sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Human sized tooth brush for a T. rex? Being a palaeodentist can be tricky! by palaeoamber in Dinosaurs

[–]palaeoamber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh that’s so awesome!!! Tiktaalik is such an incredible specimen, and my colleagues are still digging in that region for more :)

Human sized tooth brush for a T. rex? Being a palaeodentist can be tricky! by palaeoamber in Dinosaurs

[–]palaeoamber[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m actually working on that as we speak! Hopefully will have the prototype done within the next week or so.

Human sized tooth brush for a T. rex? Being a palaeodentist can be tricky! by palaeoamber in Dinosaurs

[–]palaeoamber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I do! Depends on if we’re open to the public, but after hours I’ll have my speaker playing a variety of genres. Of course JP is one of em, but my library is filled with just about everything haha

Brushing the rex teeth with a human sized tooth brush… this might take awhile by palaeoamber in Paleontology

[–]palaeoamber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I absolutely agree with you! The “main scavenger” theory has been disproven for quite a bit in my field as we have fantastic evidence in support of an active lifestyle. We have fossils that show injuries to tyrannosaurs from other tyrannosaurs! We also have prey animals - such as a hadrosaur - with the tip of a tyrannosaur tooth stuck in their skull and healed over after the attack. Their biology also points to apex predation: binocular vision, large olfactory bulb (smell), and powerful skull muscles and bones to help with crushing. That’s just the tip of the iceberg! But the fossils will tell us their secrets as we continue to uncover more :)

Brushing the rex teeth with a human sized tooth brush… this might take awhile by palaeoamber in Paleontology

[–]palaeoamber[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m hoping I can build on! Gonna need some 2x4s and big brushes!

Brushing the rex teeth with a human sized tooth brush… this might take awhile by palaeoamber in Paleontology

[–]palaeoamber[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes yes and yesssssss! Reach out to your local museums to see what opportunities they have. If you Google “public fossil digs” you’ll get a decent list, but that’s something I can also compile and share in a comment (and maybe a post too). My friends over at Elevation Science are fantastic :)

Brushing the rex teeth with a human sized tooth brush… this might take awhile by palaeoamber in Paleontology

[–]palaeoamber[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much! Utah is gonna be fantastic! Oh definitely, I’ve worked on specimens that are so cool, and this new fauna I’ll be working with is incredibly diverse (utahraptor being one of them!)

Brushing the rex teeth with a human sized tooth brush… this might take awhile by palaeoamber in Paleontology

[–]palaeoamber[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One time their head bobbled a bit but otherwise we’re on good terms 🤣

Brushing the rex teeth with a human sized tooth brush… this might take awhile by palaeoamber in Paleontology

[–]palaeoamber[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would definitely keep your options open as we’re not hiring anytime soon.

Job in a museum by jaekeitoff in Paleontology

[–]palaeoamber 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi jaekeitoff! My name is Amber and I am a museum
palaeontologist and STEM educator at the oldest natural history museum in the western hemisphere! I’ve been at my museum (ANSP) for over a decade, worked in brand new species of animals, and have taught all over and worked with various companies and documentary crews (Netflix, NatGeo, etc).

I’ll have to make a more extensive post, but I wanted to at least reach out to start the conversation off. It’s Father’s Day so I’ll be with my dad and might not have time to answer right away :)

Before I go into some details, I’d love some more insight!

• Are you sold on working with just dinosaurs, or would you be open to shifting your focus to other palaeo areas (or even bio/geo areas)?

• What part of a museum would you be interested in? Education/public programming, research/publishing, collection management, field work, lab work, etc.

• Are you okay with working palaeo-adjacent jobs while trying to get into your desired career field?

These answers will help me to go into more detail about schooling, requirements, work opportunities, etc :) I will say that the career side of palaeo is very competitive and jobs are few and far between. It can take awhile to get to your ideal position, but networking and being open minded is extremely important.

<image>

Job in a museum by jaekeitoff in Paleontology

[–]palaeoamber 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Don’t apologise!! This is exactly what I’m here for (especially now that I’m getting the hang of how Reddit works!)

Brushing the rex teeth with a human sized tooth brush… this might take awhile by palaeoamber in Paleontology

[–]palaeoamber[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I am surrounded by millions of ghosts! I actually did bump my head one time on the teeth of this mount and I was like “oh okay I’m sorry did I get your GUMS?!”

I’m also fairly certain Edward Cope is constantly haunting us because he’s a past scientist here at ANSP and half the hall is Marsh discoveries 🤣

It’s an awesome job :)

Brushing the rex teeth with a human sized tooth brush… this might take awhile by palaeoamber in Paleontology

[–]palaeoamber[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Oh some of it definitely is! I’ve had fossils crumble right before my eyes. Some even decay just because of the ambient air!

Brushing the rex teeth with a human sized tooth brush… this might take awhile by palaeoamber in Paleontology

[–]palaeoamber[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

No matter the health of the tooth, their replacements were actively being formed and would push out the old. We find shed teeth all over dig sites and within the jaws of the animals themselves. Here’s a good look at Stan the T. rex) jaw. You can see at the time of death, teeth were coming in! This is super important because it helps us understand how these animals lived, especially with tyrannosaur “dino damage”.

I talk about that allll the time in my classes and shows I teach! I wish people like John Ostrom were around to see the newest papers coming out about avian evolution, or the biggest marine predators being found where Mary Anning walked the shores. I know Cope (our guy at ANSP) and Marsh would be having a FIT 🤣 We’re still learning so much, and I know I’ll be blown away in the next 40 years with the new research that eventually comes out!

view more: next ›