tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24372325780323881822024-03-05T02:51:09.490-05:00Art of Emily WilloughbyMy ongoing artwork, primarily paleontography with a focus on feathered dinosaurs.Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-54131349332523525262014-02-20T14:53:00.000-05:002014-02-20T17:22:43.500-05:00Top 10 Fictional Birds Based on Real Birds<div class="p1" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">
Voracious birders tend to look for birds wherever they go, and that includes in fictional sources. For a serious birder, a movie bird is just as much of an opportunity to exercise the ID skills as a legitimate birding trip is. Over the years, movies and video games have included an embarrassing share of "generic" birds that aren't much of anything: usually a boring small passerine, often monochrome. However, a handful of well-known birds in popular culture are probably based on actual species, though it sometimes takes some considerable inference to figure out exactly what. So here is Jon's and my list of <b>Top 10 Fictional Birds Based on Real Birds</b>, in chronological order.</div>
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1. Eagles of Manwë from <i>The Lord of the Rings </i>and <i>The Hobbit: </i><b>Golden eagle </b>(first appearance: 1937)</div>
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These giant, mysterious, immensely powerful birds of prey are a sort of deus ex machina in the Middle Earth world, always showing up at exactly the right moment. While they are clearly not actually supposed to be golden eagles - they are much larger, sentient, and exist in a fantasy universe - they are probably based on them. One of the first renditions of the giant birds was painted by Tolkien himself and appeared with the original version of <i>The Hobbit</i>. This illustration clearly resembles a golden eagle, and according to Tolkien's son Christopher, the painting was based on a picture of an immature golden eagle by Archilbald Thorburn. With a bit of digging, we found the original painting.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0c9yhWgIAmI/UwZZhyFPskI/AAAAAAAAAqo/qYokW6PFiDE/s1600/tolkien+eagle+and+golden+eagle+by+William+Kuhnert+(d+1926).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0c9yhWgIAmI/UwZZhyFPskI/AAAAAAAAAqo/qYokW6PFiDE/s1600/tolkien+eagle+and+golden+eagle+by+William+Kuhnert+(d+1926).jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left: <a href="http://digilander.libero.it/ilfossodihelm/immagini/gwaihir%202.jpg">original</a> illustration of an Eagle of Manwë by J.R.R. Tolkien. Right: the <a href="http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/94/63/42/94634291c6940e71ef4f78c51336fa08.jpg">painting</a> on which it's based, a golden eagle by Archibald Thorburn (public domain). Interestingly, Thorburn also produced bird illustrations for William Beebe's books (see entry #9 below).</td></tr>
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Subsequent renditions of the giant birds are also consistent with this imagery. The officially licensed <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.sideshowtoy.com/collectibles/product-archive/?sku=9715" href="http://www.sideshowtoy.com/collectibles/product-archive/?sku=9715" lj-cmd="LJLink2">"Fell Beast vs. Eagle" diorama</a> shows the bird clearly modeled after a golden, including the diagnostic whitish "ankle" fuzz that all golden eagles have (many eagles' leg feathers stop at the ankles, but goldens have feathers all the way down to the feet). The <a data-cke-saved-href="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/rfDKvh01ftU/maxresdefault.jpg" href="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/rfDKvh01ftU/maxresdefault.jpg" lj-cmd="LJLink2">rendition of these eagles</a> seen in the new Peter Jackson <i>Hobbit </i>films is also consistent with this depiction.<br />
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Tolkien, in other writings, implies that these eagles might in fact be Maiar - spirits taking a biological form in order to address some important task on Middle Earth - using a bird-shape. If so, it would make sense that such a powerful creature would choose a form inspired by a golden eagle, as golden eagles are known all over the world as being legendary for their power and majesty.<br />
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2. Galliforms from <i>Bambi</i>: <b>Ring-necked pheasant </b>and <b>California quail </b>(1942)</div>
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<i>Bambi</i> has its fair share of generic, primary-colored monochrome passerines, but otherwise it does a reasonably decent job of representing actual species. There's a great horned owl, a brief appearance of what are probably pileated woodpeckers, a robin, mallards, and a handful of galliforms that make repeated appearances. One of these is a mother quail with a long line of little babies. The physical appearance of this quail mother most closely resembles a California quail: the females have topknots like the males do (though smaller), but the babies should not have them. It could also be a Gambel's quail, but the range maps of the other <i>Bambi </i>critters suggest it takes place further north than Gambel's quails stray. The movie is based on an <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.amazon.com/Bambi-Life-Woods-Felix-Salten/dp/067166607X/" href="http://www.amazon.com/Bambi-Life-Woods-Felix-Salten/dp/067166607X/" lj-cmd="LJLink2">original novel</a> (which is a beautiful read and I highly recommend it) by Felix Salten and is meant to take place in Germany or Austria, but the species diversity of the movie clearly indicates it's meant to take place in western North America, probably in the wilds of Oregon or Washington state. This is consistent with the range maps for white-tailed deer (as they were in the 40s, when the movie was made), skunks, rabbits, etc.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left: female California quail by Alan Vernon (creative commons). Right: Screenshot of quail with babies from <i>Bambi</i>.</td></tr>
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The other notable galliform is the ring-necked pheasant, a mother of which makes a repeated appearance, also with babies. There's one particularly harrowing scene where a group of pheasants is hiding in the tall grass from a hunter, and one female is unable to control her fear and ends up flying and getting shot. These pheasants are all meant to be females in the context of the movie, and indeed their coloration is more akin to that of female ring-necks, but they all strangely have the bit of head-tuft distinct only to male pheasants. As the movie accurately portrays, ring-necked pheasants are a popular game bird and were in fact originally introduced to North America with the sole intention of hunting them.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left: female ring-necked pheasant by Marek Szczepanek (creative commons). Right: screenshot of pheasant from <i>Bambi</i>.</td></tr>
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3. The Birds from <i>The</i> <i>Fox and the Hound: </i><b>Great-horned owl, red-headed woodpecker, and American goldfinch </b>(1981)</div>
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<i>The Fox and the Hound </i>is one of the only Disney movies I can think of whose inclusion of actual animal species is fairly accurate for its region. Again, this may or may not be intentional on the part of the writers, and may be a happy coincidence. The movie famously features a trio of birds that are reasonably recognizable. The first, Big Mama, is obviously a great horned owl: large, powerful, with spotted breast and prominent ear-tufts. Great horned owls are widespread across most of North America, so this is no problem.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDb8m4vcVUwWrnyAsc44AuuUPi7izhzUaFpluVG1DBgFgNWATSqUc1tCcACUtzW6qHX-p9ez9VE3-dw1BPn3zUBo9ZCRANTEfuM9v9zMWszUz5firzqF5cIiW4qxLV2wRp3JFtl45Nsg/s1600/great+horned+eric+liskay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDb8m4vcVUwWrnyAsc44AuuUPi7izhzUaFpluVG1DBgFgNWATSqUc1tCcACUtzW6qHX-p9ez9VE3-dw1BPn3zUBo9ZCRANTEfuM9v9zMWszUz5firzqF5cIiW4qxLV2wRp3JFtl45Nsg/s1600/great+horned+eric+liskay.jpg" height="311" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left: screenshot of Big Mama from <i>Fox and the Hound</i>. Right: great-horned owl by Eric Liskay (used with permission).</td></tr>
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The obligate "sidekick and comic relief duo" is comprised of Boomer, a large woodpecker, and Dinky, a small, dull-yellow passerine. Boomer is fairly obviously a red-headed woodpecker, with his striking red head and two-toned black and white wings and body (perhaps a nearly-grown subadult, since he has some small breast spots). Dinky is harder to puzzle out, since he is a fairly nondescript dull-yellow passerine. So let's look at geographic location to narrow him down:</div>
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We have a handful of distinct species in this movie, most of which have limited ranges. Other than the great-horned owl, red-headed woodpecker, and obvious red fox, we also have a black bear, an American badger, and a porcupine. Red-headed woodpeckers are eastern North American species. However, we also know that Dinky and Boomer migrate in the winter, which means that the movie must take place in the northern edge of their ranges, since red-headed woodpeckers don't migrate in most of the continental US. <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.rom.on.ca/ontario/images/risk/maps/na-tata.gif" href="http://www.rom.on.ca/ontario/images/risk/maps/na-tata.gif" lj-cmd="LJLink2">American badgers</a>, <a data-cke-saved-href="http://icwdm.org/Images/porcupine/Porcup33.jpg" href="http://icwdm.org/Images/porcupine/Porcup33.jpg" lj-cmd="LJLink2">porcupines</a>, and <a data-cke-saved-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:American_Black_bear_map.png" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Black_bear_map.png" lj-cmd="LJLink2">black bears</a> all have ranges that extend to the west and to north-eastern NA, though. If you overlap the range maps, there is one general region that stands out as being a perfect overlap: the swath of north-midwest interior ranging from northern Minnesota down to northern Michigan and southern Ontario.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jOGqlkco-84/UwZarrSoI7I/AAAAAAAAArI/MzAbFsUe-ys/s1600/boomer+woodpecker+Dave+Menke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jOGqlkco-84/UwZarrSoI7I/AAAAAAAAArI/MzAbFsUe-ys/s1600/boomer+woodpecker+Dave+Menke.jpg" height="346" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left: screenshot of Dinky and Boomer from <i>Fox and the Hound</i>. Right: red-headed woodpecker by Dave Menke (creative commons).</td></tr>
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So what about Dinky? My first instinct is that he's probably intended to be an American goldfinch, but his coloration is much more typical of females. He could be a juvenile or a male with female coloring, which does sometimes happen in the bird world. His small size suggests perhaps a kinglet, wren or warbler, but his bill is much more finchlike. His coloration also doesn't change from winter to summer, which it would if he were an adult warbler or finch with typical male coloring. He's a bit of a puzzle, but my final opinion is that he's probably a goldfinch with juvenile or typically-female plumage. This is <a data-cke-saved-href="http://sdakotabirds.com/species/maps/american_goldfinch_map_small.jpg" href="http://sdakotabirds.com/species/maps/american_goldfinch_map_small.jpg" lj-cmd="LJLink2">consistent</a> with the aforementioned range map, which would place the movie squarely in the region of southern Ontario, northern Minnesota, or the northern tip of Michigan.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D8I4gtGP3vM/UwZbFS1teXI/AAAAAAAAArY/WPehaFZxRzU/s1600/dinky+finch+Darren+Swim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D8I4gtGP3vM/UwZbFS1teXI/AAAAAAAAArY/WPehaFZxRzU/s1600/dinky+finch+Darren+Swim.jpg" height="271" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Left: Screenshot of Dinky from </span><i style="font-family: Times;">Fox and the Hound</i><span style="font-family: Times;">. Right: Female American goldfinch by Darren Swim (creative commons). </span></td></tr>
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<span id="goog_1531001386"></span>Woodpeckers are voracious insectivores, and while finches are mostly seed- and thistle-eaters, they do occasionally go after insects, which would explain the movie-long obsession with catching the caterpillar. Shame that we never get to see Big Mama take a big meal, though.</div>
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4. Marahute from Disney's <i>The</i> <i>Rescuers Down Under: </i><b>Haast's eagle </b>(1990)</div>
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I've seen a lot of people refer to Marahute as a "golden eagle", clearly because of her fierce nature and gorgeous golden plumage. She's also referred to as "the great golden eagle" in the movie, but this has to be more of a descriptor than a species name. There are a few major issues with the golden eagle ID: her plumage pattern doesn't quite match up to that of a golden eagle, which have dark underparts and golden heads, with dark brown barred wings and tail. Marahute is entirely white underneath with no dark areas or bars. Secondly, golden eagles <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cypron-Range_Aquila_chrysaetos.svg">do not live anywhere close to Australia</a>, being confined almost entirely to the northern hemisphere. Lastly, her large size seems highly aberrant, and while it could be shrugged off as just an exaggerated Disneyism, there might be a more plausible explanation.<br />
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<a data-cke-saved-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haast%27s_eagle" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haast%27s_eagle" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">Haast's eagle</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;"> is a recently-extinct bird thought to have been extinguished around 1400 by Maori hunting of its primary food source, moas, and deforestation. It is well-known as the largest bird of prey currently known to mankind, with a wingspan approaching ten feet across in larger female specimens. This is still smaller than Marahute appeared in the movie, but such an exaggeration seems a little more reasonable in context of a Haast's eagle being the largest known raptor. All specimens of the Haast's eagle are known from New Zealand, and while it may or may not have strayed so far as Australia, it's at least within the realm of possibility.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xGVT0vMW9-8/UwZbVK5WurI/AAAAAAAAArg/OZai4r0YHpE/s1600/marahute+haast+John+Megahan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xGVT0vMW9-8/UwZbVK5WurI/AAAAAAAAArg/OZai4r0YHpE/s1600/marahute+haast+John+Megahan.jpg" height="240" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Left: illustration of Haast's eagle by John Megahan (creative commons). Right: screenshot of Marahute from </span><i style="font-family: Times;">The Rescuers Down Under</i><span style="font-family: Times;">.</span></td></tr>
