These images depict reconstructions of various fossilized plants and animals, most of which are are long extinct and stem from as far back in time as the Mesozoic era. Please scroll downwards to see all the selections in this subsection.
Reconstruction of an Eocoracias brachyptera roosting in a Staphylea germanica tree
This is a reconstruction of the plausibly, blue-hued, Eocene proto-roller, Eocoracias brachyptera. The illustration was influenced by studying the recent Babarović, Puttick, Zaher, et al paper "Characterization of melanosomes involved in the production of non-iridescent structural feather colours and their detection in the fossil record". Journal of The Royal Society: Interface,16 (155). 20180921. ISSN 1742-5689), I prepared a ventral/anterior view of the bird perched in a tree from the Messel formation called Straphylea germanica. I emphasized the syndactyl feet present in the associated fossil specimens. The principle blue color used in the painting was the recently synthesized furnace product called YInMn Blue (Pigment Blue 86).
The enantirornithine Cratonavis zhui digitally reconstructed using Procreate on an iPad
This reconstruction depicts a mother Hypacrosaurus stebingeri examining the fresh corpse of one of her young that has expired in the shallow waters of a pond. The scene takes place in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian era) of Montana. The illustration was prepared for the cover of the National Science Review (Oxford) at this URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwz206 (the lead author is Dr. Alida Bailleul from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing) , and also appears accompanying a news brief written by Michael Greshko, on the national geographic.com website for their March 2020 edition. The dead juvenile hadrosaur symbolically portrays the possible source for evidence of proteins, chromosomes and chemical markers of DNA in its exceptionally preserved dinosaur cartilage.
This is the front cover of the National Science Review Volume 7 Issue 3, March 2020. It features a reconstruction of a mother Hypacrosaurus stebingeri encountering the fresh deceased body of one of her offspring. The biochemical fate of that corpse and the possible preservation of evidence of proteins and DNA material found in the subsequent fossil is the subject of the paper by Dr. Alida Bailleul in this journal: https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwz206.
This is a reconstruction of the extinct Pleistocene era North American Cheetah (Miracinonyx) chasing a Pronghorn antelope (Artilocarpa americana). © M. Rothman 1997
The image depicts a pair of Asteriornis maastrichensis displaying possible dimorphic markings. The male is shown with more vivid coloration on the face and beak. The female has more subdued coloration on its head. Asteriornis is considered to be the oldest known member of the Neornithes and was collected in European sediment dating from the Late Maastrichian era, less than a million years before the KT asteroid strike. It is also considered to be a near relative of the ancestral stock that evolved into both the anseriformes (birds with pronounced duck-like attributes) and the galliformes (birds with chicken or poultry-like attributes).
This painting depicts a possible symbiotic relationship between the largest known Cretaceous mammal Repenomamus giganticus and the basal avian Eoenantiornis buhleri. The birds, including both adults and extremely precocious juveniles, are shown assembling around the mammals and gleaning ticks and other arthropods from their fur. Adult Repenomamus had an approximate length of 1 meter (tip of nose to tip of tail). The principle vegetation is a reconstruction of Baikalophyllum lobatum.
It is unresolved as to whether Euharamiyidan mammaliformes are in the crown group of mammals or actually advanced cynodonts. Other data indicates that they are ancestral to the Multiturburculate mammals. Morphologically, Shenshou lui may have been an arboreal herbivore with a prehensile tail and is depicted foraging on seed cones of a Sciadopitys-related conifer.
Pleistocene era Florida Gulf Coast habitat reconstruction. This was a mural prepared for the University of Florida Museum of Natural History. Details are in the two images that follow immediately below.
This is a right side detail of the Pleistocene era Florida Gulf Coast Marine habitat mural prepared for the University of Florida Museum of Natural History. The “chief vertebrate actors” on this side of the mural include the Caribbean Monk Seal (Monachus tropicalis), a Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta), and a school of Mullet (Mugil cephalus). Among the invertebrates in the sea grass meadow, the following mollusk species are present: Arcinella cornuta, Eupleura tampaensis, Hexaplex fulvescens, Fasciolaria okeechoensis, Liochlamys bulbosa, Turbinella hoerlei, and Strombus leidyi.
This is a left side detail of the Pleistocene era Florida Gulf Coast Marine mural prepared for the University of Florida Museum of Natural History.
Among the “chief vertebrate actors” are a Manatee (Trichechus manatees), a Goliath Grouper (Epinephalus itajara), a Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda), a Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), diving after a school of Mullet (Mugli cephalus), a Nurse Shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum), a Stingray (Dasyatis sp.), a Porcupine fish (Diodon sp.), and a Skate (Raja sp.). Invertebrates include corals, crabs, silver dollars, clams, oysters, and marine snails.
