RSS Parrot

https://bsky.app/profile/markwitton.bsky.social/post/3ldnylav2222w

Published: December 19, 2024 13:37

Just to keep things ticking over while I wrestle with Christmas deadlines, here's #paleoart of the American mastodon, sans hair, for which there is virtually no fossil evidence. Mastodon were not denizens of cold climates, like mammoths, and they may have…

https://bsky.app/profile/markwitton.bsky.social/post/3lda3z42bjs2s

Published: December 14, 2024 01:01

Hey, the #paleoart murals I created for Cleveland Museum of Natural History are now up for display! Caitlin Colleary, who consulted on the science for all five scenes, is shown under the Dunkleosteus/Cleveland Shale image in the first image below. Am…

https://bsky.app/profile/markwitton.bsky.social/post/3lcuoetqovk2u

Published: December 9, 2024 11:58

New to the internet #paleoart: "Ubirajara jubatus", the strangely filamented Brazilian compsognathid famous for its history as an illegally exported fossil. Here, it's signalling to us with colourful mouthparts and a fetching bower of twigs and pinecones.…

https://bsky.app/profile/markwitton.bsky.social/post/3lcsxz2rnsk24

Published: December 8, 2024 19:45

I can't remember how long I've worked with @richardjbutler.bsky.social on various #paleoart projects, but it's evidently been while! There's been some great projects to illustrate with Richard and his collaborators and - best of all - they often involve…

https://bsky.app/profile/markwitton.bsky.social/post/3lcnnqsdcxk2e

Published: December 6, 2024 16:58

New #paleoart and new species for #FossilFriday! Meet Threordatoth chasmatos, a small Triassic procolophonid named today by @lukeemeade.bsky.social, @richardjbutler.bsky.social, @marcehjones.bsky.social and Nicholas C. Fraser. Link to paper:…

https://bsky.app/profile/markwitton.bsky.social/post/3lchxysypzs2p

Published: December 4, 2024 10:46

From 2021, #paleoart of the giant temnospondyl Mastodonsaurus preying on the wee archosauriform Jaxtasuchus. Mastodonsaurus were huge - 5-6 m long - making them some of the largest amphibians of all time, and presumably lived crocodile-like lifestyles.…

https://bsky.app/profile/markwitton.bsky.social/post/3lcftsq3eec2l

Published: December 3, 2024 14:25

More new #palaeoart posted to #Patreon recently. This is Pterorhynchus wellnhoferi, pterosaurs known to have had more than a dozen fine stripes on their cranial crests (of unknown colour) and very long, serrated tail vanes. Discussion at…

https://bsky.app/profile/markwitton.bsky.social/post/3lccu24dbhc2x

Published: December 2, 2024 09:52

As something a bit different, here's the fully-aquatic spinosaur monster I illustrated for the first @palaeogames.bsky.social book. We had a loose brief from a backer but I otherwise just went to town. I don't get to draw monsters often, but it's a lot of…

https://bsky.app/profile/markwitton.bsky.social/post/3lc5qiyvqac2v

Published: November 30, 2024 09:05

New #paleoart posted to #Patreon yesterday: my take on #palaeocolour superstar #dinosaur Sinosauropteryx, a species for which virtually the entire protofeather colour scheme has been restored through melanosome analysis. Discussion and hi-res at…

https://bsky.app/profile/markwitton.bsky.social/post/3lbzg2svbsc2g

Published: November 28, 2024 15:47

Writing about the evolution of eyes, a story that takes us back to the Cambrian. I don't draw Cambrian life very much (though stay tuned...), but I reconstructed the Burgess Shale fauna for my book Life Through the Ages II back in 2017. (There's too much…