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Perhaps most interestingly, though, is that Marahute's ID as a Haast's eagle also makes considerably more sense in the context of the movie. As you'll know if you've seen it, one of the main plot thrusts of the <i>Rescuers Down Under </i>is the preservation of Marahute and her eggs from the evil poacher McLeach, who had previously killed Marahute's mate. Marahute's species is implied to be significantly endangered, which golden eagles (as well as Australia's three indigenous eagle species) are not. It can therefore be implied that perhaps Marahute isn't just rare, she and her eggs may be literally the last of her species: a hidden relic of bygone centuries.</div>
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Haast's eagle or not, Marahute's coloration seems to be loosely based on the Australian <a data-cke-saved-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-bellied_sea_eagle" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-bellied_sea_eagle" lj-cmd="LJLink2">white-bellied sea eagle</a>.</div>
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5. Iago from <i>Aladdin: </i><b>Scarlet macaw </b>(1992)</div>
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Psittaciformes are confined almost entirely to the <a data-cke-saved-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Parrot_range.png" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Parrot_range.png" lj-cmd="LJLink2">southern hemisphere</a>, with notable presence in south and central America, Oceania, India and southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. They are noticeably absent from the middle east/central Asia where the original <i>Arabian Nights </i>tales are supposed to have taken place.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6lFRfhX5hfA/UwZbeZT-IfI/AAAAAAAAAro/GWhnPFNqRPE/s1600/iago+parrot+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6lFRfhX5hfA/UwZbeZT-IfI/AAAAAAAAAro/GWhnPFNqRPE/s1600/iago+parrot+copy.jpg" height="210" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Left: Screenshot of Iago from </span><i style="font-family: Times;">Aladdin</i><span style="font-family: Times;">. Right: Scarlet macaw from Wikimedia Commons uploaded by user VC-s.</span></td></tr>
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Iago clearly resembles a macaw parrot, and is probably meant to represent a simplified color scheme of a scarlet macaw (the white unfeathered facial area is a big giveaway). Scarlet macaws are central and south American parrots and it's hard to imagine how someone in the middle east would have acquired one in the time the <i>Aladdin</i> story was intended to take place. However, one very notable line from Jafar in the movie may provide a <a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mvU0r6GEys#t=471" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mvU0r6GEys#t=471" lj-cmd="LJLink2">little bit of a clue</a> as to how Iago might possibly be a South American bird.</div>
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6. Chocobos from the <i>Final Fantasy </i>series: <b>Derived galliform </b>(Most notable appearance: 1997)</div>
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Chocobos are a popular species of large, (usually) flightless bird that is ridden and cared for in the series much like real-life horses, which are absent from the series. They first appeared in the series in Final Fantasy II, but VII was the first game where any details of their biology and anatomy were revealed. Chocobos, being very large and flightless, superficially resemble ratites, but a number of contextual and anatomical features point more towards them being, essentially, really freakin' huge chickens.</div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">One of the diagnostic features of ratites - ostriches, emus, cassowaries, and related animals - is that they entirely lack a hallux, the small inner toe that is reversed in most species of perching bird. Ratites have adapted very nicely to a cursorial lifestyle, which as in many cursorial lineages (again, see horses) involves a reduction in number of phalanges that contact the ground - in some cases to the extreme, as ostriches only have </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/c7dd1aaf06300679197598a880969f22/tumblr_mx7350Y8TY1r96qxho1_1280.jpg" href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/c7dd1aaf06300679197598a880969f22/tumblr_mx7350Y8TY1r96qxho1_1280.jpg" lj-cmd="LJLink2" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">two toes</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">, one of which is highly reduced. Chocobos, though, only have three toes, but one of these is a functional reversed hallux. What use would a cursorial, flightless bird have for a reversed hallux? Well, the answer may be in Final Fantasy IX, which features a type of Chocobo that can actually fly. So it must be the case that Chocobos are very recently flightless birds, having descended from a recently flying ancestor. Certain species or subspecies of them, therefore, may still be able to fly, perhaps with some selective breeding. This is also consistent with the fact that official art shows Chocobo retrices as being </span><a data-cke-saved-href="http://static3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120108033847/finalfantasy/images/a/a4/FFVII-CloudChocobo.jpg" href="http://static3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120108033847/finalfantasy/images/a/a4/FFVII-CloudChocobo.jpg" lj-cmd="LJLink2" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">asymmetrical</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.600000381469727px;">, which would only be possible if the lineage were only very recently flightless. All of this is consistent with the placement of Chocobos as galliforms closely related to chickens rather than as ratites.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Left: Illustration of Chocobo from Final Fantasy X, taken from Final Fantasy wiki. Right: photograph of chicken by Wikimedia Commons user Iskrin (creative commons).</span></td></tr>
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This, of course, begs the question of why people in the Final Fantasy universe never seem to eat them. They're farmed, bred, and very large birds, which would make them the perfect candidates for a harvested livestock animal for towns and villages. Mm... tastes like Chocobo.</div>
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7. The Bird from <i>A Bug's Life</i>: <b>Summer tanager </b>(first-spring male) (1998)</div>
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The bird in <i>A Bug's Life</i> has no name, and represents a sort of natural power that no bug can contend with, not even the villainous grasshopper named Hopper. This bird is largely yellow with a reddish head and shoulders, and makes various appearances in the movie. It could potentially be a tropical bird, so the first order to business is to narrow down the location where <i>A Bug's Life </i>takes place. This is actually fairly easy to do, as in the first few minutes of the movie, one of Hopper's underlings comments that Hopper was once "almost eaten by a blue jay". Blue jays only live in the eastern US, so we know the movie must take place somewhere in this area.</div>
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Of possible birds confined to this region, the Bird looks by far most like a summer tanager first-year male. Adult summer tanagers are all-red and females are mostly yellow, but first-spring males have yellow bodies with splotchy red shoulders and red heads, a fairly dead ringer for the Bird in <i>A Bug's Life</i>. The mystery is: why is a first-spring male tanager feeding a nest of chicks... in late fall? I assume this was just a cock-up on the part of the writers, but we see the bird having a nest of eggs in the summer, and then having chicks to feed "after the last leaf has dropped". Birds in the eastern US nest in the spring, so this doesn't make a lot of sense.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3UeMTrKLkNA/UwZbuPWMYUI/AAAAAAAAAr4/WZ5HoAx-GjM/s1600/tanager+Dennis+King.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3UeMTrKLkNA/UwZbuPWMYUI/AAAAAAAAAr4/WZ5HoAx-GjM/s1600/tanager+Dennis+King.jpg" height="242" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Left: Screenshot of The Bird from </span><i style="font-family: Times;">A Bug's Life. </i><span style="font-family: Times;">Right: photograph of immature summer tanager by </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/by-dennis/" style="font-family: Times;">Dennis King</a><span style="font-family: Times;"> (used with permission).</span></td></tr>
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There's also the question of why a juvenile is feeding chicks, when usually passerines only breed after their adult plumage has come in. There is evidence of cooperative breeding in related tanager species, though, so I suppose it's not totally outside the realm of possibility that the Bird is an older sibling of the current brood, and the actual parents are nowhere to be seen. In any case, the Bird's feeding habits are certainly accurate in the movie, as it is a voracious insectivore and both hymenopterans and orthopterans are high on the menu.</div>
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8. The 5th Colossus (Avion) from <i>Shadow of the Colossus</i>: <b>Archaeopteryx </b>(2005)</div>
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<i>Shadow of the Colossus</i> is an adventure game for the Playstation 2 that revolves around the tracking down and slaying of 16 massive giant creatures ('Colossi') made of stone and earth. Most of these creatures have some design similarity to living things: several are humanoid, one looks like an eel, several are based on quadrupedal mammals, etc. The fifth Colossus - the battle with which takes place in an enormous lake - is clearly supposed to be some kind of bird, but its shape seems unmistakably based on that of Archaeopteryx (look at that tail!).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IsvAbZvmQpo/UwZb20QB8_I/AAAAAAAAAsA/jKh-xFsQJCE/s1600/avion+archie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IsvAbZvmQpo/UwZb20QB8_I/AAAAAAAAAsA/jKh-xFsQJCE/s1600/avion+archie.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Left: Screenshot of "Avion" from </span><i style="font-family: Times;">Shadow of the Colossus</i><span style="font-family: Times;">. Right: Illustration of Archaeopteryx by Emily Willoughby.</span></td></tr>
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There's not quite as much to say about this one, other than that, if intentional, it may be the first depiction of an archaeopterygid in any video game. Its remains also sink to the bottom of the massive lake when defeated - perhaps an unintentional Archie reference.</div>
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9. Kevin from Pixar's <i style="line-height: 1.4;">Up: </i><b style="line-height: 1.4;">Himalayan monal pheasant </b>(2009)</div>
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<i>Up</i> is an interesting case where several seemingly unrelated references overlap in a way that actually makes sense. It's completely unclear whether all of this was intentional on the part of the writers: you decide.</div>
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Kevin looks at first glance like an unrealistic, overly-stylized "generic bird", but she (yes, she) does appear to be based on a real bird, though some of the details of her anatomy have been changed. Though much larger, presumably flightless, and more ratite-shaped in general, Kevin seems to be modeled loosely after a male Himalayan monal pheasant, a very colorful galliform bird indigenous to the cold, high-altitude temperate forests of the Himalayan region.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Left: Male and female Himalayan monal pheasants by Charles Knight (public domain). This painting was created for use in William Beebe's </span><i style="font-family: Times;">A Monograph of the Pheasants</i><span style="font-family: Times;">. Right: Kevin from </span><i style="font-family: Times;">Up </i><span style="font-family: Times;">(taken from Pixar wiki).</span></td></tr>
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But what's especially interesting about the idea of Kevin being based on a Himalayan monal lies in the similarity of the movie's main villain, Charles Muntz, to the early 20th century explorer <a data-cke-saved-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Beebe" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Beebe" lj-cmd="LJLink2">William Beebe</a>. Much like Muntz, Beebe was an intrepid explorer who went on various expeditions to India, the Galápagos Islands, Brazil, and British Guiana. Many of Beebe's expeditions - including those to South America - were for the sole purpose of collecting and researching bird specimens, and on them he studied dozens of bird species that had never before been studied in the wild. He was also a renowned deep-sea diver and named and described numerous sea animals as well. Some of these creatures were so fantastical that for many years the validity of these discoveries was questioned by the media and by scientists, and ichthyologists continue to debate whether some of them are valid species. Charles Muntz of <i>Up</i> had a similar issue, when the giant bird skeleton he brought back to America was called a fake and his reputation destroyed. The fictional "Paradise Falls" from <i>Up </i>is based on a <a href="http://science4grownups.com/archives/2009/05/29/general/the-real-world-behind-ups-paradise-falls-530">park in Venezuela</a>, and Beebe also made multiple expeditions to Venezuela. Beebe was also a well-known friend of Theodore Roosevelt, who Muntz claimed to have played gin rummy with on a safari to Somalia ("he cheated"). They even look somewhat similar (it's the mustache):</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QEAqnMaTYfI/UwZcGgqVRbI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/MegLrx9l350/s1600/beebe+muntz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QEAqnMaTYfI/UwZcGgqVRbI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/MegLrx9l350/s1600/beebe+muntz.jpg" height="378" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Left: William Beebe in 1921 (public domain). Right: Screenshot of Charles Muntz from </span><i style="font-family: Times;">Up</i><span style="font-family: Times;">.</span></td></tr>
