebration of spooky season, i give to you the phorusrhacids, more popularly (and aptly) known as the terror birds. they were some of the most formidable land predators of the cenozoic, and in my opinion, are vastly underappreciated
(art by rudolf hima)
(art by rudolf hima)
October 31, 2025 at 2:54 PM
happy #fossilfriday and halloween 🎃 in celebration of spooky season, i give to you the phorusrhacids, more popularly (and aptly) known as the terror birds. they were some of the most formidable land predators of the cenozoic, and in my opinion, are vastly underappreciated
(art by rudolf hima)
(art by rudolf hima)
#lostBones This is the fourth full skeleton I’ve written about from the state - all proudly assembled by private individuals without institutional help.
If you know of others, or if you have your own skeleton haunting your basement or garage this Halloween #FossilFriday I’d love to hear the tale!
If you know of others, or if you have your own skeleton haunting your basement or garage this Halloween #FossilFriday I’d love to hear the tale!
October 31, 2025 at 11:02 PM
#lostBones This is the fourth full skeleton I’ve written about from the state - all proudly assembled by private individuals without institutional help.
If you know of others, or if you have your own skeleton haunting your basement or garage this Halloween #FossilFriday I’d love to hear the tale!
If you know of others, or if you have your own skeleton haunting your basement or garage this Halloween #FossilFriday I’d love to hear the tale!
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
I made a run to the Field Museum this week and finally saw the Chicago Archaeopteryx.
Just wow, it’s a stunner. And the exhibit is a beauty! 🪶 👀🤩
#FossilFriday
Just wow, it’s a stunner. And the exhibit is a beauty! 🪶 👀🤩
#FossilFriday
October 31, 2025 at 1:30 PM
I made a run to the Field Museum this week and finally saw the Chicago Archaeopteryx.
Just wow, it’s a stunner. And the exhibit is a beauty! 🪶 👀🤩
#FossilFriday
Just wow, it’s a stunner. And the exhibit is a beauty! 🪶 👀🤩
#FossilFriday
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Happy #FossilFriday! It’s the last day of #Croctober so check out this amazing cast Macrospondylus 🐊, from the #Jurassic of #Germany at the Science Museum of Minnesota! It lived about 180 million years ago and would have spent nearly its whole life at sea, & even had super reduced front legs!
October 31, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! It’s the last day of #Croctober so check out this amazing cast Macrospondylus 🐊, from the #Jurassic of #Germany at the Science Museum of Minnesota! It lived about 180 million years ago and would have spent nearly its whole life at sea, & even had super reduced front legs!
#FossilFriday, The Midwest’s #Homotherium! A partial skullcap, the first Homotherium serum specimen found in Minnesota, recovered in 2008 from Tyson Spring Cave in Fillmore County.
The find, along with a Cervalces skullcap, was published by Chris Widga and colleagues in Boreas (Widga et al., 2012).
The find, along with a Cervalces skullcap, was published by Chris Widga and colleagues in Boreas (Widga et al., 2012).
October 24, 2025 at 10:51 PM
#FossilFriday, The Midwest’s #Homotherium! A partial skullcap, the first Homotherium serum specimen found in Minnesota, recovered in 2008 from Tyson Spring Cave in Fillmore County.
The find, along with a Cervalces skullcap, was published by Chris Widga and colleagues in Boreas (Widga et al., 2012).
The find, along with a Cervalces skullcap, was published by Chris Widga and colleagues in Boreas (Widga et al., 2012).
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Third installment of #gomphtober2025 : lower jaw of the amebelodont Amebelodon fricki. The largest jaw of any land animal. On display at the University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln.
#fossilfriday #universityofnebraskastatemuseum #universityofnebraskalincoln #elephant #prehistoricnebraska
#fossilfriday #universityofnebraskastatemuseum #universityofnebraskalincoln #elephant #prehistoricnebraska
October 17, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Third installment of #gomphtober2025 : lower jaw of the amebelodont Amebelodon fricki. The largest jaw of any land animal. On display at the University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln.
