Tristan J. Stock
@archelosaurian.bsky.social
Master of Science in Paleontology working on fossil Archelosauria. Currently studying Miocene sea turtles at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. Enjoys talking about Reptiles (including Birds!), SpecEvo, and general nerd stuff.
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
Alright, now that I'm not on the road - full thread on our new azhdarchoid phylogeny paper and what it means for pterosaurs big (like this one) and small! 1/23
November 5, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Alright, now that I'm not on the road - full thread on our new azhdarchoid phylogeny paper and what it means for pterosaurs big (like this one) and small! 1/23
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
Soon... Very, very soon...
November 5, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Soon... Very, very soon...
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
JUST PUBLISHED!!!! A major azhdarchoid phylogeny paper coauthored with @skyemcdavid.com - the fruit of years of work - is now out in @journalsystpal.bsky.social! New clades, reconstruction of size evolution, and more. Full thread to come soon!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Enter the dragons: the phylogeny of Azhdarchoidea (Pterosauria: Pterodactyloidea) and the evolution of giant size in pterosaurs
Azhdarchidae is a clade of pterosaurs which includes the largest-ever flying animals. The evolutionary history of this clade and its closest relatives remains incompletely understood and highly deb...
www.tandfonline.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:01 PM
JUST PUBLISHED!!!! A major azhdarchoid phylogeny paper coauthored with @skyemcdavid.com - the fruit of years of work - is now out in @journalsystpal.bsky.social! New clades, reconstruction of size evolution, and more. Full thread to come soon!
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Me a week ago: “It’s a whole family of T. rex. How wholesome.”
Me today: “Little guy is so screwed.”
#NHMLA #LACM #JordanTheropod #Nanotyrannus?
Me today: “Little guy is so screwed.”
#NHMLA #LACM #JordanTheropod #Nanotyrannus?
November 1, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Me a week ago: “It’s a whole family of T. rex. How wholesome.”
Me today: “Little guy is so screwed.”
#NHMLA #LACM #JordanTheropod #Nanotyrannus?
Me today: “Little guy is so screwed.”
#NHMLA #LACM #JordanTheropod #Nanotyrannus?
LACM 28471, the holotype of “Stygivenator” and possibly the only Nanotyrannus on display along the west coast. Turtle-loving human for scale.
It’s very fragmentary (what you see is what you get) so the ID is tentative, but it lacks a subnarial foramen, which is a synapomorphy of Nano. (Circle)
It’s very fragmentary (what you see is what you get) so the ID is tentative, but it lacks a subnarial foramen, which is a synapomorphy of Nano. (Circle)
November 1, 2025 at 4:46 PM
LACM 28471, the holotype of “Stygivenator” and possibly the only Nanotyrannus on display along the west coast. Turtle-loving human for scale.
It’s very fragmentary (what you see is what you get) so the ID is tentative, but it lacks a subnarial foramen, which is a synapomorphy of Nano. (Circle)
It’s very fragmentary (what you see is what you get) so the ID is tentative, but it lacks a subnarial foramen, which is a synapomorphy of Nano. (Circle)
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
So looks like I was right and there's various people crowing about how they were always right about Nanotyrannus because they'd seen some private specimens or their take on the data was best or special and not at all about how the weight of evidence had shifted now. It's personal opinion > science.
November 1, 2025 at 8:08 AM
So looks like I was right and there's various people crowing about how they were always right about Nanotyrannus because they'd seen some private specimens or their take on the data was best or special and not at all about how the weight of evidence had shifted now. It's personal opinion > science.
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
It's #Halloween, so here's some scary #paleoart of the dreaded MAMMALIAN NOCTURNAL BOTTLENECK HYPOTHESIS. Which of these Megaconus will survive - AND WHAT WILL BE LEFT OF THEM?
(Image just uploaded to #Patreon, along with a detailed discussion of this idea: www.patreon.com/posts/142523...)
(Image just uploaded to #Patreon, along with a detailed discussion of this idea: www.patreon.com/posts/142523...)
October 31, 2025 at 7:16 PM
It's #Halloween, so here's some scary #paleoart of the dreaded MAMMALIAN NOCTURNAL BOTTLENECK HYPOTHESIS. Which of these Megaconus will survive - AND WHAT WILL BE LEFT OF THEM?