Illustration of the Tyner Farms Miocene era site in Northern Florida near the Suwannee River. The habitat is known for its mammalian megafauna including proboscideans, bone-eating canids, tusked artodactyls, and giant ground sloths. This mural is part of a permanent installation at the University of Florida Museum of Natural History. Details are described in the two images that follow immediately below.
This image shows a more detailed view of the left side of Tyner farms Miocene habitat reconstruction. In the foreground, a small, pronghorn-like female antelope, Pediomeryx hemphillensis leaps forward, seemingly out of the picture plane. Behind her, the tri-antlered male Pediomeryx hemphillensis leaps upward crossing the edge of the limestone cliff face. The Miocene era horse Dinohippus is slightly to her right and in the immediate foreground is the large land tortoise Hesperotestudo feeding on Palmetto fruits. At middle distance on the left is the dog-like hyena Borophagus pugnator. In the background, a female North American Rhino (Aphelops mutilis) watches as her calf flees the water when an Alligator (Alligator mefferdi), holding a captured Pediomeryx in its jaws, swims in that direction.
This is a more detailed image showing the right side of the Tyner farms Miocene era mural. A giant Ground Sloth Thinobadistes wetzeli) is shown feeding upon a Black Tupelo (Nyssa) at the center of the image and on the right side foreground, diminutive Musk-deer (Pseudoceras sp.), are depicted feeding upon Saw Palmetto fruits (Serena repens). At left, in the background, a Shovel-tusk Probiscidean (Ambelodon britti) drinks from a fresh water lake. At left, in middle distance, an ancient horse (Dinohippus sp.) is ascending the inclined surface forming the of face of a limestone cliff edge.
This is a reconstruction of the four-winged dromeosaurid early Cretaceous dinosaur Microraptor gui perched in the branches of a Tyrmia acrodonta (Bennettitalean) . (The foliage architecture is of the divaricate Williamsoniaceae-type growth habit). The image appeared in the film “Why Dinosaurs?”.
New York Times Science Section illustration depicting the three vertebrate groups which separately developed powered flight as examplesof convergent evolution: avians (Clade: Ornithurae, Class: Aves), pterodactyls (Clade: Pterosauromorpha), and bats (Class: Mammalia)
This is a reconstruction of Orienantius ritteri, a basal avian (Enantiornithine) from the Early Cretaceous of China. It is believed to have had flying capabilities similar to living birds. Orienantius ritteri is shown near the end of a downstroke in level flight.
This is a reconstruction of the Early Cretaceous crocodyliform Shantungosuchus. It was a long-legged terrestrial crocodile with a body length of about 1 meter. Here, Shantungosuchusis shown ambushing a pair of multituberculate mammals called Sinobaatar. One of the individual Sinobaatar is shown feeding upon ginkgoid infructescences (possibly assignable to Gingko apodes or Ginkgo liaoningensis (=Ginkgoites sibirica Heer)). The scene is in early Autumn. The fauna and flora of this paleo-reconstruction are from the Chinese Jehol biota. © M. Rothman 2019
This the original study of a Jeholornis prima foraging in a Bennettitalean. The study was used as a reference in the full-sized “Jiufotang habitat reconstruction” painting shown below. (The depiction of avian plumage chroma has been influenced by recent interpretations of feather coloration based upon fossilized melanosome arrays).
Right side of the Jiufotang habitat reconstruction with a Jeholornis prima feeding upon Cycadioid (Bennettitalean) seeds. A Ginkgoid with mature fruit and yellowish leaves is the principle plant visible in this close up. (The depiction of avian plumage chroma has been influenced by recent interpretations of feather coloration based upon fossilized melanosome arrays).
Left side of the Jiufotang habitat reconstruction with individuals representing the following extinct avian taxa: Yanornis, Sapeornis, Confuciousornis, and Longypteris. Horsetail plants, called Equisetites, are prominent in the lower left edge of this image. (The depiction of avian plumage chroma has been influenced by recent interpretations of feather coloration based upon fossilized melanosome arrays).
Male and female Eoconfuciousornis zhengi in level flight over a lacustrine habitat, Early Cretaceous , NE China. Cover illustration for Vertebrata Palasiatica 57 (1) , January 2019 IVPP, China
Cover illustrations for Volumes 55 and 57 of Vertebrata Palasiatica, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and PaleoAnthropology (IVPP), China. Illustrations prepared fro Dr. Jingmai K. O’Connor.
This is the illustration prepared for a Primer on the ancient avian group called Enantiornithines, written by Dr. Jingmai K. O’Connor of the Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History. (Current Biology 32, R1042-R1172, October 24, 2022).
Iteravis huchzermeyeri hunting crayfish underwater in a flooded riparian forest. An ornithuromorph (Aves: Ornithothoraces) from the Jehol Biota of Northeastern China. (Lower Cretaceous, Yixian Formation). The avian on the left side is depicted using its webbed feet for propulsion and the individual on the right is scrambling through the branches of a inundated plant using the claws on its alula digits.