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It's hard to say for sure whether the similarity between Muntz and Beebe is coincidental or intended by the writers. It's possible that Muntz was based simply on the stereotype of the early 1900s American explorer, a stereotype that William Beebe strongly informed. However, Beebe was the first explorer who observed and documented the Himalayan monal pheasant in the wild, and Kevin is clearly based on this bird. This is a little too much coincidence for me to comfortably stomach, so I'd hazard a guess that at least someone on the Pixar writing team was familiar with William Beebe and his work.<br />
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Incidentally, the illustration of monal pheasants above is by the esteemed Charles Knight. (How many of you knew he used to illustrate birds alongside his paleoart?)</div>
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10. Loftwings from Skyward Sword: <b>Shoebill </b>(2011)</div>
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This latest in the main-line series of the <i>Legend of Zelda</i> prominently featured a species of bird large enough to be ridden in flight by human characters. These birds are highly intelligent, empathetic, and form a deep bond with their human rider. They have a certain prehistoric quality about them, with a strong S-curve neck and ponderous bill. They are in fact based reasonably closely on a species of very large African stork known as the <a data-cke-saved-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoebill" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoebill" lj-cmd="LJLink2">shoebill</a>.</div>
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Shoebills are highly predatory, solitary birds that don't have much in common with Loftwings demeanor-wise, but the visual similarity is unmistakable, and the similarity has been publicly acknowledge by Nintendo in the book <i><a data-cke-saved-href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Legend-Zelda-Hyrule-Historia/dp/1616550414/" href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Legend-Zelda-Hyrule-Historia/dp/1616550414/" lj-cmd="LJLink2">Hyrule Historia</a>.</i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Left: Official art of Princess Zelda and her Loftwing companion (taken from Zelda wiki). Right: Shoebill stork by Bob Owen (creative commons).</span></td></tr>
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Given the similar physiology, it stands to reason that Loftwings would have a similar diet to shoebills as well. Shoebills are primarily piscivorous but are also known to ingest a wide variety of small animals including lizards, turtles, small mammals and occasionally other birds. However, the Loftwings of Skyward Sword are confined to the handful of floating islands above the clouds, and will not descend to the surface world below the clouds. This begs the question of what on the floating islands could sustain so many large carnivorous birds, since there are no large bodies of water or forested areas (this also begs the question of what the humans of Skyloft eat as well... other than pumpkins, anyway).</div>
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<b>So many birds, so few movies!</b></div>
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Finding "real birds" in games and movies is a big treat to birders, and it's relatively rare. There are some movie birds whose species are explicitly obvious, like <i>Harry Potter</i>'s Hedwig being a snowy owl, and movies like <i>Zambezia</i> and <i>The Owls of Ga'Hoole</i> are chock-full of "real" birds. But all too commonly creators of games, movies and television shows don't seem to put any thought into what birds they're using, or any thought into bird design beyond what will look cool or interesting. So let this be a shout-out to all fictional creators to please put some thought into your birds! There are those of us out there who really appreciate it.</div>
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To those reading, what birds in fictional sources have you been able to identify? Share your IDs!</div>
Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-89263509340498755912014-01-13T14:21:00.000-05:002014-01-13T14:23:21.692-05:00The Greatest Microraptor Swag<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVsBLhn-0_cMsVY-rXNlyPY5fVoXXNHs8_DAqsAzi1wEq6PGr67sq0512sw5fCu9XdMgikl90OIYXWEMYzCc_2W0Ix3ixmTBHFq7Mhu9BImO8XNLLoREkXVeGDM-_lGiIPyHW4BAkjg/s1600/tumblr_my38exaqFT1r7iu20o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVsBLhn-0_cMsVY-rXNlyPY5fVoXXNHs8_DAqsAzi1wEq6PGr67sq0512sw5fCu9XdMgikl90OIYXWEMYzCc_2W0Ix3ixmTBHFq7Mhu9BImO8XNLLoREkXVeGDM-_lGiIPyHW4BAkjg/s320/tumblr_my38exaqFT1r7iu20o1_500.jpg" /></a>This post is devoted to some amazing Microraptor swag I've acquired - as commissions and gifts - since around the holidays. All of the people and companies listed below are definitely worth checking out and are very highly recommended! <br />
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First, Rebecca Groom of <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/Palaeoplushies">PalaeoPlushies</a> sent me this INCREDIBLE <i>Microraptor</i> plush Christmas tree ornament. Its arms and legs are kind of posable, so it can glide sprawling or biplane! The remiges are even made out of a kind of iridescent material! And the bell around its neck, omg. IT IS THE CUTEST THING EVER AAAA<br />
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Go visit her Etsy store! She is awesome.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-asIat_eYSN8/UtQ8Vgjml5I/AAAAAAAAApY/hr5V8V1wT5c/s1600/tumblr_myqa7hUTHL1r7iu20o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-asIat_eYSN8/UtQ8Vgjml5I/AAAAAAAAApY/hr5V8V1wT5c/s320/tumblr_myqa7hUTHL1r7iu20o1_500.jpg" /></a></div>
Next, this absolutely fantastic field bag was created by Angie T of Miskatonic River Valley Leatherworks and was completed just before Christmas. It is entirely hand-made of real leather and is extremely durable.<br />
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The design also features <i>Microraptor</i>, the famous holotype with feather imprints. I am totally in love with this bag and could not be more pleased! Check out Angie’s blog (linked above) if you’re interested in the process details, or if you’re interested in commissioning a custom field bag for yourself. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDttYdlqsqWA-rMJpXtprV7D5FAo6Bg-dzaVJU9-ak8KyOSnJF2FbJq1lwO9pCrM5t0v_DDeX_5ZgQK6v1UFvovOjcZ6LuA9wWRyeMSrzf3Iq4e_TKw0HbTaiZzgiIkjZcQy9cVkvpjQ/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDttYdlqsqWA-rMJpXtprV7D5FAo6Bg-dzaVJU9-ak8KyOSnJF2FbJq1lwO9pCrM5t0v_DDeX_5ZgQK6v1UFvovOjcZ6LuA9wWRyeMSrzf3Iq4e_TKw0HbTaiZzgiIkjZcQy9cVkvpjQ/s320/2.jpg" /></a><br />
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And lastly, I am now the proud owner of THE COOLEST custom iPhone 5S phone case that ever existed!<br />
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This beautiful case was laser-engraved by <a href="http://www.carved.com/">Carved.com</a>, which is a quite lovely small business offering a variety of very high-quality real wood phone cases with an option for custom designs. The design is carved on redwood burl wood which has a gorgeous natural grain pattern.<br />
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The design is again the famous <i>Microraptor</i> holotype, and more specifically is a stylized vector image created by my partner <a href="http://agahnim.deviantart.com/">Jonathan</a> (who is also an absolutely amazing dinosaur poet, so click on his gallery and check it out) in Illustrator. It will eventually be used as part of the <a href="http://agahnim.deviantart.com/art/Book-cover-concept-art-318765472">cover</a> for our upcoming anti-creationism book!Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-80432829133131989162013-12-13T18:14:00.001-05:002013-12-15T18:29:34.889-05:00Holiday birds!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qkaoWlKqhao/UquUijgFx1I/AAAAAAAAAow/0F5-okZ2LVU/s1600/three+kings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qkaoWlKqhao/UquUijgFx1I/AAAAAAAAAow/0F5-okZ2LVU/s320/three+kings.jpg" /></a></div><br />
We three kings of avian are<br />
Migrant birds who travel afar.<br />
Fluff and feather, snowy weather,<br />
Pooping on yonder car.<br />
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(Belted kingfisher, eastern kingbird, golden-crowned kinglet)<br />
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My holiday card design this year! Featuring ridiculously dorky bird humor.<br />
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You can purchase this design on a holiday card from <a href="http://www.zazzle.com/we_three_kings_holiday_bird_card-137505291281055157">my Zazzle shop</a>! Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-4256019563270868722013-11-23T20:15:00.000-05:002013-11-23T20:30:42.229-05:00Acheroraptor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mQDSVl8IODY/UpFS8TkhrfI/AAAAAAAAAoA/kenqmIbTDVE/s1600/acheroraptor+mouth+closed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mQDSVl8IODY/UpFS8TkhrfI/AAAAAAAAAoA/kenqmIbTDVE/s320/acheroraptor+mouth+closed.jpg" /></a></div>Here's my rendition of the new Hell Creek velociraptorine dromaeosaur. It's known only from the maxilla and dentary, so I decided to only draw the business end of the animal (that, and I didn't really have the time for a full reconstruction). It's depicted staring at a hispine beetle, of which there is abundance evidence (Johnson et al 2000) from Hell Creek ichnofossils.<br />
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The animal has been known from teeth for many years, and was only recently finally given a name, <i>Acheroraptor temertyorum, </i>after the underworld Acheron of Greek mythology (Hell Creek reference and so on). Phylogenetic analysis recovers it as a velociraptorine, the most basal member of the group containing <i>Velociraptor</i>, <i>Adasaurus</i> and <i>Tsaagan</i>.<br />
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I had a bit of consternation on whether or not to depict the animal with lips: the original version lacked full lips, and I drew the upper teeth overlapping the dentary. Ultimately I decided to add lips and the result is the above image. The original can be seen to the right.<br />
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Evidence for lips on theropods is still debated, but it seems to be mounting over time. I've been wishy-washy about lips: my preferred state of depicting dromaeosaurs, at least, was with a sort of "in-betweenish" lip situation, where lips covered around half the vertical distance of the upper teeth, but the upper teeth still overlapped the dentary somewhat. Jaime Headden has <a href="http://qilong.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/making-lip-of-it/">a great post</a> on the complexities of dinosaur lips and why some options aren't really satisfactory without more information.<br />
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Photoshop CS4, ~2-3 hoursEmily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-75119349789601934942013-09-26T17:22:00.000-04:002013-09-26T17:27:50.703-04:00All Your Yesterdays!Every other paleo-nerd with a blog is posting about this, so I guess I'll join the bandwagon!<br />
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<i>All Your Yesterdays</i>, a new book by C.M. Koseman of Irregular Books, has just been released and is now available for download! Brought to you by the same group that published the game-changing paleoart book <i>All Yesterdays</i> (see my review of that book <a href="http://willoughbyart.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-yesterdays-book-review.html">here</a>), <i>All Your Yesterdays</i> is a compilation of paleoart from dozens of different artists that seek to explore unusual aspects of rational paleontological speculation. I have three pieces in the tome: two <i>Microraptor</i>s doing unusual but plausible things, and a <i>Utahraptor</i> being unusual just by virtue of not trying to kill anything. Many other aspiring and talented paleoartists have tackled such scenarios as lactating stem-mammals, polycephaly and cancer in dinosaurs, and many unusual - though often quite reasonable - display structures.<br />
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The book is available for <a href="http://www.irregularbooks.co/#ayy">free download</a>, but please consider donating to keep the fine folks at Irregular Books producing fabulous work!Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-26834182684244126732013-09-14T01:31:00.003-04:002013-09-14T01:31:44.740-04:00Deinonychus Family<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B-nvVZ-S74I/UjP0cxzgorI/AAAAAAAAAk0/ohUB-AkJIZ0/s1600/deiny+babies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B-nvVZ-S74I/UjP0cxzgorI/AAAAAAAAAk0/ohUB-AkJIZ0/s320/deiny+babies.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This is a very small watercolor "sketch", part of which was for a friend, and the scene inspired by <a href="http://agahnim.deviantart.com/">Jon</a>'s novel-in-progress... <br />
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Obviously this is a very speculative scenario, perhaps a bit All Yesterdays-esque, and is speculative in a number of ways:<br />
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1. Family groups in dromaeosaurs are definitely not outside the realm of possibility, and may be more likely than the tired "pack" scenario, at least until the young disperse (fledge? Wean?). Here, the male and female are depicted in a monogamous pair-bond, and jointly care for the young.<br />
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2. The male is the more brightly-colored of the two, and the female is similarly-colored but a bit duller, and with more banding. The display feathers in the male are green due to a pigment molecule similar to the pigment <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turacoverdin">turacoverdin</a>, the only known green pigment in birds, and the pigment responsible for the green coloration in turacos. There is evidence to suggest that turacoverdin - or a molecule structurally very similar to it - arose at least twice in modern birds, once in turacos and once in the northern jacana, a totally unrelated bird. Therefore it's not totally outside the realm of possibility that a similar compound evolved independently in dromaeosaurs as well. Turacoverdin is copper-based porphyrin and turacos derive their copper from the fruit they eat, but Deinonychus could derive its copper from the livers of its prey, which is also high in copper.<br />
