David Peters

{{pseudosciencenav}}[[File:Jeholopterus.png|thumb|right|165px|''Jeholopterus'' with fly swatter]]
[[File:Jeholopterus ningchengensis.png|thumb|right|165px|''Jeholopterus ningchengensis'', an accurate depiction by a paleontologist]]
{{cquote|I remember that for my first talk at a scientific meeting, I had to follow Mr. Peters' talk on a vampire pterosaur with a fly swatter on its head. Everyone remembers that talk, no one remembers mine. It was also the only talk at the conference picked up by my hometown paper.|||Brian Andres, paleontologist<ref name=templeton/>}}
'''David Peters''' {{lived|c. 1955}}<ref name=templeton/> is essentially what happens when someone tries to be a [[paleontologist]], but the only thing they know how to use is Photoshop and a good deal of spite towards people pointing out why they are wrong. Starting off in a more or less promising career during the 1990s, where he illustrated children's books about prehistoric life, David Peters went off the rail somewhere in the early 2000s,<ref name=nima/> when his highly dubious non-[[peer-reviewed]] meeting abstract about the [[pterosaur]] ''Jeholopterus'' was published, the abstract claimed that there was a bizarre bipedal creature with frills and a long tail as well as vampiric fangs.<ref>"The Chinese vampire and other overlooked pterosaur ptreasures" by David Peters (2003) ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 23(3):87. Abstracts of Papers Sixty-Third Annual Meeting Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Science Museum of Minnesota St. Paul, Minnesota October 15-18, 2003.</ref><ref name=papers>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180710082811/https://www.reptileevolution.com/papers.htm Published papers and abstracts along with a synopsis of each] ''ReptileEvolution.com'' (archived from July 10, 2018).</ref> A few more deranged illustrations of pterosaurs as mohawk lizards later and it became clear that he was insane.

As of 2012 he began to operate a site called ReptileEvolution.com. Cropping highly on [[Do your own research|Google searches]], several actual paleontologists have seen fit to warn off onlookers.<ref name=templeton>[https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vvb8kj/why-paleontologists-get-riled-up-over-this-heretical-pterosaur-concept-art Why Paleontologists Get Riled Up Over This 'Heretical' Pterosaur Concept Art: The forms David Peters draws are often wildly at odds with our traditional understanding of pterosaur physiology.] by Graham Templeton (Jun 12 2015, 6:30am) ''Vice''.</ref><ref name=nima>[http://paleoking.blogspot.com/2011/05/strange-journey-of-david-peters.html The Strange Journey of David Peters] by Nima (May 14, 2011) ''The Paleo King''.</ref><ref name=naish>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120705194937/http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2012/07/03/world-must-ignore-reptileevolution-com/ Why the world has to ignore ReptileEvolution.com] by Darren Naish (July 3, 2012) ''Scientific American''.</ref>

==Why he's infamous==
David Peters simply put disregards functional paleontology. On the best days, he looks at [[fossil]] pictures and interprets the ''squashed'' remains as accurate. On several occasions he straight up uses Photoshop and makes up drawings.<ref name=nima/> Combined with his surreal choice for colour markers, this results in frankly creepy diatribes on things that aren't there.<ref name=nima/>

Peters's primary technique for justifying his unorthodox interpretations of fossils is what he calls Digital Graphic Segregation using Photoshop.<ref name=nima/><ref name=naish/> It's a sort of digital-[[pareidolia]] because it is not confirmed by other techniques (e.g., CT-scanning or UV light) and is not used by any paleontologists.<ref name=naish/>

As noted above, he is infamous for his depictions of pterosaurs as aberrant bipedal creatures with back frills and erect tails. He disregards several studies in recent years demonstrating pterosaurs to be quadrupedal, furry flyers in favour of [[bird]]-lizard hybrids.

His phylogenetic work leaves a lot to be desired as well. He has built what he calls the "large reptile tree" (a cladogram), which is basically the result of ignoring all types of established synapomorphies in favour of [[random]]ly pairing things together.<ref name=naish/> Paleontologist [[Darren Naish]] has said that Peters has failed to even understand cladograms.<ref name=naish/>

Starting with the comments section on Naish's ''Tetrapod Zoology'' article, his behaviour is noted as being more erratic and unpleasant, which has not endeared him to the paleontological community at large.<ref name=naish/>

Peters has at least twice compared his current exclusion from professional scientific discourse to racial [[segregation]], a [[false analogy]] akin to [[Godwin's Law]].<ref name=templeton/><ref>[http://dml.cmnh.org/2010May/msg00071.html Re: No substitute for seeing a specimen: Hone blog] email to Peters from Mike Taylor, quoting Peters (9 May 2010 09:41:35 +0100) ''Dinosaur Mailing List, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History''.</ref>