Avimaia schweitzerae gen. et sp. nov, 1st color study of this colonial nesting Enantiornithine (Aves) basal avian. © M. Rothman 2018. (Prepared for Drs. A. Bailleul and J. K. O’Connor, et al at the IVPP, Beijing China).
Sarcosuchus, a Giant African crocodile attacking a hadrosaur.
This is a depiction of an Early Jurassic estuary habitat group in Sweden. The underwater scene depicts Hybodont sharks, and their egg cases (Palaeoxyris) attached to the inundated trunks of Neocalamites sp. (Equiseites). Natural Science Illustration in support of paleontological research.
Habitat reconstruction with the basal avian, Junornis houi depicted in flight and landing on a tree. Data from the recently described, strap-leaved Ginkgoid, Umaltolepis mongolensis was used as the basis for reconstructing the tree. Early Cretaceous, Inner Mongolia.
Reconstruction of an Avimaia schweitzerae in a colonial netting site with Equisetites and Anomochloa-related plants (Poaceae) © M. Rothman 2018. Image published in National Geographic online 3-21-2019. The image depicts a lakeside habitat found in the Lower Cretaceous Xiagou Formation of approximately 115 mya. (The painting was prepared for Drs. A. Bailleul and J. K. O’Connor of the IVPP, Beijing).
Repenomamus giganticus (a gobiconodontid mammal) and Cathayornis yandica (an Enantiornithine avian), are shown in a Yixian habitat group reconstruction. (Early Cretaceous, NE China). © M. Rothman 2019
This reconstruction was prepared based upon the older assumption that Coelophysis didn’t necessarily have protocol-feathers.
An enormous Haast's eagle (Harpagornis moorei) in Post Glacial New Zealand is shown feeding its chick a Finsch's Flightless Duck (Euryanas finchi). The eagle’s nest is in the crown of Totara tree (Podocarpus totara). A group of Giant moas (Dinornis novazelandiae) forage in the grasslands. In mid-distance, a flock of Red-crowned parakeets (Cyanoramphus novazelandiae) passes by in rapid flight.
This index page is devoted to the depiction of complex habitat groups in the Neotropical realm (New World). Much of the subject matter relates to specific botanical specialties and floral family group interests of the Curators from the Institute of Systematic Botany of the New York Botanical Garden. Respective pollinators or seed dispersers of featured plants are also portrayed, when known. Please scroll downward to see additional examples in this subsection.
Cacao growing under the cabruca agroforestry system in a remnant Atlantic Forest experimental preserve in Brazil. A more vertically oriented version was published as the cover art of World Watch magazine 2001. A number of endangered plants and animals, such as the Golden Lion Tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia) and the Pink-legged Graveteiro (Acrobatornis fonsecai) have found refuge in these forests.
A Red-rumped Agouti (Dasyprocta leporina) feeding upon a Brazil nut fruit (Bertholletia excelsa). Agoutis are the only mammal (other than man), which can open a woody Brazil nut fruit and access the seeds. They also spread them throughout the nearby forest and thus act as “accidental” dispersers by stashing seeds in caches, where they may stay, overlooked and unconsumed.
Illustration depicting the montane subtropical deciduous forest in a gorge near Amboró National Park. Here, the peaks of the Andes give way to vast plains that form a barrier abutting the lowland moist tropical forests of the huge Amazon Basin farther to the East. Species depicted: Ceiba boliviana (Bombacaceae), Helicteres lhotskyana (Sterculiaceae), Paspalum stellatum (Poaceae), Tillandsia samaipatensis (Bromeliaceae), Gallesia integrifolia (Phytolaccaceae), Andean condor (Vultur gryphus), Red-fronted macaw (Ara rubrogenys), and Vigna caracalla (Fabaceae). Copyright M. Rothman 2002
Cycad pollination syndrome: Illustration depicting the recently described pollination mechanism of the Cycad Zamia furfuracea, by a Snout Weevil (Rhopalotria mollis), in the species-rich region of Veracruz, Mexico. The Weevil is shown, variously, in flight (magnified), mating upon a Zamia cone, and depositing eggs in another cone. Other Cycad species are also present, including Ceratozamia latifolia (orange foliage), and the arborescent Dioon spinulosum. An adult and some caterpillars of the Cycad-dependent blue hairstreak butterfly (Eumaeus toxea) are also depicted on the Zamia leaflets.
The image depicts the significant relationship between the Andean Wax Palm (Ceroxylon quindiuense), the National Tree of Columbia, and the highly endangered Yellow-eared Parrot (Ognorhynchus icterotis). The bird depends on the tree for nesting sites and food. However, extensive cutting of the trees had resulted in the near extinction of the parrot, whose numbers plunged to under 100 individuals. In recent years, through efforts of the Columbian conservation organization Fundacion ProAves, the population has risen tenfold.
