Tess Gallagher
@tessasaurus
Paleontologist that specializes in Diplodocus skin. Currently working at Edelman Fossil Museum
What the fuck do you mean the earliest possible evidence of feathers in dinosaurs comes from the east coast
Happy International Women In Science Day! I had an amazing time speaking with fellow female scientists and paleoartists on todays paleoart panel with @extinctfineart.bsky.social . Pictured here is me and one of the key Diplodocus skin specimens that led to our recent discovery on Dippy Colors 🦕🌈
Yes, I am slowly chipping away at the newest spiny weirdo. Environment is almost done, but I need to focus on finishing my grant proposal among other things.
Got to see the head of this mount back in december! Along with a few of the original bones!
If I were to sell my artwork as stickers, which one would you be most willing to get? Keep in mind that i will probably remove the melanosome image from the Diplodocus one
So these structures may *look* like feathers/hair, but anatomically they are more similar to scales. Overall, a very welcome weirdo to the world of dinosaur skin (END🧵)
This is not the case for the spikes of Haolong. The spikes consist of layered cells, including a stratum corneum, stratum spinosum etc, with keratinocytes and visible nuclei. In other words, the spikes were living skin
Feathers and hair share a somewhat similar internal anatomy (emphasis on somewhat, there's a lot of variation out there). Both structures are made up of *dead cells*, which leave behind hollow vacuoles internally.
Mammals and birds have filaments (hair and feathers respectively) that gives them their fluffy look. This new iguanodontian also has structures that look like "filaments" from far away. HOWEVER, a closer look reveals they are very different structures
happy #FossilFriday. It is very early in the year and I already have a favorite paper with the newly described Haolong. HOWEVER, this is *not* a feathered dinosaur! The structures on Haolong are very different from filaments. A 🧵
What do you guys think of my silly pet lizard? :> I may have to re-home some of them to people tho on a certain website (et5y) 🤔🦎
Happy #FossilFriday. Did you know Diplodocus skin glows orange under UV light? 🦕🟠
uh, idk if this counts but I made some "horror pods" a few years ago