DYNASTIC TURF
The painting depicts a scenery from the Late Cretaceous period in North America, some 66 million years ago, before the most famous mass extinction. Based on recent research, extreme volcanic activity may have contributed to the extinction event, and dinosaur biodiversity declined well before the asteroid impact which put an end to the Cretaceous period, but it included some of the most well-known and well-studied species.
The area is covered in plants which include some modern forms we know today including magnolia flowers, ferns and Araucaria trees. Flowering plants first appeared in the early Cretaceous, but they have not evolved their modern essential reproductive structures yet.
During the later part of the Cretaceous, tyrannosaurids became the dominant apex predators, particularly in the northern hemisphere. Tyrannosaurus rex is the most famous member of the family. With a strong, muscular neck and a pair of powerful hind legs, T. rex also had a powerful set of jaws, with a bite strength said to crush bone. The theropod's depiction in the painting is based on it most recent reconstruction: it is more muscular than older reconstructions.
Confronting the T. rex in the painting is the best-known of the horned ceratopsian dinosaurs, Triceratops, known for its set of three horns on its head: two long horns above its eyes and one smaller nose horn, and a bony neck frill. Each of its brow horns could measure 1 meter (3 feet) in length. Unlike many other ceratopsian species, Triceratops fossils have been discovered individually, suggesting them to have lived a solitary lifestyle. Besides, some Triceratops fossils have been found with bite marks matching those of T. rex, confirming a prey-predator relationship between the two dinosaurs.
Ankylosaurus is one of the largest armored dinosaurs which is instantly recognized through its thick bony plates called osteoderms on its back which provided protection. It is also armed with a heavy tail club called a "thagomizer" made of hardened osteoderms and supported by thick tendons and fused vertebrae, which it may have used to defend itself from predators. These features lead to the species being nicknamed a "living tank".
The plant-eating herd of hadrosaurs in the right of the background are Hypacrosaurus. Like some other hadrosaurs, it had a hollow crest on its head, probably to aid in communication through vocal calls. Fossils of Hypacrosaurus eggs and juveniles have been discovered along with adult fossils, which gave paleontologists a bigger picture on the life cycle of these dinosaurs.
Ornithomimus is an iconic member of the ostrich dinosaur family (also known as the ornithomimosaurs). It is an omnivore, feeding on low plants and small ground-dwelling animals with its toothless beak. Ornithomimus were covered in pennaceous feathers, which may have been used as display or to keep themselves warm. The picture shows a nesting pair tending to a nest of hatching eggs.
Anzu wyliei (bottom left) is a recently-discovered oviraptorosaur from North America, the biggest member of its family from the continent. Like Ornithomimus, it had a toothless, horny beak, suggesting a similar diet of small animals and perhaps eggs and nuts. The species was named in 2014 from fossils studied since 1999.
Flying reptiles called pterosaurs patrolled Late Cretaceous skies, like they did for 160 million years. Quetzalcoatlus, one of the largest of pterosaurs, had a wingspan of almost 13 meters (43 feet), the size of a small plane. It lived in North America at the very end of the Cretaceous, soaring above the heads of dinosaurs like T. rex, Triceratops and Ankylosaurus.
Mammals have been living in the shadow of dinosaurs since they evolved from reptiles in the Triassic. The mammal near the Ornithomimus nest in the painting is Alphadon, an ancestor of modern-day marsupials. Resembling a modern-day opossum, it was likely an omnivore, feeding on fruits, invertebrates and possibly small vertebrates.
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