Mark Witton

Mastodon home of Dr. Mark Witton, palaeoartist and palaeontologist. More info: markwitton.co.uk; you can view and support my work at http://patreon.com/markwitton.

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npub1yugz2j03x6lg4vvwly7w40c22aytuwvw5lm0lg27yx6202ums3yswjkuym

NIP-05 Address

markwitton_at_sauropods.win@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqszwyp9f8cnd052kx80j082hu99wj978x820ahl590zrd984wdcgjgpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuurjd9kkzmpwdejhgqg4waehxw309aex2mrp0yhx6mmnw3ezuur4vgm2nvkh

Publishing to

relay.primal.net

relay.mostr.pub

relay.noswhere.com

Author Public Key

npub1yugz2j03x6lg4vvwly7w40c22aytuwvw5lm0lg27yx6202ums3yswjkuym

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Last Notes

2024-10-04 08:51:20

For #FossilFriday, #paleoart of a hatchling Ankylosaurus that has yet to develop bony body armour. Fossils show that armoured dinosaurs lacked bony scutes in early life, implying that their toughened hides may not have been primarily adapted to deter predators. #dinosaur #paleontology #sciart #naturalhistory #digitalart #ankylosaurus
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/113/248/297/093/418/278/original/ea304cfee451b9b0.jpg

2024-09-30 14:21:14

New #paleoart at #Patreon! In Early Cretaceous Spain, a spinosaurine challenges a baryonychine for iguanodont carrion. Different spinosaurid lineages are rarely found in the same fossil deposits, but Spain has an especially diverse spino assemblage. More details: https://www.patreon.com/posts/113054735
#sciart #paleontology #Spinosaurus #fossil #naturalhistory #digitalart #dinosaurs
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/113/226/945/127/540/096/original/2d0345de64d76201.jpg

2024-09-27 09:28:53

A skeletal reconstruction of a GIGANTIC Tyrannosaurus for #FossilFriday. This art was created for my upcoming book King Tyrant, but was inspired by and ultimately featured in research published by Jordan Mallon and David Hone on the maximum possible sizes of #dinosaurs (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.11658).
Here, a hypothetical >15 m long, 15 tonne T. rex has been reconstructed following the scaling trajectories common to tyrannosaurids. It differs considerably in proportion from other T. rex.
#sciart
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/113/208/808/222/138/009/original/e814cfd7717f434d.jpg
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/113/208/808/200/963/719/original/67a04b70bb11fd95.jpg

2024-09-17 15:26:01

Finally, Book 6 is revealed! Over two years in the making, King Tyrant: A Natural History of Tyrannosaurus rex is 100,000 words, nearly 800 cited works, and over 150 artworks, photos and diagrams all about the most popular and most studied dinosaur on the planet.
I think it's the best book I've ever written - you'll get to judge for yourself in May 2025. (Cover price: $39.95/£35.00)
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691245584/king-tyrant

2024-09-06 13:32:35

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@npub18zz…rd6u That's great! I have a 2025 calendar for this year's auction too, fyi...

2024-09-06 13:07:40

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@npub18zz…rd6u Nice - from the SVPCA auction last year!

2024-09-06 13:07:40

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@npub18zz…rd6u Nice - from the SVPCA auction last year!

2024-09-02 08:35:01

New #paleoart posted to #Patreon over the weekend: #Spinosaurus swallows Onchopristis against the amber #autumn trees of Late Cretaceous Egypt. HD art and details about Spino face anatomy - including that strange nostril position - at https://www.patreon.com/posts/summer-of-4-nose-111086636. #dinosaurs #sciart #fall
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/113/067/038/158/747/028/original/f1b57bc8d2da3108.jpg

2024-08-30 17:55:38

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@npub1jsh…hspt When (not if!) you get around to doing this, I recommend Princeton University Press. One of the best publishers I've worked with, and I reckon they'd be interested in a plesiosaur volume.

2024-08-30 17:38:30

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@npub1jsh…hspt Wow, I've never seen the whole set together! There's another book coming next May that hasn't been announced yet, and possibly another by the end of next year.

2024-08-30 17:21:39

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@npub1jsh…hspt Thanks Adam! And what a handsome pterosaur book it's next to, as well!

2024-08-30 15:25:16

New #paleoart for #FossilFriday: Suchomimus tussles (so... Suplexomimus? Anyone? No... OK).
Lots of discussion of this scene, a high-res version, and WIPs at my #Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/posts/111039443.
#dinosaurs #sciart #paleontology
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/113/051/665/133/924/107/original/03504e6eee1f0688.jpg

2024-08-30 12:51:32

The Summer of Spinosaurs continues on my #Patreon page. Next up: fishing with Baryonyx. Description of a piece of #paleoart, or title pitch for a Sunday afternoon TV programme? Maybe I discuss that here, along with the science behind this artwork: https://www.patreon.com/posts/111039535 #dinosaurs #sciart
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/113/051/060/186/884/160/original/5be6ba2d17d08ef3.jpg

2024-08-29 21:03:04

It's the Summer of Spinosaurs at my #Patreon! Part 1 of 4 is a new muscle study of Spinosaurus. Lots of discussion about spinosaur anatomy, more images and general musings at https://www.patreon.com/posts/110957263. #sciart #paleoart #dinosaurs
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/113/047/331/193/940/344/original/83b7802704941465.jpg

2024-08-16 11:02:49

A #paleoart blast from the past (of 2016) for #FossilFriday: juvenile, young adult and fully mature Rhamphorhynchus swim in Jurassic Germany. One of them has caught a fish that will occupy its entire torso - an incident recorded in the fossil record. #sciart #pterosaurs
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/112/971/360/901/645/335/original/f77f5198ef58f9ea.jpg

2024-08-11 16:27:46

As part of my ongoing quest for world domination, I'm now on Instagram. Look me up at https://www.instagram.com/mark_witton/.

