Mesozoic Art: Dinosaurs and Other Ancient Animals in Art

Product Information

Alberti, M., Fürsich, F. T. & Andersen, N. 2019. First steps in reconstructing Early Jurassic sea water temperatures in the Andean Basin of northern Chile based on stable isotope analyses of oyster and brachiopod shells. Journal of Palaeogeography 8: 33. What happened at the end of day 1, after the drinks reception? I have no idea but I remember waking up in a taxi at some point during the night. Steve White previously edited Dinosaur Art and Dinosaur Art II, published by Titan Books. For reasons unknown to me, this collaboration has not continued. You would barely be able to tell from the cover, though, as the design and fonts are identical. I will leave a more in-depth comparison for the end of this review and first focus on the material at hand.

This is an ambitious collection of some of the most breath-catching depictions not only of our world in the past, but our world at any time. Sometimes weird, but often startlingly natural, Mesozoic Art helps us see life in the past not as science fiction, but living, breathing fact.” — Dr Elsa Panciroli, palaeontologist, author of Beasts Before Us and The Earth: A Biography of Life Fanti, F., Cau, A., Martinelli, A. & Contessi, M. 2014. Integrating palaeoecology and morphology in theropod diversity estimation: a case from the Aptian-Albian of Tunisia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 410, 39-57.Robinson, J. A. 1975. The locomotion of plesiosaurs. Neues Jahrbuch fur Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 149, 286-332. Chicxulub crater, on the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, in a computer-generated image synthesized from gravity and magnetic field data. The buried structure, which measures at least 180 km (112 miles) across, is thought to be the scar remaining from the impact 66 million years ago of an asteroid or comet measuring perhaps 10 km (6 miles) in diameter. The Yucatán coastline bisects the crater almost horizontally through its centre. (more) Naish, D. 2011. Theropod dinosaurs. In Batten, D. J. (ed.) English Wealden Fossils. The Palaeontological Association (London), pp. 526-559. Baryonychines in sympatry? So… three baryonychine taxa in the Wealden? Well, why not? For starters, Baryonyx walkeri, Ceratosuchops inferodios and Riparovenator milnerae are not demonstrably sympatric. They might all be Barremian in age, but the Barremian was four million years long and none of these dinosaurs are demonstrably from the same horizon. In addition, Baryonyx is from a different sedimentary basin from the one that yields Riparovenator and Ceratosuchops ( Barker et al. 2021).

Ruiz-Omeñaca, J. I., Canudo, J. I., Cruzado-Caballero, P., Infante, P. & Moreno-Azanza, M. 2005. Baryonychine teeth (Theropoda: Spinosauridae) from the Lower Cretaceous of La Cantalera (Josa, NE Spain). Kaupia 14, 59-63. Naish, D. 2021. Dinopedia: A Brief Compendium of Dinosaur Lore. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ.Motani, R., Jiang, D.-y., Chen, G.-B., Tintori, A., Rieppel, O., Ji, C. & Huang, J.-D. 2015. A basal ichthyosauriform with a short snout from the Lower Triassic of China. Nature 517, 485-488. Storrs, G. W. & Taylor, M. A. 1996. Cranial anatomy of a new plesiosaur genus from the lowermost Lias (Rhaetian/Hettangian) of Street, Somerset, England. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16, 403-420. Motani, R. 2005. Evolution of fish-shaped reptiles (Reptilia: Ichthyopterygia) in their physical environments and constraints. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 33, 395-420. Ruiz-Omeñaca, J. I., Canudo, J. I. & Cuenca-Bescós, G. 1997. First evidence of baryonychid dinosaurs (Saurischia: Theropoda) in the upper Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of Vallipon (Castellote, Teruel, Spain). Beca del Museo de Mas de las Matas 17, 201-223. Witton, M. P. & Michel, E. 2022. The Art and Science of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs. The Crowood Press, Marlborough.

