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Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 1d

Preview of my latest #paleoart piece: a baby bison flees the deadliest predator of Ice Age Europe. Harrowing, harrowing stuff.

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Reposted by Mark Witton

Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 2d

If you want to know the real Spinosaurus, the animal behind the myths, check out this upcoming book by @davehone.bsky.social & @markwitton.bsky.social !!

Dr Dave Hone @davehone.bsky.social · 2d

And here's what @stevebrusatte.bsky.social had to say about it:

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Reposted by Mark Witton

Dr Dave Hone @davehone.bsky.social · 2d

My new book with @markwitton.bsky.social on Spinosaurus and their relatives is out a month today! It's available for preorder, so now is the time to get in on this amazing and well-illustrated book on these oddest of #dinosaurs. But don't take our word for it, here's what others have to say:

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Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 2d

He was successful in many respects, but he was also born into wealth and privilege, and thus destined to be impactful. In many aspects he was awful: arrogant and difficult to work with, he abused his position at the AMNH to promote a racist agenda and openly admired Adolf Hitler.

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Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 2d

Worth remembering that he actively wanted T. rex to be a dinosaur the public adored so they'd visit his museum. Everything about the early history of Tyrannosaurus was about making it the biggest and best dinosaur ever, and the name was part of that. Same with "Dynamosaurus".

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Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 3d

#Tyrannosaurus rex was named 120 years ago today (Oct 4, 1905). If you want to know all there is to know about the world's most iconic #dinosaur, the word is that my book "King Tyrant", published a few months back, is a good start. #fossils #paleontology #paleoart press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

The cover of the book "King Tyrant: a natural history of Tyrannosaurus rex" covered with gleaming review comments and a load of 5 star (or nearly so) ratings. Do you not have a copy yet? You can get them wherever books are sold. I mean, I'm just an alt text caption so my judgment on this anything beyond image description is limited, but I hear Mark worked incredibly hard on this project and thinks it's the best thing he's ever published. He'd be really happy if you bought a copy, and perhaps additional ones for friends and family so you could have very informed conversations about T. rex and all the dinosaur biology it's revealed to us.

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Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 4d

Dorsal sails aren't _that_ common in fossil animals: we disproportionately represent them in palaeo media because they're cool. We have Hydrosaurus and some finbacked chamelons today, and plenty of animals with dewlaps, so I reckon we're on track for species with dorsal/ventral midline extensions.

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Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 5d

Thanks! I don't think there's much trick to what I do: I just use brushes that leave obvious strokes.

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Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 5d

...as there was evidently much variation in appendage size and length in these animals. The form used in most reconstructions is that of the smaller holotype specimen (left), but much larger, sickle-shaped examples are also known (right). Photos to scale, from Spiekman et al. 2025.

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Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 5d

To brighten up a wet and rainy #FossilFriday, here's my take on the recently described drepanosaur Mirasaura grauvogeli. It's shown among the conifer Voltzia, a plant found in abundance in the same beds as Mirasaura. The pointed sail shape is based on fossil data...

#sciart #fossils #paleontology

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Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 5d

Whether a print of an iPad drawing should be sold for >£80K is another question, but it's great to see digital art being given mainstream recognition. As an exclusively digital artist, I often feel like a second-class creative, but maybe attitudes are changing.

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

David Hockney iPad drawings of Yorkshire Wolds to be sold at auction

Seventeen prints from The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate are largest group of Hockney’s iPad works to come to market

www.theguardian.com

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