Globidentosuchus, a caiman specialized for eating hard-shelled prey, goes after a giant blue land crab in Miocene Venezuela. Behind it, a Jabiru stork catches a snail.
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F(l)ight of the dragons
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Titanoboa is the largest snake ever discovered, reaching an estimated 12.8m (42ft) in length and upwards of 1,100kg (2,500 lb) in weight. It inhabited the first recorded tropical forest from South America, not long after the non-avian dinosaur extinction. On the top left corner, a pair of Presbyornithids wade by. Presbyornithids were relatives of ducks that had a body and possibly lifestyle akin to those of flamingos and were present in North America, Asia and Australia during the Paleocene. Here I speculate that some species could have reached northern South America as well. Many thanks to Cenker Turhan who made available on Sketchfab the beautiful anaconda model I used as basis for this Titanoboa!
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Beach Magpie (Archaeopteryx lithographica and horseshoe crabs)
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Here are some more illustrations representing the incredibly diverse fauna of Venezuela's Urumaco formation.
1. Bolivartherium was a buffalo-sized ground sloth. It was a relative of Lestodon, another sloth for which there is evidence of gregarious living, so here it is in a small family unit. They shared their floodplain/savannah habitat with plenty of birds, such as herons and ibises.
2. Pelagornis was a huge seabird with pseudo-teeth, which were in fact impressive serrations on its bill. It was found in neighboring formations from around the same timespan as Urumaco, and like many seabirds today, may have used mangrove forests as a safe place for nesting, like these accompanying frigatebirds. Another animal that used the protection of mangroves for shelter according to fossil evidence is the giant shark Megalodon, some babies seen here.
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The one, the only, the wonderful Dodo.
POV of an invasive dog that's about to have some nice dinner.
Inspired by a recent article by Darren Naish on the life appearance of this iconic bird: tetzoo.com/blog/2020/7/11/dodo-in-life
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Here's a series of commissioned illustrations I made for one of my patrons. They all depict fauna from the Urumaco formation of Venezuela, an assemblage mostly composed of Miocene fossils.
1. A group of Xenastrapotherium - astrapotheres were a peculiar group of superficially tapir-like mammals from South America and Antarctica. They often sported tusks and small "trunks", and are thought to have been partially amphibious.
2. A dead megalodon has washed ashore and attracts the attention of the giant caiman Purussaurus, along with other smaller crocodilians and relatives of modern Jabiru storks. The coastal waters of Venezuela are thought to have been a nursery for baby megalodon and possibly the only place where these two giant predators could have met.
3. Mourasuchus was a very large caiman with a distinctly flat head and numerous small teeth which it could have used to filter-feed. It coexisted with river dolphins and mata-mata turtles in the rivers of Miocene Venezuela.
4. Stupendemys was a giant side-necked turtle that may have rivaled the seafaring Archelon for the title of largest turtle to have ever lived. It inhabited northern South America during the Miocene and Pliocene, and its closest living relative is the much smaller Arrau turtle from the Amazon region.
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A Haast's eagle swoops down to give a moa a lethal head scratch - a commission for one of my patrons. PS: feel free to caption this. Show me what y'all got!
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Another week, another hominid image done for Eons! Seems like their audience loves to learn more about our human heritage, which gives me opportunities to work on some really cool cousins of ours like the "hobbits" of Flores Island, the subject of their latest video!
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Evolution Series: The Feathered Terrorists
The so-called Terror Birds did justice to their Mesozoic ancestors, taking the role of apex predators for millions of years in South America - some even made the trek north, reaching as far as Florida and Texas before dying out.
*The animals represented here are not to scale and don’t represent a direct line of descent, but rather plausible models for how this amazing transition happened.*
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Nowadays we may be on top of the food chain, but for most of our history it was more a matter of avoiding being eaten than eating something else. One fossil in particular, the damaged skull of a young Australopithecus named the “Taung Child”, was essential in changing our view about early hominins’ relationship with predators.
These two images were made for the latest episode of Eons. Watch it here
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The argentinian Llallawavis is the most complete terror bird ever found, and it gave scientists some amazing clues on their vocal capabilities.
Read more at Earth Archives.
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Penguins are really magnificent.
I’m working on a series of infographics roughly representing the amazing evolutionary journeys of some animal groups like horses, whales and elephants! If you want to see more like this, check out my Patreon!
special thanks to @franzanth for helping me with this amazing idea.
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Troodon teeth are very abundant in Alaska, but they are about twice as big as what’s expected for the species in more southern areas. It also seemed to be a more significant member of the ecosystem, as opposed to being much rarer elsewhere. What was happening with the Troodons in Alaska?
Read more at Earth Archives.
You can buy prints and merchandise of this and other illustrations at 252mya.com, go check it out!
Bathornis, an extinct relative of seriemas and the more well-known Terror Birds.
Commission for @kenbrasai
Bird’s escape from marine predator recorded in fossil
This particular bird's narrow escape provides insight on Cretaceous food chain. See more at Earth Archives.
Source: eartharchives.org