Sometimes what goes on in the real world is big enough that it deserves a bit of a mention here at the shop…

First up is Paleo Petshop news.

The story time at the library was so much fun! There is a six-year-old child inside all of us, a part of us that sees the world with wonder at small details, and finds joy in simple things. There is a sense of earnest exploration and creativity in everything they do, no matter how insignificant it may seem to us who are too old and jaded with the world to see anything magical in how flipping a switch brings light, or in watching sunlight shine through a leaf. To an adult who has seen leaves year after year it is an ordinary green leaf, but a child sees the jewel tones of yellow and green etched by the complex pattern of its veins.

I always try to see the world through that lens when I draw cute prehistoric creatures, but sometimes reality can make that lens foggy. Let’s face it, life as an adult is full of concerns and logic and tasks that must be done, and it can be easy to be caught up in that logic, especially when I so deeply want to make this venture a success in a way the adult world can recognize. In a way that can financially support my family. It is not impossible to dip into the world of innocent fantasy and childlike wonder, cute dinosaurs never fail to bring out that six-year-old part of myself (especially when surrounded by young children on a daily basis), but it’s good to have a little extra boost from time to time.

Story time at the library was that boost. The power was out, but that didn’t matter, because we had a lovely sunny window to read by, and the kids where very enthusiastic little listeners. Their excitement and joy was contagious, and I had as much fun as they did!

The best reaction was when I brought out the clothespin dinosaur puppets. I had stacks of little fish, plants, steaks, and bugs printed to pass out to the kids, which we used to feed the very hungry puppets. Bowser the Ceratosaurus was tough and hungry for Bronto burgers, and Tango the Archaeopteryx was super excited about bugs, so I had a blast with the different voices. I love reading out loud, and it’s fun to stretch my vocal muscles and see how low or different I can make it. The kids loved it!

I brought Skittles along to help me out after her story, and she became a fast favorite. Who doesn’t love a life-size dino? She’s not quite full size yet, true, but it was fun to handle her like she’s alive. I really need a full-size Skittles with a little more weight, preferably a puppet. She would be my paleo pet!

For Nessie one of the children helped me with the tape measure, and for Douglas I had a big black silhouette cut out of cardstock. There’s something so fascinating about actually seeing the size of these critters, and even a nine-foot plesiosaur looks big when we’re all sitting indoors.

Thank you so much to my friend who took the second picture! He is a writer, and if you like a good mystery set in the rolling countryside of the Texas hill country, or enjoy adventures of a brave young orphan trying to find her way in a dangerous world, then head on over to his website at gillespielamb.com.

If you were there at story time, thank you so much! It was wonderful to see you, and I am deeply grateful for your support.

The other news is still good, just less directly involved with the Paleo Petshop. I am mentioning it here because it’s big enough to possibly impact updates on the site, but hopefully not too much.

We’re moving! Not too far, but it’ll be the first time we have a place that’s truly ours. It has a lovely little chunk of land to call our own, and it’s bigger than our current home. I don’t mind small spaces, but with so many little raptors running around it’ll be good to be able to have a little more space to breathe. Oh, and the extra bedroom will be perfect for a studio!

Another reason for the move relates to my second bit of news, and that requires a very quick detour on egg candling. Basically, you get a chicken egg (or any egg) and shine a flashlight underneath it in a dark room. This makes the whole egg glow red and orange in the same way your finger would glow red if you put it on a flashlight. It’s really cool, because you can see the yolk sac, the blood vessels, and the shadow of the growing chick inside. I was going for that effect in the picture below, only I made the critter inside far more obvious because in real life it’s a shadow silhouette.

It’s pretty magical to get an inside look on the little life growing inside, and I hoped to catch a small glimpse of that with this picture. Eggs and small, growing things have been on my mind a lot lately. Can you guess why?

In four months we will be welcoming a new Babysaurus in our family! Babysaurus is due to “hatch” in January, and the kids often wonder if Baby will be a new sister or brother.

