Sterling Nesbitt (born March 25, 1982, in Mesa, Arizona) is an American paleontologist best known for his work on the origin and early evolutionary patterns of archosaurs. He is currently a professor at Virginia Tech in the Department of Geosciences.
Biography Sterling Nesbitt received his B.A. in integrative biology with a minor in geology from the University of California Berkeley in 2004. He received his PhD from Columbia University in 2009, completing the majority of his research at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He subsequently held postdoctoral researcher positions at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Washington, and the Field Museum. He is currently a professor in the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. He is also a research associate/affiliate of the American Museum of Natural History, the Vertebrate Paleontology Lab at The University of Texas at Austin, the Virginia Museum of Natural History, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and the National Museum of Natural History.
Nesbitt appears in the 2007 IMAX movie Dinosaurs Alive! and the re-worked 2008 version of Walking With Dinosaurs on the Discovery Channel.
Academic contributions Nesbitt has over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals with over 7,700 citations (per Google Scholar) and numerous papers in high-profile scientific journals, including Current Biology, Earth-Science Reviews, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, Royal Society Open Science, Science, and Scientific Reports.
Below is a list of taxa that Nesbitt has contributed to naming:
YearTaxonAuthors2026Labrujasuchus expectatus gen. et sp. nov.Turner, Kernan, Laing, Pritchard, Stocker, Irmis, Smith, Werning, & Nesbitt2026Ptychotherates bucculentus gen. et sp. nov.Srivastava & Nesbitt2025Saurichthys justitias sp. nov.Stack, Nesbitt, Stricklin, & Stocker2024Microzemiotes sonselaensis gen. et sp. nov.Burch, Eddins, Stocker, Kligman, Marsh, Parker, & Nesbitt2024Unguinychus onyx gen. et sp. nov.Pugh, Nesbitt, Heckert, Lauer, & Lauer2023Samsarasuchus pamelae gen. et sp. nov.Ezcurra, Bandyopadhyay, Sengupta, Sen, Sennikov, Sookias, Nesbitt, & Butler2023Funcusvermis gilmorei gen. et sp. nov.Kligman, Gee, Marsh, Nesbitt, Smith, Parker, & Stocker2023Venetoraptor gassenae gen. et sp. nov.Müller, Ezcurra, Garcia, Agnolín, Stocker, Novas, Soares, Kellner, & Nesbitt2023Mambachiton fiandohana gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Patellos, Kammerer, Ranivoharimanana, Wyss, & Flynn2022Mbiresaurus raathi gen. et sp. nov.Griffin, Wynd, Munyikwa, Broderick, Zondo, Tolan, Langer, Nesbitt, & Taruvinga2022Mambawakale ruhuhu gen. et sp. nov.Butler, Fernandez, Nesbitt, Leite, & Gower2022Puercosuchus traverorum gen. et sp. nov.Marsh, Parker, Nesbitt, Kligman, & Stocker2021Syntomiprosopus sucherorum gen. et sp. nov.Heckert, Nesbitt, Stocker, Schneider, Hoffman, & Zimmer2020Trilophosaurus phasmalophos sp. nov.Kligman, Marsh, Nesbitt, Parker, & Stocker2020Kongonaphon kely gen. et sp. nov.Kammerer, Nesbitt, Flynn, Ranivoharimanana, & Wyss2020Dynamosuchus collisensis gen. et sp. nov.Müller, Von Bacsko, Desoko, & Nesbitt2019Suskityrannus hazelae gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Denton, Loewen, Brusatte, Smith, Turner, Kirkland, McDonald, & Wolfe2018Mandasuchus tanyauchen gen. et sp. nov.Butler, Nesbitt, Charig, Gower, & Barrett2017Avicranium renestoi gen. et sp. nov.Pritchard & Nesbitt2017Teleocrater rhadinus gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt et al.2016Litorosuchus somnii gen. et sp. nov.Li, Wu, Zhao, Nesbitt, Stocker, & Wang2016Triopticus primus gen. et sp. nov.Stocker, Nesbitt, Criswell, Parker, Witmer, Rowe, Ridgely, & Brown2016Vivaron haydeni gen. et sp. nov.Lessner, Stocker, Smith, Turner, Irmis, & Nesbitt2016Calciavis grandei gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt & Clarke2015Lepidus praecisio gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt & Ezcurra2015Carnufex carolinensis gen. et sp. nov.Zanno, Drymala, Nesbitt, & Schneider2014Nundasuchus songeaensis gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Sidor, Angielczyk, Smith, & Tsuji2013Lutungutali sitwensis gen. et sp. nov.Peecook, Sidor, Nesbitt, Smith, Steyer, & Angielczyk2013Asperoris mnyama gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Butler, & Gower2012Nyasasaurus parringtoni gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Barrett, Werning, Sidor, & Charig2011Diodorus scytobrachion gen. et sp. nov.Kammerer, Nesbitt, & Shubin2011Albinykus baatar gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Clarke, Turner, & Norell2011Daemonosaurus chauliodus gen. et sp. nov.Sues, Nesbitt, Berman, & Henrici2010Azendohsaurus madagaskarensis sp. nov.Flynn, Nesbitt, Parrish, Ranivoharimanana, & Wyss2010Asilisaurus kongwe gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Sidor, Irmis, Angielczyk, Smith, & Tsuji2009Limusaurus inextricabilis gen. et sp. nov.Xu et al.2009Kol ghuva gen. et sp. nov.Turner, Nesbitt, & Norell2009Tawa hallae gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Smith, Irmis, Turner, Downs, & Norell2007Effigia okeeffeae gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt & Norell2005Redondavenator quayensis gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Irmis, Lucas, & Hunt2004Ammorhynchus navajoi gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt & Whatley
References
External links Personal website Virginia Tech Paleobiology & Geobiology Research Group
External links Dinosaurs Alive!