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3. The female is carrying its young on its back, much in the same way that some waterbirds like loons and grebes, as well as crocodilians, do with their young. The idea is that Deinonychus occupies a large territory and would needing to constantly hunt to feed the brood, and would be moving location too frequently for young to easily follow on foot. Here, one chick is using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_birds#Wing-assisted_incline_running">WAIR</a> to climb up its father's back, which is something that some modern <a href="http://5xjkig.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pOX63DuOr7vzAW7YmUkx47tJuzVDmOGq-2s-mg015QIc92BIIUaTA1uAo_9Kk6Pe3cQhtEbhyqZQC2HuHMQ5chxIblBw1W4As/WAIR%20%28Large%29.png">young birds</a> also do.<br />
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4. The chicks are patterned similar to baby ratites, which are often streaked or spotted until they get older.<br />
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5. The feathery toes, while not terribly unique due to finds like <i>Anchiornis</i>, are loosely based on Matt Martyniuk's new post on <a href="http://dinogoss.blogspot.com/2013/09/youre-doing-it-wrong-dino-foot-scales.html">dinosaur foot scales</a>, which indicates that scutes may have evolved <i>from</i> feathers, rather than the opposite. The chicks here don't have feathery feet because the animals would have evolved from an ancestor that had pebble-scaled feet without feathers or scutes, and ontogeny occasionally very loosely recapitulates phylogeny. (Alternately, I could have depicted the chicks with voluminous legwings, since legwings may have been an intermediate stage between pebble-scale feet and scuted feet).Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-16633030782161561132013-09-09T10:51:00.002-04:002013-09-09T10:51:46.749-04:00The Most Accurate Inaccurate Utahraptor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjiexgtxO42lGcjAqXk7tSh1taTEVS5Zspm9NWjUmI8mr2oyN58EULH30hj4vAQ740haM6ySi6GhlSAcTMrEQC801lZlcU71JWLbGMREdwS6gh3mNamQOM2zLAPgvjY4xXPoMM6szsGw/s1600/Utahraptor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjiexgtxO42lGcjAqXk7tSh1taTEVS5Zspm9NWjUmI8mr2oyN58EULH30hj4vAQ740haM6ySi6GhlSAcTMrEQC801lZlcU71JWLbGMREdwS6gh3mNamQOM2zLAPgvjY4xXPoMM6szsGw/s320/Utahraptor.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This is a commission of a <i>Utahraptor</i> "reference" for a friend. It is entirely based only on material that is currently-published, and is therefore <b>technically inaccurate</b> considering the existence of unpublished material. <i>However</i>, my client wanted an image of <i>Utahraptor</i> that is "as accurate as possible" based on the knowledge we've had on the critter up to this point. Once the new material is released to the public, this image will be modified to reflect the updated anatomy, and will therefore serve as an interesting "before" and "after" for the animal.<br />
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Anatomy is based on Scott Hartman's technically-outdated <i>Utahraptor</i> skeletal diagram.Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-21230865210218349232013-08-08T20:14:00.004-04:002013-08-08T20:17:26.927-04:00New website for my artAs of yesterday, the official website for my illustration work is up! My dear friend and brilliant web-developer did a marvelous job, and I’m really happy with it. From here on out, this will be my official platform for displaying my professional work, as well as a hub for selling items (check out the Store section for prints, merchandise, and a handful of originals). I’ve also written a fairly expansive “about” section that talks about why paleoart is so important to science and society, if you’re into that sort of thing.<br />
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<b><center>→ <a href="http://emilywilloughby.com/">Emily Willoughby Art</a> ←</center></b><br />
I will still post to Blogspot, DeviantArt and everywhere else, but I’ve been wanting a professional portfolio site for a long time and it’s been a long time coming. Check it out and tell your friends and stuff!Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-53267493370262369682013-06-12T16:44:00.000-04:002013-06-12T16:44:03.903-04:00The Velociraptor Hunting Dance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IaayrdHDISs/UbjdYe65hdI/AAAAAAAAAeg/jgJhPKdogJU/s1600/the_velociraptor_hunting_dance_by_ewilloughby-d68f94a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IaayrdHDISs/UbjdYe65hdI/AAAAAAAAAeg/jgJhPKdogJU/s320/the_velociraptor_hunting_dance_by_ewilloughby-d68f94a.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This is the famous <em>Velociraptor mongoliensis</em> in its native late Cretaceous Gobi Desert. <em>Velociraptor</em> was a small dromaeosaur, or raptor dinosaur, and contrary to its most famous depictions was almost certainly feathered from head to tail. This is no longer based merely on phylogenic evidence, either - as of 2007, reanalysis of the fossil has shown that its posterior forearm contains quite obvious <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5845/1721">quill knobs</a>.<br />
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<em>Velociraptor</em> surely went after larger prey like <em>Protoceratops</em> at least occasionally, as we have fossil evidence that it certainly did so. However, like many modern mid-sized carnivores, its diet probably consisted of a large proportion of much smaller animals, which it may have ambushed or sniffed out of crevices. I imagine such a predation event would have been rather felid in nature, wherein the animal displayed a curious mixture of predatory grace and pure silly ridiculousness as it bounced and flailed after a frantic prey animal. In this case the prey in question is <em>Zalambdalestes</em>, a small shrewlike eutherian from the Djadochta Formation of Inner Mongolia.Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-45266604910885733002013-04-28T14:07:00.000-04:002013-04-28T15:08:31.932-04:00The Many Meals of MicroraptorAs a lot of you will already know by the time of reading this, a recent publication in the journal Evolution demonstrates that the four-winged, tiny dromaeosaur <i>Microraptor</i> was at least occasionally in the habit of ingesting fish. Scales and portions of several disarticulated skeletons of the osteoglossiform <i>Jinanichthys</i> were found fossilized in the specimen's gut. The authors do not discount the possibility that the fish were scavenged, but considering other known habits of the four-winged wonder, it seems at least reasonably likely that it caught the fish itself - and unlike previous known gut contents, it couldn't have taken <i>this</i> meal in the trees (though it's hard to know what the <a href="http://www.captainoccam.com/ferahgo/fish.jpg">nay-sayers will claim next</a>...).<br />
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<center><a href="http://ewilloughby.deviantart.com/art/Microraptor-Piscivory-366792235" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q22mKG89AAc/UXqmKXEr66I/AAAAAAAAAZs/xdRed1VR4VI/s320/microraptor_piscivory_by_ewilloughby-d62dmp7.jpg" /></a></center><small><center><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evo.12119/abstract">Xing et al 2013</a> describes fish remains in the gut of a <i>Microraptor</i> specimen</center></small><br />
This newest study is another piece in the puzzle of <i>Microraptor</i>'s ecology - a puzzle which is looking more complete as time goes by. With over 300 undescribed specimens, at least three perserved meals (all different), a color study, conflicting scleral ring studies, and a myriad of biomechanical research, we now know a tremendous about this animal (at least for being dead 120 million years). <br />
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But can we extract a reasonable approximation of its diet and lifestyle from the available information? To answer that, one option is to look towards modern birds. But first, let's look at what we do know.<br />
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<center><a href="http://gogosardina.deviantart.com/art/Microraptor-and-Sinornis-recoloured-305058985" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo1m5whBScfFpzIOL9RZSQyCP-n10ZwoXGgI1rji9_I_JCRYKzdtXTkkH9Whv2EVm4pWiNTKdkesn6innDrz537_xedFlWCwaiu33Gue5Ant_G7DxfilbpuQL1GMNO3tfuqBXJR7oGNw/s320/microraptor_and_sinornis__recoloured__by_gogosardina-d51mh0p.jpg" /></a></center><center><small><a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/108/49/19662.abstract">O'Conner et al 2011</a> describes a specimen of <i>Microraptor</i> with the entire skeleton of an enantiornithine bird in its gut. Image by <a href="http://gogosardina.deviantart.com/">Brian Choo</a>, used with permission</small></center><br />
We know that <i>Microraptor</i> ate birds, and unlike the recent piscivory paper, the bird skeleton was found whole and partially-articulated in the dromaeosaur's stomach, indicating that it may have been eaten whole. Dead things are not often scavenged whole, so it seems fairly probable that this was a clear predation event (though it may or may not have occurred in the trees - as many people have since pointed out, predation on arboreal animals <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cat-eating-prey.jpg">does not arboreal make</a>).<br />
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We also know, from a 2010 SVP abstract by Larsson et al, that a specimen of <i>Microraptor</i> with evidence of a mammal dinner has also been found. This specimen preserves fragments of bone, including pieces of skull and a whole foot, that most closely resemble the semi-cursorial mammals <i>Eomaia</i> or <i>Sinodelphys</i>.<br />
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Taken the dietary information that we know so far, it seems that <i>Microraptor</i> was not particularly specialized to be preying on any one sort of prey animal, but was more of a generalist. Xing et al argue that the reduced serrations and mildly forward-pointing teeth on the anterior dentary indicate some minimal adaptations to a piscivorous lifestyle, but it clearly lacks the more pronounced piscivorous adaptations that we can see on animals like spinosaurids and crocodylians, not to mention a myriad of modern piscivorous birds. <i>Microraptor</i> was probably eating a lot of different things, likely just about anything it could get its teeth on.<br />
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As the illustrations above demonstrate, <i>Microraptor</i> is also <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/335/6073/1215">now known</a> with high probability to be a uniform iridescent black, possibly with a glossy blue or green sheen. The authors argue that the glossy black coloration was likely used as a method of communication (either social or sexual). <br />
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And here's where it gets interesting. Among modern avialans, we can construct a sort of Venn diagram between birds that are glossy black and birds that are generalist predators. And within the center of this diagram, we get birds that have a few pretty universal traits.<br />
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<b>1. Sociality</b>: A glossy black coloration is definitely used as a communication device in modern birds, since it tends to be the best way to spot a member of the same species across a wide distance. Many birds that congregate in large flocks tend to be black, and <i>Microraptor</i> is known from an incredible number of specimens - this could be preservation luck, but it seems more like that there <i>really were just a damned lot of the things</i>. This in itself isn't evidence for sociality, but taken together with the rest, it certainly seems pretty plausible.<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrblO-V7tSresAEWkWD2lcABn_hbiQS5-0-sNrl8JHhvcQSA8NCabMt5hdI0YeBGk1DbAKbJ4ANgprTR04H9b5ZWcbjzfbUlMZuvOXHnTbPEJzqI3kIzgMgjOCQQeMw2pNrVtdMsde5Q/s1600/07microraptor3.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrblO-V7tSresAEWkWD2lcABn_hbiQS5-0-sNrl8JHhvcQSA8NCabMt5hdI0YeBGk1DbAKbJ4ANgprTR04H9b5ZWcbjzfbUlMZuvOXHnTbPEJzqI3kIzgMgjOCQQeMw2pNrVtdMsde5Q/s320/07microraptor3.jpg" /></a><br />
<small><i>Microraptor's</I> glossy coloration may have been a signalling device, suggesting a possible degree of sociality. Image by <a href="http://jasonbrougham.com/">Jason Brougham</a>, used with permission</small></center><br />
<b>2. Omnivory</b>: Perhaps unsurprisingly, the vast majority of social birds that are generalist predators are also semi-omnivorous. If there are a damned lot of you, and you're traveling together, you're going to want to learn to eat just about anything that you find. It makes more sense from the perspective of the ecosystem, too: a large group of an animal that eats only a specific type or size of other animals will easily deplete the prey populations when they pass through. Reduced serrations on the teeth (typically indicative of a predatory lifestyle: the serrations help the animal to "hold on" and tear the flesh of prey) are also consistent with a certain degree of omnivory. I'd posit that amongst those 300 undescribed specimens, at least a couple of them might preserve evidence of past meals of seeds or insects.<br />
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<center><a href="http://ewilloughby.deviantart.com/art/Microraptor-Omnivory-355730829" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nYquPs8V8Y0/UXqy4DLORDI/AAAAAAAAAaY/pHuomOhV4Ec/s320/microraptor_omnivory_by_ewilloughby-d5vsjnx.png" /></a><br />
<small>Omnivorous behavior in <i>Microraptor</i> seems likely in the context of its ecology</small></center><br />
<b>3. Intelligence</b>: Yes, I know, the "hyperintelligent raptor" trope is incredibly old and boring, and it's probably obvious that <i>Microraptor</i> is nowhere near as smart as the modern world's smartest birds - some of which are also glossy black omnivores - like corvids. The fact remains, though, that a combination of social behavior and omnivory often results in (or from) an intelligence level that's greater than that of its ancestors. One working theory of how this tends to go is that a population descended from a largely herbivorous ancestor will begin incorporating more meat into its diet to facilitate the protein needed to aid in brain growth. Omnivory also might somewhat result <i>from</i> greater intelligence, as an animal with more smarts will capitalize on its ability to figure out more things to eat.<br />
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So, taken these three factors, what's a good modern analogue for the <i>Microraptor</i>? <br />
