iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

JH @jhemiptera.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

#Sciart #Paleoart Archelon. Deeply appreciate at @archelosaurian.bsky.social for giving advice

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This is setting off a lot of red flags. If your paper claims to have developed a method to detect beaky-ness in fossil animals, all of the beaky taxa should be grouping. Turtles being so far removed from sauropods+birds in every analysis tells me that this measurement has nothing to do with beaks.

142

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Confirmation that the “American cheetah” isn’t a cheetah at all, but closer to Puma. I know a lot of relevant workers have been wondering this for a while. I hope we eventually get good genetic data for Eurasian Puma, since my hunch is that Miracinonyx will eventually turn out to be Puma trumani.

cell.com

Range and diet diversity in the Pleistocene American “cheetah,” Miracinonyx trumani

Cassatt-Johnstone et al. use paleogenomics to show that extinct American cheetahs were most closely related to pumas, not cheetahs. These cats ranged far into the Arctic and exploited aquatic prey, th...

142

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Dr. Scott Hartman - but not THAT kind of doctor @skeletaldrawing.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Have you ever wanted to visually compare the size of your favorite extinct animals? Now you can, as I'm launching an interactive size comparison tool on my website. Give it a try and let me know what you think: www.skeletaldrawing.com/compare/

41914441

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Wildlife Wire @wildlifewire.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

It’s very upsetting that the giant lemur scene got scrapped, because we can totally see that segment showing off not only this new fossa’s size, but also it still having the same arboreal traits present in the smaller species by having it hunt them. Would’ve made for an excellent segment.

0111

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Many of you aware of PREHISTORIC PLANET ICE AGE will know that we featured a giant, black fosa that we showed as unusually large, larger even than the estimated size for the fossil species CryptoprocTa spelea. Here's my article on what we showed.... tetzoo.com/blog/2025/10... CONTINUED....

tetzoo.com

The Amazing Giant Black Fossa — Tetrapod Zoology

Is there a bigger, badder, blacker fossa alive in Madagascar?

59931

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

There's also things like elephants not always growing tusks, or the variation and late development of avian crests and several ungulate horns. We also have a prescience for this in marginocephalians: Styracosaurus only starts to develop its iconic mature features past 80% adult size.

1279

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Very excited to get caught up on my pterosaur reading.

010

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Stephan Spiekman @stephanspiekman.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Excited to share our new paper in Science Advances! Led by Dr Wei Wang at #IVPP in Beijing, it presents a complete skeleton of #Austronaga, the most marine of all archosauromorphs. To boot, this fossil preserves the oldest complete digestive tract of any reptile! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

513761

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Jeanne Timmons @mostlymammoths.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Inquisitive snapping turtle, surrounded by lots of fish and equally-inquisitive painted turtles. 💚

422739

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

DreamBob @dreambob.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Everyone is a winner at #DinoconUK All these cool characters at the costumes competition 🎉🎉

0179

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Despite one sour talk, everything at #DinoConUK was exceptional. Had a lot of fun and connected with a lot of amazing people. There were hundreds of artists, including guest of honor David Armsby of #Dinosauria fame, that will be the new future of paleo media. Excited to be back next year.

2396

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

The Grand Akizuki Manor (READ PINNED) @photonbytez.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

I wasn’t able to make it to this year’s Dinocon, but… If y’know, y’know #dinoconuk #dinocon

4369

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Wildlife Wire @wildlifewire.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Colossal’s new USFWS-backed deal to biobank ESA-protected species made headlines. While this may sound like positive action, it’s alarming for the critically endangered red wolf. Here’s why the partnership raises serious concerns for the species’ future🧵: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/25/c...

1136

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Would like to hear more opinions on this topic, but personally, I really think this is crossing a line that paleo-science communication should not cross. Yes animals like this probably existed, but confidentially presenting them as if they are a know taxon is very misleading and generates mistrust.

youtu.be

Surviving Earth's Protopterosaur Problem

YouTube video by Shadows and Science Gone Mad

350

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Finch @finchwing.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

he's right behind me isn't he

3502141

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

GlassShine @glassshine.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

birdpost

2073552073

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

While I'm excited about #SurvivingEarth, I'm really done with documentaries that try framing organisms that made it through terrible extinction events as the "winners," as opposed to the "losing" organisms that went extinct. That's an unhealthy, if not malicious, framing of extinction processes.

273

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Jeanne Timmons @mostlymammoths.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Hello, snapping turtle. 💚

452522234

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Taylor McCoy @tm9380.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

A selection of some of North America’s most famous and notable apex predators across millennia…

1238

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

New at #Patreon: Stop press (literally, in my case)! Fossils suggest that the tapjearid Sinopterus had blue-green/magenta iridescence? Huge implications for #pterosaur #paleoart and just one of a suite of new papers reinventing tapejarid pterosaurs. Discussion at www.patreon.com/posts/159645...

