Jaime Headden

Toothless tips might be present in two drepanosaurs (Hypuronector, Mirasaura), there's teeth at the tips in another (Megalanco), which represents the basal condition, and thus better to work from when dealing with unknowns, even if Hypuronector comes out as a longisquamid.

It's possible, although Hypuronector doesn't have one, either, and Longisquama seems to have the least "drepanosaur" like shoulder amongst all of them.

None in the holotype.

The Written Stone

The enigma of Longisquama insignis derives from its quixotic representation in the annals of paleontology. At first a strange lizard-like creature reminiscent of the rib-gliding reptile Draco volans, then inexplicably a proto-bird of some sorts, crowned in wings. Without skeletal…

I'll make a post. There's a really big one.

Finally---

All skeletal diagrams in this thread are MINE. I made them, and thus I can tell you what you can do with them!

They're yours to modify, share, even publish. Shared under a CC 4.0 License, that's a BY: Attribution required. My name follows the use of them.

Take care!

Skeletal reconsctruction of Megalancosaurus preonensis. Some silly things have been added (sternal ribs, complete shoulder girdle, abdominal ribs or gastralia). A right little "monkey lizard," no?

This time, the "plumes" are the right size, they're not splayed out, and you can sorta get a sense that Longisquama's got a BIGGER RACK than Mirasaura does.

For comparison, the generally strange drepanosaur Megalancosaurus preonensis is attached.

Third and most recent skeletal reconstruction, without scale or inset, of a reconstructed head after Mirasaura grauvogeli. Body is now longer and more drepanosaur-like.

Oh, but this wasn't enough.

A new paper by Spiekman et al. now propose Longisquama is a drepanosauromorph --or simiosaur, whatever -- and this comes it more peculiarites. It makes other things MAKE SENSE, too. Those RIBS.

#drepanosaurs #sciart #skeletal_reconstruction #longisquama #mirasaura

Same skeleton, better rendered, with smaller gray insert showing the shapes, but not the correct SIZE, of the midline dermal "appendages." It's also correctly sprawling.

The second came shortly after the publication of Buchwitz and Voigt in 2012 who described all the impressions of these peculiar midline dermal appendages.

This one's a lot better, and it fixes some issues with the first.

#drepanosaurs #sciart #skeletal_reconstruction #longisquama #mirasaura

Skeletal reconstruction of the small saurian Longisquama insignis, with a smaller version showing the size and extent of impressions of midline dermal "appendages," likened to "plumes."

It occurred to me to update my Longisquama skeletal reconstruction with recent findings of close relation to drepanosaurs.

The first one was dozens ans dozens of years ago, rendered from bad photographs. It's really bad.

#drepanosaurs #sciart #skeletal_reconstruction #longisquama #mirasaura

I really like how we started with Triceratops in the late 1800s-early 1900s with a lipless, mouthy fella from Chas Knight, the Yale Torosaurus, sculpted by Michael Anderson in the late 1990s at the same time Jurassic Park was putting a sock-mouth on ceratopsians, and now back to lips. Love it!

Evolutionary Arms Race

I get to be creative artistically and literally in the same image! Yay me!

And we knew this back when Longisquama was being redescribed. The only issue there was, unlike now, there were no "remains" to do these tests on---just impressions, which seemed to support a hollow midshaft and vane-like anterior and posterior expansions."
So quite good.

Note: similar to, relative to other structures, doesn't mean equal to.

Are they "extraordinary" at that point? Elaborate, midline squamate-like dorsal structures?

Ink illustration in digital medium (ipad sketchbook) of an Oviraptor philoceratops looking left over its shoulder.

Not to detract from a more well-known cousin, but once Oviraptor philoceratops was the most famous of the trio Osborn named 100+ years ago.

This is looking at the "less well known" Egg Thief.

Life reconstruction in pastellish greens of Mirasaura grauvogeli, a longisquamid drepanosauromorph archosaur. Top left, dorsal view with midline scales shown in contrast, and the text: "Overlap in scales suggest either paramedian or staggered feather-like structures." To the middle right, the text: "midline scales are the same basal width, but grow wider distally, overlapping their neighbors." [Distally means towards the far end.] A side-vew of the same animal with its head raised follows in the lower half of the image, facing right, squatting on its hips with is shoulders raised up along with its head. The feather-like midline scales are labeled, L for Left and R for Right, alternating. The left ar bottom right reads: "instead of alternating paramedian scales, they may be staggered, left and right" At bottommost right, my imprint. A watermark is present (faint, as it should be).

More on #Mirasaura grauvagoli, a small drepanosauromorphan from the Middle Trias of France, a close relative of #Longisquama, #Megalancosaurus.

Questions arise about the nature and arrangement of the midline scales, if they're midline or paramedian.

This is my suggestion, hardly a proof. #SciArt

I'd assume it's just an elaborate dorsal ridge, a la iguanas. IF it's singular.

Pseudhesperosuchus jachaleri skeletal!

truly, 240p video of a cryptid gnome sighting at 3 am worthy

Sometimes, you *need* to believe that someone out there is truly, genuinely good; because it can be really hard to see close to home. That the idea of genuine goodness is a bar you can reach for, without power; and the more who reach for it, the more goodness exists. #Superman

NOPE and Arrival are in my top 5 scifi films of all time. The Thing, Alien, and Jurassic Park round that out. I suppose OG Dune and the sequels, Blade Runner, etc. round out the top 10. The viscereality of these films, resonance, and their evocative questions are very personal and deserved.

Artfight revenge on Moin, with additional characters owned by Palaeophis and Veamers.

I'm getting a little crazy with these MH scenes. If I told y'all I couldn't draw backgrounds before this would you believe me?

#MHart #MonsterHunter #Artfight #Teamcrystals

"We's talkin salt of th'earth, real BROOOOOOKlyn y'know?"

Don't think my propensity for descriptive alt text will help you here. A juvenile theropod dinosaur, facing left, with one large beady, demonic eye staring back into the viewer's soul, knowing that it alone can unlock the withered and tortured heart and finally, at last, bring a modicum of peace---yea, even ... love.

#Sciart digital illustration imitating ink on paper at extremely high contrast.

Theropod hatchling. BUT WHICH ONE? No, it's not Spinosaurus.

I won't talk about #Spinosaurus on my own for a while, to let this breathe. This deserves it. This is good ... hypothesizing, world-building, reverse projection of trends, what have you. Not that I don't have things to say, but for now, no notes.

Looks like a fun concept design, pointing towards a "this is a baby spinosaur!" as a teaching or learning aid. Very nice.

Just like real angels.

Three columns of words, with the first column being "narrative," broken down by Prologue, Interlogue, and Epilogue; Interlogue is in italics (to indicate uncommon usage), the others boldface (to indicate common usage). On the right, the same terms for Musical structure follow: Prelude, Interlude, and Postlude. The latter is less commonly used, but still used, and is in italics. Between them is a column in which the prefixes for progression of sections, from "Pro" or "Pre" meaning "before," "Inter" meaning "during or between acts," and "Post" or "Epi" meaning after.

Perhaps someone can help in, regarding literature and muscial terms, as to whether "interlogue" as opposed to "interlude" is appropriate for narrative writing.

Bold are common uses, italics less common. Some dictionaries don't even have "interlogue," but it does exist.

Head-bobbing in chickens and pigeons is a result of the legs, rather than the arms: the body jerks side to side because of the wide gauge walk, but by bobbing, they keep the world in focus.

The shoulder girdles *are* important, but right now, there's only *ideas* about head/neck support.