#fossilfriday #universityofnebraskastatemuseum #universityofnebraskalincoln #elephant #prehistoricnebraska
#fossilfriday #universityofnebraskastatemuseum #universityofnebraskalincoln #elephant #prehistoricnebraska
#FossilFriday - This rare Midwest partial skullcap and antler beam of Cervalces scotti marked the first stag-moose specimen found in Minnesota.
Recovered in 2008 from Tyson Spring Cave along with a Homothereium skullcap! Published by @widga.bsky.social in Boreas (Widga et al., 2012).
#Cervalces
Recovered in 2008 from Tyson Spring Cave along with a Homothereium skullcap! Published by @widga.bsky.social in Boreas (Widga et al., 2012).
#Cervalces
October 18, 2025 at 12:11 AM
#FossilFriday - This rare Midwest partial skullcap and antler beam of Cervalces scotti marked the first stag-moose specimen found in Minnesota.
Recovered in 2008 from Tyson Spring Cave along with a Homothereium skullcap! Published by @widga.bsky.social in Boreas (Widga et al., 2012).
#Cervalces
Recovered in 2008 from Tyson Spring Cave along with a Homothereium skullcap! Published by @widga.bsky.social in Boreas (Widga et al., 2012).
#Cervalces
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Big week at the @imnh208.bsky.social as one of our *best* Bison latifrons 🤩 🦬 was packed for a long term loan to the Smithsonian in DC! #FossilFriday Named “Junior” btw. 👀 Look for this Idaho treasure next summer. Thanks @mosasaurologist.bsky.social!
October 17, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Big week at the @imnh208.bsky.social as one of our *best* Bison latifrons 🤩 🦬 was packed for a long term loan to the Smithsonian in DC! #FossilFriday Named “Junior” btw. 👀 Look for this Idaho treasure next summer. Thanks @mosasaurologist.bsky.social!
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Thanks for the invite to come get plastered on Idaho! Junior's horns put most ceratopsians to shame.
October 17, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Thanks for the invite to come get plastered on Idaho! Junior's horns put most ceratopsians to shame.
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Happy #FossilFriday! This week the paleo team from the Science Museum of Minnesota was out picking up ancient #Bison bones here in #Minnesota! 🦬🦬🦬 The bones are in the river itself, which has zero visibility, so they have to be found by feel. A little chilly & mucky but some cool fieldwork!
October 17, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! This week the paleo team from the Science Museum of Minnesota was out picking up ancient #Bison bones here in #Minnesota! 🦬🦬🦬 The bones are in the river itself, which has zero visibility, so they have to be found by feel. A little chilly & mucky but some cool fieldwork!
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Second installment of #gomphtober2025 skeleton of gomphotherium from Mt. Diablo, California. Was on display at UC Berkeley, don't know if it still is.
#fossilfriday #prehistoriccalifornia #gomphotherium #cenozoic #miocene #elephant #fossil
#fossilfriday #prehistoriccalifornia #gomphotherium #cenozoic #miocene #elephant #fossil
October 10, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Second installment of #gomphtober2025 skeleton of gomphotherium from Mt. Diablo, California. Was on display at UC Berkeley, don't know if it still is.
#fossilfriday #prehistoriccalifornia #gomphotherium #cenozoic #miocene #elephant #fossil
#fossilfriday #prehistoriccalifornia #gomphotherium #cenozoic #miocene #elephant #fossil
🦥 #FossilFriday P68.40.1 - the rarest Minnesota fossil I’ve ever held in my hand: an ungual phalanx of #Megalonyxjeffersoni (Giant #GroundSloth). Discovered in a pile of excavated peat, this individual toe claw remains the singular specimen of this animal found in the state.
#Pleistocene #Fossil
#Pleistocene #Fossil
October 11, 2025 at 1:43 AM
🦥 #FossilFriday P68.40.1 - the rarest Minnesota fossil I’ve ever held in my hand: an ungual phalanx of #Megalonyxjeffersoni (Giant #GroundSloth). Discovered in a pile of excavated peat, this individual toe claw remains the singular specimen of this animal found in the state.
#Pleistocene #Fossil
#Pleistocene #Fossil