Sterling J. Nesbitt

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, & Nesbitt 2026Ptychotherates bucculentus gen. et sp. nov.Srivastava & Nesbitt 2025Saurichthys justitias sp. nov.Stack, Nesbitt, Stricklin, & Stocker 2024Microzemiotes sonselaensis gen. et sp. nov.Burch, Eddins, Stocker, Kligman, Marsh, Parker, & Nesbitt 2024Unguinychus onyx gen. et sp. nov.Pugh, Nesbitt, Heckert, Lauer, & Lauer 2023Samsarasuchus pamelae gen. et sp. nov.Ezcurra, Bandyopadhyay, Sengupta, Sen, Sennikov, Sookias, Nesbitt, & Butler 2023Funcusvermis gilmorei gen. et sp. nov.Kligman, Gee, Marsh, Nesbitt, Smith, Parker, & Stocker 2023Venetoraptor gassenae gen. et sp. nov.Müller, Ezcurra, Garcia, Agnolín, Stocker, Novas, Soares, Kellner, & Nesbitt 2023Mambachiton fiandohana gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Patellos, Kammerer, Ranivoharimanana, Wyss, & Flynn 2022Mbiresaurus raathi gen. et sp. nov.Griffin, Wynd, Munyikwa, Broderick, Zondo, Tolan, Langer, Nesbitt, & Taruvinga 2022Mambawakale ruhuhu gen. et sp. nov.Butler, Fernandez, Nesbitt, Leite, & Gower 2022Puercosuchus traverorum gen. et sp. nov.Marsh, Parker, Nesbitt, Kligman, & Stocker 2021Syntomiprosopus sucherorum gen. et sp. nov.Heckert, Nesbitt, Stocker, Schneider, Hoffman, & Zimmer 2020Trilophosaurus phasmalophos sp. nov.Kligman, Marsh, Nesbitt, Parker, & Stocker 2020Kongonaphon kely gen. et sp. nov.Kammerer, Nesbitt, Flynn, Ranivoharimanana, & Wyss 2020Dynamosuchus collisensis gen. et sp. nov.Müller, Von Bacsko, Desoko, & Nesbitt 2019Suskityrannus hazelae gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Denton, Loewen, Brusatte, Smith, Turner, Kirkland, McDonald, & Wolfe 2018Mandasuchus tanyauchen gen. et sp. nov.Butler, Nesbitt, Charig, Gower, & Barrett 2017Avicranium renestoi gen. et sp. nov.Pritchard & Nesbitt 2017Teleocrater rhadinus gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt et al. 2016Litorosuchus somnii gen. et sp. nov.Li, Wu, Zhao, Nesbitt, Stocker, & Wang 2016Triopticus primus gen. et sp. nov.Stocker, Nesbitt, Criswell, Parker, Witmer, Rowe, Ridgely, & Brown 2016Vivaron haydeni gen. et sp. nov.Lessner, Stocker, Smith, Turner, Irmis, & Nesbitt 2016Calciavis grandei gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt & Clarke 2015Lepidus praecisio gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt & Ezcurra 2015Carnufex carolinensis gen. et sp. nov.Zanno, Drymala, Nesbitt, & Schneider 2014Nundasuchus songeaensis gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Sidor, Angielczyk, Smith, & Tsuji 2013Lutungutali sitwensis gen. et sp. nov.Peecook, Sidor, Nesbitt, Smith, Steyer, & Angielczyk 2013Asperoris mnyama gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Butler, & Gower 2012Nyasasaurus parringtoni gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Barrett, Werning, Sidor, & Charig 2011Diodorus scytobrachion gen. et sp. nov.Kammerer, Nesbitt, & Shubin 2011Albinykus baatar gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Clarke, Turner, & Norell 2011Daemonosaurus chauliodus gen. et sp. nov.Sues, Nesbitt, Berman, & Henrici 2010Azendohsaurus madagaskarensis sp. nov.Flynn, Nesbitt, Parrish, Ranivoharimanana, & Wyss 2010Asilisaurus kongwe gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Sidor, Irmis, Angielczyk, Smith, & Tsuji 2009Limusaurus inextricabilis gen. et sp. nov.Xu et al. 2009Kol ghuva gen. et sp. nov.Turner, Nesbitt, & Norell 2009Tawa hallae gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Smith, Irmis, Turner, Downs, & Norell 2007Effigia okeeffeae gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt & Norell 2005Redondavenator quayensis gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt, Irmis, Lucas, & Hunt 2004Ammorhynchus navajoi gen. et sp. nov.Nesbitt & Whatley