Mark Witton
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markwitton.bsky.social
Mark Witton
@markwitton.bsky.social
12K followers 380 following 730 posts
Palaeoartist, palaeontologist, author, documentary consultant and creature designer. Affiliated with the University of Portsmouth, UK; views and opinions are my own.

More about me at markwitton.co.uk.
Support my work at www.patreon.com/markwitton
Posts Replies Media Videos
markwitton.bsky.social
Scenes from the #SVP2025 #2025SVP #paleoart workshop. We had terrific talks from @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social, @tetzoo.bsky.social, @palaeojules.bsky.social and @bobnichollsart.bsky.social, as well as fantastic discussion from attendees. Thanks to everyone who contributed, I hope you all enjoyed it!
November 12, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Reposted by Mark Witton
richardjbutler.bsky.social
Although #2025SVP officially starts tomorrow, today we have a Triassic field trip to Warwickshire, tours of @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social, workshops run by @markwitton.bsky.social & @graphicssci.bsky.social & our evening Walking With Dinosaurs event chaired by @tweetisaurus.bsky.social!
November 11, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Reposted by Mark Witton
littlegreenbooks.bsky.social
Spinosaur Tales from David Hone and @markwitton.bsky.social is out now: a new book exploring the world of the legendary Spinosaurus, packed with science, illustrations, and the latest research. Perfect for #dinosaur enthusiasts!

Pick it up here:
uk.bookshop.org/a/2456/97813...
#Booksky
Spinosaur Tales: The Biology and Ecology of the Spinosaurs
The Biology and Ecology of the Spinosaurs
uk.bookshop.org
November 11, 2025 at 12:54 AM
markwitton.bsky.social
Sneaking glimpses at the set up of #SVP2025 #2025SVP, spotted some familiar logo artwork in the ICC.
November 10, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Mark Witton
tetzoo.bsky.social
Two new #Spinosaurus-themed things just arrived at Tet Zoo Towers. Congrats @davehone.bsky.social and @markwitton.bsky.social for the release of what looks like a very well designed book. #dinosaurs
Hone & Witton book Spinosaur Tales and a toy Jurassic Park Spinosaurus.
November 7, 2025 at 1:12 PM
markwitton.bsky.social
I'm late to my own party (again, sigh) but my new book on #spinosaurid #dinosaurs (written with @davehone.bsky.social) was officially released yesterday! Tons of info on and #paleoart of spinosaurs therein: research history, evolution, ecology, life appearance etc. Available wherever books are sold.
November 7, 2025 at 5:28 PM
markwitton.bsky.social
The reality of being a freelancer is that you end up working a lot of evenings and nights, something #mammals have been doing since the Mesozoic. Here's new #paleoart of two #Jurassic gliding Mammaliaformes, Arboroharamiya, starting their day as the sun sets 160 million years ago. #sciart #fossil
An evening chase erupts above the forests of Late Jurassic China between two gliding mammal-like animals. The sun sets between them, highlighting the leaves of the ginkgo tree they have leapt from. The mammals are darkly coloured, reflecting data from palaeocolour studies suggesting dark brown hues across most or all of their bodies.
November 4, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by Mark Witton
polydontid.bsky.social
Spinosaur Tales by @davehone.bsky.social and @markwitton.bsky.social. I got my hands on it early, and I can't recommend it enough for anybody interested in these enigmatic therapods!
November 4, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Mark Witton
davehone.bsky.social
Nanotyrannus is cool and all, but what if there was a brand new book written with, and illustrated by, @markwitton.bsky.social on Spinosaurus? Wouldn't that be really cool?

Listen to use talk about it here before it comes out in less than a week!

terriblelizards.libsyn.com/s11e10-spino...
October 31, 2025 at 4:08 PM
markwitton.bsky.social
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...)
Three grey squirrel-sized Megacous mammals are caught in the open on Halloween night in Jurassic China. Shedding ginkgo trees arc overhead and the full moon has risen high above. But eclipsing all this is a looming crested tyrannosauroid. The theropod doesn't seem to have noticed them yet, but there's a murderous glint in his eye and a Krugerian quality to his hands. The lead Megaconus turns around to his companions. "Hey, is this a vaguely sinister but actually safe Disney forest, or a genuinely sinister '80s slasher movie one? Because if it's the first one, we're cute enough to make it through this. But if it's the second one, we're a group of disposable mammaliaforms in a story where everyone is rooting for the killer. And let's face it: we breed like tiny mammaliaforms are meant to, and we all know what that means in slasher lore." He looks out of the picture at the pile of DVDs his artist will be watching tonight. "I think we might be boned, gentlemen."
October 31, 2025 at 7:16 PM
markwitton.bsky.social
October 30, 2025 at 9:21 PM
markwitton.bsky.social
Over the next few hours/days I'll be uploading lots of new #paleoart to Patreon. First up is this #Neanderthal fellow looking whimsically over his shoulder, wondering if he locked the door to his cave. Lots of discussion about his appearance and clothes at
www.patreon.com/posts/142405... #sciart
As the snow falls in front of the setting sun, Thag the Neanderguy pauses mid-step and looks behind him. He's thinking about the third series of Twin Peaks again. "Maybe it _was_ about the bunny", he ponders. But while Thag misses some of the nuances of event TV, he understands fashion very well. He's wearing all this season's newest Neanderthal gear, carrying his two dead rabbits in a looped strap alongside his thick, fur-lined boots. A pouch is slung over his left shoulder, containing various flints and bone tools. He's warm and stylish in his gloves, trousers, coat and shawl, and he's accented the whole ensemble with a cumberbund-type affair that he doesn't know what to call, but _who cares_: it looks cool. He realises that his body type has no significant waist, but this gives his body an important upper-lower divide. Even way back then, in the Pleistocene, you had to dress the body you had, not the body you wanted.
October 30, 2025 at 3:18 PM
markwitton.bsky.social
[looks at clock]

Oh hey, look: all my emails sorted by 10:00, not bad going. Time to get on with some writing and painting!

