A note from Darren Naish on FB

From Darren Naish of Facebook
“On the David Peters responses to my figure captions …. David, you can write a lot of words, but the simple fact is that your claimed results cannot be reproduced. Even you have failed to reproduce your own results. It’s part of the reason why no-one pays attention to what you claim to find.”

Dr Naish included a figure from his webpage “Why the World has to ignore David Peters and ReptileEvolution.com” that included an in situ tracing of Sinopterus and several images of Longisquama.

Dr Naish did not produce any examples of anyone who tried to reproduce tracings similar to = competing with my taxon tracings.

I responded to his ‘even you’ accusation below.

Dr Naish did not say the other ‘part of the reason why no-one pays attention to what you claim to find.’

This, of course, brings to mind SC Bennett’s curse,  “You will not be published and if your are published, you will not be cited.” That means it was baked into the academic equation that outsiders in general don’t get published and cited. And, in general, they don’t get published. In my case, both were falsified in later years, but that window closed.

Finally, if someone someday “paid attention to what I claimed to find,” that would acknowledge the value an outsider can bring to the science of paleontology (= doing the work they did not have the time or inclination to do). Dr Naish used the superlative ‘no-one‘ when actually my ResearchGate papers have had hundreds to thousands of reads. My published work has had dozens of citations and we’ve already discussed ad nauseum how sloooww palenotology is with regard to such topics as ‘birds are dinosaurs’, ‘pterosaur and turtle origins’ and ‘last common ancestor of all reptiles’ all of which have been resolved by the large reptile tree (LRT). Patience is part of the equation for outsiders and professors alike. And sometimes professors make mistakes or omit pertinent taxa. In all humility, Dr Naish does not bring up that topic.

With those thoughts in mind, here’s the response,

To Darren Naish on Facebook:
“I acknowledge all freshman errors. Like you, I learn (and made mistakes) as I go. Like you, I was not born with paleontology in my brain. In your desperation to disparage my observations (and my place in the paleo world) you failed (or were afraid) to use the most recent work and present only the early work. I had cartoons on my mother’s refrigerator. Do you need to see those?

In your example you seem to be focusing on the dorsal frills of Longisquama (which literally means l’ong-scale’) which EVERYONE sees = reproduces. Your hypothesis is falsified 1.

Cosesaurus also has a dorsal frill and uropatagia, plus trailing membranes on the forelimb as originally described by Ellenberger. With regard to similar structures on pterosaurs please review the literature on Jeholopterus and Scaphognathus. If you’re looking at the narrow-chord wingmembranes in Sinopterus – that pattern is present in all pterosaurs. Click here: http://reptileevolution.com/pterosaur-wings.htm Click here: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2023/05/28/scaphognathus-counterplate-and-soft-tissue-preservation/ and click here: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2019/02/28/scaphognathus-soft-tissue-in-rti-ptm-and-uv/  for images and citations. Your hypothesis is falsified 2.

If your concern is about the post-dorsal region of Longisquama, Sharov originally mislabeled a tibia + femur as a displaced plume. No one else but he and yours truly have put in any serious effort to trace AND reconstruct additional elements. I filled a paleo vacuum. Do the same and produce a competing tracing + reconstruction. Don’t reward or rely on oversight and lack of effort. Your hypothesis is falsified 3.

Summary: 1. don’t be afraid to present and argue against the latest work = don’t base your presentation on the early work (especially from fanzines) that has been updated with more understanding.  3. don’t present cartoons that lampoon my work. No one else on the planet does that. 4. don’t be afraid to show your own competing studies. 5. don’t say ‘cannot be reproduced’ if you haven’t tried to reproduce it yourself. 6. don’t blackwash a 15-year project in toto. Instead, pick it apart piece-by-piece as if you were teaching your own student or your own child – and do so with evidence, not slander/libel/unsupported accusations. I know my entire output is illegitimate in your eyes because I started publishing without any formal education. I realize you are working under peer-group pressure not to allow outsiders to expose academic errors. You should be telling ME the following: Be a scientist: Focus on the material. Study the material. Trace the material. Then get back to me in a helpful sort of way – like the teacher you trained to be. Don’t be vague. Be specific. Get back to me with side-by-side materials and do so directly = via email.

Maybe start with ‘the first flightless pterosaur, Sos 2428, which started this conversation (see above, now with 800+ reads).

FaceBook was meant for birthdays, announcements, etc. Not for scientific exchanges.”