Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬
@daveyfwright.bsky.social
Paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, & punk rock enthusiast. Assistant Professor & Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology. U Oklahoma/Sam Noble Museum of Natural History. Macroevolution, phylogenetic methods, echinoderms https://daveyfwright.wordpress.com
Pinned
Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data
Understanding the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of morphologic traits is fundamental to macroevolutionary research. Despite decades of major advances and key insights from molecular systema...
dx.doi.org
🚨New paper out in Palaeontology! Check it out if you're interested morphological evolution, fossil phylogenetics, and macroevolution 🧪
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
the thing about black-tailed prairie dogs is that they're supremely important and very cute and i love them so much
November 11, 2025 at 3:31 AM
the thing about black-tailed prairie dogs is that they're supremely important and very cute and i love them so much
Yay for brachiopods and friends!
Lophophorata is monophyletic!
Super excited to see this work out in Current Biology - we sequenced a phoronid genome and used shared chromosome fusions to confirm the monophyly of Lophophorata.
A big team effort from the Luo Lab @yjluo.bsky.social!
More here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1m3mV3QW8S...
Super excited to see this work out in Current Biology - we sequenced a phoronid genome and used shared chromosome fusions to confirm the monophyly of Lophophorata.
A big team effort from the Luo Lab @yjluo.bsky.social!
More here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1m3mV3QW8S...
November 10, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Yay for brachiopods and friends!
Reposted by Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬
I just want everyone to have the experience of living in dignity with access to sufficient food, safe housing, needed medical care, high quality education, and time to engage with what sparks their curiosity and spirit
this should not be controversial 🫠
this should not be controversial 🫠
November 10, 2025 at 3:16 AM
I just want everyone to have the experience of living in dignity with access to sufficient food, safe housing, needed medical care, high quality education, and time to engage with what sparks their curiosity and spirit
this should not be controversial 🫠
this should not be controversial 🫠
Many thanks to @astigall.bsky.social for coming to OU last week to give an awesome colloquium talk & visit the Sam Noble Museum! It was a semester highlight for us in @oupaleobiology.bsky.social and (as always) it was super great to catch up and chat science with one of my favorite paleontologists!
November 9, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Many thanks to @astigall.bsky.social for coming to OU last week to give an awesome colloquium talk & visit the Sam Noble Museum! It was a semester highlight for us in @oupaleobiology.bsky.social and (as always) it was super great to catch up and chat science with one of my favorite paleontologists!
Reposted by Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬
Here are some fossil pleurotomariids, which have lived in Earth’s oceans for over 450 million years.This is a kind of snail you won’t find in your garden or on a seashore. You’d have to dive 400 meters to see a living one.If you could beachcomb in the Jurassic, you’d probably find one on the coast🐚
November 9, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Here are some fossil pleurotomariids, which have lived in Earth’s oceans for over 450 million years.This is a kind of snail you won’t find in your garden or on a seashore. You’d have to dive 400 meters to see a living one.If you could beachcomb in the Jurassic, you’d probably find one on the coast🐚
"His signal achievements, and the way he accomplished them, inflated his belief not only in his genius but also in how to succeed: by listening to his intuition, by opposing the establishment consensus, and by barely glancing at the edifice of facts on which a scientific field is built."
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:12 AM
"His signal achievements, and the way he accomplished them, inflated his belief not only in his genius but also in how to succeed: by listening to his intuition, by opposing the establishment consensus, and by barely glancing at the edifice of facts on which a scientific field is built."
Reposted by Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬
Glad to have this one out! As some of you might remember, I'd kicked around the idea for some time, but the inestimable @wrightam.bsky.social got it all pulled together properly. It's a first step - we still need to include likelihoods of stasis between first & … www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Distinguishing punctuated and continuous-time models of character evolution for discrete characters and the implications for macroevolutionary theory | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Distinguishing punctuated and continuous-time models of character evolution for discrete characters and the implications for macroevolutionary theory
www.cambridge.org
November 8, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Glad to have this one out! As some of you might remember, I'd kicked around the idea for some time, but the inestimable @wrightam.bsky.social got it all pulled together properly. It's a first step - we still need to include likelihoods of stasis between first & … www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬
Despite incomplete knowledge, the fossil record is amazing. It's a disturbingly easy thought experiment to imagine living in a world where there's no such thing and we would never know about the existence of trilobites or ichthyosaurs. We're so lucky
the rock record giveth, and the rock record taketh away, but fossils remain the only source of direct physical evidence for ancient extinct species in the history of life
November 5, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Despite incomplete knowledge, the fossil record is amazing. It's a disturbingly easy thought experiment to imagine living in a world where there's no such thing and we would never know about the existence of trilobites or ichthyosaurs. We're so lucky
the rock record giveth, and the rock record taketh away, but fossils remain the only source of direct physical evidence for ancient extinct species in the history of life
November 5, 2025 at 2:49 PM
the rock record giveth, and the rock record taketh away, but fossils remain the only source of direct physical evidence for ancient extinct species in the history of life
it is righteous for paleontologists to proselytize to other biologists about the fossil record
this is a good and maybe even holy tradition for all invertebrate paleontologists attending a biology conference
November 5, 2025 at 2:00 PM
it is righteous for paleontologists to proselytize to other biologists about the fossil record
Reposted by Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬
The world is incredibly old. Evolution and extinction are constant realities. And in the mornings, I can still hear dinosaurs calling to each other, hundreds of millions of years of tuning behind each squawk and song.
