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. Fossils, macroevolution, phylogenetic methods, biodiversity daveyfwright.wordpress.com
I had a wonderful time at the @systbiol.bsky.social meeting! How cool is this logo?
January 12, 2026 at 12:52 AM
I had a wonderful time at the @systbiol.bsky.social meeting! How cool is this logo?
Although my passion for deep time biodiversity compels me to point out the notable absence of a paleontologist's perspective (!), the SSB panel discussion on The Future of Natural History Collections was * absolutely fantastic *. Natural history is a joy and museum collections are essential 👏👏👏
January 10, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Although my passion for deep time biodiversity compels me to point out the notable absence of a paleontologist's perspective (!), the SSB panel discussion on The Future of Natural History Collections was * absolutely fantastic *. Natural history is a joy and museum collections are essential 👏👏👏
Incredibly cool you can collect fossils in the new Donkey Kong Bananza game. It even features crinoids and Cambrian critters!
December 31, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Incredibly cool you can collect fossils in the new Donkey Kong Bananza game. It even features crinoids and Cambrian critters!
I was gifted this masterpiece on vinyl for Christmas. Husker Du really were one of the all time greats and it's one of their best
December 31, 2025 at 1:45 AM
I was gifted this masterpiece on vinyl for Christmas. Husker Du really were one of the all time greats and it's one of their best
Thinking about the Ghosts of Extinctions Past, Extinctions Present, and Extinctions Yet to Come.
The Ghosts of Extinctions Past:
The Ghosts of Extinctions Past:
December 30, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Thinking about the Ghosts of Extinctions Past, Extinctions Present, and Extinctions Yet to Come.
The Ghosts of Extinctions Past:
The Ghosts of Extinctions Past:
Enjoying the natural history-themed snowflake art on the @oupaleobiology.bsky.social graduate student office door
December 21, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Enjoying the natural history-themed snowflake art on the @oupaleobiology.bsky.social graduate student office door
Revisiting Foote & Sepkoski's (1999) paper on measures of paleontological completeness and * my god * the brachiopods in figure 1 😮
December 9, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Revisiting Foote & Sepkoski's (1999) paper on measures of paleontological completeness and * my god * the brachiopods in figure 1 😮
An interesting result is that the rate of species description has accelerated, with the largest numbers of new species per year in the past ~20 years. We're currently experiencing an age of discovery for Earth's biodiversity & the role of natural history museum collections couldn't be more important
December 9, 2025 at 12:09 AM
An interesting result is that the rate of species description has accelerated, with the largest numbers of new species per year in the past ~20 years. We're currently experiencing an age of discovery for Earth's biodiversity & the role of natural history museum collections couldn't be more important
I don't use spotify or anything remotely comparable but if I had a wrapped (or whatever it's called) it would almost entirely be music by the Descendents. They've been one of my favorite bands for decades and I still can't believe I got to see them play live in OKC earlier this year
December 4, 2025 at 2:27 AM
I don't use spotify or anything remotely comparable but if I had a wrapped (or whatever it's called) it would almost entirely be music by the Descendents. They've been one of my favorite bands for decades and I still can't believe I got to see them play live in OKC earlier this year
This is the ideal body shape. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like for an emperor penguin chick
December 2, 2025 at 3:10 AM
This is the ideal body shape. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like for an emperor penguin chick
"The Age of Reptiles ended because it had gone on long enough and it was all a mistake in the first place." -Will Cuppy
November 29, 2025 at 11:04 PM
"The Age of Reptiles ended because it had gone on long enough and it was all a mistake in the first place." -Will Cuppy
Thankful for biodiversity and the joy of natural history
November 27, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Thankful for biodiversity and the joy of natural history
Zen Arcade by Hüsker Dü is an all-time masterpiece of "progressive" hardcore/punk rock. A truly beautiful and historically significant work of art
November 23, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Zen Arcade by Hüsker Dü is an all-time masterpiece of "progressive" hardcore/punk rock. A truly beautiful and historically significant work of art
Still thinking about the fantastic MXPX show last weekend in OKC. They were the band that got me into punk rock >25 years ago & really know how to put on a spectacular and energetic live performance. They're one of the greats up there with The Descendents, Social Distortion, & Bad Religion
November 19, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Still thinking about the fantastic MXPX show last weekend in OKC. They were the band that got me into punk rock >25 years ago & really know how to put on a spectacular and energetic live performance. They're one of the greats up there with The Descendents, Social Distortion, & Bad Religion
Reminder that my lab is seeking graduate students for fall 2026. As part of @oupaleobiology.bsky.social, my lab uses a combination of fossils, statistical phylogenetics, fieldwork, & computational approaches to investigate macroevolutionary dynamics in the marine biosphere. Link w/ more info below:
November 12, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reminder that my lab is seeking graduate students for fall 2026. As part of @oupaleobiology.bsky.social, my lab uses a combination of fossils, statistical phylogenetics, fieldwork, & computational approaches to investigate macroevolutionary dynamics in the marine biosphere. Link w/ more info below:
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
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!
