DRIFTING BIOME

 

Drifting Biome, acrylic on canvas, 2023. 30" X 24"

The painting is inspired by a scene from the second season of Prehistoric Planet. It depicts ammonites of various shapes and sizes gathering around a larger ammonite which shell is covered in algae and corals. As a "drifting biome" it provides plenty of food and places for the smaller ammonites to breed and interact.

Parapuzosia is the large ammonite in the painting. The largest known species of ammonite, its shell alone measured almost three meters (9-10 ft) in diameter. As an open water organism, the ammonite drifts along the current, searching for food. The large ammonite in the painting is covered in algae and corals, which turns it into the titular drifting biome. The biome attracts a large variety of smaller ammonites with different types of shells.

Baculites is a type of ammonite which had an almost straight shell that resembles a curved stick. The two-meter (6 ft) long Diplomoceras had a shell shaped like a giant paper clip. The Sphenodiscus retains the traditional, tightly-coiled shell shape of typical ammonites, with a smooth outer surface and complex suture pattern. Scaphites had a chambered, boat-shaped shell resembling the number 9. Pravitoceras, an ammonite discovered in Japan, had a unique, S-shaped shell, while Ancyloceras had a loosely-coiled shell. Some species of ammonite had more convoluted, unusually-shaped shells, and it is a wonder they may have been able to float and drift. Nostoceras had a shell said to have a tightly-coiled helical spire on a large U-shaped body chamber facing upwards. Nipponites is said to have the most bizarre shell of all ammonites - the shell is coiled in a convoluted fashion resembling ox-bows.

The smaller ammonites gather around the Parapuzosia's shell "biome" due to it having an abundance of food. Some species fed on plankton while others ate small fish and crustaceans. And where there's food even more visitors would gather to make the most of them.

Artist's notes

The painting illustrates an analogue of a moving food stall attracting various customers from far and wide. If there is anything interesting, there would be some crowd surrounding it in no time, like the proverb "where there is sugar, there are ants". The "ants" would refer to the various species of ammonite in the painting. 

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