2024-08-09 12:37:28

For #FossilFriday, some #paleoart algebra: ((Cretaceous river - fish) + juvenile Suchomimus)/HOLY CRAP SARCOSUCHUS. Please show your working.
(The story behind this image and some WIP shots are available on my #Patreon; see https://www.patreon.com/markwitton) #sciart #dinosaurs
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/112/932/096/846/393/134/original/508f9364bdc19f89.jpg

2024-07-05 12:23:07

For #FossilFriday, some #paleoart produced to accompany studies on Spyway Quarry, one of Britain's most important sauropod track sites. A new open-access paper on this Early Cretaceous site dropped this week - check it out at https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.240583. #dinosaurs #sciart
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/112/733/859/360/244/272/original/365e62e5964365b9.jpg

2024-07-01 08:34:45

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@npub15gx…3x7w I see no reason why Megalosaurus should get a nicer summer than we're currently experiencing.

2024-06-24 17:44:01

Just for fun, here's some Dilophosaurus #paleoart from the PalaeoGames D&D book (https://palaeogames.com/). Dilophosaurus lived in seasonally arid settings and is shown here in an open, parched landscape. I have speculatively depicted them as cannibals, an adult chasing after juveniles.
#dinosaurs #sciart #paleontology
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/112/672/834/167/821/283/original/cab30d19a4366b56.jpg

2024-06-21 08:09:45

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A summary of our study from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/21/rewriting-the-myth-experts-doubt-griffin-was-inspired-by-dinosaurs

2024-06-21 07:51:52

New paper for #FossilFriday! Richard Hing and I examine the popular idea that the mythological griffin was inspired by the horned #dinosaurs Protoceratops. We conclude that the hypothesis is non-evidenced at best, and outright problematic at worst.
Still, it gave me a chance to draw a griffin, so there's that.
Check it out here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03080188241255543
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/112/653/520/708/967/399/original/d7d02ae250021134.png

2024-06-18 08:08:35

To celebrate the new PalaeoGames Pathfinder Kickstarter for Doctor Drohlin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs, here's an image I created for the D&D original. Carnotaurus was a fast runner, so it's a good job this guy has a horse.
#dinosaurs #paleoart
Details on the Pathfinder edition: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/palaeogames/pathfinder-second-ed-dr-dhrolins-dictionary-of-dinosaurs
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/112/636/598/032/961/615/original/90d69573db1b5066.png

2024-06-18 08:00:10

The PalaeoGames #dinosaur -themed tabletop roleplaying book I helped to illustrate, Dr Dhrolin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs, is being adapted for Pathfinder. Want science-informed extinct species in your Pathfinder adventures? This is the Kickstarter for you!
#paleoart #sciart
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/palaeogames/pathfinder-second-ed-dr-dhrolins-dictionary-of-dinosaurs

2024-06-14 16:16:35

Late to the party again for #FossilFriday. I've been thinking a lot about Megalosaurus this week, so here's some #paleoart of one from 2020. It's ambushing Cetiosaurus, another historically important #dinosaur species. #sciart
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/112/615/869/214/751/313/original/22a68e069ffe9e05.jpg

2024-06-11 20:26:51

Proofs on an open-access manuscript about a certain mythological creature and its connection with fossils submitted. Publication should be soon - we're talking days, not weeks. Excited to be able to share it soon!

2024-06-07 16:00:03

From... 2019? Yikes - #paleoart of Deinonychus mantling a juvenile Sauroposeidon for #FossilFriday. Contrary to many dromaeosaur artworks, there's no compelling evidence that these animals hunted in groups, and their feet were made for gripping, not kicking and slashing. #dinosaurs
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/112/576/167/920/051/811/original/ca71d7beb8595eed.jpg

2024-06-03 09:00:56

I was vacationing on the shores of Loch Ness last week. Just for fun, here's the elasmosaur Thalassomedon showing what a surfacing plesiosaur would actually look like. Nessie-like elevated necks are physically impossible without a bird-like body plan (i.e. a very lightweight neck on a heavier body).
#paleoart #MarineReptileMonday
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/112/551/868/878/162/900/original/316895d02de785fd.jpg

2024-04-09 08:47:02

Quite by accident, I appear to have amassed silhouettes of multiple predatory Archosauriformes in one place. What does it all mean, I wonder?
If you can guess what they all are, award yourself an extra biscuit at tea break this morning.
#paleoart #sciart #dinosaurs
https://cdn.masto.host/sauropodswin/media_attachments/files/112/240/386/298/045/565/original/37cb8bd69c81db48.png

2024-04-09 08:47:02