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Chris Tijani Barker

@christijanibarker.bsky.social
203 followers 78 following 14 posts

Palaeontologist | PhD | Scientific consultant and author | Visiting researcher at University of Southampton | Spinosaurs, theropods, crocodylomorphs & Wealden Supergroup faunas 🇫🇷 🇹🇳 🇬🇧

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Reposted by Chris Tijani Barker
Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
I and colleagues are working on a response to Frédéric Pittet's new article on spinosaurid rostra and sensory abilities; we've found several aspects that overlap with our own in-prep work on baryonychine crania. And, no, it isn't so much on the taxonomy :) #dinosaurs
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Reposted by Chris Tijani Barker
Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
This work is led by @neilgostling.bsky.social and @christijanibarker.bsky.social and we've enjoyed working with colleagues, amateur and professional, throughout the region. We have more spinosaurid work in prep right now and look forward to telling you all about it :)
The Isle of Wight baronychines Ceratosuchops and Riparovenator, art by Anthony Hutchings.White Rock spinosaurid, art by Anthony Hutchings.time-calibrated spinosaurid cladogram from Barker et al.
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Chris Tijani Barker @christijanibarker.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
The new Eustreptospondylus mount I helped reconstruct with colleagues at Replicate3D has now been officially unveiled at Oxford Natural History Museum. We surface scanned the holotype and rearticulated/sculpted various bits in Blender, including the skull. A really fun project to be involved with!!
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Reposted by Chris Tijani Barker
Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
It's true, my 'Theropod dinosaur diversity of the lower English Wealden', co-authored with @christijanibarker.bsky.social @neilgostling.bsky.social and colleagues, is a #TopViewedArticle at #PapersinPalaeontology, and here's the certificate to prove it... congrats to us all. #dinosaurs #fossils
Certificate with 'Top viewed article' at top, paper's title below and a Wiley circular stamp with wreath graphics at side.
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Reposted by Chris Tijani Barker
Neil Gostling/EvoPalaeoLab @neilgostling.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Our giant paper on a small crocodyliform is out! We have a comprehensive atlas of the osteology and neuroanatomy of Koumpiodontosuchus. Amazing work from @christijanibarker.bsky.social @tetzoo.bsky.social Mark Young Katy Rankin, et al @sotonbiosciences.bsky.social academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
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Reposted by Chris Tijani Barker
Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Our new giant ZJLS paper on the Wealden croc Koumpiodontosuchus is out, and thus.... tetzoo.com/blog/2026/4/... A great study led by @christijanibarker.bsky.social and @neilgostling.bsky.social
tetzoo.com
Koumpi the Wealden Croc: Tons of New Data and Phylogeny Resolved — Tetrapod Zoology
A very long article on a very small croc…
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Chris Tijani Barker @christijanibarker.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Our new paper on a tiny Wealden 🐊 is now out, with @tetzoo.bsky.social, @neilgostling.bsky.social and co. As a critical taxon close to the origins of the living croc lineage, we used microCT to build a comprehensive morpholgical atlas to reassess its evolutionary relationships. tinyurl.com/4t592crr
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Chris Tijani Barker @christijanibarker.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
This final version of this work is now available as a PDF. On behalf of my co-authors, I'd like to thank the editors and reviewers for their expertise and handling of the manuscript. www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/am...
ameghiniana.org.ar
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE FOR SPINOSAURID SURVIVAL INTO THE LATEST CRETACEOUS: A COMMENT ON OLMEDO-ROMAÑA ET AL . (2025) | Ameghiniana
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Reposted by Chris Tijani Barker
Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
I'm not at Pal Ass (the annual Palaeontological Association meeting) but I'm there in spirit as our group's #spinosaurid talk happened today ('A decade of spinosaurids: is the UK a centre for a golden age in spinosaurid research?'), given by Neil Gostling @neilgostling.bsky.social. cont...
Cover slide for talk 'A decade of spinosaurids: is the UK a centre for a golden age in spinosaurid research?'.
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Chris Tijani Barker @christijanibarker.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Did spinosaurids really survive into the latest Cretaceous? The postprint for our latest work on these incredible dinosaurs is out today, where @neilgostling.bsky.social, @tetzoo.bsky.social and I examine claims of spino persistance beyond the Cenomanian www.ameghiniana.org.ar/index.php/am...
