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
For #ArcheologyMonth this mossy decrepit Alces alces (North American moose) skull stole the show for me last weekend during a public tour at the 106 Group’s St. Paul office.
106 Group is a cultural resource management (CRM) firm doing heritage work in the MN.
For more:
106group.com
#LostBones
106 Group is a cultural resource management (CRM) firm doing heritage work in the MN.
For more:
106group.com
#LostBones
September 26, 2026 at 12:51 AM
For #ArcheologyMonth this mossy decrepit Alces alces (North American moose) skull stole the show for me last weekend during a public tour at the 106 Group’s St. Paul office.
106 Group is a cultural resource management (CRM) firm doing heritage work in the MN.
For more:
106group.com
#LostBones
106 Group is a cultural resource management (CRM) firm doing heritage work in the MN.
For more:
106group.com
#LostBones
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Happy #FossilFriday! This week we did CROCtoberfest at @badweatherbrew.bsky.social We brought cool #fossil #crocodiles from the Science Museum of Minnesota, there were live #alligators, I gave a talk on my croc research from #Germany and we even got to hold a lil’ gator. Good times and good brews! 🐊
September 25, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! This week we did CROCtoberfest at @badweatherbrew.bsky.social We brought cool #fossil #crocodiles from the Science Museum of Minnesota, there were live #alligators, I gave a talk on my croc research from #Germany and we even got to hold a lil’ gator. Good times and good brews! 🐊
🐂For #FossilFriday I’m #CountingBones. The bison pelvis is one of the biggest bones in the skeleton — but in the Midwest museum and institutional collections I've visited, it almost never survives whole.
Out of 41 county and city institutions, only 10, all partial.
More: marcusbrandel.substack.com
Out of 41 county and city institutions, only 10, all partial.
More: marcusbrandel.substack.com
September 19, 2026 at 3:20 AM
🐂For #FossilFriday I’m #CountingBones. The bison pelvis is one of the biggest bones in the skeleton — but in the Midwest museum and institutional collections I've visited, it almost never survives whole.
Out of 41 county and city institutions, only 10, all partial.
More: marcusbrandel.substack.com
Out of 41 county and city institutions, only 10, all partial.
More: marcusbrandel.substack.com
Stop by, say hi, and have a beverage of your choice!
Happy #FossilFriday! 🐊🐊🐊 We are gearing up for Croctoberfest, TOMORROW at @badweatherbrew.bsky.social We’re bringing a BUNCH of fun #fossil #crocodiles from the Science Museum of Minnesota. We’ll be there 12-4pm (Saturday, Sept 19) plus a special presentation at 5pm. Come say hi! 🐊🐊🐊
September 19, 2026 at 3:14 AM
Stop by, say hi, and have a beverage of your choice!
I'll be there!
Happy #FossilFriday! 🐊🐊🐊 We are gearing up for Croctoberfest, TOMORROW at @badweatherbrew.bsky.social We’re bringing a BUNCH of fun #fossil #crocodiles from the Science Museum of Minnesota. We’ll be there 12-4pm (Saturday, Sept 19) plus a special presentation at 5pm. Come say hi! 🐊🐊🐊
September 18, 2026 at 3:54 PM
I'll be there!
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Sometimes I think about how the padded feet of modern camels are actually a reversion from the hooves most artiodactyls today have. Some fossil camelids, like Stenomylus on the right, had unguligrade feet, but all camelids since the Pliocene were digitigrade.
September 16, 2026 at 3:06 AM
Sometimes I think about how the padded feet of modern camels are actually a reversion from the hooves most artiodactyls today have. Some fossil camelids, like Stenomylus on the right, had unguligrade feet, but all camelids since the Pliocene were digitigrade.
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
In 2007, workers in a quarry found the end of a tusk. They dug some more & thought they'd found a mammoth. Although the fossil was offered to the local university, no one was interested. No one, that is, until Peter Houde heard about it. #proboscideans
mostlymammoths.wordpress.com/2026/09/14/t...
mostlymammoths.wordpress.com/2026/09/14/t...
This Rare Fossil Was Almost Lost to Science
Those working in a quarry in New Mexico knew what fossils looked like; they’d found them before. So when someone saw the circular white end of a tusk in 2007, they immediately shut off the heavy eq…
mostlymammoths.wordpress.com
September 14, 2026 at 10:40 PM
In 2007, workers in a quarry found the end of a tusk. They dug some more & thought they'd found a mammoth. Although the fossil was offered to the local university, no one was interested. No one, that is, until Peter Houde heard about it. #proboscideans
mostlymammoths.wordpress.com/2026/09/14/t...
mostlymammoths.wordpress.com/2026/09/14/t...
