Skye McDavid
@skyemcdavid.com
scientific illustrator dabbling in paleontological research: pterosaurs, dinosaurs, other fossil reptiles, zoological nomenclature
Links: https://www.skyemcdavid.com/links
Links: https://www.skyemcdavid.com/links
Pinned
Skye McDavid
@skyemcdavid.com
· Nov 13
Rhamphorhynchus muensteri - one of the best known Solnhofen pterosaurs. Most specimens are not fully grown. This specimen, previously named as a different species R. longiceps, is the largest and oldest.
Sarcosaurus woodi, an early diverging averostran-line theropod from the Early Jurassic of Warwickshire, in the Warwickshire Museum offsite collections. #2025SVP
November 11, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Sarcosaurus woodi, an early diverging averostran-line theropod from the Early Jurassic of Warwickshire, in the Warwickshire Museum offsite collections. #2025SVP
Reposted by Skye McDavid
SVPers, come see my work on pterosaurs from Appalachia: several new morphotypes of pteranodontians and azhdarchoids.
Thursday Poster Session B199 #2025SVP
Thursday Poster Session B199 #2025SVP
October 25, 2025 at 10:36 AM
SVPers, come see my work on pterosaurs from Appalachia: several new morphotypes of pteranodontians and azhdarchoids.
Thursday Poster Session B199 #2025SVP
Thursday Poster Session B199 #2025SVP
OK i'll bite (stolen from @cascoclauda.bsky.social). If anyone says *that* Paw Patrol character I will be very disappointed.
November 10, 2025 at 6:35 PM
OK i'll bite (stolen from @cascoclauda.bsky.social). If anyone says *that* Paw Patrol character I will be very disappointed.
While going through ptero collections with @zhejiang0pterus.bsky.social we have rediscovered the missing holotype of Ornithocheirus huxleyi Seeley, 1870 in the collections of the British Geological Survey @bgs.ac.uk
November 10, 2025 at 5:21 PM
While going through ptero collections with @zhejiang0pterus.bsky.social we have rediscovered the missing holotype of Ornithocheirus huxleyi Seeley, 1870 in the collections of the British Geological Survey @bgs.ac.uk
Pterosaur in a regurgitalite was not something I expected to see but this is very exciting!
🚨New paper alert!🚨🤩
🧪⚒️Welcome the first filter-feeding pterosaur from Brazil: Bakiribu waridza, from the Araripe Basin!! 🥳
The new species is AWESOME and was discoverd inside a regurgitalite 😱🤍
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪⚒️Welcome the first filter-feeding pterosaur from Brazil: Bakiribu waridza, from the Araripe Basin!! 🥳
The new species is AWESOME and was discoverd inside a regurgitalite 😱🤍
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A regurgitalite reveals a new filter-feeding pterosaur from the Santana Group - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - A regurgitalite reveals a new filter-feeding pterosaur from the Santana Group
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Pterosaur in a regurgitalite was not something I expected to see but this is very exciting!
Reposted by Skye McDavid
🚨New paper alert!🚨🤩
🧪⚒️Welcome the first filter-feeding pterosaur from Brazil: Bakiribu waridza, from the Araripe Basin!! 🥳
The new species is AWESOME and was discoverd inside a regurgitalite 😱🤍
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪⚒️Welcome the first filter-feeding pterosaur from Brazil: Bakiribu waridza, from the Araripe Basin!! 🥳
The new species is AWESOME and was discoverd inside a regurgitalite 😱🤍
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A regurgitalite reveals a new filter-feeding pterosaur from the Santana Group - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - A regurgitalite reveals a new filter-feeding pterosaur from the Santana Group
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:23 AM
🚨New paper alert!🚨🤩
🧪⚒️Welcome the first filter-feeding pterosaur from Brazil: Bakiribu waridza, from the Araripe Basin!! 🥳
The new species is AWESOME and was discoverd inside a regurgitalite 😱🤍
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪⚒️Welcome the first filter-feeding pterosaur from Brazil: Bakiribu waridza, from the Araripe Basin!! 🥳
The new species is AWESOME and was discoverd inside a regurgitalite 😱🤍
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Skye McDavid
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....
