an Attenborosaurus swims along holding the half eaten corpse of a Turnersuchus by the surface of the water, it has a few circular lamprey bites and scars across its body
Attenborosaurus is a plesiosaur named after Sir. David Attenborough, plesiosaurs are a group of fully marine reptiles that gave live birth and exploited a variety of niches when they were alive. while Attenborosaurus has a long neck, it's actually a pliosaurid, and therefore closer related to short-necked plesiosaurs like Liopleurodon instead of Elasmosaurus
Turnersuchus is a basal member of a group of marine pseudosuchians called Thalattosuchia. it doesnt have as many adaptations for life at sea compared to its more derived members, however it still was very important in our understanding of thalattosuchian evolution
an older Dakosaurus swims past the camera during the pitch black of night. it's being illuminated by an artifical light coming from behind the camera. its body is marked with various scars and lamprey bites it also has two parasitic copepods digging into its flesh, one on its tail and the other on its leg
Dakosaurus is part of a group of marine pseudosuchians called Thalattosuchia, specifically the very derived family Metriorhynchidae, it had a shark-like tail fin at the end of its tail, short front legs, and long back legs. another curious adaptation of metriorhynchids was their lack of visible scales from a distance to reduce drag when swimming
the dessicated corpse of an Etjosuchus is seen partially buried in cracked mud
Etjosuchus is a pseudosuchian which may have been bipedal, but we dont know for sure as we dont have enough material of its legs
the camera focuses on a Dibango volans floating above a seagrass meadow, it feeds on the abundant plankton
Dibango volans is a genus of neotenic fish that lived in the shallow seagrass meadows of Eocene Monte Bolca, Italy. it most likely had a pipefish-like ecology, sucking up small prey one at a time while in the water column as indicated by its jaw bones
here's today's #Paleostream flocking sketches!!! this was also my 100th flocking 🎊🥳🎊
today we sketched Attenborosaurus (happy birthday Sir. David Attenborough!!!), Dakosaurus, Etjosuchus, and Dibango volans
#sciart #palaeoart #marinereptile #fishart