🐴🦥🐘🐪 #CitizenScience #FossilFriday — Horse incisor & molar from Brown County
More Ice Age finds keep turning up — horse, mammoth pieces, and pelvis fragments from local gravels. Three molars are already headed for radiocarbon dating.
New stories, updates, and more:
marcusbrandel.substack.com
More Ice Age finds keep turning up — horse, mammoth pieces, and pelvis fragments from local gravels. Three molars are already headed for radiocarbon dating.
New stories, updates, and more:
marcusbrandel.substack.com
September 11, 2026 at 4:31 AM
🐴🦥🐘🐪 #CitizenScience #FossilFriday — Horse incisor & molar from Brown County
More Ice Age finds keep turning up — horse, mammoth pieces, and pelvis fragments from local gravels. Three molars are already headed for radiocarbon dating.
New stories, updates, and more:
marcusbrandel.substack.com
More Ice Age finds keep turning up — horse, mammoth pieces, and pelvis fragments from local gravels. Three molars are already headed for radiocarbon dating.
New stories, updates, and more:
marcusbrandel.substack.com
Lost Bones #7 is up!
In 1929, a nearly ten-pound mammoth molar was discovered west of my hometown New Ulm, Minnesota. Donated to the University of Minnesota—then disappeared into nearly a century of museum transfers.
Follows my 7-year search for the tooth: marcusbrandel.substack.com/p/lost-bones
In 1929, a nearly ten-pound mammoth molar was discovered west of my hometown New Ulm, Minnesota. Donated to the University of Minnesota—then disappeared into nearly a century of museum transfers.
Follows my 7-year search for the tooth: marcusbrandel.substack.com/p/lost-bones
September 7, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Lost Bones #7 is up!
In 1929, a nearly ten-pound mammoth molar was discovered west of my hometown New Ulm, Minnesota. Donated to the University of Minnesota—then disappeared into nearly a century of museum transfers.
Follows my 7-year search for the tooth: marcusbrandel.substack.com/p/lost-bones
In 1929, a nearly ten-pound mammoth molar was discovered west of my hometown New Ulm, Minnesota. Donated to the University of Minnesota—then disappeared into nearly a century of museum transfers.
Follows my 7-year search for the tooth: marcusbrandel.substack.com/p/lost-bones
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Happy #FossilFriday! Come check out the Science Museum of Minnesota’s exhibit Ultimate Dinosaurs at the Minnesota State Fair, it’s up the whole time at the North End Event Center! It features 16 Dino skeletons from the southern hemisphere and SO much more!
August 28, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! Come check out the Science Museum of Minnesota’s exhibit Ultimate Dinosaurs at the Minnesota State Fair, it’s up the whole time at the North End Event Center! It features 16 Dino skeletons from the southern hemisphere and SO much more!
For #FossilFriday — dinosaurs headline the Minnesota State Fair, but an Ice Age predator is also on display!
These 26,900-year-old Homotherium serum fossils from Tyson Spring Cave were found beginning in 2008, they provided the first record of this scimitar-toothed cat in Minnesota.
These 26,900-year-old Homotherium serum fossils from Tyson Spring Cave were found beginning in 2008, they provided the first record of this scimitar-toothed cat in Minnesota.
September 5, 2026 at 7:53 PM
For #FossilFriday — dinosaurs headline the Minnesota State Fair, but an Ice Age predator is also on display!
These 26,900-year-old Homotherium serum fossils from Tyson Spring Cave were found beginning in 2008, they provided the first record of this scimitar-toothed cat in Minnesota.
These 26,900-year-old Homotherium serum fossils from Tyson Spring Cave were found beginning in 2008, they provided the first record of this scimitar-toothed cat in Minnesota.
🐂 #MinnesotaMuseum #FossilFriday 🐘🦥🐴🐪
Today I’m spotlighting the Redwood County Museum. If you’re a naturalist — and a lover of #LostBones — this one’s for you.
A collection of mounted mammals and birds, plus a lineup of skulls including a nicely crusty bison skull.
redwoodcountyhistoricalsociety
Today I’m spotlighting the Redwood County Museum. If you’re a naturalist — and a lover of #LostBones — this one’s for you.
A collection of mounted mammals and birds, plus a lineup of skulls including a nicely crusty bison skull.
redwoodcountyhistoricalsociety
August 22, 2026 at 3:26 AM
🐂 #MinnesotaMuseum #FossilFriday 🐘🦥🐴🐪
Today I’m spotlighting the Redwood County Museum. If you’re a naturalist — and a lover of #LostBones — this one’s for you.