==Mammals==
As of 2016 Peters appears to have started focusing more on [[mammals]] over his preferred reptiles, possibly in response to a speculative post on volaticothere eutriconodonts.<ref>[https://ichthyoconodon.wordpress.com/2016/09/23/could-the-flying-beasts-have-actually-flown/ Could the “flying beasts” have actually flown?] by Carlos Albuquerque (September 23, 2016) ''Ichthyoconodon''.</ref> The results are just a wacky, not in the least because they're all defined in relation to hippos:<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180923151806/http://www.reptileevolution.com/hippopotamus.htm Hippopotamus] ''ReptileEvolution.com'' (archived from September 23, 2018).</ref>

*Mammals are closely related to {{wpl|archosaurs||.}}<ref name=naish/>

*{{wpl|Multituberculates}} and other superficially rodent-like mammals are in fact actual rodents, since [[convergent evolution]] doesn't exist in the Peters dimension; as they are all nested within marsupials.<ref>[https://pteresies.tumblr.com/post/172886715207/did-you-see-that-david-peters-has-koalas-as David Peters Sucks: A True Story] by pteresies (April 13, 2018) ''Tumblr''.</ref>

* ''Hyaenodon'' is closely related to the [[thylacine]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190601043640/http://www.reptileevolution.com/hyaenodon.htm ''Hyaenodon''] ''ReptileEvolution.com'' (archived from June 1, 2019).</ref>

* ''Volaticotherium'' is a marsupial (note: one of the earliest explorations into the mammal realm, lending credence to the above speculation).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180111160752/http://www.reptileevolution.com/volaticotherium.htm ''Volaticotherium''] ''ReptileEvolution.com'' (archived from June 1, 2019).</ref>
*Odontocetes are the decendents of tenrecs.

==Some of Peters' controversial art==
<gallery>
File:Longisquama.png|{{wpl|Longisquama|''Longisquama''}}
File:SharovipteryxA4.png|{{wpl|Sharovipteryx|''Sharovipteryx mirabilis''}}
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Baraminology]]
*[[Eugene M. McCarthy]] — a [[non-Darwinian evolution]] proponent who thinks that hybridization is the driving force rather than [[natural selection]]
*[[Pareidolia]]
*[[Ultracrepidarianism]]

==External links==
*[http://reptileevolution.com/ ReptileEvolution.com]
*[https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/ The Pterosaur Heresies] — Peters' blog

==Bibliography==
===Quality artistic work===
*''Giants of Land, Sea & Air, Past & Present'' by David Peters (1986) Sierra Club Books. ISBN 0394978056.
*''A Gallery of Dinosaurs & Other Early Reptiles'' by David Peters (1989) Knopf Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0394899822.
*''From the Beginning: the Story of Human Evolution'' by David Peters (1991) Morrow Junior Books. ISBN 0688094767.
*''Strange Creatures'' by David Peters (1992) William Morrow. ISBN 0688101550.
*''Raptors! The Nastiest Dinosaurs'' by Don Lessem & David Peters (1996) Little Brown & Co. ISBN 0316879290.
*''Supergiants! The Biggest Dinosaurs'' by Don Lessem & David Peters (1997) Little Brown & Co. ISBN 0316521183.

===Dubious paleontology publications===
Synopses available at:<ref name=papers/>
*[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310594753_Description_and_Interpretation_of_Interphalangeal_Lines_in_Tetrapods "Description and Interpretation of Interphalangeal Lines in Tetrapods"] by David Peters (2000) ''Ichnos'' 7:11-41.
*"A redescription of four prolacertiform genera and implications for pterosaur phylogenesis" by David Peters (2000) ''Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia'' 106: 293-336.
*"A New Model for the Evolution of the Pterosaur Wing — with a twist" by David Peters (2002) ''Historical Biology'' 15: 277-301.
*"The Chinese vampire and other overlooked pterosaur ptreasures" by David Peters (2003) ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 23(3):87. Meeting abstract
*"Suction Feeding in Triassic Protorosaur?" by David Peters et al. (2005) ''Science'' 308:1112-1113. Letter
*"The origin and radiation of the Pterosauria. Flugsaurier" by David Peters (2007) The Wellnhofer Pterosaur Meeting, Munich. 
*"A Reinterpretation of Pteroid Articulation in Pterosaurs — Short Communication" by David Peters (2009) ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 29(4):1327–1330.
*[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232903766_In_defence_of_parallel_interphalangeal_lines "In defence of parallel interphalangeal lines"] by David Peters (2010) ''Historical Biology'' 22(4):437-442.
*[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233197891_A_Catalog_of_Pterosaur_Pedes_for_Trackmaker_Identification "A Catalog of Pterosaur Pedes for Trackmaker Identification"] by David Peters (2011) ''Ichnos'' 18(2):114-141.
==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, David}}
[[Category:Internet kooks]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Categories: Internet kooks, Living people