It’s Dinovember, and I thought I’d have a little fun with one of those lists of dinosaurs floating around Instagram. Just a few critters, to shake things up a bit with a slightly different style and fun fact bits. The list I borrowed off of Instagram had mostly Cretaceous critters in it, but I decided I’d post a few here anyway. Enjoy!
I had a lot of fun with this adorable style, and I’d love to experiment more with it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! 🙂
Thank you so much for stopping by! See you on November 27th for another Sketchbook Sneak Peak. 😀
Pete's Paleo Petshop 
I recently put up a post on Wuerhosaurus. You can see it here: https://dinosaursandbarbarians.com/2022/07/28/wuerhosaurus/
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I love this style! All the blends of textures, and how you’re able to make it look detailed in such a wonderfully simple way. 😀 And dude, the variety of plates on Wuerhosaurus is so cool! Sinosauropteryx is delightfully floofy. Is he related to Compsognathus by any chance?
Looking forward to seeing more style experiments!
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Thank you so much Brownie! I had lots of fun with these, and I would love to do them more often. Yes, Sinosauropteryx is a close cousin of Compsognathus! And it’s because of Sino’s floofy feathers that we can speculate that the Compies had them too. Sinosauropteryx actually preserves melanosomes, so most people reconstruct it with some variety of orange and white patterning, but in reality it could probably be anywhere from brown to deep red. Or there could be structural things that affected how we see the feathers in the light (think peacock feathers or duck feathers, which are actually brown). And we have no idea if it was breeding plumage, male or female specific colors, a single individual that’s kinda weird compared to the average pattern (i.e. Albino or other unusual colorations), or seasonal colors, or even according to age. So there’s still so much we have no clue about!
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I liked all of them but I had a question about Rugops. Do you think it ran on those back legs like a T-Rex or did it hop like a frog? Did any of the dinosaurs hop like a frog?
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Hi, I’m glad you like them!
Rugops is just sitting a little while here, but he generally walks up on his toes like T-rex. He’s related to Carnotaurus, which you might have heard of, a carnivore famous for the bull-like horns on its head and ridiculously tiny arms.
There are a few smaller dinosaurs and dinosaur-ish critters that might have hopped like kangaroos, and I think we even have tracks for a few of them. At a certain size it’s a very efficient way to move around, just like many small birds often hop instead of walk. If you’re a small and light animal it’s just easier to jump, because you cover more distance for less amount of energy, but that’s only true if you’re a very small animal or a highly specialized animal like a kangaroo.
Hopping would be dangerous for a dinosaur the size of Rugops. It just takes too much energy to lift that much bulk, and you get to where you’re going more quickly and efficiently simply by walking faster. Dinosaurs as big as T-rex didn’t even run, because running requires all your feet off the ground at some point, and it can be dangerous to slam all of one’s weight PLUS gravity onto one foot. A power-walk would be the fastest they could move, but they can power-walk faster than we can run!
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By the way, that bug the Rugops is looking at is a Dobsonfly, which can have a wingspan almost 9 inches wide. It’s a big bug. 😀
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I can’t believe my eyes. I love them!
Also, this is the first comment I am making as a sixteen-year old since my birthday occurred almost an entire week ago.
On another topic, CollectA revealed their first and second batches for 2022. The first reveal was three figures; a Geosternbergia/Pteranodon sternbergi, a new swimming Spinosaurus, and a new Paraceratherium, while the second reveal was two all-new additions to their lineup of prehistoric life; a Smok wawelski and a Cooperoceras. I would really like to hear how you feel about all five of these as of now.
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Thank you! I’m glad you like them 😀 I had a lot of fun with these. 🙂
I haven’t looked at the new models at all until now, but what a nice batch this year! The Smok and Cooperoceras are especially exciting. 🙂 I always love to see other prehistoric creatures that aren’t dinosaurs represented, and I have a particular fondness for ammonites and their relatives. 😀
I think Safari Ltd. has a really nice looking Spinosaurus too. 🙂 I must admit I’m rather partial to the Safari Ltd. Pteranodon as well. Just a personal preference.
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Their. All. So. Cute! Chubbysaurs
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Aww, thank you so much! I’m glad you like them 🙂
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