Mateus, O., Araújo, R., Natário, C. & Castanhinha, R. 2011. A new specimen of the theropod dinosaur Baryonyx from the early Cretaceous of Portugal and taxonomic validity of Suchosaurus. Zootaxa 2827, 54-68. Jagielska, N., O’Sullivan, M., Funston, G. F., Butler, I. B., Challands, T. J., Clark, N. D. L., Fraser, N. C., Penny, A., Ross, D. A., Wilkinson, M. & Brusatte, S. L. 2022. A skeleton from the Middle Jurassic of Scotland illuminates an earlier origin of large pterosaurs. Current Biology 32, 1-8. Ibrahim, N., Sereno, P. C., Dal Sasso, C., Maganuco, S., Fabri, M., Martill, D. M., Zouhri, S., Myhrvold, N. & Lurino, D. A. 2014. Semiaquatic adaptations in a giant predatory dinosaur. Science 345, 1613-1616. A consequence of this fact is that our views on these animals – I’m mostly talking here about Jurassic groups – tend to be highly Eurocentric. Today, we know that animals similar to those of Europe occurred around South America, in the Caribbean, on the western coast of North America, and elsewhere too, so the view that these animals originated in Europe or should be considered strongly associated with Europe could well be very wrong.Mesozoic Art showcases twenty of the best artists working in this field, representing a broad spectrum of disciplines, from traditional painting to cutting-edge digital technology. Some provide the artwork for new scientific papers that demand high-end paleoart as part of their presentation to the world at large; they also work for the likes of National Geographic and provide art to museums around the world to illustrate their displays. Other artists are the new rising stars of paleoart in an ever-growing, ever-diversifying field. Geister, J. 1998. Lebensspuren made by marine reptiles and their prey in the Middle Jurassic (Callovian) of Liesberg, Switzerland. Facies 39, 105-124. Here's your regular reminder that this blog relies on support via patreon, thank you to those providing support already. Viera, L. I. & Torres, J. A. 1995. Presencai de Baryonyx walkeri (Saurischia, Theropoda) en el Weald de La Rioja (Espana). Nota previa. Munibe 47, 57-61. So as what it is mainly intended to be - a collection of excellent paleoart, ready for your coffee table or to fascinate your child - this book is five stars, excellent.

Naish, D. & Barrett, P. M. 2016. Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved. The Natural History Museum, London. Harrell, T. L., Pérez-Huerta, A. & Suarez, C. A. 2016. Endothermic mosasaurs? Possible thermoregulation of Late Cretaceous mosasaurs (Reptilia, Squamata) indicated by stable oxygen isotopes in fossil bioapatite in comparison with coeval marine fish and pelagic seabirds. Palaeontology 69, 351-363. Plesiosaurs and the repeated invasion of freshwater habitats: late-surviving relicts or evolutionary novelties?, January 2013 Korte, C., Hesselbo, S. P., Ullmann, C. V., Dietl, G., Ruhl, M., Schweigert, G. & Thibault, N. 2015. Jurassic climate mode governed by ocean gateway. Nature Communications 6 (10015). Buffetaut, E. 2007. The spinosaurid dinosaur Baryonyx (Saurischia, Theropoda) in the Early Cretaceous of Portugal. Geological Magazine 144. 1021-1025.Buffetaut, E. 1989. New remains of the enigmatic dinosaur Spinosaurus from the Cretaceous of Morocco and the affinities between Spinosaurus and Baryonyx. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte 1989, 79-87. Naish, D., Hutt, S. & Martill, D. M. 2001. Saurischian dinosaurs 2: Theropods. In Martill, D. M. & Naish, D. (eds) Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight. The Palaeontological Association (London), pp. 242-309. The gorgeous paintings are accompanied by thought-provoking notes designed to attract artists and scientists alike…Arts and prehistoric science library collections alike must place Mesozoic Art on their lists of important, key acquisitions.” — Donovan's Recommended Reading