(Image just uploaded to #Patreon, along with a detailed discussion of this idea: www.patreon.com/posts/142523...)
(Image just uploaded to #Patreon, along with a detailed discussion of this idea: www.patreon.com/posts/142523...)
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
On this Halloween, a reminder that a sculptor included a Xenomorph gargoyle during the 1990s restoration of Paisley Abbey
October 31, 2025 at 11:07 AM
On this Halloween, a reminder that a sculptor included a Xenomorph gargoyle during the 1990s restoration of Paisley Abbey
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
An interesting quirk of today's taxonomic revision is that one jacket from the Jane Quarry, long assumed to contain specimens of famous species, actually contained what would become two holotypes of two distinct species — Infernodrakon hastacollis and Nanotyrannus lethaeus
October 30, 2025 at 8:22 PM
An interesting quirk of today's taxonomic revision is that one jacket from the Jane Quarry, long assumed to contain specimens of famous species, actually contained what would become two holotypes of two distinct species — Infernodrakon hastacollis and Nanotyrannus lethaeus
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
The worst part of anything Nanotyrannus has always been the personalities. We got some cool science today but it sucks to see quotes from an bully, and a man who helped create the commercial vs academic tension that’s sent many relevant fossils to private collections, doing the “I was right” circuit
October 30, 2025 at 7:53 PM
The worst part of anything Nanotyrannus has always been the personalities. We got some cool science today but it sucks to see quotes from an bully, and a man who helped create the commercial vs academic tension that’s sent many relevant fossils to private collections, doing the “I was right” circuit
Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus coexisted at the close of the Cretaceous
Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus coexisted at the close of the Cretaceous | Nature
www.nature.com
October 30, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus coexisted at the close of the Cretaceous
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
I'm pretty confident that certain online people are going to be cheering about how they were right all along on Nanotyrannus. Their take will be that they were right all along and their arguments, based on private specimens of uncertain provenance, photos of things without scale bars, and ideas...
October 30, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I'm pretty confident that certain online people are going to be cheering about how they were right all along on Nanotyrannus. Their take will be that they were right all along and their arguments, based on private specimens of uncertain provenance, photos of things without scale bars, and ideas...
Lancian tyrannosaur diversity tripling overnight is cool and all, but I feel like the takeaway of this paper isn’t that Nano is now real.
The takeaway should be that we were mislead into thinking it wasn’t real because all the “science” tied to it was bad or inconclusive for basically 40 years.
The takeaway should be that we were mislead into thinking it wasn’t real because all the “science” tied to it was bad or inconclusive for basically 40 years.
October 30, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Lancian tyrannosaur diversity tripling overnight is cool and all, but I feel like the takeaway of this paper isn’t that Nano is now real.
The takeaway should be that we were mislead into thinking it wasn’t real because all the “science” tied to it was bad or inconclusive for basically 40 years.
The takeaway should be that we were mislead into thinking it wasn’t real because all the “science” tied to it was bad or inconclusive for basically 40 years.
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
My latest for @nytimes.com! For 40 years, paleontologists have grappled over whether a small tyrannosaur — named Nanotyrannus — was its own animal, or simply a teenage T.rex. The debate has been ... contentious. Which is why it's so fun to finally be able to say this:
Folks? Nanotyrannus is real.
Folks? Nanotyrannus is real.
The Case of the Tiny Tyrannosaurus Might Have Been Cracked
www.nytimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:06 PM
My latest for @nytimes.com! For 40 years, paleontologists have grappled over whether a small tyrannosaur — named Nanotyrannus — was its own animal, or simply a teenage T.rex. The debate has been ... contentious. Which is why it's so fun to finally be able to say this:
Folks? Nanotyrannus is real.
Folks? Nanotyrannus is real.
Wonder what’s in here? If you’re at #2025SVP and would like to know, drop my by Friday poster in the Turts and Crocs space, board B301.
I will be presenting my graduate research on Pan-Cheloniids, including revealing a new morphotype of Cenozoic sea turtle that lived surprisingly recently.
I will be presenting my graduate research on Pan-Cheloniids, including revealing a new morphotype of Cenozoic sea turtle that lived surprisingly recently.
