How to spot cranks in the paleontology world

[suspsy]

https://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/2019/02/how-to-spot-palaeontological-crankery.html?m=1

Great essay by Mark Witton. It should be noted that he is referring not to young earth creationists (they're a different kind of crank, pun intended!), but rather the likes of Brian J. Ford, David Peters, Alan Feduccia, and the late Stephen Czerkas.

[BRONSON]

A good article, well spotted.

[CityRaptor]

Good article on the subject, although it does not mention those obviously fake positive Amazon reviews their books get. Also saw one for Ford's book where someone gave it five stars simply because all those who gave it negative reviews are obviously bullying Ford for not being mainstream. ( Wasn't worded like that, but that was basically what the review said ).

At the same time the cranks also have multiple Amazon accounts to rate their own stuff postive and other stuff negative.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

Great article. From what I can tell, many people on facebook seem to have fallen for certain cranks.

[Dinoreplicas]

Great article. From what I can tell, many people on facebook seem to have fallen for certain cranks.

You mean Facebook that trustworthy deseminator of facts!
Who'd've thought such a reputable platform could be a stomping ground for cranks

[suspsy]

David Peters, he of the infamous ReptileEvolution website, decided to respond. He's presently getting slaughtered:


http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/2019/02/how-to-spot-palaeontological-crankery.html?showComment=1551051668097#c2917047686692709313

[Halichoeres]

It really is a pity about Peters. He's such an accomplished artist but he's gone so far off the deep end that you can't trust the skeletals that are usually the first result when you search for images of any reasonably obscure Mesozoic sauropsid.

[suspsy]

It really is a pity about Peters. He's such an accomplished artist but he's gone so far off the deep end that you can't trust the skeletals that are usually the first result when you search for images of any reasonably obscure Mesozoic sauropsid.

Yeah, tell me about it. "Giants" was one of my favourite books as a kid, along with the dinosaur book that featured Estemmenosuchus on the cover. And yes, there have been many times where I've done a Google image search for skeletal drawings only to get ReptileEvolution results. I really don't understand Peters' "reasoning" at all. And ironically, he considers Ford and Feduccia to be certified cranks.

[CityRaptor]

Well, he is oblivious to his own description.

[stargatedalek]

And apparently we can add "forensic sciences" to the big list of things David Peters doesn't understand but claims he does.

[CityRaptor]

I think we can add this guy to the list:
https://www.dinosaurtheory.com/bio.html
Thick atmosphere...

[ITdactyl]

I like that idea that "cranks" are now being dealt with - but in all honesty I find myself unable to read through the "roasting" of David Peters.  I loved his art and tried to hunt for books that carried his illustrations for years.  I really liked his style of depicting pterosaurs, at least in the early years.  Then I noticed that he's putting the hind limbs in weird configurations (as well as the wings).  I think I finally lost interest when he started depicting pterosaurs with those weird soft tissue extensions.  Ah well.

And then there are the other pterosaur workers who take offense at posts like these and are accusing Witton of acting like a know-it-all (re: pterosaur research).  I remember some snippets from the people working on the "Dracula" pterosaur - the words they had for Dr. Witton almost read similar to the attacks being made on Peters.  I also remember this artist from Germany who makes flying pterosaur models - he had choice words for Dr. Witton's work.

My point is, more professionals should weigh in and write easy to digest "guides" for the press and "normals" on how to drop biases and pick the most sensible research.  Dr. Witton's article is a good start, but if people don't keep this moving, cranks will still be the #1 search result in Google etc.