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Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
New Rauhut et al. PalaeoE paper on Iberian spinosaurids is really interesting but odd that they only cite us (Barker et al. 2021) once, and only in connection with an anatomical trait. I'm biased, but Barker et al. is an important paper in European spinosaurid studies www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
New spinosaurids from the Wessex Formation (Early Cretaceous, UK) and the European origins of Spinosauridae - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - New spinosaurids from the Wessex Formation (Early Cretaceous, UK) and the European origins of Spinosauridae
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Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
This has been a week of mostly #crocodyliforms and #spinosaurids. A lot of great stuff in the works with @christijanibarker.bsky.social @neilgostling.bsky.social and others.... stay tuned.
A hooked upper jaw top from a spinosaurid.Fossil in a box, blacked out to maintain secrecy.Render showing branching internal structures within a fossil.
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Neil Gostling/EvoPalaeoLab @neilgostling.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Great day in the Palaeo lab at Dinosaur Isle with @christijanibarker.bsky.social and @jamesmacdonell.bsky.social looking at Isle of Wight dinosaurs. Keep an eye out for some exciting developments... @sotonbiosciences.bsky.social @unisouthampton.bsky.social
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Reposted by Chris Tijani Barker
Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 21/05/2025
In 2022, I and colleagues published our study of a new gigantic spinosaurid theropod from the Isle of Wight's Vectis Formation. The remains were fragmentary, and we've always hoped that new material might come to light. And that's where I'll end things and press 'Post'.... tetzoo.com/blog/2022/6/...
tetzoo.com
A Giant Spinosaurid Dinosaur from the Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight — Tetrapod Zoology
Yup, another new dinosaur from the Cretaceous of the UK…
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Chris Tijani Barker @christijanibarker.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Our open access article on early spinosaur brains and senses, coauthored by myself, @neilgostling.bsky.social, @tetzoo.bsky.social, @witmerlab.bsky.social and others, is apparently a #TopViewedArticle in the Journal of Anatomy. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Modified skulls but conservative brains? The palaeoneurology and endocranial anatomy of baryonychine dinosaurs (Theropoda: Spinosauridae)
Spinosaurids were unusual large-bodied tetanuran theropods with semi-aquatic ecologies. The neuroanatomy of baryonychine spinosaurids has yet to be studied, and may inform about the early evolution o....
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Neil Gostling/EvoPalaeoLab @neilgostling.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Hidden in Stone at God's House Tower features work from Archaeology and @sotonbiosciences.bsky.social of @unisouthampton.bsky.social. Here are some pieces inspired by the research in my lab, by @christijanibarker.bsky.social during his PhD... The Spinosaur Ceratosuchops... Work by Karen Fawcett
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Reposted by Chris Tijani Barker
Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Had a fantastic evening at God's House Tower (Southampton) for Hidden in Stone, a new exhibition arranged by @neilgostling.bsky.social, bringing attention to south coast fossils including Wealden spinosaurids, the Isle of Wight Paleogene and Pleistocene, and more. Aaand...
God's House Tower at night.Upstairs in the museum, showing people in exhibition space with display items like pliosaur skull and wooden dinosaur. Replica pliosaur skull. Replicas of fossils including Anning Plesiosaurus.
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Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Hidden in Stone includes appropriate coverage of Wealden spinosaurids (the work of @christijanibarker.bsky.social @neilgostling.bsky.social myself and others), with replica fossils of #Ceratosuchops and items relevant to Bill Walker's discovery of #Baryonyx in the 1980s...
Naish soyjacking to a sign. Again, jesus. Ceratosuchopin skull replicas.Letter from the NHM to Bill Walker and his own geological hammer. Base-mounted replica, with plaque, of the original Baryonyx find.
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Chris Tijani Barker @christijanibarker.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
First visit to the Oxford Clay Fm. (Callovian, Jurassic) around Tidmoor Point - covered in mud but highly productive, with lots of ammonite and belemnite fragments as well as a shark tooth (?Sphenodus).
