Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Julia's Cetiosauriscus


Not too terribly long ago, Julia offered to send me any JVP articles I might want since I stopped getting access to the journal. I don't think she knew what she was getting herself into, and my request topped out at somewhere around twenty articles. And now, I think she just sends me stuff she thinks I'll like lest I bug her about it. :-)

But as thanks, I offered to draw her favorite dinosaur. Not surprisingly, the Ethical Palaeontologist wished upon Cetiosauriscus, and so, many weeks later, this picture was completed. Could I improve upon it? Sure, but I don't want to drive myself mad. I feel slightly bad that I recently went on a big rant about how artists shouldn't be restoring animals known from fragmentary remains. In detailing this eusauropod, I fell victim to that complaint. Cetiosauriscus is known from basically the back half, and an arm, so the neck, back, and head are completely made up! Julia suggested Omeisaurus as a reference (oh my!), but with a fatter overall structure.

So there it be: Cetiosauriscus. I'd give it a species name, but according to Julia and every resource I've read online, the animal's taxonomic history is something of a nightmare.

3 comments:

The (Parenthetical) Atheist said...

When I was in elementary school out in CA and AZ, I got in so much trouble for drawing dinosaurs. At the time, I wanted to be a palaeontologist, but then I read the books from the Flagstaff library which, back in the late 70s, hadn't stocked any of the new books from the dino-rennaissance. I got in trouble for drawing dinosaurs, and now people like you get to do them and put it up on the web for all to see. My teachers weren't fair.

Of course, the fact that I was drawing them when I was supposed to be learning long division, or listening to "Watership Down," or reading in my history book, or doing a different art project may have had a little to do with it.

Mike S said...

Am I sensing an "I told you so moment?" :o) . . .
That's a nice little drawing by the way!

Dicing with Dragons said...

"I feel slightly bad that I recently went on a big rant about how artists shouldn't be restoring animals known from fragmentary remains."

Ahahahaha! (That's my John Mahoney laugh.)