Oh, wait: it's _that_ 10:00.
October 29, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Reposted by Mark Witton
davehone.bsky.social
Pre-book promo podcast episode on Spinosaurus recorded with @markwitton.bsky.social terriblelizards.libsyn.com/s11e10-spino...
Terrible Lizards: S11E10 Spinosaur Tales oo woo oo
Dave has *another* book coming out and so of course he wants to talk about it a bit on the pod. Happily for the listeners, this time out he has a coauthor and so we get to have palaeontologist and pal...
terriblelizards.libsyn.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:56 PM
markwitton.bsky.social
For some reason, this (fossil-based, evidence-led) picture always gets a reaction...
October 21, 2025 at 2:35 PM
markwitton.bsky.social
I had a go at drawing steppe #lions chasing a European bison recently, based on Palaeolithic artworks. I'm unsure about the markings around the lions' eyes but my main reference, which seems to otherwise give good data about colour distribution, suggests _something_ was there. #paleoart
Female (left) and male (middle) steppe lions pursue a bison calf over a grassy plain. The lions are tawny coloured above, with lighter undersides, and the male has a mane. The bison is, as in modern bison calves, pale over most of its body.
October 21, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Reposted by Mark Witton
princetonupress.bsky.social
Tomorrow (Oct 19), see @markwitton.bsky.social at @newscientist.com Live to discuss his book, King Tyrant: A Natural History of Tyrannosaurus rex. Stop by Our Planet stage at 11:55 am BST to hear about his fascinating research on the world's most famous dinosaur!

Learn more here: buff.ly/4YBFj1U
King Tyrant: A Natural History of Tyrannosaurus rex by Mark P. Witton Mark P. Witton
October 18, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Mark Witton
davehone.bsky.social
For #FossilFriday this week, and continuing the build up to my new book on spinosaurs with @markwitton.bsky.social, here's the tip of a dentary of a large Spinosaurus showing the huge sockets for the very large anterior teeth.
October 17, 2025 at 5:36 PM
markwitton.bsky.social
Why look: a box of some sort of newish, bookish things arrived this morning. Seems to be about spinosaurid #dinosaurs... coauthored with @davehone.bsky.social... and published by Bloomsbury. Available 6th of November In the UK; then worldwide in early 2026.
October 15, 2025 at 8:44 AM
markwitton.bsky.social
I was thrilled to help to excavate more of this huge Oxfordshire dinosaur track site earlier this year. The BBC's new article has a ton of fantastic images and graphics that bring the tracks to life, including a moment where a sauropod paused to... do something?
richardjbutler.bsky.social Richard Butler @richardjbutler.bsky.social · 29d
Back in June we were back on the Oxfordshire “dinosaur highway”, excavating more dinosaur tracks with our teams from the Universities of Birmingham, Oxford & Liverpool John Moores. The BBC have a story out today about our work at the site:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/resourc...
In the footsteps of giants - BBC News
One of the longest sets of dinosaur footprints in the world has been discovered in a limestone quary near Bicester, in Oxfordshire, England.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 14, 2025 at 8:57 AM
markwitton.bsky.social
A heads up that I'm talking at @NewScientist Live this weekend (Sunday 19th October) about my book, King Tyrant: A Natural History of Tyrannosaurus rex. Details, tickets etc. can be found here: live.newscientist.com/nsl-london-2... #dinosaur #fossils #scicomm #paleontology #books
October 13, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Mark Witton
princetonupress.bsky.social
Next week, on Oct 19, see @markwitton.bsky.social at @newscientist.com Live to discuss his book, King Tyrant: A Natural History of Tyrannosaurus rex. Stop by Our Planet stage at 11:55 am BST to hear about his fascinating research on the world's most famous dinosaur!

Learn more here: buff.ly/4YBFj1U
King Tyrant: A Natural History of Tyrannosaurus rex by Mark P. Witton Mark P. Witton
October 12, 2025 at 9:48 PM
markwitton.bsky.social
Quick #FossilFriday #paleoart post: a 2025 redo of my 2019 take on the giant #deer Megaloceros. Palaeolithic art captures some aspects of Megaloceros appearance but the details are not unambiguous: when is a line across a body a stripe, when is it a boundary between colour regions?
Three Megaloceros, a stag, doe and fawn, in front of an ice age landscape, painted in 2025. The bodies of the adults have large blocks of colour, without prominent stripes. Three Megaloceros, a stag, doe and fawn, in front of an ice age landscape, painted in 2019. The body of the stag has a dark stripe extending from the shoulder to the thigh.
October 10, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Reposted by Mark Witton
davehone.bsky.social
In advance of the publication of my new book with @markwitton.bsky.social, "Spinosaur Tales" (Nov 6th), for #FossilFriday, here's a nice close up of a tooth of Baryonyx sitting in the jaw of the holotype. More spinosaur goodness coming in the next weeks as I desperately try to promote the book.
October 10, 2025 at 9:24 AM
markwitton.bsky.social
A superb explanation about why artists by and large detest AI imagery, from @theoatmeal.bsky.social: theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_art
A cartoonist's review of AI art - The Oatmeal
This is a comic about AI art.
theoatmeal.com
October 8, 2025 at 1:37 PM