Absolutely jaw dropping, spectacularly preserved & beautiful fossil crinoid (left) and blastozoan (right) echinoderms. These fossils are from the Bromide Fm of Oklahoma and nearly all specimens shown here are from the type collection at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History 🧪
October 13, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Absolutely jaw dropping, spectacularly preserved & beautiful fossil crinoid (left) and blastozoan (right) echinoderms. These fossils are from the Bromide Fm of Oklahoma and nearly all specimens shown here are from the type collection at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History 🧪
OU vs Texas means it's a Pentaceratops horns down kind of day
October 11, 2025 at 5:41 PM
OU vs Texas means it's a Pentaceratops horns down kind of day
🚨We're hiring! The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is seeking a tenure-track split position as Assistant Curator of Ichthyology and Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences. Please retweet & share with colleagues! 🐟🐠🧪
Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174674
Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174674
October 2, 2025 at 3:16 PM
🚨We're hiring! The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is seeking a tenure-track split position as Assistant Curator of Ichthyology and Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences. Please retweet & share with colleagues! 🐟🐠🧪
Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174674
Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174674
Very weird to discover Elements of Paleontology is somehow being sold on Amazon, including my paper w/ Laura Soul about PCMs for paleontologists (we don't receive $ for any copies sold & it's freely available from the Paleontological Society)
I appreciate the two anonymous 5 star reviews, though 😅
I appreciate the two anonymous 5 star reviews, though 😅
October 2, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Very weird to discover Elements of Paleontology is somehow being sold on Amazon, including my paper w/ Laura Soul about PCMs for paleontologists (we don't receive $ for any copies sold & it's freely available from the Paleontological Society)
I appreciate the two anonymous 5 star reviews, though 😅
I appreciate the two anonymous 5 star reviews, though 😅
Everything Sucks Without Fossils (aka Davey Goes to College but you knew about that) 🧪🏴
September 22, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Everything Sucks Without Fossils (aka Davey Goes to College but you knew about that) 🧪🏴
New @oupaleobiology.bsky.social logo just dropped
August 23, 2025 at 4:36 PM
New @oupaleobiology.bsky.social logo just dropped
Very cool to see a poster about the paleobiology of mass extinction in the Port Menier airport on Anticosti Island 🧪
August 19, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Very cool to see a poster about the paleobiology of mass extinction in the Port Menier airport on Anticosti Island 🧪
Wrapping up out last day of paleontological fieldwork on Anticosti Island. It's been a very productive but exhausting 3 weeks in the early Paleozoic. Can't wait to sleep indoors and in a real bed again. Fingers crossed the multi-day trip back to Oklahoma goes smoothly...
August 19, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Wrapping up out last day of paleontological fieldwork on Anticosti Island. It's been a very productive but exhausting 3 weeks in the early Paleozoic. Can't wait to sleep indoors and in a real bed again. Fingers crossed the multi-day trip back to Oklahoma goes smoothly...