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<center><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Great-tailed_Grackle_3_(4356397082).jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiOWKTeMke_jDfc4L7rTPOLB6j8EKzOmTyHiadkuP4xu5Eyv2W6ayQsWRECDe6dH800CtsoyPa2hz_pa8jKPaCR34ixk7b7uhYAMTJnnaNCTkB6axdz5X1bP2sjiQ3YcWT436udkqmVw/s320/Great-tailed_Grackle_3_(4356397082).jpg" /></a><br />
<small>Photo by Magnus Manske, Wikimedia Commons</small></center><br />
Meet... the great-tailed grackle.<br />
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Or, rather, grackles in general, and even more generally, icterids as a family. I personally find them to be GREAT analogues to <i>Microraptor</i> for a variety of reasons.<br />
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Icteridae, the blackbird family, contains a variety of passerine birds including new world orioles, grackles, meadowlarks, and blackbirds. They have a very interesting variety of plumage: most meadowlarks and orioles are very brightly-colored, often sporting extravagant yellow and orange plumage. Others, like most grackles, are entirely black and very glossy. Looking over the different groups, an interesting pattern emerges: the more brightly-colored icterids, like most orioles and meadowlarks, tend to be largely insectivorous, supplementing their diets with fruit and nectar. This would make sense, since the carotenoids needed to produce colorful plumage are found almost exclusively in fruits and the insects that eat them. Colorful orioles also tend to be largely solitary during most months, forming seasonal pair-bonds and sometimes migrating in loose flocks. <br />
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<center><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Icterus_cucullatus_Male_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqAmRCSk_3LaeTydsOgGzYoMuctLXUlbHhoFBi0H1gpNE0hiBg2CCK8qfZnHviDZCY_pU6GiaJeiL6c4FSMZ6PpjcoRqc0z_cRNw8Tw20197XhyphenhyphenArbvvI7qCqSITR5IVPTo-gOx80n_A/s320/800px-Icterus_cucullatus_Male_2.jpg" /></a><br />
<small>Those of us who've put oranges out for orioles know how much they love fruit, like this hooded oriole with grape jam. Photo by Linda Tanner, Wikimedia Commons</small></center><br />
Grackles, on the other hand - and many other black glossy blackbirds - are much more social animals, foraging in sprawling, noisy flocks that utilize large numbers to detect predators, which they often "mob" by way of defense. Grackles are also highly omnivorous birds, and will eat a variety of seeds and plant matter in addition to frogs, minnows, small fish, eggs, and insects. Grackles are also fairly (though not extraordinarily) intelligent, and can mimic a wide variety of sounds and calls.<br />
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This correlation between color, sociality and diet in icterids definitely isn't perfect, but it seems far too strong to be a coincidence. And indeed, if you look to other glossy black birds around the world, you'll likewise find a significant degree of omnnivory and social behavior in those animals: corvids and starlings are other prime examples. Among corvids, the fully glossy black ones (like crows and ravens) tend, on average, to be more omnivorous (and also more intelligent) than the brightly-colored ones (like jays). <br />
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I do not know with certainty how universal this correlation is, or indeed, whether it's been explored to any significant degree in the literature. Social recognition and all-black coloration in birds, at least, is a fairly well-established link; the link between a partially frugivorous diet and colorful plumage is as well. As far as <i>Microraptor</i> is concerned, though, an interpretation of the animal as a glossy-black, social, semi-intelligent, opportunistic omnivore seems currently well-supported by the available information.<br />
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<center><a href="http://ewilloughby.deviantart.com/art/Microraptor-Takeoff-343914806" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kx6eyFquurc/UXrRA2d7kyI/AAAAAAAAAa8/Yo1BIZPAjnk/s320/microraptor_takeoff_by_ewilloughby-d5orad2.jpg" /></a><br />
<small><i>Microraptor</i> was likely to have gone after insects too, at least occasionally.</small></center><br />
What this means, ultimately, is that more <i>Microraptor</i> specimens need to be analyzed, hopefully culminating in an eventual <i>Microraptor</i> monograph! There is still so much to be learned from our beautiful little glossy biplane.<br />
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---<br />
<br />
<small>Larsson, Hans, Hone, David, Dececchi, T. Alexander, Sullivan, Corwin, Xu, Xing. "The winged non-avian dinosaur Microraptor fed on mammals: the implications for the Jehol biota ecosystem" "Program and Abstracts. 70th Anniversary Meeting Society of Vertebrate Paleontology October 2010" 114A.<br />
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Jingmai O'Connor, Zhonghe Zhou, and Xing Xu (2011). "Additional specimen of Microraptor provides unique evidence of dinosaurs preying on birds". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108 (49): 19662–19665.<br />
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Lida Xing et al. (2013). "Piscivory in the feathered dinosaur Microraptor". Evolution (early view). doi:10.1111/evo.12119.<br />
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Li, Quanguo (9 March 2012), "Reconstruction of Microraptor and the Evolution of Iridescent Plumage", Science 335: 1215–1219, doi:10.1126/science.1213780</small><br />
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Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-58234322431913213542013-01-29T15:15:00.001-05:002013-01-31T19:52:31.718-05:00Eosinopteryx: a ground-bound troodontid?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ewilloughby.deviantart.com/art/Eosinopteryx-351193445" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="285" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RScnj3QL4kI/UQgs_kqLyqI/AAAAAAAAAXE/izVkxTAsZH8/s400/dsfsdf.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Welcome <i>Eosinopteryx brevipenna</i> to the gloriously fuzzy lineup of Chinese paravians!<br />
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<i>Eosinopteryx</i> is a new feathered dinosaur from the paleo treasure trove that is Liaoning Province, China. This tiny little fellow, sizing in at only around 30 cm long, was described as being a basal troodontid by the authors: it is extremely similar, skeletally, to <i>Anchiornis</i>, the fuzzy-footed woodpecker mimic famous for being the first dinosaur for whom a complete color study was performed. The fossil of <i>Eosinopteryx</i>, however, clearly lacks a feature for which <i>Anchiornis</i> is unique: it has no long feathers on the feet or ankles, and no tail feathers to speak of either.<br />
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It also appears to have rather blunt and short claws on the feet, whereas <i>Anchiornis</i> - tentatively assigned as a sister taxon to <i>Eosinopteryx</i> - had long and curved claws which appear to be the appropriate kind for climbing. <i>Eosinopteryx</i> is therefore considered to be a ground-running animal without the obvious adaptations for arboreality common to its brethren. <br />
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This has already been vehemently <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A//theropoda.blogspot.com/&hl=en&langpair=it|en&tbb=1&ie=UTF-8">disputed</a> in the paleo blogosphere, though. It's difficult to discount the possibility that legwings and tail feathers simply didn't preserve in the fossil, and that the animal would have had them in life. It has also been proposed that perhaps <i>Eosinopteryx</i> was a juvenile (most notably a juvenile <i>Anchiornis</i>), and the lack of defined legwings and retrices were a result of its youth and would have come in at adulthood. This is supported by its unusually large head and short snout, features commonly associated with juvenility in birds. However, the authors state that the animal is not a juvenile, as evidenced by closed sutures on the vertebrae - but then again, it has also been mentioned that closed sutures of this nature are sometimes found on animal embryos, so it may make no relevant difference.<br />
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In any case, the uncertain phylogenetic position of this pretty little paravian, as well as the general sentiment of "not convinced" by the paleontological community, leaves the importance of <i>Eosinopteryx</i> somewhat up in the air - a place the animal itself may or may not have been occupying.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jd4e8Abn7TE/UQgvV1AVhXI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/QxqwDKJKKOM/s1600/2bc003207e9523ce768a1912e3f8d1ec-Eosinopteryx_brevipenna_.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="289" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jd4e8Abn7TE/UQgvV1AVhXI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/QxqwDKJKKOM/s400/2bc003207e9523ce768a1912e3f8d1ec-Eosinopteryx_brevipenna_.jpeg" /></a></div><br />
<small>Godefroit, P.; Demuynck, H.; Dyke, G.; Hu, D.; Escuillié, F. O.; Claeys, P. (2013). "Reduced plumage and flight ability of a new Jurassic paravian theropod from China". Nature Communications 4: 1394. <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v4/n1/full/ncomms2389.html">doi:10.1038/ncomms2389</a>.</small>Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-35132275526758692092013-01-19T21:08:00.003-05:002013-01-19T21:08:46.519-05:00Utahraptor at Dawn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSHa-z34KYDqCec7SS4X1xC4i9abI_GgK4LvvgDyyRIAl1ewaMG13yvvyEh5VW_UC50GRzGjkOhDGK2s_UDurV06FCr2vbYyY5WV6bzAUUGS15cMWUr-xvuJBkTOqDdm1gHppm10oSw/s1600/utahraptor+lfk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="284" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSHa-z34KYDqCec7SS4X1xC4i9abI_GgK4LvvgDyyRIAl1ewaMG13yvvyEh5VW_UC50GRzGjkOhDGK2s_UDurV06FCr2vbYyY5WV6bzAUUGS15cMWUr-xvuJBkTOqDdm1gHppm10oSw/s400/utahraptor+lfk.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Utahraptor stands in the shallows of the great early Cretaceous inland sea, looking out to the horizon as the sun rises. Utahraptor, though one of the largest dromaeosaurs, was certainly not always taking down large prey in a dramatic and bloody fashion. On this morning, these dromaeosaurs were not hungry enough to hunt, so they combed the beach for shellfish and protein minutiae washed in by the tide. A small flock of ornithocheiroid pterosaurs pass by above.Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-31173527476389201512013-01-01T19:56:00.000-05:002013-01-01T19:56:20.453-05:002013 Archosaurs CalendarThrough a collaborative effort over at the <a href="http://z13.invisionfree.com/Hell_Creek/index.php?">Hell Creek</a> paleontology forum, myself and a group of other artists have put together a <b><a href="http://www.cafepress.com/deinonychus_inc.762626778">2013 Archosaurs calendar</a></b>! This calendar features, for each month, a dinosaur or other extinct archosaur that was discovered in that month. This includes new specimens and studies as well, such as the <i>Micoraptor</i> color study performed in March.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZbI1OVpFkHM/UOOFa3S1rmI/AAAAAAAAAWM/ZC1wl17IAMs/s1600/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="286" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZbI1OVpFkHM/UOOFa3S1rmI/AAAAAAAAAWM/ZC1wl17IAMs/s400/0.jpg" /></a></div><center><small>The cover features all of the individual art found within.</small></center><br />
The calendar features art by a total of 11 talented artists, as well as the organization efforts by <a href="http://albertonykus.blogspot.com/">Albertonykus</a>. Contributing artists include:<br />
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<a href="http://dracontes.deviantart.com/">Renato Santos</a><br />
<a href="http://tomozaurus.deviantart.com/">Tom Parker</a><br />
<a href="http://durbed.deviantart.com/">Durbed</a><br />
<a href="http://pilsator.deviantart.com/">Moritz Dukatz</a><br />
<a href="http://shinreddear.deviantart.com/">Guillaume Babey</a><br />
<a href="http://yoult.deviantart.com/">Adrian Wimmer</a><br />
<a href="http://agathaumas.deviantart.com/">Fabio Manucci</a><br />
<a href="http://t-pekc.deviantart.com/">Vladimir Nikolov</a><br />
<a href="http://chrismasna.deviantart.com/">Christian Masnaghetti</a><br />
<a href="http://smnt2000.deviantart.com/">Elia Smaniotto</a><br />
And myself.<br />
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Proceeds from all sales will go to the future production of a children's book on dinosaurs, which will be another Hell Creek collaboration. This project will be an educational effort featuring fully accurate illustrations and information, the like of which is sorely lacking in the current market for children. <br />
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In other words, if you buy this calendar, all profit will go to a very good cause!<br />
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Here are a few samples of the material in this calendar:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1gqYDvIVdis/UOODkbn7H6I/AAAAAAAAAVc/U9YnKaYfyXE/s1600/October%2B%2528T-PEKC%2529%2B-%2BPegomastax.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="285" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1gqYDvIVdis/UOODkbn7H6I/AAAAAAAAAVc/U9YnKaYfyXE/s400/October%2B%2528T-PEKC%2529%2B-%2BPegomastax.jpg" /></a></div><center><small><i>Pegomastax</i>, the South African strange-toothed heterodontosaurid described in October, by Vladimir Nikolov.</small></center><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HazkNjjRXLc/UOOEEXZvaXI/AAAAAAAAAVo/9oKhA9G2vpY/s1600/November%2B%2528ChrisMasna%2529%2B-%2BXenoceratops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="250" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HazkNjjRXLc/UOOEEXZvaXI/AAAAAAAAAVo/9oKhA9G2vpY/s400/November%2B%2528ChrisMasna%2529%2B-%2BXenoceratops.jpg" /></a></div><center><small>A herd of <i>Xenoceratops</i> - a new ceratopsian described in November - on the move, by Chris Masnaghetti.</small></center><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLuHcvFcV7JTvj-tFuz74CpitMQE8-bXKJHKIYre1JobWXbwNJWrBpLY1ldFObOfPZEebUGWBxwx075b5vCDt6tR-z8HWmtwKfO08Nl9bvVBGxPT0MwcUbtEWdJITmMWAOY5vattR6wg/s1600/December+%2528Smnt2000%2529+-+Wishlist+for+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="283" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLuHcvFcV7JTvj-tFuz74CpitMQE8-bXKJHKIYre1JobWXbwNJWrBpLY1ldFObOfPZEebUGWBxwx075b5vCDt6tR-z8HWmtwKfO08Nl9bvVBGxPT0MwcUbtEWdJITmMWAOY5vattR6wg/s400/December+%2528Smnt2000%2529+-+Wishlist+for+2013.jpg" /></a></div><center><small>The December entry, by Elia Smaniotto, rounds out the year and features a parade of hypothetical discoveries that we're hoping to see in 2013, and includes a flightless pterosaur, a feathered sauropod, a sailed ornithopods, and many others.</small></center><br />