October 29, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Wonder what’s in here? If you’re at #2025SVP and would like to know, drop my by Friday poster in the Turts and Crocs space, board B301.
I will be presenting my graduate research on Pan-Cheloniids, including revealing a new morphotype of Cenozoic sea turtle that lived surprisingly recently.
I will be presenting my graduate research on Pan-Cheloniids, including revealing a new morphotype of Cenozoic sea turtle that lived surprisingly recently.
Watch until the end.
October 24, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Watch until the end.
Very gothic fairytale, not just in terms of vibes but also story structure. Another hit by Dead Sound.
"Hunted by Moonlight" | Dinosauria Series | Animated Short Film (2025)
YouTube video by Dead Sound
www.youtube.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Very gothic fairytale, not just in terms of vibes but also story structure. Another hit by Dead Sound.
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
New paper today in @science.org: we date the Naashoibito Member (New Mexico) to 66.4–66.0 Ma, coeval with the Hell Creek, with important remarks on pre-extinction dinosaur diversity & regionalisation in North America 🦖🦕☄1/
Art: @nataliajagielska.bsky.social
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Art: @nataliajagielska.bsky.social
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 23, 2025 at 6:11 PM
New paper today in @science.org: we date the Naashoibito Member (New Mexico) to 66.4–66.0 Ma, coeval with the Hell Creek, with important remarks on pre-extinction dinosaur diversity & regionalisation in North America 🦖🦕☄1/
Art: @nataliajagielska.bsky.social
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Art: @nataliajagielska.bsky.social
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
🦎THREAD: We just published something wild in @asn-amnat.bsky.social - lizards missing entire limbs not only survive, but some appear to actually thrive in the wild?!
Let me tell you about the "three-legged pirate" lizards 🏴☠️
[Paper: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... ]
(1/n)
Let me tell you about the "three-legged pirate" lizards 🏴☠️
[Paper: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... ]
(1/n)
October 14, 2025 at 1:52 PM
🦎THREAD: We just published something wild in @asn-amnat.bsky.social - lizards missing entire limbs not only survive, but some appear to actually thrive in the wild?!
Let me tell you about the "three-legged pirate" lizards 🏴☠️
[Paper: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... ]
(1/n)
Let me tell you about the "three-legged pirate" lizards 🏴☠️
[Paper: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... ]
(1/n)
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
"Tears of the Mountain", the 3rd 2025 graduation short from french Gobelins school, is online.
Directed by Luke Ashworth, Yehor Bondarenko, Alp Kurdoğlu, Romane Talva and Ange Yajima.
Full film >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB9J...
Directed by Luke Ashworth, Yehor Bondarenko, Alp Kurdoğlu, Romane Talva and Ange Yajima.
Full film >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB9J...
October 15, 2025 at 3:36 PM
"Tears of the Mountain", the 3rd 2025 graduation short from french Gobelins school, is online.
Directed by Luke Ashworth, Yehor Bondarenko, Alp Kurdoğlu, Romane Talva and Ange Yajima.
Full film >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB9J...
Directed by Luke Ashworth, Yehor Bondarenko, Alp Kurdoğlu, Romane Talva and Ange Yajima.
Full film >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB9J...
Sweet and beautifully animated story about the struggles of holding onto tradition and heritage. The use of a paleoart-accurate theropod as a spirit of old cultural myths and beliefs is also really creative, not to mention it looks incredible.
TEARS OF THE MOUNTAIN - Animation Short Film 2025 - GOBELINS
YouTube video by GOBELINS Paris
youtu.be
October 15, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Sweet and beautifully animated story about the struggles of holding onto tradition and heritage. The use of a paleoart-accurate theropod as a spirit of old cultural myths and beliefs is also really creative, not to mention it looks incredible.
Been a good couple of days for extinct armored Archelosaurians. Giant (~4m) terrestrial hypercarnivorous crocodyliform Kostensuchus atrox living in a high paleolatitude environment at the end of the Cretaceous. Many surprises in that sentence. Also, epic animation!
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
August 27, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Been a good couple of days for extinct armored Archelosaurians. Giant (~4m) terrestrial hypercarnivorous crocodyliform Kostensuchus atrox living in a high paleolatitude environment at the end of the Cretaceous. Many surprises in that sentence. Also, epic animation!
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Reposted by Tristan J. Stock