728888

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Only time you really see huge muscles in association with high speed locomotion is in aquatic settings. The huge m. caudofemoralis longus in crocs is used in their tail-based aquatic locomotion, and even they aren't very fast swimmers. Excellent video countering a popular paleo-myth.

youtube.com

No, Carnotaurus wasn't actually a fast runner

YouTube video by Skeleton Crew

241

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

I know everyone wants there to be a Giant Cretaceous Octopus but after looking at methods and tables, I really don't think this is a reality.

1923886

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Re-description of the skull of Muttaburasaurus. And, uh, it's a lot weirder. Very thescelosaur/early ornithischian-like on a large animal. And I mean large: the authors estimate the biggest specimen is around 8.8 tons, making it among the largest terrestrial bipeds known. peerj.com/articles/207...

14117

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

NowThis Impact @nowthisimpact.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Lawrence O'Donnell said what everyone’s thinking after Trump’s profanity-filled Easter outburst — promising war crimes.

06929

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Someone lost their #Dinosaur quiz in the Walkers Squares. Spotted at a convenience store a block from the #MuseumofManchester.

010

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Mira Thompson @wensthomp.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Today, for the safety of all SVP members, I request with this open letter that the @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social provides an online option for this year's annual meeting. Myself and many others no longer feel it is safe to travel to and within the USA. Please share the letter everywhere you can!

Letter to the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology advocating that their annual meeting have an online option in addition to the in person meeting in Cleveland. Unfortunately, alt text cannot have all of the letter text but the reasoning involves threatof violence to at risk groups in the US as well as issues related to contracting dangerous diseases and other safety threats.

Continuation of letter. Please read previous alt text for summary.

49232

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

I have a dream video game where you play as the vengeful spirit of the Spinosaurus holotype destroyed during the bombing of Munich, and inspired by Stromer (who was strongly against the Nazis) goes John Wick against the entire Nazi party, hunting them down at various historical locations.

72310

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Neat video showing Lycaon isn't that different from Canis (if you're a dog owner, you know what I mean). Also, that animals of species with some degree of competition for resources can interact calmly enough. Hat tip to @archelosaurian.bsky.social

youtube.com

Unusual friends - Hyena and wild dog

YouTube video by WildEarth

0168

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 21/02/2026

Today I visited Zealandia and of course asked about the chance of seeing the resident takahē. Basically no chance, my guide replied. Their habitat is off-limited to visitors right now and they rarely venture beyond it. Resigned to this, I sat down on bench to watch riflemen...and who peeked out?

411256105

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

In which I provide a few thoughts on the new Spinosaurus species, S. mirabilis. www.newscientist.com/article/2516... I also stressed the deep connections between one of the study authors - Nathan Myhrvold - and Geoffrey Epstein to New Scientist. They didn't mention it, neither has anyone else.

newscientist.com

New fossils may settle debate over mysterious sail-backed spinosaurs

Spinosaurs have sometimes been portrayed as swimmers or divers, but a new species of these dinosaurs bolsters the idea that they were more like gigantic herons

7463171

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Emily Thomas 🦤🏳️‍🌈 @zhejiang0pterus.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Nice theropod but check out the third author on it

54412

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Cool head crest? ✅ Tall neural spines? ✅ Deep tail? ✅ Was thought to be aquatic for several years? ✅ Spinosaurus is a hadrosaur.

073

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Most people: "Confirmation that Spinosaurus is not a swimmer!" Me: "Holy crap, three individuals from the same site. With overlapping material showing variation no less!"

130

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Giant tortoises are ubiquitous around the world between the mid Miocene and late Pleistocene. The Sharktooth Hill collections at LACM has bits and bobs of tortoise shells over a meter and a half long. Here’s a fragment of costal I found in a drawer during my Master’s work. ID is Hesperotestudo.

051

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

David Levering @biogeoverse.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Regarding events of last week in SVP and the wider vertebrate paleontology community.

First, I want to be very clear that I am not speaking in any official capacity for the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) with this post. I’ll be speaking of the society of course, but this is not an organizational official statement. I’m also not going to speak super directly to the details of the Epstein Files revelations that erupted over the weekend and still continue. I believe the stories I’ve heard from numerous female SVP members about other behaviors, words and actions by accused individuals and many other men. There should be a robust Ethics Committee investigation that includes the possibility of bannings and revocations as potential consequences for a totality of offenses both recent and otherwise. This goes for any SVP member, not just those with outsized influence or media presence.

Communications Committee (which I am co-chair of) was not involved in crafting the statement released by SVP earlier this week. We are discussing how to better integrate relevant committees in future situations that require precise, expeditious official commentary from SVP. While the technical legalistic language in that statement is correct, IMO it severely missed the mark on understanding and acknowledging the hurt and anger amongst membership. The community response appeared to be in part driven by decades of women in membership feeling their real experiences with harassment, objectification, and assault continue to be minimized and ignored. Due to structural inequities, legal fears and power imbalances we especially see influential repeat-offenders relegated to whisper-network warnings rather than face any true professional or personal consequences. As anyone with a shred of empathy can understand, this has over time led to intense and even angry frustration, members quitting the society, and others avoiding membership altogether.