<center><b><a href="http://www.cafepress.com/deinonychus_inc.762626778">Buy it here!</a></b></center>Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-59102935106877192282012-12-30T18:51:00.002-05:002013-04-28T14:08:10.193-04:00The Evolution of a MicroraptorI've actually had a few people recently comment on my accurate cast shadows in my artwork, so I thought I'd share a little secret.<br />
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I have some difficulty composing accurate cast shadows in my head, though I've gotten much, much better at it over the years, thanks in large part to <a href="http://agahnim.deviantart.com/">Jon</a> who has been tirelessly critiquing my shading since 2006. He has an almost uncanny ability to rotate three-dimensional objects in his head, an ability that I don't have to quite that degree. However, I have more recently acquired an additional skill in my toolbox for shading, something I learned from the great <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/">James Gurney</a>.<br />
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Recently I set out to reconstruct a four-and-a-half-year-old picture of mine that had fallen far out of date both in terms of accuracy and artistic proficiency:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OcwRhoQdpN8/UODOwobTLaI/AAAAAAAAAT8/zBs3fkGQV4w/s1600/microraptor-2008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="308" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OcwRhoQdpN8/UODOwobTLaI/AAAAAAAAAT8/zBs3fkGQV4w/s400/microraptor-2008.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This picture was drawn for a publication that, then in its infancy, is now finally bordering on the cusp of maturation, but after the <i>Microraptor</i> color study I knew I had to redo this one to bring it up-to-date. I wanted the composition to remain nearly the same, but the animal itself needed a makeover, and this included the cast shadow.<br />
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Lo and behold - I'm actually not terrible at sculpting. Who knew?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pj1_uTnbkxQ/UODPaps932I/AAAAAAAAAUI/EYagHsGUf3E/s1600/microraptor-sculpt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="368" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pj1_uTnbkxQ/UODPaps932I/AAAAAAAAAUI/EYagHsGUf3E/s400/microraptor-sculpt.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Of course, this sculpt involved just the barest of details, and will probably never be "completed" in the sense of being a finished sculpture, but I did my best to make it anatomically accurate and it certainly served its intended purpose. The basic lateral anatomy is based on the original drawing in Xu Xing 2003:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7Vd-RAnXs0nV_5lfOHCCZdtzAJDR-Z972z7-VvfW_Y1z7bh8BeH-2BUPhA_3Ypep-K007AE2XkSYWzYCE7MqzHnEaNkr-yZMSb1iuaN6IaRfpj3YVna9cxK45_o762ft6TInmJM7gw/s1600/Microraptor2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="306" width="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7Vd-RAnXs0nV_5lfOHCCZdtzAJDR-Z972z7-VvfW_Y1z7bh8BeH-2BUPhA_3Ypep-K007AE2XkSYWzYCE7MqzHnEaNkr-yZMSb1iuaN6IaRfpj3YVna9cxK45_o762ft6TInmJM7gw/s400/Microraptor2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
And then beefed up with what I know of dromaeosaurid and bird anatomy with a very lightweight type of modeling clay.<br />
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Using the guideline of the model, I could then create the finished image with cast shadows intact.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ewilloughby.deviantart.com/art/Microraptor-Takeoff-343914806" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="307" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--RRsPHofM8Q/UODS_ZFgPGI/AAAAAAAAAUs/RBA7HUCcOUo/s400/microraptor_takeoff_by_ewilloughby-d5orad2.jpeg" /></a></div><br />
Obviously this sort of process is far too time-consuming to use on everything I draw, but it's kind of fun for more important paintings that need to be as accurate and consistent as possible. <br />
Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-45802206470277891132012-11-25T00:04:00.000-05:002012-11-25T15:26:18.383-05:00'All Yesterdays' Book ReviewMany of you are probably aware of the new paleoart book <i>All Yesterdays</i>, written by Darren Naish of <a href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/">TetZoo</a>, <a href="http://johnconway.co/">John Conway</a>, <a href="http://nemo-ramjet.deviantart.com/">C.M. Koseman</a>, and <a href="http://www.skeletaldrawing.com/">Scott Hartman</a>, and illustrated by the latter three. Right now only the Kindle edition is available on Amazon, but the print version should be out soon, last I asked. In any case, I'd eagerly awaited this book for some time, and wanted to write a review for Amazon after it was released. I thought I'd post my review here as well in the hopes of inciting the interest in my paleo-minded followers.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://johnconway.co/ay_protoceratops" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5lQof6kcEJQ/ULGhyXpxgaI/AAAAAAAAASw/H_q5gJnsWbg/s400/ay_protoceratops.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<center><small>Conway's illustration of <i>Protoceratops</i> in a tree serves as the book's cover, and demonstrates the idea that animals <i>can</i> do things they don't necessarily do all the time</small></center><br />
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Paleontography - the science of accurately illustrating extinct animals - has gotten a bit more press in recent times, but <i>All Yesterdays</i> is the only modern book that I can think of that's actually <i>about</i> paleontographic illustration itself, rather than just serving to showcase a selection of artists' work. In this, it carves out a unique niche in the world of publications on dinosaur art, and is an invaluable resource to anyone hoping to make an impact in the field.<br />
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The central tenet of the book is that paleontological illustration, despite having undergone many changes over the decades, has largely fallen into a pattern of being both uninformed and uncreative, and that there is a better way - not just a way, but a way of thinking - in reconstructing these extinct animals. When we know an animal only from (often only parts of) the skeleton, we have to consider all of the plausible and interesting ways that the soft tissue and integument would have covered the bones in life, while still remaining true to the limitations of the skeleton and to inference from modern analogues and relatives. The same goes for behavior, which is very rarely preserved in the fossil record and for which most paleontography has been woefully narrow in its depictions. Birds, for instance - the closest living relatives of extinct dinosaurs - have an enormous variety of bizarre and beautiful integument that could not possibly be gleaned from bones alone. Birds also exhibit some of the most varied behaviors of any group of tetrapods, from nesting, to courtship, mating, exploration, and feeding. Why should this incredible wealth of artistic possibility be neglected in paleontological illustration?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://johnconway.co/ay_leaellynasaura" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vcoBhVWcAXs/ULGkMMfVlwI/AAAAAAAAATI/zZtP51ptxho/s400/ay_leaellynasaura.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<small><center>Conway's enfluffened <i>Leaellynasaura</i> use long "flagpole" tails for signaling in their polar environment</center></small><br />
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<i>All Yesterdays</i> does a wonderful job exploring many types of these possible reconstructions through illustration and explanation. The book is divided into two main sections: the first, the eponymous bulk of the book, focuses on creative, unusual, but completely accurate reconstructions of various extinct animals (mostly dinosaurs) engaged in various behaviors and interactions. The majority of these are illustrated by John Conway, with his beautifully nuanced and atmospheric usage of color and light, and also includes a smattering of Koseman's colorful, clean-lined illustrations. Most scenarios are accompanied by a lateral skeletal reconstruction by Scott Hartman, useful for comparing the illustrated animal in life to its bare bones, which should be hidden under layers of fat, feathers and fuzz.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://johnconway.co/ay_plesiosaur" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wCNtOFO0Vwc/ULGi_w6wbGI/AAAAAAAAAS8/h8HmY5j1EW8/s400/ay_plesiosaur.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<small><center>Conway's camouflaged <i>Plesiosaur</i> makes like some coral</center></small><br />
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This section draws attention to plausible but oft-ignored possibilities for paleontological illustration, such as the usage of cryptic camouflaging, signaling integument, play, and mating. The well-read dinosaur afficionado probably won't learn too much that's wholly new (though I did learn the term 'musth', which is apparently the animal equivalent of pon farr), but the illustrations are new enough, both in concept as well as actuality, as the book features a lot of Conway's work I'd never seen before. Some of the illustrations are just stunningly gorgeous - his <i>Therizinosaurus</i>, <i>Heterodontosaurus</i> and <i>Tenontosaurus</i> were especially striking to me.<br />
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The latter section of the book, cleverly titled "All Todays", is like the first half in reverse: it posits a hypothetical scenario in which intelligent alien researchers come to our planet in the distant future and are presented with only the skeletal remains of modern animals. How, then, will tomorrow's paleontological artists reconstruct the animals of today? This section is far more amusing and more whimsical than the first section, but it certainly does a good job of highlighting how ridiculous and constraining some of our paleontographical dogma is in reality when applied to modern animals whose appearance we're already familiar with. It points out specific pitfalls of modern dinosaur illustration, such as "shrink-wrapping" (wherein the skin is basically drawn directly over the skeleton, showing every nuance of skeletal anatomy) and pigeonholing tall neural spines as a "sail". When modern animals follow the same constraints that we unwittingly apply to our paleontological illustration, some frightening and quite nonexistent creatures emerge. Some of my favorites from this section are the shrink-wrapped cat (which is clearly a pack hunter and a predator of humans, since their skeletons will usually be found associated with human "nests"), the fluffy iguana, and the hummingbird parasite.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://instagram.com/p/OPYxTglG-6/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDXGVE4TpCfcRQUa5JKeu71qNpkXkmPDdNWfemvuG_rcuL2JyYjtqhR8ovqiAz8gKjp9CBN3fqgQGcPeQ651vFD3xv7KphIp9Q4AT50wC01IKbxWb0puoeoV_-ozT5K3pfr5lP7wQp0w/s400/OPYxTglG-6.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<small><center>This is how future scientists might reconstruct a very familiar animal - but what is it? Buy the book to find out.</center></small><br />
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(I also enjoy the slightly wry, tongue-in-cheek manner in which most of the book is written. For instance, the line "<i>Camarasaurus</i> [...] is considered by some experts to be among the ugliest of all sauropods" brings to mind an image of a team of paleontologists sitting around their computer, writing a publication on what research has determined is The Ugliest Dinosaur.)<br />
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In conclusion: if you are even slightly interested in paleontography, I would highly recommend this book if for nothing more than the very novel viewpoint it takes on the field. For an illustrator of extinct animals or a researcher who relies on these illustrations, there are a lot of invaluable lessons to be learned from the material within. For everyone else, there are some really, really pretty pictures to look at.<br />
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<b>Buy it on Kindle at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/All-Yesterdays-Speculative-Prehistoric-ebook/dp/B00A2VS55O/">Amazon</a></b><br />
<b>Attend the <a href="http://allyesterdays.fikket.com/event/all-yesterdays-speculation-science-at-the-frontiers-of-reconstructing-extinct-animals">launch event</a> in London</b>Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-85317818511102549152012-07-29T21:10:00.000-04:002013-04-28T14:08:00.133-04:00The Neck is a LieMatt Wedel of <a href="http://svpow.com/">SV-POW</a> has a pair of old articles on how <a href="http://svpow.com/2009/05/31/necks-lie/">necks</a> <a href="http://svpow.com/2011/09/01/necks-lie-redux/">lie</a>, illustrating in a general sense that the skeletal structure of an animal is often at odds with its physical appearance. No part of the skeleton emphasizes this discrepancy more than the neck, especially in birds. These have always been some of my favorite SV-POW posts, not just because of how crazy it is to see a budgie's cervicals overlap its trachea, but because the prevaricative nature of the neck has a great deal of application to paleontographic reconstructions of dinosaurs.<br />
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Ardeidae, the heron family, demonstrates an excellent variety in neck shapes and neck capabilities. Most of us are familiar with larger heron species, like the great blue and the great egret. Both of these birds are very large, and have extremely long, serpentine necks. But these necks don't lie - by paleontography standards, they are almost "shrink-wrapped" in appearance, and clearly show the accurate contour of the vertebral column.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Uj0zM9oscoY/UBXNjMNjMbI/AAAAAAAAANg/9b7Q2exKwb0/s1600/great%2Bblue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="186" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Uj0zM9oscoY/UBXNjMNjMbI/AAAAAAAAANg/9b7Q2exKwb0/s320/great%2Bblue.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<center><small>Look at that glorious S-curve.</small></center><br />
