Here’s my entry for Joschua Knüppe’s #paleostream competition, run by @252mya ! Joschua has called f

Here’s my entry for Joschua Knüppe’s #paleostream competition, run by @252mya ! Joschua has called for weird, “outside-the-box” palaeoart, and in the spirit of this competition, I present … Shasta Goes Boom!Ichthyosaurs hit their prime in the Triassic, evolving into a myriad of weird shapes. They were the first group of reptiles to return to the sea and become completely aquatic, and these guys went all out. Shastasaurus was a truly gargantuan ichthyosaur from the Middle-to-Late Triassic period, with especially large individuals potentially reaching over 20 metres in length.No, that’s … that’s just not okay. You only JUST got back in the water and this is what you decide to do with yourselves? Unacceptable.This makes it one of the first (but certainly not the last) marine reptiles to pull the whole unholy quantity of sea monster shtick, and like modern whales these leviathans probably didn’t mix well with our old friend terra firma. This lands us in our current situation, where a Shastasaurus has through some means managed to strand itself up on the beach, and failed to withstand the crushing weight of its own body out of water. A small coelophysoid takes notice of the enormous carcass, and walks closer to inspect.What the theropod doesn’t know, however, is that the Shastasaurus’ latest meal has been fermenting in its stomach, building up gas and multiplying the internal pressure of its belly until …Well, the Shasta Goes Boom.This phenomenon of gas buildup causing explosions on beached carcasses has been observed several times in the bodies of stranded whales, and since the basic premise is the same, I figured this sort of situation was at least somewhat likely to have occurred in prehistory at some point. These whale explosions often have a startling effect on unfortunate people who get too close, and the image of a tiny theropod’s breakfast bonanza suddenly exploding in its face was probably a little too funny to me. This little guy probably isn’t that fussed though, at least after he’s gotten over his initial reaction. After all, he’s got much easier access to all the good stuff now. The pterosaurs, on the other hand, have had enough with this particular meal. They’re off to find something a little less … volatile.I used Scott Hartman’s Shonisaurus skeletal as a reference for this guy, which was extremely helpful as I initially drew it from memory, resulting in what basically looked like a giant, temporally-displaced Temnodontosaurus.I hope you enjoy the picture Joschua, and I look forward to seeing the results of the competition! -- source link

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