Uŋčí Makhá Park 2024: another winter, more echinoderms

Two years after opening, Uŋčí Makhá Park can be considered a paleontological gem in the Twin Cities. With its Magnolia Member bedding planes, side cuts through the Magnolia and Carimona, easy access, and lack of vehicle traffic, it's nigh-on perfect for getting in touch with St. Paul as it was about 454–453 million years ago. It's kind of like our own Carnegie Quarry wall, except it's tiny marine invertebrates rather than dinosaurs, it probably wasn't planned, and you can walk right out over it. It's always fun to get to spend time there for work, and like last year, I got the opportunity to assist with a training session for Mississippi National River & Recreation Area seasonals there. Then, of course, I just had to make a quick return trip later to follow up on some things we'd seen.

Your Friends The Titanosaurs: Titanomachya gimenezi

2024 has been productive for titanosaurs. Not counting other titano-centric publications, there have already been (potentially) three new genera and species. For number 3, we head back to the familiar land of Patagonia in Argentina, although in this case our new guest represents an Upper Cretaceous formation with no previous named titanosaurs (which seems like a real oddity these days). Titanomachya gimenezi is also decidedly non-titanic for a titanosaur, hanging out down in the saltasaur neighborhood.