Paleontology and science illustration, and feathering ALL the dinosaurs
Despite being the third-ever scientifically named dinosaur genus, and being used in the first official definition of dinosaurs as a group, Hylaeosaurus armatus has ended up as a much less well-known name than Iguanodon or even Megalosaurus. It was also the very first ankylosaur to be discovered, found as a partial skeleton in Southeast England … Continue reading “Retro vs Modern #03: Hylaeosaurus armatus”
Named just a year after Megalosaurus, in 1825, Iguanodon has remained a fairly iconic dinosaur ever since. Discovered in a different region of Southeast England, its fossilized teeth were soon recognized as being similar to those of modern iguanas – but much much larger. Partial skeletal remains were initially reconstructed as belonging to a gigantic … Continue reading “Retro vs Modern #02: Iguanodon bernissartensis”
It’s time for Retro vs Modern Month! Every weekday this March we’ll be looking at some examples of how our paleontological understanding and visual depiction of various fossil creatures has evolved over the years. Starting with… Retro vs Modern #01: Megalosaurus bucklandii Fragmentary fossil remains of dinosaurs have been found in Southeast England for hundreds … Continue reading “Retro vs Modern #01: Megalosaurus bucklandii”
[Previously: the Permian and Triassic] The next part of the Crystal Palace Dinosaur trail depicts the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Most of the featured animals here are actually marine reptiles, but a few dinosaur species do make an appearance towards the end of this section. Although there are supposed to be three Jurassic ichthyosaur statues … Continue reading “Crystal Palace Field Trip Part 2: Walking With Victorian Dinosaurs”
This past week I’ve been out of town and unable to work on much art, but instead here’s something a little different. I finally got the chance to go visit some familiar old faces out in the wilds of south London, so let’s go on a little tour of these iconic Victorian-era retrosaurs… The Crystal … Continue reading “Crystal Palace Field Trip Part 1: Walking With Victorian Monsters”
Stegosaurs are some of the most popular and recognizable dinosaurs thanks to their unique appearances, with small heads, elaborate back plates, and spiky thagomizer tails. Closely related to the ankylosaurs, they first appeared in the mid-Jurassic about 170 million years ago. While they lasted until at least the mid-Cretaceous (~100 milion years ago), their heyday … Continue reading “Strange Symmetries #11: Step Up To The Plate”
Lobopodians were some of the earliest known panarthropods, closely related to velvet worms, tardigrades, and the ancestors of all the true arthropods. They were small soft-bodied worm-like animals with multiple pairs of fleshy legs, and some species also bore elaborate spikes, armor plates, and fleshy bumps all over their bodies – with the spiny Hallucigenia … Continue reading “Paucipodia”
A wastebasket taxon is what happens when species can’t be easily classified and instead get hurled into a “catch-all” category. …But that’s not the only kind of taxonomic tangle that can befall a new discovery. When a scientific name is assigned to a new species, but it isn’t given a corresponding formal description and type … Continue reading “It Came From The Trash Heap (We Don’t Talk About Kholumolumo)”
Discovered in England in the early 1840s, Cetiosaurus was one of the first sauropod dinosaurs known to science – although its scrappy remains were initially mistaken for a massive crocodile-like marine reptile, hence its name meaning “whale lizard”. It wasn’t even identified as being some sort of dinosaur until a couple of decades later, and … Continue reading “It Came From The Wastebasket #13: Certifying Cetiosaurus”
Troodontids were small bird-like theropod dinosaurs, lightly built with slender legs and sickle-shaped “raptor” claws on the second toes of their feet. They had fairly big brains proportional to their body size, rather like modern birds, and their large forward-facing eyes had good depth perception. Owl-like asymmetrical ears in some species gave them a very … Continue reading “It Came From The Wastebasket #05: The Trouble With Troodon”