A collection of mounted mammals and birds, plus a lineup of skulls including a nicely crusty bison skull.
redwoodcountyhistoricalsociety
Today I’m spotlighting the Redwood County Museum. If you’re a naturalist — and a lover of #LostBones — this one’s for you.
A collection of mounted mammals and birds, plus a lineup of skulls including a nicely crusty bison skull.
redwoodcountyhistoricalsociety
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Happy #FossilFriday! Why’d the Giant Beaver lose its head? Because it’s going to the Minnesota State Fair! Our actual Giant Beaver skeleton is traveling to the North End Event Center, in the Ultimate Dinosaurs exhibit, celebrating it officially becoming our State Fossil. Come see it for yourself! 🦫
August 21, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! Why’d the Giant Beaver lose its head? Because it’s going to the Minnesota State Fair! Our actual Giant Beaver skeleton is traveling to the North End Event Center, in the Ultimate Dinosaurs exhibit, celebrating it officially becoming our State Fossil. Come see it for yourself! 🦫
#FossilFriday 3.6-billion-year-old gneiss bedrock at Granite Falls Minnesota, created a landscape ideal for collecting sediment layers and preserving bones.
Yellow Medicine County Historical Society holds a collection of bison remains from the area, some from a famous bison kill: the Peterson Site.
Yellow Medicine County Historical Society holds a collection of bison remains from the area, some from a famous bison kill: the Peterson Site.
August 14, 2026 at 5:14 PM
#FossilFriday 3.6-billion-year-old gneiss bedrock at Granite Falls Minnesota, created a landscape ideal for collecting sediment layers and preserving bones.
Yellow Medicine County Historical Society holds a collection of bison remains from the area, some from a famous bison kill: the Peterson Site.
Yellow Medicine County Historical Society holds a collection of bison remains from the area, some from a famous bison kill: the Peterson Site.
🦌 #FossilFriday — Megaloceros giganteus, specimen USNM 7051.
Masterfully mounted at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History its ~3.6‑meter antlers supported by a structural steel carriage
#pleistocene #megalocerosgiganteus #citizenscience Skull mount photos credit: NMNH/Loren Ybarrondo
Masterfully mounted at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History its ~3.6‑meter antlers supported by a structural steel carriage
#pleistocene #megalocerosgiganteus #citizenscience Skull mount photos credit: NMNH/Loren Ybarrondo
August 8, 2026 at 9:30 PM
🦌 #FossilFriday — Megaloceros giganteus, specimen USNM 7051.
Masterfully mounted at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History its ~3.6‑meter antlers supported by a structural steel carriage
#pleistocene #megalocerosgiganteus #citizenscience Skull mount photos credit: NMNH/Loren Ybarrondo
Masterfully mounted at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History its ~3.6‑meter antlers supported by a structural steel carriage
#pleistocene #megalocerosgiganteus #citizenscience Skull mount photos credit: NMNH/Loren Ybarrondo
Latest update is now on Substack. marcusbrandel.substack.com/p/lost-bones...
August 2, 2026 at 11:06 PM
Latest update is now on Substack. marcusbrandel.substack.com/p/lost-bones...
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Happy #FossilFriday! The outreach continues! Today I presented for a summer youth program hosted at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota. We covered lots of dinos, Ice Age beasts, the state fossil and a titanic snake. Such a great crowd!
August 1, 2026 at 3:03 AM
Happy #FossilFriday! The outreach continues! Today I presented for a summer youth program hosted at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota. We covered lots of dinos, Ice Age beasts, the state fossil and a titanic snake. Such a great crowd!
🐯🐾🦥🐴🐘🐪 For #FossilFriday, a fantastic mount from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History’s Hall of Fossils. The Smilodon on display — specimen v10928 — is a composite skeleton sourced from the La Brea Tar Pits, CA.
#pleistocene #smilodonfatalis #citizenscience
Skull photo credit NMNH
#pleistocene #smilodonfatalis #citizenscience
Skull photo credit NMNH
August 1, 2026 at 2:23 AM
🐯🐾🦥🐴🐘🐪 For #FossilFriday, a fantastic mount from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History’s Hall of Fossils. The Smilodon on display — specimen v10928 — is a composite skeleton sourced from the La Brea Tar Pits, CA.
#pleistocene #smilodonfatalis #citizenscience
Skull photo credit NMNH
#pleistocene #smilodonfatalis #citizenscience
Skull photo credit NMNH
🐂🦥🐴🐘🐪🐟🍃 A surprisingly common bone in small city and county museum collections across the Midwest — and one that’s often left unidentified — is the sternum. Fo bison It’s usually found disarticulated into its individual segments, called sternebrae.