Despite robust cultural and operational changes within SVP over the past 20+ years, the outcomes we are experiencing are still deeply problematic. If the outcomes are chronically proven inadequate, that means the systems producing those outcomes are inadequate, and should be fixed where appropriate or thrown out in favor of a complete rebuild. I have not arrived at these conclusions lightly. I have been in private conversation with current and former SVP members (mostly women) nearly constantly since this past Sunday. Everyone from students who only joined very recently, early careers expressing dismay at the silence of more senior figures, established mid-career members, and those who have left membership in frustration. The act of leadership relies most on listening, and I’ve been doing my best to do that where I can this week. In light of this assessment, and with the help of extensive dialogue which I am immensely grateful for, I have submitted the following action items to SVP leadership to be included in discussion at an upcoming followup town hall meeting:

1) Strongly consider an overhaul to our Code of Conduct rules regarding interpersonal behavior, ethics reporting, and ethics violation policies within the bounds of technical legal protections required for all parties. This includes but is not limited to banning from meetings, banning from society membership, and revocation of Society awards as official potential consequences. If our current systems for dealing with abusive or unprofessional behavior are not getting the job done, we should fix them.

2) Assemble comprehensive, expansive strategies that SVP leadership can implement with the goal of addressing the underlying unprofessional actions and attitudes that lead to misconduct behaviors propagating in our community. In function, the goal is to educationally inoculate against toxic and unprofessional behaviors.

3) SVP will produce a media series that guides members through the full start-to-finish ethics violation reporting and administrative action processes. We believe empowering membership with this information will help us all hold each other accountable and make SVP as safe and welcoming as possible to those wishing to contribute to the betterment of our professional community. (This one is more directly under my control and thus I can speak more assertively about it.)

4) SVP should provide quarterly progress updates on initiatives to address member safety as well as violation accountability procedures. This *would not* mean a change in policy for public disclosures on the details of ongoing ethics violation investigations. It will mean providing members with updates on process overhauls and finding new ways to provide allowable transparency to membership without creating legal vulnerabilities.

We are a society of incredibly smart, talented, generous and hardworking people. Circumstantial excuses do not protect our community members. These chronic problems are fixable if we have the collective will to do so.

Thanks for your time if you made it all the way through. I look forward to working with anyone with good-faith interest in making the changes our organization clearly still needs.

46032

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Maybe I’m just used to playing devil’s advocate, but I’m not quite convinced that these cannot be feathers. They’re not like mature feathers yes, but feathers do start out as vascular blood-filled structures that are part of the epidermis, just like in Haolong.

172

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Emily Thomas 🦤🏳️‍🌈 @zhejiang0pterus.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

The one rule regarding dinosaur integument is that we should never underestimate its diversity

310134

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Claude ✡️🦖🦕 @cascoclauda.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

a very warm welcome to haolong dongi, a fascinating hadrosauroid from the early cretaceous yixian formation described by huang et al. 🎉 the near-complete holotype preserves highly unique integumentary structures unknown in other dinosaurs www.nature.com/articles/s41 (art by fabio manucci)

art depicting two haolong individuals, depicted with the unique spikey integument preserved with the holotype

9298101

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

PaleoJim @paleojim.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Jack Horner in the Epstein File trying to raise money to fund dinosaur research. When I discovered we had rich nazis on our dig in 2008, I dropped them like a rancid turd; ask Don. There will never be a Trumpasaurus with my name attached! @paleontologizing.bsky.social @utahpaleo-ufop.bsky.social

822351

Tristan J. Stock @archelosaurian.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Needless to say I feel the same, and reading the email left me feeling extremely betrayed by a community I thought I could trust. I do not think I will be renewing my SVP membership at this point.

0214

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Riley Black 🏳️‍⚧️ 🦕 @restingdinoface.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

This Jack Horner. Who’s been known to the whisper network for some time now. There’s a reason I have repeatedly turned down writing about his work or him.

people.com

Jack Horner Says He Was Let Go for Marrying 19-Year-Old Student

Horner spent 34 years at the Museum of the Rockies and even advised Steven Spielberg on the Jurassic Park movies

15959397

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Natalia (娜塔莉) @wrycritic.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

You know palaeontology online spheres are dominated by men, with a big name being outed as a peado accomplice, the first thing they comment on are "I never agreed with his stance on T.rex" & "I preferred Bakker/Gould anyway" And not "The field is rotten to the core with sex pests and weird men"

440487

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

This is a really great paper, with a big boost from new fossils for Ajkaceratops. European ceratopsians are weird--and a ceratopsian identity is the hypothesis best supported by the evidence. Some thoughts / notes...

3248

Reposted by Tristan J. Stock

Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

The Distortus rex figure made for Jurassic World Rebirth is not selling. No-one buys it. So I'm glad I held off as it's only a matter of time before it's remaindered.

9531