canneddog:i-draws-dinosaurs:phinskini:i-draws-dinosaurs:So here’s a few drawings of mine from a seri

canneddog:i-draws-dinosaurs:phinskini:i-draws-dinosaurs:So here’s a few drawings of mine from a series of modern reconstructions of extinct animals reacting to outdated versions of themselves. These were rather fun to do, especially the Quetzalcoatlus (azhdarchids just have the perfect mouth shape for frowny-faces).Please repeat after: The tyrannosaurus did not have feathers. The tyrannosaurus did not have feathers. One more time: THE TYRANNOSAURUS DID NOT HAVE FEATHERSActually, there’s a mountain of evidence to suggest that Tyrannosaurus did indeed have feathers on at least part of its body. Yutyrannus and Dilong are both close relatives of Tyrannosaurus from China that were found with feathers preserved around their skeletons. Relatives and ancestors of Tyrannosaurus all the way back to the Middle Jurassic have been found with coverings of feathers, and there’s really no reason to suspect the Tyrannosaurus would have been any different.Tyrannosaurus’s earlier Chinese cousin Yutyrannus was also a rather large theropod, at around 9 metres long, and is the largest dinosaur yet discovered with feathers. Yutyrannus was covered from head to toe with feathers (literally!), and if a 9-metre-long theropod evidently had no problem with being completely covered in feathers then a 12-metre-long theropod partially covered with feathers shouldn’t have had any problems either.I would also like to point out that large, flightless birds like ostriches, emus and cassowaries live quite happily in deserts, humid rainforests, and hot, dry shrublands, despite being covered in long shaggy feathers. This is because (A) they have large areas of skin on their legs, head, and underneath their wings which help to dissipate heat and cool the animals down, and (B) feathers do not work like fur. Yes, a large animal in a warm climate covered with fur would overheat, but feathers are different. Feathers allow the animal to regulate their body temperature both ways, warming them up or cooling them down. This would be huge advantage to an animal the size of Tyrannosaurus, which would need ways to cool itself off on hot days.So yeah, feathers on Tyrannosaurus? Extremely likely, based on scientific evidence, and they also look pretty cool in my opinion.Can you explain the reasoning behind the quetzalcoatlus reconstructionSo I’m not entirely sure what you mean by this but I’ll try and answer as best I can. If you’re confused about the accurate one being on the right instead of left like the other ones, I’ll edit the picture to put the accurate one on the left. I certainly don’t want people thinking that the orange devil pterosaur is the accurate one!Alternatively, you could just be asking about my scientific process when reconstructing the Quetzalcoatlus, in which case I am more than happy to answer that! The Quetz in my drawing is based on Quetzalcoatlus sp, a smaller species of Quetzalcoatlus from Texas. Q. sp is much more completely-known than the much larger and more famous Q. northropi, which is why is decided to draw the smaller species.Obviously the proportions of my version are exaggerated because it’s a stylised, cartoonish representation, but refernces are sill important. I based the proportions on this diagram by Mark Witton. Witton is one of the best sources out there for accurate and reliable pterosaur references. You can find his blog here. John Conway, Jaime Headden, and Scott Hartman also make great skeletal diagrams. And whatever you do, do not use anything by David Peters.Now for the fuzziness, or ‘pycnofibres’ as they’re called by the fancy science folks. This fuzz is sort of like fur or primitive feathers, the main difference being that it grows on pterosaurs and not mammals or dinosaurs. Several different species of pterosaur from across a fairly wide range have been found with these pycnofibres, so it is likely that all pterosaurs possessed them to some extent. It’s also possible that the pterosaurs’ pycnofibres and the dinosaurs’ feathers had a common ancestor, meaning feathery coverings could potentially extend even further into the archosaur family tree, but that’s not really relevent here.That’s pretty much my entire scientific reasoning behind this reconstruction. As exaggerated and cartoonish as a drawing may be, it’s still important to understand the underlying science behind any restoration. So yeah, that’s pretty much it! I hope I answered your question, @canneddog. -- source link

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