Read more: marcusbrandel.substack.com
Read more: marcusbrandel.substack.com
July 25, 2026 at 3:27 AM
🐂🦥🐴🐘🐪🐟🍃 A surprisingly common bone in small city and county museum collections across the Midwest — and one that’s often left unidentified — is the sternum. Fo bison It’s usually found disarticulated into its individual segments, called sternebrae.
Read more: marcusbrandel.substack.com
Read more: marcusbrandel.substack.com
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Happy #FossilFriday! This past week the paleo team from the Science Museum of Minnesota was at TWO breweries talking science! First up was Bad Weather Brewing for their Summer Block Party then Indeed Brewing last night to do a talk & table on #dinosaurs (and other ancient life). Great times! 🦖🍻
July 24, 2026 at 12:37 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! This past week the paleo team from the Science Museum of Minnesota was at TWO breweries talking science! First up was Bad Weather Brewing for their Summer Block Party then Indeed Brewing last night to do a talk & table on #dinosaurs (and other ancient life). Great times! 🦖🍻
An Eremotherium #FossilFriday. This remarkable giant ground sloth, Eremotherium laurillardi, stands at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Remounted on a new steel armature during the renovation of the Hall of Fossils–Deep Time in 2019, it reportedly reaches to a height of 13 feet.
July 18, 2026 at 12:42 AM
An Eremotherium #FossilFriday. This remarkable giant ground sloth, Eremotherium laurillardi, stands at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Remounted on a new steel armature during the renovation of the Hall of Fossils–Deep Time in 2019, it reportedly reaches to a height of 13 feet.
It's a follow-up #FossilFriday
The mysterious bone fragment I posted about last year has an ID! After examination by the Science Museum of Minnesota, as suspected, the specimen has been confirmed as a mastodon tooth cusp.
If you would you have recognized it let me know.
#citezenscience #mammut
The mysterious bone fragment I posted about last year has an ID! After examination by the Science Museum of Minnesota, as suspected, the specimen has been confirmed as a mastodon tooth cusp.
If you would you have recognized it let me know.
#citezenscience #mammut
July 10, 2026 at 7:59 PM
It's a follow-up #FossilFriday
The mysterious bone fragment I posted about last year has an ID! After examination by the Science Museum of Minnesota, as suspected, the specimen has been confirmed as a mastodon tooth cusp.
If you would you have recognized it let me know.
#citezenscience #mammut
The mysterious bone fragment I posted about last year has an ID! After examination by the Science Museum of Minnesota, as suspected, the specimen has been confirmed as a mastodon tooth cusp.
If you would you have recognized it let me know.
#citezenscience #mammut
For #Fossil Friday, meet "Junior." On loan to the new Bison: Standing Strong Smithsonian exhibit in Washington, DC.
Junior is a massive Bison latifrons skull.
Marie L. Hopkins, Idaho's first female paleontologist, excavated Junior in 1951.
#womenwhodig #pleistocene #bison doi.org/10.2307/1375...
Junior is a massive Bison latifrons skull.
Marie L. Hopkins, Idaho's first female paleontologist, excavated Junior in 1951.
#womenwhodig #pleistocene #bison doi.org/10.2307/1375...
July 4, 2026 at 7:55 PM
For #Fossil Friday, meet "Junior." On loan to the new Bison: Standing Strong Smithsonian exhibit in Washington, DC.
Junior is a massive Bison latifrons skull.
Marie L. Hopkins, Idaho's first female paleontologist, excavated Junior in 1951.
#womenwhodig #pleistocene #bison doi.org/10.2307/1375...
Junior is a massive Bison latifrons skull.
Marie L. Hopkins, Idaho's first female paleontologist, excavated Junior in 1951.
#womenwhodig #pleistocene #bison doi.org/10.2307/1375...
Reposted by Marcus Brandel
Happy #FossilFriday! Check out some recent finds from fieldwork in #NorthDakota! A claw, tooth, and osteoderms (armor plates) of Borealosuchus + some turtle shell. These are all about 60 million years old from life’s recovery phase after the big extinction that ended the Age of the Dinosaurs.
July 3, 2026 at 2:28 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! Check out some recent finds from fieldwork in #NorthDakota! A claw, tooth, and osteoderms (armor plates) of Borealosuchus + some turtle shell. These are all about 60 million years old from life’s recovery phase after the big extinction that ended the Age of the Dinosaurs.
