A black-and-white pencil sketch of the prehistoric salamander Dynamognathus robertsoni, depicted chomping down on the head of a shrew as it walks slightly downhill.

A sketch from tonight’s flocking-together #Paleostream, the Pliocene salamander Dynamognathus robertsoni! So happy that this little creature from Tennessee was finally chosen for a flocking, here depicted chomping on one of many contemporary shrew species. #paleoart #sciart #cenozoic #grayfossilsite

Observation and study

That’s amazing!!!

Indeed, here in my corner of the southeastern U.S. there’s a stark dichotomy between overgrown privet-choked forests (most of the non-paved land) and overgrazed lawn cattle-pastures. Fire helps, but I’d give my left arm to see bison, elk, and small horses cohabiting here at healthy densities.

in shallow water, a Megamastax charges through a large school of smaller fish with its mouth open. the smaller fish dart away forming a circular gap which the larger predatory fish swims within, continuing to charge in the hope of a meal Megamastax is an ancient genus of bony fish from Silurian China, for a while it was only known from a lower jaw bone, but more recent material puts it at an estimate of around 1 metre long. one curious feature are the presence of compound tooth plates on its upper and lower jaws composed of many small backwards facing teeth, with a row of smaller singular teeth around the margin of the mouth

finally finished my Megamastax painting! started this one after the new material was described and let it simmer for a while

I swear, there is no end to the silly and adorably cartoonish forms that mites can take.

Indeed, the boreal and tropical flavors of the same shape of animal. And both are awesome!

A black-and-white pencil drawing of a pair of floating Miocene elephant-cousin heads, one being the shovel-tusked Saegusaia wimani and the other being the spoon-jawed Choerolophodon chioticus. Both are drawn facing somewhat towards the viewer with mouths open and trunks curled back, to be able to try drawing what the mouths and lips of these long-faced proboscideans may have looked like.

Quick facial-tissue study sketches of two long-faced proboscideans from the Miocene: Saegusaia wimani and Choerolophodon chioticus. Elephants are weird and I love them so dearly. #sciart #paleoart #cenozoic #elephants

Yes, *another* update of the motomazor, Kaimere's marine apex predator!

The motomazor in the northern oceans episode was close. Very close, and they work fine as individual characters, but I wanted something a bit more streamlined for the profile representing typical specimens.

Absolute, unbridled peak

I post my artwork semi-regularly on Cara (@dynamognathus1011) and instagram (@dynamoartist21southern) as well as here on Bluesky.

A colored-pencil drawing of the prehistoric armadillo Vetelia ghandii, from the Miocene of South America. It is in a partially upright hunched standing position, with a blank white background.

A colored-pencil drawing of a Carolina Parakeet flying up towards a Rocky-Mountain Locust, with its beak open to snatch it out of the air. The parakeet and locust both have their wings outstretched, and the background is blank and white.

A black-and-white pencil drawing of a half-underwater scene along the edge of the Caspian Sea. A mother tiger and her two small cubs are swimming across the surface with most of their bodies slightly submerged, in the middle of a deep estuarine channel. Below them, a truly gigantic Beluga Sturgeon curls its body upward and opens its vacuum-like mouth, sucking one of the bite-sized cubs down from the surface.

A colored-pencil drawing of a scene in a Bur Oak savanna in southeastern Minnesota. A wide variety of snakes and other reptiles and amphibians can be seen in the foreground, next to a well-worn trail and pit in the sandy soil created by bison. At the top of a hill in the background, two such bison can be seen butting heads while a male Elk watches. In the midground, at the base of a bur oak, the skeleton of one of the last mastodons lies in a scattered pile.

#PortfolioDay
I go by Dynamo, and I am primarily a pencil-and-paper artist who likes drawing wildlife of all sorts, extant and extinct and fictional. I live and grew up in the deep southern U.S., and the beautiful ecosystems and animals of this region will always be my favorites. #paleoart #sciart

people asking me what my favorite animal/time period etc is...

Species do be complex indeed

A colored-pencil drawing of a scene in a dense meadow, taking place in France during the late Pliocene. A Eucyon adoxus (a coyote-like canine) has stumbled upon the ground nest of an ancient partridge, Palaeocryptonyx donnezani. The mother is seen flying away in the background as the Eucyon has its nose nearly touching the six eggs in the nest, looking down at them. Tall green grass surrounds the nest and the sky is clear and bright blue.

