Top all-time · #9595
Mark P. Witton
Personal blog · markwitton-com.blogspot.comsciencehistory
Mark P. Witton's personal blog at markwitton-com.blogspot.com covers science and history. Since 2015, 8 different Hacker News readers have linked it 11 times, most often “Why we think giant pterosaurs could fly (2018)”. The last post was in 2023, but the archive is still widely read.
Too few sampled comments (4) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Mark P. Witton's blog, written by a palaeontological researcher and paleoartist, for dinosaur and pterosaur content. Posts are cited on fossils, flight, and spotting pseudoscientific cranks.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 4 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Why we think giant pterosaurs could fly (2018)4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2018-06-01
What Hacker News says?
Regarding Chinese dragon bones: http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/2021/03/dinosaur-fossils-...
Comment linking /2021/03/dinosaur-fossils-and-chinese-dragons.html?m=1
on “What caused the hallucinations of the Oracle of Delphi?”Submitted Why we think giant pterosaurs could fly (2018) as a story · 129 points
HN discussionThe writing of that author you link to nicely matches the description from the other article of the author posted originally (Mark Witton): http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/2019/02/how-to-spot-palae... Mark Witton: "Another major red flag common to all cranks is their frequent comparison between themselves and scientists who received establishment pushback against their ideas - Wegner, Galileo, Darwin and so on."…
Comment linking /2019/02/how-to-spot-palaeontological-crankery.html
on “Why we think giant pterosaurs could fly (2018)”Submitted Why we think giant pterosaurs could fly as a story · 3 points
HN discussionFor anyone interested in anatomically accurate depictions of dinosaurs, head over to Dr Mark Witton's blog. He is a palaeontological researcher AND paleoartist. https://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/
Comment linking /
on “Small horned dinosaur from China, a Triceratops relative, walked on two feet”Submitted We think giant pterosaurs could fly (2018) as a story · 1 points
HN discussionOk, but the key point is the causative link between wing structure and size, for which you have not cited anything. The only theory I've heard on that front is that being able to both launch and flap with their arms basically allowed them to use the same, larger muscles for both, rather than having to split them, which increased their size ceiling while still being able to launch. http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/…
Comment linking /2018/05/why-we-think-giant-pterosaurs-could-fly.html?m=1
on “What’s the Biggest Bird in the World?”Submitted We think giant pterosaurs could fly (2018) as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Dinosaur fossils and Chinese dragon bones as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The horns of Arsinoitherium: covered in skin or augmented with keratin sheaths? as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted The lifestyle of Tanystropheus, part 1: was that neck too heavy for use on land? as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