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Herons are really cool in a lot of different ways. They're the only group of birds that have a very specialized, elongated vertebra in their neck that enables them to strike at prey with a remarkable amount of force. The bone works in a similar way to how a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spear-thrower">spear thrower</a> works, by elongating the "reach" that increases the leverage of the spear - or in this case, the heron's beak.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BXBmsApi0fw/UBXxK7hc5cI/AAAAAAAAASA/2spRR1JAfmU/s1600/anhinga-neck-muscles.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="211" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BXBmsApi0fw/UBXxK7hc5cI/AAAAAAAAASA/2spRR1JAfmU/s320/anhinga-neck-muscles.jpeg" /></a></div><br />
<small><center>This drawing of an anhinga skeleton, from the <i>Proceedings of the Scientific Meetings of the Zoological Society of London for the Year 1876</i>, clearly shows this long vertebra, which gives the neck a distinctive "kink".</center></small><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yv4yoNUWUMA/UBXzmihuiNI/AAAAAAAAASY/GZmbd9z8q6Y/s1600/egretbone%2Bcomparison.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="282" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yv4yoNUWUMA/UBXzmihuiNI/AAAAAAAAASY/GZmbd9z8q6Y/s400/egretbone%2Bcomparison.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<small><center>This "kink" is also highly noticeable in living birds, in this case the great egret. Like the great blue heron, the great egret's neck is very honest.</small></center><br />
From my own experience with living birds and bird photography, no bird has a neck that lies more than that of the beautiful little bittern-like green heron, <i>Butorides virescens</i>. This heron can be found all throughout the U.S., but is secretive and uncommon unlike some of its larger brethren. I had the pleasure of finding a green heron in the marshy edge of a shallow pond in the Princeton area recently, and spent a good few hours photographing the little guy. These birds stand around 18 inches tall, which is small for a heron. I watched this fellow stalking ever so slowly through shallow duckweed, striking occasionally at tadpoles and tiny fish. He would sometimes get bored with that and try for dragonflies instead, usually unsuccessfully. Though small, he had a very powerful little neck, with the same ability to strike quickly and accurately that the great blue has.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4at_sqAWJBk/UBXimW3ITWI/AAAAAAAAAQA/aaJLY1L89A0/s1600/green%2Bheron%2Bweb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="322" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4at_sqAWJBk/UBXimW3ITWI/AAAAAAAAAQA/aaJLY1L89A0/s400/green%2Bheron%2Bweb.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-VnMtGiovEasa2OHE2pEbsJWAFtu0-jmZCPCaPLauneIeMouDQoc5o8qk8RCClF42TdP0XVib_eWEcxDV8gwDZYDYeAbKKilNDynXSVDOzLxsuaHwpzgPjRkYWy51DYs1arzuli7Uw/s1600/green+heron+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="264" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm-VnMtGiovEasa2OHE2pEbsJWAFtu0-jmZCPCaPLauneIeMouDQoc5o8qk8RCClF42TdP0XVib_eWEcxDV8gwDZYDYeAbKKilNDynXSVDOzLxsuaHwpzgPjRkYWy51DYs1arzuli7Uw/s400/green+heron+2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Green herons also have remarkable binocular vision. Not only are their eyes oriented forward, but they're also oriented <i>downward</i>, to better see delicious noms beneath the surface of water while enabling the herons to remain as still as possible, without needing to move their heads.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQt-g_0BgqbpL3isTwQb5evkFTpFpa8mudHGuO-J4BcdMREe9MJn-7pJiHj6kb5LkOF7W6CLDlTrInryBwzoEB04jlh4FOv4c1hJFvSt2aAzqZBKfcMe752BA3aphEjZnNQuhZHScYQA/s1600/heron4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQt-g_0BgqbpL3isTwQb5evkFTpFpa8mudHGuO-J4BcdMREe9MJn-7pJiHj6kb5LkOF7W6CLDlTrInryBwzoEB04jlh4FOv4c1hJFvSt2aAzqZBKfcMe752BA3aphEjZnNQuhZHScYQA/s320/heron4.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m7MWCABg0dE/UBXj3T6FQ1I/AAAAAAAAAQw/c0vq2aMQ6wc/s1600/green%2Bheron%2Bbinoculars2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="249" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m7MWCABg0dE/UBXj3T6FQ1I/AAAAAAAAAQw/c0vq2aMQ6wc/s320/green%2Bheron%2Bbinoculars2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<small><center>All the better to see you with, my dear.</center></small> <br />
But this heron's neck lies. Most of the time, when stalking, still, resting or eating, the green heron's neck forms a perfect contour with its body, giving it a very stout, compact, aeroshell look. Only when striking - which takes less than a second - or looking high for danger is the true length of the bird's neck revealed.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhezGbduIxJUG32cNz1IG29ekBWdWNEfcCtJV9JQVeggzJr9WULctLTNzlztc7lOFfifVT1aCJI7Vcg1IUXS6o3447LrHv2d6-8iwtjKn4d_w7r4fzveRtTNFtmTHEB7zhU78ekOjWFAA/s1600/necks+lie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="229" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhezGbduIxJUG32cNz1IG29ekBWdWNEfcCtJV9JQVeggzJr9WULctLTNzlztc7lOFfifVT1aCJI7Vcg1IUXS6o3447LrHv2d6-8iwtjKn4d_w7r4fzveRtTNFtmTHEB7zhU78ekOjWFAA/s400/necks+lie.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<small><center>Up periscope!</center></small><br />
When the green heron is startled, it will stretch its neck up as far as it'll go. The same mechanism that evolution has bestowed upon the bird to quickly strike at prey also enables it to see great heights, far above the "normal" height of the bird. It will then quickly retract the neck back to its former position, the feathers forming a contour flush with the feathers on its back and torso. Folded so tightly, it is honestly hard to imagine where the neck goes!<br />
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The green heron provides an interesting implication for reconstructing feathered theropods, particularly deinonychosaurs. Artists have been fond of drawing analogies between unenlagians and the heron family for quite some time, and the long, serpentine neck of the Ardeidae indeed seems reminiscent of these graceful, compact maniraptorans. But recently it has become more and more popular to eschew the S-curve of Paulian paleoart, adopting a new "aeroshell" look that highlights the birdlike quality of these dinosaurs. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RVNSuMlM-4k/UBXkan6a_LI/AAAAAAAAARI/rnurm1DNyGs/s1600/fuzzies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="125" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RVNSuMlM-4k/UBXkan6a_LI/AAAAAAAAARI/rnurm1DNyGs/s400/fuzzies.jpg" /></a></div><br />
As with many trends in paleontongraphy, this preference started out with good intentions but has perhaps gotten overemphasized a bit to the point of ridiculousness. Why is one of these reconstructions necessarily wrong, and the other necessarily right? The heron family, and the green heron in particular, can perhaps teach us a more reasonable way of reconstructing deinonychosaur necks. Let's remember that most birds can do this to some extent, the green heron just illustrates it at the extreme. And, of course, I'm not encouraging shrink-wrapping our dinosaurs - after all, what would our perception of a bald eagle look like if we'd never seen a living bird and had only the bones to go on?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMmgZVsxGpYQndr7hbSleOZ1k8UkRruLqclB3WK2AFmpOmSCcmMSdMQkN67QwW-chGnkubA8RFXYcEY8Bll3dS-w-_x37g03paNU5szuhgE_jkELDQMDWHfVraRlGZ0zIEwU6AV3OHnw/s1600/sad-eagle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="171" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMmgZVsxGpYQndr7hbSleOZ1k8UkRruLqclB3WK2AFmpOmSCcmMSdMQkN67QwW-chGnkubA8RFXYcEY8Bll3dS-w-_x37g03paNU5szuhgE_jkELDQMDWHfVraRlGZ0zIEwU6AV3OHnw/s400/sad-eagle.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<center><small>Hopefully not like this.</small></center><br />
But the green heron teaches us that a bird's neck can take on many different forms. Likewise, the necks of deinonychosaurs could probably appear different depending on the current behavior of the animal. Is it cold, so the animal has its feathers extended and its neck retracted? Is it scanning for danger and trying to extend it as far as possible? We rarely see deinonychosaurs illustrating different neck positions on the same species in paleoart! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-10eovS3Fleg/UBXZiviVFpI/AAAAAAAAAOk/TOrCt4l24eM/s1600/dromepoof.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="153" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-10eovS3Fleg/UBXZiviVFpI/AAAAAAAAAOk/TOrCt4l24eM/s320/dromepoof.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Larger dromaeosaurs are less likely than smaller ones to have such a filled out, poofy neck. We can think about this in a variety of ways - modern ratites, probably the best comparison to extinct deinonychosaurs, have long necks that don't tuck into the contours of their bodies in the same way that smaller birds' necks do. Even aside from that, though, we can again think of this in terms of the green heron. Large heron species like great blues and great egrets are big enough that they don't really worry about predators very much and don't really try to hide. Green herons are very small, and they make a tasty meal for large birds of prey, foxes, and other large-to-midsize predators. So they need to adopt a much more elusive lifestyle, which is reflected in their coloration as well as their behavior. They have need to make their bodies as small as possible to avoid detection, which may be part of the reason they can vanish away the length of their necks in a poof of feathers.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTcR6kmI0x3_rB4ewM03duSlZ7P5_Xwtq7Uz3z63PjTHhI8z-TE6LRcOvk6NAhVxjoppCx8dPq9sugTOD8FqYZiut70W6DDsODdWVTnUY175YtEGOlhSDG2pOUD6NXchn-rY4HOEQLA/s1600/up+periscope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="169" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTcR6kmI0x3_rB4ewM03duSlZ7P5_Xwtq7Uz3z63PjTHhI8z-TE6LRcOvk6NAhVxjoppCx8dPq9sugTOD8FqYZiut70W6DDsODdWVTnUY175YtEGOlhSDG2pOUD6NXchn-rY4HOEQLA/s400/up+periscope.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<center><small>More bars in more places.</small></center><br />
Dromaeosaurs like <i>Utahraptor</i> probably didn't have skinny, serpentine necks, but I doubt they had complete aeroshells either. No modern bird has body feathers the length that a <i>Utahraptor</i> would require to puff out its neck like a small bird. And why would they need to compact their neck into their body anyway? Smaller deinonychosaurs and basal birds would definitely have had the aeroshell look, there is no doubt in my mind about that. We really need to stop drawing <i>Archaeopteryx</i>es with a snake neck; aside from being inaccurate it's just downright ugly. But more importantly, what <i>small</i> bird - you know, the size of <i>Microraptor</i>, <i>Archaeopteryx</i>, and similar animals - has a snake neck that can't retract into an aeroshell like the green heron? As in birds, all deinonychosaurs aren't created equal, and their size and habits must be taken into account when reconstructing them as accurately as possible.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjofUIxh-mCavk8P8jM3k3yphe9mwMafCoYyWM0VM8X0eRT-SAY08jq0NnMhUHANtDvnkuo5MiRB-e6d7b2AXKrIMt95eHdagCTn4EDLhf8-RAius-sJCBTrvLxKrbeDwbImQD6ZXFjYQ/s1600/popup_image.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="226" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjofUIxh-mCavk8P8jM3k3yphe9mwMafCoYyWM0VM8X0eRT-SAY08jq0NnMhUHANtDvnkuo5MiRB-e6d7b2AXKrIMt95eHdagCTn4EDLhf8-RAius-sJCBTrvLxKrbeDwbImQD6ZXFjYQ/s320/popup_image.jpeg" /></a></div><br />
<center><small>The wrong way to do an <i>Archaeopteryx</i> neck. In fact, the wrong way to do an <i>Archaeopteryx</i> just-about-everything. Double failure for giving it a <i>bald</i> snake neck.</small></center><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T6N5ZGGTAaw/UBXvVLkCZFI/AAAAAAAAAR0/naAJnrQPQrM/s1600/Skrrpt_Sit_by_SageGoat.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T6N5ZGGTAaw/UBXvVLkCZFI/AAAAAAAAAR0/naAJnrQPQrM/s320/Skrrpt_Sit_by_SageGoat.jpeg" /></a></div><br />
<center><small>And the right way, by <a href="http://sagekorppi.deviantart.com/">Jennifer Campbell-Smith</a>. It looks like an actual <i>bird</i>! Imagine that.</small></center><br />
In paleontography, I always think it's more important to think for yourself instead of just following the latest trend or copying old, outdated illustrations. Think about niches, sizes, and phylogeny, not just bones. Draw comparisons to modern birds, but don't lose sight of what makes non-avian maniraptorans distinct and different from them. Necks might lie, but you don't have to.Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-84349698919823128642012-07-18T00:07:00.002-04:002012-07-18T00:07:53.381-04:00The Rains of Rögling<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyMIcJmHnaF9WVQIBSCKzwWJeACdHmvq8xz-AKmXyDA6xfvQQoVO1iD05RZ-77MiroR5FZ7CzBOMBw8yS-lKeRw_QlAUMItG69MK1iY5A2iL73H-Z82r_0mYU6l6AcsEPDu_FQNWHL2w/s1600/rains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="193" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyMIcJmHnaF9WVQIBSCKzwWJeACdHmvq8xz-AKmXyDA6xfvQQoVO1iD05RZ-77MiroR5FZ7CzBOMBw8yS-lKeRw_QlAUMItG69MK1iY5A2iL73H-Z82r_0mYU6l6AcsEPDu_FQNWHL2w/s320/rains.jpg" /></a></div>
Here is my rendition of the purported baby megalosauroid, <i>Sciurumimus</i>, perched on a rock by the Bavarian sea as it waits patiently for its mother to return to it. Two pterodactylid pterosaurs comb the beach in the background. From the late Jurassic Rögling Formation of Germany, ~150 mya.Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-87129920981762384242012-06-19T00:28:00.002-04:002012-07-18T00:09:20.342-04:00Deinonychosaur footprints<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GeVq6cO0GDQ/T9__1Ktg_fI/AAAAAAAAAM0/n5fxL_imMpw/s1600/tracks%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bdrome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="238" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GeVq6cO0GDQ/T9__1Ktg_fI/AAAAAAAAAM0/n5fxL_imMpw/s320/tracks%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bdrome.jpg" /></a>
My newest illustration was finally <a href="http://news.sciencenet.cn/sbhtmlnews/2012/6/259501.shtm">released</a> today, so I'm free to upload! This is an illustration for discovery of a series of new trackways of deinonychosaur footprints from the Liujiaxia Dinosaur National Geological Park, Yongjing County, Gansu Province in China. The footprints range quite a bit in size, indicating several different taxa which could include troodontids as well as dromaeosaurs. Some are found in close proximity to titanosaur footprints (drawn based on <i>Huanghetitan</i> here). The deinonychosaur is represented here as a dromaeosaur genus similar in size and morphology to <i>Deinonychus</i>.