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Neil Gostling/EvoPalaeoLab @neilgostling.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
We have a rich fossil heritage on the south coast, marine reptiles, dinosaurs, the first humans on these islands... And everything in between. Come and find out about it at our new exhibition, running from April 4th to June 1st. godshousetower.org.uk/eventer/exhi... @unisouthampton.bsky.social
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Chris Tijani Barker @christijanibarker.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
Saw a whole bunch of kids books I've written/consulted on out in the wild: these are all DK tomes, including the recent 2024 addition to the Find My Favourite series aimed at younger readers 🦖🦕
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Reposted by Chris Tijani Barker
Newsweek @newsweek.com · 06/12/2024
The fossilized tyrannosaur teeth are thought to date to around 135 million years ago and represent a first of its kind discovery.
newsweek.com
Dinosaur teeth discovered by quarryman revealed to be tyrannosaur's
The fossilized tyrannosaur teeth are thought to date to around 135 million years ago and represent a first of its kind discovery.
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Reposted by Chris Tijani Barker
The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Spinosaurs, dromaeosaurs & tyrannosaurs in the lower English Wealden: analysis of a tooth-based fauna from the Wadhurst Clay Formation onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @neilgostling.bsky.social @christijanibarker.bsky.social @tetzoo.bsky.social
Artist's reconstruction of the fauna of the Hastings Group, Lower Cretaceous Wealden Supergroup of southern England. A darkly clouded sky is filled with flying pterosaurs and in the foreground large and small predatory theropods feed and splash across a muddy landscape with coniferous trees in the background, feeding from a felled theropod. Illustration by Anthony Hutchings.
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simonwills.bsky.social @simonwills.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Great to be involved in this research along with @christijanibarker.bsky.social, @tetzoo.bsky.social @simonwills.bsky.social, Lucy Handford, Christope Hendricks, Phil Hadland, Dave Brockhurst and @neilgostling.bsky.social. The #MachineLearning we used will continue to improve with more data!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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Reposted by Chris Tijani Barker
Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
New at Tetrapod Zoology... A New Theropod Dinosaur Assemblage from the Older Part of the English Wealden. Tantalizing remains demonstrate new, earliest Cretaceous spinosaurids, tyrannosauroids and more... tetzoo.com/blog/2024/12... #dinosaurs #fossils
tetzoo.com
A New Theropod Dinosaur Assemblage from the Older Part of the English Wealden — Tetrapod Zoology
What, you want more new theropod dinosaurs from the English Lower Cretaceous? Today sees the publication of our group’s ongoing analysis of theropod diversity within the Wealden Supergroup of southe...
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Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Published today ... our study of predatory dinosaur diversity in the Lower Cretaceous Hastings Group of the Wealden. New data on one of the oldest Cretaceous dinosaur assemblages, revealing new spinosaurid, tyrannosauroid and dromaeosaurid lineages ... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #dinosaurs
bbc.co.uk
East Sussex: Dinosaur teeth discovered in Bexhill
A new study says a discovery at Ashdown Brickworks helped unearth a community of dinosaurs.
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Chris Tijani Barker @christijanibarker.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Spinosaurs, dromaeosaurs... and tyrannosaurs? Our new #OA paper with @tetzoo.bsky.social @neilgostling.bsky.social @simonwills.bsky.social and colleagues examines the theropod assemblage from a poorly known part of the British Cretaceous is out: doi.org/10.1002/spp2.... Art by Anthony Hutchings.
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Jeremy Lockwood @valdosaurus.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
The highest academic accolade has to be when your work gets turned into a child’s toy making a roaring noise. Ceratosuchops inferodios (hell’s heron) 2021. Xmas presents for young nieces and nephews sorted! @christijanibarker.bsky.social @neilgostling.bsky.social @tetzoo.bsky.social #FossilFriday
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Chris Tijani Barker @christijanibarker.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
Hi Bluesky! I'm Chris, a palaeontologist whose research focuses on the taxonomy, systematics, diversity and neuroanatomy of British theropod dinosaurs, with a keen interest in #spinosaurs. All my technical papers are OA and can be found at scholar.google.com/citations?us.... (Art: Anthony Hutchings)
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