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Denis Theda

@pterodude

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German vertebrate paleontologist who really, really likes theropods and pterosaurs.
M.Sc. Paleontology | Curator @lippisches.landesmuseum

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It's an amazing feeling to get scentific projects going, do actual paleontological research, go to collections and all... but being asked to be one of the consultants for a skeletal mount of the largest German theropod by @r.i.p.statue for the exact museum that defined your childhood... that was a whole different beast! It was super fun to provide some input together with, among other people, @dinosauriermann and @alessandro_lania99!

This was a dream come true and will forever be a memory near and dear to my heart. I wish I could have told undergrad Denis, who was stuck in chemistry, physics and mathematics courses between 2017 and 2018, that things like this would eventually await him in a few years.

So... come see Wiehenvenator at the @lwlnaturkundemuseum and enjoy the new exhibition... it ranks among the best I've seen! taken in LWL-Museum für Naturkunde mit Planetarium by @pterodude

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2 days ago

✨ Neue Folge ✨

🐋 Mit dem Ende der Dinosaurier begann ein neues Kapitel der Erdgeschichte. Neue Lebensräume entstanden, Säugetiere breiteten sich immer weiter aus – und einige ihrer Nachfahren wagten im Laufe der Evolution sogar den Schritt zurück ins Wasser. Genau hier setzt das letzte Kapitel unserer Reise durch die Erdgeschichte Nordrhein-Westfalens an: Die Paläontologische Landesausstellung „überLeben – Walheimat Urmeer“ im Lippischen Landesmuseum Detmold führt uns in eine Zeit, in der dort, wo heute Städte, Wälder und Felder liegen, ein warmes Flachmeer lag. Vom 26. September 2026 bis zum 4. April 2027 können Besucherinnen und Besucher in diese längst vergangene Meereswelt eintauchen.

🦈 Damals eroberten die ersten Seekühe, Wale und Robben das Wasser. Ihre Vorfahren lebten noch an Land, doch im Laufe der Evolution passten sie sich immer stärker an das Leben im Meer an. Ein besonderes Highlight der Ausstellung ist der Kervenheimer Wal. Das rund 6,5 Meter lange Fossil wurde bei Kevelaer-Kervenheim am Niederrhein entdeckt und zeugt davon, dass einst auch Wale durch die Gewässer des heutigen Nordrhein-Westfalens schwammen. Doch sie waren längst nicht die einzigen Tiere: Fossile Haizähne belegen die Anwesenheit beeindruckender Räuber, darunter auch Carcharodon hastalis, ein ausgestorbener Großhai.

🎙️ Den Link zum Podcast und zur Folge findet ihr in der Bio!
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©Bildcopyright: Lippisches Landesmusem Detmold

#paläotalk #paläontologie #podcast #dinosaurier #extinctanimals by @pterodude

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7 days ago

One of the truly beautiful things about what we do is that, over time and with growing knowledge, you realize we're all not that different from each other. Different body shape, different mode of life, we may have existed at different times, but it all came from the same basic skeleton. The bodyplan of a whale is insanely similar to yours and mine all things considered. Go back further and further and everything alive shares the same basic features that allow us to exist at all.

We're all in this together, we all just kind of happen to be here and that's beautiful. Let's be kind to our friends and (sometimes distant) relatives. taken in Lippisches Landesmuseum by @pterodude

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14 days ago

It's been one hell of a two-year-long ride and everyone from our team had to wear multiple hats and give it their all, but here we are... our exhibition about extinct marine mammals from Northrhine-Westphalia (northwestern Germany) is almost ready! taken in Lippisches Landesmuseum by @pterodude

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a month ago

A while ago I drew this skull of "Malusaurus", which was at one point meant to be the new bad guy theropod for Jurassic World before the Indominus rex became a thing. As far as I know it wasn't supposed to be a hybrid, but a previously unknown dinosaur.

Here I imagined it to be a relative of Monolophosaurus, naming it "Malusaurus jiangi" by @pterodude

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a month ago

Sinkholes and caves, weather phenomena (including tornadoes), incredible sunsets and northern lights. Morrin, Alberta put on quite a show for us this year... so did the mosquitoes. Let's put it this way "don't go into the long grass" certainly didn't refer to any Velociraptors nearby this summer. by @pterodude

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a month ago

20 years of Prehistoric Park.... hard to belive it's been this long (well technically it hasn't been 20 years for me yet, as it came out later in Germany, after the dub was finished yada yada yada).

Regardless, I decided to go back to episode one to celebrate the occasion. I have to say even after all this time the atmosphere of the first episode just goes so hard. We're in the Cretaceous only a few minutes into the episode and the first thing we encounter is.... nothing. Silence. A volcanic landscape interrupted by low-lying islands of green. We move through eerie forests, unsure what to expect. We hear calls we cannot really identify.

Leaving aside the discussion about realism/plausibility of what exactly we see... I simply have to say I enjoy how they tie T. rex into this particular setting. These Rexes spend most of their time in the volcanic uplands, which is where they aggregate in family groups, feed, rest and even breed. They tend to stay far away from the busier forests and floodplains, only really going there to drink or hunt. The hatchlings seem to spend early life away from the rest of their pack or family. They even show their T. rex to have some plasticity in its social behavior (as a great many animals have) with a female being abandoned by its group, or a lone male foraging for food on its own. Also... they don't really seem to like to go into water that much do they?

I think I cannot overstate how much I appreciate this level of immersion. I get the feeling to be watching actual animals, bit by bit understanding their behavioral patterns, learning how they live their lives.

Maybe I'll revisit the other episodes as well at some point and see what I like most about them... we'll see. 🦖 by @pterodude

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3 months ago

Edmonton River Valley 🥾 by @pterodude

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4 months ago

✨ Neue Folge ✨

🪶 Untersuchungen fossiler Haut- und Haarstrukturen von Sinopterus dongi aus der frühen Kreidezeit zeigen, dass diese Tiere möglicherweise schillernde Farben besaßen – ähnlich wie heutige Kolibris. Verantwortlich dafür waren komplexe Nanostrukturen in pigmenthaltigen Zellorganellen, den sogenannten Melanosomen, die Licht auf besondere Weise reflektierten. Besonders bemerkenswert ist der Nachweis einer sogenannten photonic structure, einer regelmäßig angeordneten Schicht aus stabförmigen Melanosomen.

🦚 Computermodelle legen nahe, dass dadurch je nach Blickwinkel irisierende Grün-, Blau- und Magentatöne entstanden. Die Studie liefert damit den ersten direkten Nachweis strukturell erzeugter Irisierung bei Flugsauriern. Gemeinsam mit dem Paläontologen Denis Theda sprechen wir über diese außergewöhnliche Entdeckung, die Farbgebung von Flugsauriern und die Frage, ob Pterosaurier möglicherweise eine Art feines „Federkleid“ besaßen.

🎙️ Den Link zum Podcast und zur Folge findet ihr in der Bio!
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©Bildcopyright: Petite Paleoartist | Sauriazoicillus

#paläotalk #paläontologie #podcast #dinosaurier #extinctanimals by @pterodude

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4 months ago

At long last spring is here... so are long walks and reading outdoors. by @pterodude

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6 months ago

FINE! I'll join this thing the kids call Instag... Intro... Intrara... Interstella... Impror... this social media thing here. Be prepared for random pterosaur and dinosaur posts.

So to kick things off here's the best thing I came across in our museum collection recently: a cast of a Quetzalcoatlus humerus! This was one of the largest animals to ever take to the skies! by @pterodude

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7 months ago