Evolution of Paleoart

How do we know the appearance of long-extinct organisms from millions of years ago? Merely from fossils, humans could not create an accurate picture. In fact, visual reconstruction of extinct organisms have changed over time based on evolving theories and new scientific discoveries. Since the non-avian dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago, many portrayals are possibilities of their looks and behaviour. This is done by paleoartists, who have the responsibility to create a reconstructed profile of organisms from information given by scientists.

When early dinosaur bones were found, Ancient Chinese text mistakenly described them to be originating from a dragon In 1819, British geologist William Buckland found some fossilized bones he would later describe as bones of Megalosaurus. The first iterations of Megalosaurus depicted it as a quadruped, similar to a bear, with a head similar to a crocodile (The Story of Megalosaurus, 2017).

Later in 1842, Sir Richard Owen would coin the term “dinosaur” for this group of prehistoric reptiles, meaning “terrible lizards” in Greek. This led to many lizard-like illustrations such as having legs protruding outside of their bodies rather than underneath, dragging their tails, and being cold-blooded Heinrich Harder drew Diplodocus with its leg sprawling out of the body, almost appearing as if the animal was unable to walk. Portrayals showed them as large, blood-thirsty animals and this image remains popular to this day with franchises like Jurassic Park (Elbein, 2017). However, these interpretations were not wrong. There were only fewer fossils found and less available information.

Newer evidence sheds light on the flaws of previous assumptions. Dinosaurs did not drag their tails from fossilized tracks. New research in thermodynamics reveals large dinosaurs such as the T rex and sauropods were warm-blooded, while others were in between warm-blooded and coldblooded. This disproves the idea that they were not sluggish, but rather presumably more active.

More recent findings have fossilized skin pigments that provide scientists and paleoartists with a better understanding of an ancient animal’s visuals Earlier discoveries, such as impressions in stone, revealed that some dinosaurs even had feathers!

This is where paleoartists bring this information to life They will take updated information regarding prehistoric organisms, take inspiration from their living relatives such as crocodilians and birds, as well organisms who currently fill in the same ecological niche, to create a plausible physical appearance of the organism

Other artists have taken a more creative approach to illustrate dinosaurs Less influence from living organisms is present and the art is more speculative rather than probable For example, Brian Engh reconstructed Sauroposeidon proteles with vibrant neck sacs (right) seen in some lizards, frogs, and birds as mating displays (Engh, 2010) Creative freedom is granted where soft tissues exist, as the tissue is almost impossible to preserve in the fossil record. Therefore, the softer tissue on top of the bone such as muscle, fat, and skin can change the physical appearance of prehistoric animals depending on how the artist personally views the organism.

Paleoart, the art that strives to depict prehistoric life, has evolved as new discoveries are made in the paleontology field. From scaly and slow to feathery and agile, paleoart provides a glimpse of what the “terrible lizards” may have looked and acted like during their 165 million-year rule on Earth If one ever wants to see a real dinosaur, perhaps look out the window, or down to the dinner plate.

Works Cited

Elbein, A. (2017, November 28). The surprising evolution of Dinosaur Drawings. The Atlantic. Retrieved February 28, 2023, from https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/11/paleoart-and-dinosaurart-2/544505/?utm source=copy-link&utm medium=social&utm campaign=share

Engh, B. (2010, December 8). Sauroposeidon Proteles reconstructed. dontmesswithdinosaurs com Retrieved February 28, 2023, from https://dontmesswithdinosaurs.com/?p=471

The Story of Megalosaurus. (2017, October 7). Retrieved March 4, 2023, from https://dinomuseum ca/2019/10/the-story-of-megalosaurus

Turk, V. (2017, July 11). Bloodshed and impressionism: How paleoartists imagined dinosaurs over the decades WIRED UK Retrieved February 28, 2023, from https://www wired co uk/article/paleoart-dinosaursart