Arriving in Birmingham, England, and the industrial areas on the outskirts of the city remind me of Birmingham, Alabama.
November 9, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Arriving in Birmingham, England, and the industrial areas on the outskirts of the city remind me of Birmingham, Alabama.
So I suspect that a peer reviewer may have fed my manuscript into an LLM chatbot despite affirming yes to the journal's no-AI-reviews policy. The review states that my MS "addresses a long-standing and controversial issue" despite addressing a recent and minimally controversial issue.
November 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM
So I suspect that a peer reviewer may have fed my manuscript into an LLM chatbot despite affirming yes to the journal's no-AI-reviews policy. The review states that my MS "addresses a long-standing and controversial issue" despite addressing a recent and minimally controversial issue.
weighing a large quantity of crows, or as I like to call it, mass murder
November 9, 2025 at 11:19 AM
weighing a large quantity of crows, or as I like to call it, mass murder
English people have been telling me that Greggs sausage rolls are a must-have and emblematic of their national cuisine, so I tried one and it was one of the most medium things I've ever had.
November 9, 2025 at 11:18 AM
English people have been telling me that Greggs sausage rolls are a must-have and emblematic of their national cuisine, so I tried one and it was one of the most medium things I've ever had.
Reposted by Skye McDavid
The focus of this paper was larger-scale phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary trends. We leave it to further studies to support - or even potentially refute - our results before taking taxonomic action. But watch this space for more…
@rv-pegas.bsky.social
@rv-pegas.bsky.social
Since several people asked why we didn't name a new genus for "Quetzalcoatlus" lawsoni --- that requires a whole lot more detailed anatomical comparisons to be done properly, so we thought it would best go somewhere else. Also, we were already above the normal limit for manuscript length for JSP.
November 7, 2025 at 1:22 PM
The focus of this paper was larger-scale phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary trends. We leave it to further studies to support - or even potentially refute - our results before taking taxonomic action. But watch this space for more…
@rv-pegas.bsky.social
@rv-pegas.bsky.social
The existence of Nanotyrannus (10^-9 · Tyrannus) implies the existence of Gigatyrannus (10^9 · Tyrannus)
November 7, 2025 at 1:02 PM
The existence of Nanotyrannus (10^-9 · Tyrannus) implies the existence of Gigatyrannus (10^9 · Tyrannus)
After going through Cambridge Greensand pterosaurs in several collections, I can confirm that Cambridge Greensand has the worst snoots to boop.
November 6, 2025 at 6:21 PM
After going through Cambridge Greensand pterosaurs in several collections, I can confirm that Cambridge Greensand has the worst snoots to boop.
Since several people asked why we didn't name a new genus for "Quetzalcoatlus" lawsoni --- that requires a whole lot more detailed anatomical comparisons to be done properly, so we thought it would best go somewhere else. Also, we were already above the normal limit for manuscript length for JSP.
November 5, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Since several people asked why we didn't name a new genus for "Quetzalcoatlus" lawsoni --- that requires a whole lot more detailed anatomical comparisons to be done properly, so we thought it would best go somewhere else. Also, we were already above the normal limit for manuscript length for JSP.
Of course the big paper on Azhdarchoid phylogeny comes out while I'm at a museum on a research visit (looking at Azhdarchoid cervicals, obviously) but now I'm back at the hotel so it's time to write a proper thread! 1/28
November 5, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Of course the big paper on Azhdarchoid phylogeny comes out while I'm at a museum on a research visit (looking at Azhdarchoid cervicals, obviously) but now I'm back at the hotel so it's time to write a proper thread! 1/28
Reposted by Skye McDavid
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
I schlepped all the way out to Crystal Palace Park only to find the Dinosaurs* covered by tarp and surrounded by construction equipment.
(*the statues are collectively referred to as the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs but only some of them represent dinosaurs.)
(*the statues are collectively referred to as the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs but only some of them represent dinosaurs.)
November 2, 2025 at 11:38 AM
I schlepped all the way out to Crystal Palace Park only to find the Dinosaurs* covered by tarp and surrounded by construction equipment.
(*the statues are collectively referred to as the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs but only some of them represent dinosaurs.)
(*the statues are collectively referred to as the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs but only some of them represent dinosaurs.)