Detail of deinonych:
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K_GgLPvcTiI/UAY24MRSzrI/AAAAAAAAANQ/Ns5RqZKvsec/s1600/deinonychosaur_tracks___closeup_by_ewilloughby-d56nlpd.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="152" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K_GgLPvcTiI/UAY24MRSzrI/AAAAAAAAANQ/Ns5RqZKvsec/s320/deinonychosaur_tracks___closeup_by_ewilloughby-d56nlpd.jpeg" /></a></div>Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-35527126707421616982012-06-14T16:39:00.002-04:002012-06-14T16:40:11.583-04:00Bird PanoplySet of small bird illustrations of common birds of the NJ area.
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AMialCdqbR8/T9pLvcma5mI/AAAAAAAAAMA/MVu_7aB-91I/s1600/bird%2Bpanoply.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="211" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AMialCdqbR8/T9pLvcma5mI/AAAAAAAAAMA/MVu_7aB-91I/s320/bird%2Bpanoply.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8dK4qRZ0kgw/T9pLvjrh-TI/AAAAAAAAAMM/1wgjy_JcclI/s1600/bird%2Bpanoply2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="211" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8dK4qRZ0kgw/T9pLvjrh-TI/AAAAAAAAAMM/1wgjy_JcclI/s320/bird%2Bpanoply2.jpg" /></a>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--bbhh9Ih85I/T9pLv668AsI/AAAAAAAAAMY/CQW-2D_282E/s1600/bird%2Bpanoply3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="211" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--bbhh9Ih85I/T9pLv668AsI/AAAAAAAAAMY/CQW-2D_282E/s320/bird%2Bpanoply3.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTHNvOjb2oc9WlfyE9gwK6AvuOVy8Lk63aTfzbQyN36obf2ivxbU5K5B_jX-BqexNHnnVK2nkr4y1SKoF9qXwPhN5d9JClWLiUoWFZyr7C3lEk_tpBheS9AN_lJ9Ha5SBZ232GguPOw/s1600/bird+panoply4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="211" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTHNvOjb2oc9WlfyE9gwK6AvuOVy8Lk63aTfzbQyN36obf2ivxbU5K5B_jX-BqexNHnnVK2nkr4y1SKoF9qXwPhN5d9JClWLiUoWFZyr7C3lEk_tpBheS9AN_lJ9Ha5SBZ232GguPOw/s320/bird+panoply4.jpg" /></a>Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-5698108066212433772012-06-14T16:25:00.001-04:002012-06-14T16:26:25.288-04:00Deinonychus with Wren<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_KuFnAhFleM/T9pIwfbZgxI/AAAAAAAAALw/uuRVNDzSAyE/s1600/drome%2Band%2Bwren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_KuFnAhFleM/T9pIwfbZgxI/AAAAAAAAALw/uuRVNDzSAyE/s320/drome%2Band%2Bwren.jpg" /></a>
Just a teensy little sketch drawn into my dad's card for Father's Day, but I thought it was cute enough to scan.Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-89688548852742255922012-04-01T00:31:00.000-04:002012-04-01T00:32:35.821-04:00Mei long is not always sleeping<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nE3pIso6oas/T3faPSfyVII/AAAAAAAAALk/6i3ip0I0GQY/s1600/the%2Bsleeping%2Bdragon.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 196px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nE3pIso6oas/T3faPSfyVII/AAAAAAAAALk/6i3ip0I0GQY/s320/the%2Bsleeping%2Bdragon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726285407422928002" /></a><br /><br />This is my entry to the current art contest at Hell Creek forums. The challenge for this round was "Year of the Dragon", which means that we had to draw any prehistoric animal with "dragon" somewhere in its name. So I drew the tiny troodontid <i>Mei long</i>, the famous sleeping dragon. I'd wanted to draw this animal for a while, so it was a good excuse to put some more effort into it than I normally would've.<br /><br /><i>Mei long</i> is well-known from its beautiful holotype, which shows the animal perfectly preserved in a sleeping position when it had died, presumably from volcanic ash. The curled holotype is tiny - probably no larger than a softball - but many people don't seem to realize that it represents a very young juvenile. The adult animal was probably a strapping troodontid around the size of a duck. I've reconstructed two adult <i>Mei</i>s here, a male and a female, running through a rare patch of Liaoning deciduous trees. The male is nearer to the viewer and is almost identical to his mate save for brighter rufus display patches and a reddish facial streak. Many birds, such as woodpeckers, exhibit a similar sort of dimorphism.<br /><br />I wanted to draw this cute little troodontid doing something other than sleeping, for once. Even though its holotype fossil is one of the most gorgeous paravians to come out of China (and that's saying something), reconstructing it in this position every time is overlooking the beauty the animal surely exhibited in wakefulness as well. This long-legged, pheasant-sized troodontid was probably a fleet of foot, agile little predator that may've darted through the undergrowth and over logs, flashing glints of shiny feathers in the sunlight.Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-34321139720762238612012-03-06T14:02:00.002-05:002012-03-06T14:04:20.459-05:00Jeholornis in the Morning Light<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXU88pfLzl1msJz_IIu0dlBsTKP7tGeaz7nGKDk8Oti8dis7LWsiSc-1zlAU2hE1DGgrSiEGCntK_KaREiBYsHfjm_pU3QFLbxq_VQBt3kYmn8GzApsDrE6GK2B4tH_MtXWv_xleQ81Q/s1600/jeholornis_web.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXU88pfLzl1msJz_IIu0dlBsTKP7tGeaz7nGKDk8Oti8dis7LWsiSc-1zlAU2hE1DGgrSiEGCntK_KaREiBYsHfjm_pU3QFLbxq_VQBt3kYmn8GzApsDrE6GK2B4tH_MtXWv_xleQ81Q/s320/jeholornis_web.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716861861820320290" /></a><br />My final feathered dinosaur illustration for the book I'm working on. This is the basal bird <i>Jeholornis</i> from the Jehol Group of early Cretaceous of China (of the Jiufotang formation, around 120 million years ago). This species is meant to represent the original <i>J. prima</i>, though the tail fronds are based on the well-preserved tail of <i>J. palmapenis</i>, which may not be a distinct species.<br /><br /><i>Jeholornis</i> was fairly similar in anatomy to the more well-known <i>Archaeopteryx</i>, but differs in being decidedly more "birdlike" in several respects. It had very few teeth, more well-developed shoulder girdles, longer forelimbs, and claw morphology that indicates perching ability. The hallux may or may not be reversed, and more likely than not is representative of a state of partial reversal. <br /><br />The type fossil of <i>J. prima</i> is interesting in that it preserved a collection of fossilized seeds in crop area. It is unknown what plant they belonged to, but here I've reconstructed it eating the seeds of a fallen branch of the <i>Ginkgo</i> tree, which it very likely would have done. The morphology of the mandible, dentaries and teeth indicate that <i>Jeholornis</i> was well-adapted for feeding on seeds. The seed-eating lifestyle would allow more carotenoids to be present in the animal's diet than would a stricter carnivorous lifestyle, so I've taken some liberties here in giving it some slightly brighter colors on the head and tailfan, which was likely used for display.<br /><br />It is depicted alongside the Jehol dragonfly <i>Aeschnidium</i>.<br /><br />High-res version <a href="http://www.captainoccam.com/ferahgo/jeholornis_highres.jpg">here</a>.Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-4346940856021318102011-12-26T11:03:00.000-05:002011-12-26T11:04:39.681-05:00Deinonychus Prey Restraint<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rFRGSTJI3CQ/TvibD0PiLrI/AAAAAAAAAKY/kg7a5YXXEtU/s1600/deinonychus_rpr.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 231px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rFRGSTJI3CQ/TvibD0PiLrI/AAAAAAAAAKY/kg7a5YXXEtU/s320/deinonychus_rpr.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690468619048332978" /></a><br /><br />This is an illustration based on the new paper by Fowler et al, which discusses a likely possible method of predation by <i>Deinonychus</i> and other dromaeosaurs (the "raptor prey restraint" model, or RPR). <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007999">This excellent publication</a> is available free to download. It suggests that the unique foot morphology of dromaeosaurs was an adaptation to take prey in a very similar manner to extant birds of prey: by grasping with the foot claws, digging in with the hypertrophied "sickle" claw, and tightly hanging on to the prey animal as it struggles and thrashes around. The dromaeosaur would then begin to feed on it while it's still alive, until it finally dies from blood loss and organ failure, all the while standing on top of the animal to pin it down (a likely use of the unusually short ankles found in dromaeosaurs) and using primitive flight strokes with its "wings" to maintain balance. <br /><br />The primary animal of study in the RPR paper is <i>Deinonychus</i>, so that's what I've drawn here. It is shown preying on the hypsilophodontid <i>Zepheryosaurus</i>. Though <i>Deinonychus</i> is usually depicted in a dense floodplain environment, here I've reconstructed it amongst some higher-altitude arid North American mountains.<br /><br />This is my version of a Christmas dinner. :)Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-69460117184764697802011-11-07T23:26:00.004-05:002011-11-07T23:29:49.088-05:00Liaoning detailsBy popular request, a few detail shots of my last upload.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7LlaPpaSoZo/TriwFFHW7sI/AAAAAAAAAKM/fSKBkvXSkrY/s1600/liaoning_detail4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 169px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7LlaPpaSoZo/TriwFFHW7sI/AAAAAAAAAKM/fSKBkvXSkrY/s320/liaoning_detail4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672477331992014530" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zdpC6R9PaY4/Triv-UHyeaI/AAAAAAAAAKA/pV8db6Zw95c/s1600/liaoning_detail3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 206px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zdpC6R9PaY4/Triv-UHyeaI/AAAAAAAAAKA/pV8db6Zw95c/s320/liaoning_detail3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672477215761267106" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQhh375284acycPkITzblaoECP87ZzEF_3jpwaV2cffQu25P2C13F0kIUbVKjm4zvQyu7kI8MMje7AcY38QoLgE4m522xGognNVCuQqhGpIHbLMFY-fORp55GThYJJwVYyM-Yzo77FA/s1600/liaoning_detail2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRQhh375284acycPkITzblaoECP87ZzEF_3jpwaV2cffQu25P2C13F0kIUbVKjm4zvQyu7kI8MMje7AcY38QoLgE4m522xGognNVCuQqhGpIHbLMFY-fORp55GThYJJwVYyM-Yzo77FA/s320/liaoning_detail2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672477027284206482" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pMVr74gNmbk/Trivpus1z-I/AAAAAAAAAJo/PZEG6EXM9I0/s1600/liaoning_detail1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 254px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pMVr74gNmbk/Trivpus1z-I/AAAAAAAAAJo/PZEG6EXM9I0/s320/liaoning_detail1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672476862118744034" /></a>Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2437232578032388182.post-38583990533080889812011-11-03T01:44:00.005-04:002011-11-03T01:46:33.705-04:00Liaoning Scene<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7tzGcIreD-Q/TrIqWu-CbyI/AAAAAAAAAJc/AdATYQ_lMZM/s1600/liaoningscene.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 195px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7tzGcIreD-Q/TrIqWu-CbyI/AAAAAAAAAJc/AdATYQ_lMZM/s320/liaoningscene.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5670641450866601762" /></a><br />I consider this to basically be my magnum opus of paleoart at this point in time. I've spent months on all of the details and shading. The full resolution version is about five times larger than this one. I am SO glad it is finally finished.<br /><br />This represents a hypothetical scene from the Jehol group of early Cretaceous Liaoning of China, something like 122 million years ago. Several animals from the Yixian formation are represented here: <i>Sinornithosaurus millennii</i>, a feathered dromaeosaurid dinosaur; <i>Liaoxitriton zhongjiani</i>, a salamander; <i>Alloraphidia</i>, a snakefly; <i>Epicharmeropsis</i>, a mayfly, and a dead <i>Callobatrachus</i>, a frog.<br /><br />The gliding dinosaurs are meant to be generic microraptorine dinosaurs, not <i>Microraptor gui</I> specifically, in order to avoid the slight anachronism caused by placing <i>Microraptor</i> and <i>Sinornithosaurus</i> in the same scene. Despite that, it is (obviously) based on <i>Microraptor gui</i> (I started this scene before I learned that the two animals were not quite contemporary, I admit). <br /><br />This illustration will be the section header for the chapter on feathered dinosaurs for the book on evolution and religion that I'm currently working on with a few other people. Once again, thanks to Jon for shading critiques and suggestions.<br /><br />To see a larger version, please click <a href="http://www.captainoccam.com/ferahgo/liaoning18.jpg">here</a>.Emily Willoughbyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912270684173200144noreply@blogger.com4