In a lush meadow in France during the late Pliocene, a very fortunate Eucyon adoxus has stumbled upon a nest of Palaeocryptonyx donnezani, an ancient partridge. As the hen flies away in a panic, the canine has a clutch of six eggs all to itself for breakfast. #sciart #paleoart #pliocene #cenozoic

Mandarin Ducks?

Big Blue Whorl

A photograph of a Mountain Laurel shrub in bloom, with the focus on a close-up of a few branches covered in both dark green leaves and pale pink, cup-shaped flowers.

More plant-posting, this time some Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) in a nearby state park. This shrub looks more or less like the evergreen-dicot-ever until it blooms, lining the riverbanks with contrasting pale pink and dark green colors. #nativeplants #botany #alabama #mountainlaurel

Found a lot more of it!
#nativeplants #botany #littlebarley

a small green frog with bulbus blue eyes is sitting on a white background looking somewhat anxious

A group of people in boots are posing for a photo in a wet, grassy field against a low forest

a group of people are seated around a table on a patio with a clutter of trays and bottles and other equipment between them as if this is an impromptu lab for fieldwork

African frogs haven’t forgotten the ice ages. 🐸🧊 A new study shows ancient forest refugia in Central Africa align with the modern diversity of frogs.

Story: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/afri...

Study: doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

Lemuria Easter Lore Drop YouTube video by Joschua Knüppe

Lemuria will return this summer and something else with it...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=puM8...

The wild populations of the various species are critically endangered, but they are farmed (and accidentally hybridized) en-masse for food

Scale chart depicting various animals from the Pliocene Gray Fossil Site of Tennesse, USA. The magenta scale bar represents 1 meter

Last but now least, GFS (don't mind the salamander)!

Scale chart depicting various animals from the Jurassic Tiaojishan formation of China. The magenta scale bar represents 10 centimeters

Scale chart depicting various animals from the Eocene Kuldana formation of south Asia. The magenta scale bar represents 1 meter

Scale chart depicting various animals from the Oligocene Jebel Qatrani formation of Egypt. The magenta scale bar represents 1 meter

Scale chart depicting various animals from the Miocene Cerro Azul formation of Argentina. The magenta scale bar represents 1 meter

Our #marchofthemammals2026 formation frenzy wrap up. As always, thanks to everyone who's stuck around for another March!

#paleoart #sciart #fossilfriday

Four colored-pencil drawings of prehistoric animals, arranged roughly into quadrants on a piece of paper. In the top left is the ichthyosaur Xiphodracon, with a very long and slender snout. In the top right is the generic-mammal-ever Ectoconus, leaping away from whatever ripped the tip of its tail off. In the bottom left is the early mammaliamorph Morganucodon, curled around itself as it sleeps. In the bottom right is the bilaterally-symmetric early echinoderm Atlascystis, drawn life-size at just under 1 cm wide at the front end and around 1 cm in length.

Tonight’s flocking #Paleostream sketches: the ichthyosaur Xiphodracon, the early Paleocene mammal Ectoconus, the mammaliamorph Morganucodon, and the Cambrian echinoderm Atlascystis (drawn life-size). #paleoart #sciart #mesozoic #cenozoic #paleozoic

Absolutely precious, all of them

A rough black-and-white sketch of the ancient elephant-cousin Eubelodon morrilli in lateral view, with the outline of the skull, neck, and forearms + shoulder faintly visible.

Quick sketch of the ancient elephant-cousin Eubelodon morrilli, from the middle Miocene of North America. Despite possessing a long lower jaw like many other contemporary proboscideans, they held no lower tusks. #miocene #paleoart #sciart #elephants

A photograph of several Little Barley plants growing close together on the edge of a backyard at a suburban house, all are less than 12 inches tall.

The local Little Barley is already going to seed, I love this species. Is anyone else here familiar with them or familiar with growing/processing them? They were domesticated once by eastern indigenous nations to my knowledge. #nativeplants #nativegrains #botany #littlebarley #alabama

Museum display with two relief-mounted oreodonts and an in situ prep of a larger one. On the wall behind them are a couple dozen oreodont skulls all facing left. An autumnal mural of Cenozoic animals runs overhead.

Old-fashioned looking museum display. One case features two relief-mounted oreodonts on a bed of gravel, with a few skulls on panels and pinboard-style text. A larger case to the right has a modern hippo skeleton and some smaller artiodactyl.

The "oops, all oreodonts" wall at the Peabody. And just for fun, the old oreodont corner that it replaced.

Page 7 of the satirical Hirudopithecus description

Page 7