November 5, 2025 at 12:30 PM
The world is incredibly old. Evolution and extinction are constant realities. And in the mornings, I can still hear dinosaurs calling to each other, hundreds of millions of years of tuning behind each squawk and song.
oh my god
43-Year-Old Wearing Descendents T-Shirt and Skinny Jeans Addressed as "Sir" by Hot Topic Staff
Elder punk Cameron McClintock was recently addressed as “sir” by staff at an area Hot Topic while wearing an aged “Milo Goes To College” t-shirt and a pair of light gray skinny jeans during a recent n...
thehardtimes.net
November 5, 2025 at 4:22 AM
oh my god
“This exhibit offers a rare opportunity to see fossils not just as scientific evidence of life’s history, but also as natural works of art,” says Dr. David Wright. “It’s a visual journey back in time that will...inspire [visitors] to learn more about these incredible ancient species.”
Oklahoma Museum of Natural History unveils fossil exhibition
The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History announced the opening of the acclaimed temporary fossil exhibition “Formed in Stone: The Natural Beauty of Fossils.”
www.normantranscript.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:23 PM
“This exhibit offers a rare opportunity to see fossils not just as scientific evidence of life’s history, but also as natural works of art,” says Dr. David Wright. “It’s a visual journey back in time that will...inspire [visitors] to learn more about these incredible ancient species.”
Reposted by Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬
Saw something that said, don't support generative art, support art made by real degenerates. And I felt that.
November 4, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Saw something that said, don't support generative art, support art made by real degenerates. And I felt that.
Celebrating Halloween with my annual tradiation of listening to songs by The Misfits, including this absolute banger of a cover by old-school AFI
Halloween
YouTube video by AFI - Topic
www.youtube.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Celebrating Halloween with my annual tradiation of listening to songs by The Misfits, including this absolute banger of a cover by old-school AFI
If you want to see something truly scary for Halloween 👻🎃, check out how different ways of handling continuous character data in morphological phylogenetics impacts phylogeny inference & macroevolutionary implications 😱
Link to article (if you dare): onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Link to article (if you dare): onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
There's also a discussion of "treespace" and how different assumptions about character evolution can impact phylogenetic inferences
October 31, 2025 at 3:31 PM
If you want to see something truly scary for Halloween 👻🎃, check out how different ways of handling continuous character data in morphological phylogenetics impacts phylogeny inference & macroevolutionary implications 😱
Link to article (if you dare): onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Link to article (if you dare): onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
BREAKING: new discovery reveals the Tully Monster is a (very) distant evolutionary relative of Nanotyrannus
October 30, 2025 at 8:41 PM
BREAKING: new discovery reveals the Tully Monster is a (very) distant evolutionary relative of Nanotyrannus
Going to name the next new early Silurian fossil crinoid species Nanotyrannocrinus. You know, because of the Liliput effect
October 30, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Going to name the next new early Silurian fossil crinoid species Nanotyrannocrinus. You know, because of the Liliput effect
Reposted by Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬
Check it out if you're interested in modeling morphological evolution, its impact on fossil phylogenies, and the macroevolutionary inferences derived from them. There's a bit of a cautionary(?) tale about continuous characters in here, too. Can't believe they let me quote Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan!
October 27, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Check it out if you're interested in modeling morphological evolution, its impact on fossil phylogenies, and the macroevolutionary inferences derived from them. There's a bit of a cautionary(?) tale about continuous characters in here, too. Can't believe they let me quote Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan!
Reposted by Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬
🚨New paper out in Palaeontology! Check it out if you're interested morphological evolution, fossil phylogenetics, and macroevolution 🧪
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data
Understanding the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of morphologic traits is fundamental to macroevolutionary research. Despite decades of major advances and key insights from molecular systema...
dx.doi.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:17 PM
🚨New paper out in Palaeontology! Check it out if you're interested morphological evolution, fossil phylogenetics, and macroevolution 🧪
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
This and if you have a $20 in your wallet you should give it freely to people you...uh...definitely didn't see stealing food
If you see someone stealing food, no you didn’t
October 30, 2025 at 2:40 AM
This and if you have a $20 in your wallet you should give it freely to people you...uh...definitely didn't see stealing food
Reposted by Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬
There's also a discussion of "treespace" and how different assumptions about character evolution can impact phylogenetic inferences
October 27, 2025 at 2:33 PM
There's also a discussion of "treespace" and how different assumptions about character evolution can impact phylogenetic inferences
Reposted by Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬
Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @daveyfwright.bsky.social @datadryad.bsky.social
October 27, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @daveyfwright.bsky.social @datadryad.bsky.social
🚨New paper out in Palaeontology! Check it out if you're interested morphological evolution, fossil phylogenetics, and macroevolution 🧪
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data
Understanding the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of morphologic traits is fundamental to macroevolutionary research. Despite decades of major advances and key insights from molecular systema...
dx.doi.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:17 PM
🚨New paper out in Palaeontology! Check it out if you're interested morphological evolution, fossil phylogenetics, and macroevolution 🧪
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"
Reposted by Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬
Seems like our students have been busy decorating Invertebrate Paleontology lab at the museum 🧪
October 27, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Seems like our students have been busy decorating Invertebrate Paleontology lab at the museum 🧪