I will try my best to make sure to stay with updates as usual, though they might become simpler if I have to slow down. Just know that I’m still chipping away and drawing things that will make their appearance eventually, even if it doesn’t look like much on the surface. Progress like a ninja tortoise, as I always say!

And the Critter of the Month is…

Dilophosaurus is one of my favorite dinosaurs, and so I always enjoy an excuse to draw one. For the library art exhibit I was pressed for time, so I focused on updating Picasso’s environment and added some color to the updated sketch in the book instead.

Picasso’s feathers are pure speculation. It assumes that the earliest dinosaurs started out fuzzy. Many dinosaurs, and their close cousins the flying pterosaurs, had fuzzy feathers. With that in mind it’s easier to assume that they are related and the common ancestors of both were fuzzy. Much easier for one group to grow feathery fluff once and lose it later, than to grow it two separate times in different groups that are completely unrelated. This is especially true for animals that have hugely different lifestyles and live in many different habitats.

So why not assume Dilophosaurus had already lost the fluff, when it’s clearly much bigger than tiny dinos that we assume would need fluff for regulating body temperature? Well, aside from the simple fact that I love the idea of a big fluffy Dilo, there are more scientific reasons.

One, look at similar-sized birds in very hot climates. Clearly feathers are an advantage and simply getting bigger is not enough to loose them for the sake of pure scales or wrinkly skin. Nor is living somewhere hot. Also, we have some hints of possible feathers on other dinosaurs of similar size and not too distant in time. It’s not a lot to go on, but without feather impressions for Dilophosaurus itself there truly is no way to know.

Birds have a lot of variation in their feathers if you look closely, and I looked at a lot of large, ground dwelling birds in very hot climates for inspiration. What I found was very interesting. Ostriches do not have naked necks, as is often seen in cartoons, but have a fine layer of downy feathers. Emus have even more feather coverage and live in an equally hot and dry environment. It’s like wearing a sunhat and long-sleeved cotton shirt when working in the hot sun. An extra layer can actually be cooling rather than hot, because it protects the skin from the direct heat of the sun, yet still allows air to flow past. It’s also good for avoiding sunburn.

If an animal has naked skin exposed to the sun, like a vulture or naked-neck chicken, then the skin is often the same wrinkled, carunkled, flappy texture of their wattles (if they have them). The extra surface area of the skin flaps, wrinkles, or bumps, and lots of blood vessels close to the surface, help cool hot blood in the same way an air conditioner cycles warm air for cool air. The blood so close to the surface is a big reason why wattles are often red. Emus and ostriches have scaly or bare skin on the legs and underside of their wings.

So here I have Dilophosaurus with a shaggy coat of primitive feathers that help keep off the sun. Lighter feathers on the neck and tail for the breeziest sun-protection. Scales to protect the feet and legs from rocks and prickly plants. The large crest is light and strong, like a hornbill’s crest, and works double-duty as a way to keep cool, an attractive sign to potential mates, and perhaps even useful for shoving contests.

Shoving contest? Well, a critter needs ways to settle an argument if tempers get hot, and with a crest that is clearly stronger than we thought…I can see how the V shape would be useful for not shifting around much when shoving against each other.

If you really want to get nerdy and see my reasoning behind this, then watch the video below on different horns and their uses. Theropod dinosaurs get mentioned about 14 and a half minutes into the video, and the observations on hornbills and their crests are especially interesting. You can skip to that at the 20:20 mark.

Thank you for joining me today! If you really like Picasso’s painting and wish to support me, you can find him on Redbubble. Just click on the picture below or CLICK HERE to go to Redbubble and take a closer look.

See you Sept. 1st for the next Critter of the Month!

This critter may look all tough and prickly on the outside, but all she wants is a warm hug. 🙂

Share your guess in the comments! She’ll be one of the critters over on the critter page. 🙂