Roy Ebel
@ebelosaurus.bsky.social
This may be the most argued-over origin story in animal evolution. What are your thoughts? Here are some answers: theconversation.com/80-million-y...
July 25, 2026 at 2:55 AM
This may be the most argued-over origin story in animal evolution. What are your thoughts? Here are some answers: theconversation.com/80-million-y...
AN EXCEPTIONAL NEW FOSSIL IS REFRAMING SNAKE EVOLUTION! Meet 𝘛𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘮, an 80-million-year-old burrower from Brazil. New in Nature, led by Tiago Simões. A privilege to have been part of this. theconversation.com/80-million-y...
80-million-year-old snake fossil sheds light on why lizards lost their limbs and started slithering
Snakes lost their limbs millions of years ago to become undulating, scaly tubes of muscles. Scientists are finally figuring out why.
theconversation.com
July 23, 2026 at 3:29 AM
AN EXCEPTIONAL NEW FOSSIL IS REFRAMING SNAKE EVOLUTION! Meet 𝘛𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘮, an 80-million-year-old burrower from Brazil. New in Nature, led by Tiago Simões. A privilege to have been part of this. theconversation.com/80-million-y...
Huge congratulations to my dear friend and colleague Jane Melville on the publication of her book, For Her Love of Birds! I've heard wonderful things about it from everyone who's read it. I'm so happy for you and so proud of you — you've absolutely earned this.
May 1, 2026 at 8:13 AM
Huge congratulations to my dear friend and colleague Jane Melville on the publication of her book, For Her Love of Birds! I've heard wonderful things about it from everyone who's read it. I'm so happy for you and so proud of you — you've absolutely earned this.
Including these glass lizards, several distantly related ‘worm lizards’ have skin bone plates covering their bodies. We just found that these evolved independently. For the full story: doi.org/10.64628/AA....
CT data provided by Sydney Decker (2025, CMC 27120, OSUM R685) via MorphoSource.
CT data provided by Sydney Decker (2025, CMC 27120, OSUM R685) via MorphoSource.
January 17, 2026 at 1:57 AM
Including these glass lizards, several distantly related ‘worm lizards’ have skin bone plates covering their bodies. We just found that these evolved independently. For the full story: doi.org/10.64628/AA....
CT data provided by Sydney Decker (2025, CMC 27120, OSUM R685) via MorphoSource.
CT data provided by Sydney Decker (2025, CMC 27120, OSUM R685) via MorphoSource.
Reptile body armour has a wild back story. Find out here: doi.org/10.64628/AA....
January 15, 2026 at 2:30 AM
Reptile body armour has a wild back story. Find out here: doi.org/10.64628/AA....
Reposted by Roy Ebel
Lizards in chain mail: reconstructing the enigmatic past of dermal armour in squamate reptiles url: academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...
Lizards in chain mail: reconstructing the enigmatic past of dermal armour in squamate reptiles
Abstract. Osteoderms, bone plates in the skin, occur widely but inconsistently throughout the tetrapod tree of life. Their evolutionary history remains poo
academic.oup.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Lizards in chain mail: reconstructing the enigmatic past of dermal armour in squamate reptiles url: academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...
Our new paper is out! By reconstructing 320 million years of reptile body armour evolution, we settled a century-old debate. Along the way, we found that monitor lizards broke Dollo’s Law in an unparalleled comeback. Check out our article in The Conversation for more: doi.org/10.64628/AA....
January 13, 2026 at 12:42 AM
Our new paper is out! By reconstructing 320 million years of reptile body armour evolution, we settled a century-old debate. Along the way, we found that monitor lizards broke Dollo’s Law in an unparalleled comeback. Check out our article in The Conversation for more: doi.org/10.64628/AA....
This is it, folks! Your one and only Halloween decoration for the year. It is the creepiest thing I have seen in a while. Watch it in full, with sound on. You won’t regret it. What makes it even better? Every frame is volume-rendered from real scientific CT scans. youtu.be/L_D_iCex16o?...
Scary animals rendered from scientific CT scans
YouTube video by Museums Victoria
youtu.be
October 31, 2025 at 5:31 AM
This is it, folks! Your one and only Halloween decoration for the year. It is the creepiest thing I have seen in a while. Watch it in full, with sound on. You won’t regret it. What makes it even better? Every frame is volume-rendered from real scientific CT scans. youtu.be/L_D_iCex16o?...
It was the greatest of all honours to be featured as Museums Victoria's flagship speaker at the Royal Society of Victoria's launch event for National Science Week. Many thanks to the organisers and the wonderful audience.
August 13, 2025 at 2:13 AM
It was the greatest of all honours to be featured as Museums Victoria's flagship speaker at the Royal Society of Victoria's launch event for National Science Week. Many thanks to the organisers and the wonderful audience.
Monitor lizards, also known in Australia as goannas, are some of the most iconic reptiles on the continent. In our new study, we looked beneath their skin with cutting-edge imaging techniques – and we may just have found the key to their evolutionary success. youtu.be/RfOK2wWYjLo
These Lizards have their own built in chainmail
YouTube video by Museums Victoria
youtu.be
July 21, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Monitor lizards, also known in Australia as goannas, are some of the most iconic reptiles on the continent. In our new study, we looked beneath their skin with cutting-edge imaging techniques – and we may just have found the key to their evolutionary success. youtu.be/RfOK2wWYjLo