This large work, measuring 48" V. by 72" H., depicts a pack of neotropical Bushdogs (Speothos venaticus) crossing the St. Eloi Creek, in French Guiana. They are widespread throughout much of South America in forest and savannah settings but at a very low population density. Bushdogs are Canids, but not in genus Canus. They are highly social and share parental responsibilities among a close knit group. They can hunt on land for prey like agoutis and capybara and underwater for turtles. Other colloquial names are Boshond, Cachorro-do-mata, pero de monte, bushdagoe, zorro vinagre, Chocó, Chien de forêt, ヤブイヌ, Yabu inu, and Waldhund.
Paintings displayed here represent habitat groups developed upon specific sites in the Northern Hemisphere but excluding the Neotropics. Please scroll downwards to see all the samples in this subsection.
This habitat group depicts the fauna and flora of the Four Corners Region of the American Southwest. The broadleaf trees are called Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius var. intermontanus) and their flowers are shown (right side) being pollinated by metallic green Sweat-bees (Agaostemon tetanus). A Black-chinned hummingbird (Archilochus alejandri) hovers (at left) near the bright red flowers of a Penstemon eatonii. The yellow flowers at the lower right are called Cleomella palmeriana.
This is a depiction of the Pu’u kukui montane habitat group on the island of Maui. The bog site is home to numerous threatened endemic species of Hawaiian plants and animals. The recently extinct Bishop's ʻōʻō is shown perched on a branch of a Metrosideros polymorpha var. pseudorugosa (an endemic dwarf type of the ʻōhiʻa lehua). A number of Lobellia species are also found there.
The Samoan Toothed-billed pigeon is the critically endangered closest living relative of the fabled Dodo. The Samoan tooth-billed pigeon or “Little Dodo of Samoa” has the scientific name of Didunculus strigirostris, or Manumea in the Samoan language. It is also the national bird of Samoa, but its future is in jeopardy with likely fewer than 200 individuals still surviving in forests that are threatened both by logging and the depredations of Polynesian rats (Rattus exulans). The Samoans have launched a vigorous rodent control effort to preserve the Manumea.
This gallery displays examples of artwork ranging from content produced for a cadre of young readers in grammar school, through middle school biology topics, and STEM foundation courses. Please scroll downwards to see all the samples.
Illustration of an adult Hoatzin (Ophisthocomus hoazin), depicted here with two of her young. The juveniles have functional claws on their wings and are able to swim. When danger threatens, the chicks can jump from their nest into the water below, hide in floating vegetation, and after the danger passes, climb back into their nest. The wing claws cease to function in adults. The adults eat only leaves. © M. Rothman 2000
This Unpublished Chromatic Study was the 1st version of the image directly above. The young girl is just falling asleep.
Unpublished Image for a children’s book describing the adventures of a tabby cat in the nighttime. Here a young girl is sleeping, but her cat has just awoken and is about to depart into the outside world under the moonlight. This is the 2nd painting based upon the 2nd preparatory drawing shown below.
This is the Unpublished Preparatory Drawing for the 2nd version of a story about a cat’s travels in the nighttime. A young girl is sleeping while her cat has just awoken and will soon leave for its adventures in the outdoors under the moonlight. The monochrome drawing was used as a reference for the 2nd chromatic sketch directly above.
This is a generalized “ant’s eye view” of a mature North American Oak tree, genus Quercus in the early Autumn. It is suitable a a variety of story formats dealing with our native, North American Forests.
This was a mockup cover illustration prepared for the Wm. Morrow Just For A Day Series title “White Bear, Ice Bear” (written by Joanne Ryder).
A Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulas) is shown flying from its perch in a Black Spruce (Picea mariana). Illustration prepared for the “Great North Woods” ISBN 978—1-56846-275-2. (Creative Editions).
A lake in the boreal forest near the US/Canadian border. A Northern Gar appears at left, a Bullhead catfish is in the mud near center bottom, and a Walleye is at right. Illustration prepared for the “Great North Woods” ISBN 978—1-56846-275-2. (Creative Editions).
Saguro habitat group.
California Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) floating in a giant kelp bed. Illustration from “Sea Elf” , Wm. Morrow Jr. Books, “Just for a Day Series”. ISBN 0-688-10060-0. (Also published in French as “Le Lutin Des Mers” ISBN 2 211 03313 X).
A Purple Pitcher-plant (Sarracenia purpurea) growing in an acidic bog in the Boreal Forest. Illustration prepared for the “Great North Woods” ISBN 978—1-56846-275-2. (Creative Editions).
Tyrannosaurus rex
This is an internal illustration for “Tyrannosaurus Time.” ISBN 0-688-13682-6. Here a T. rex is crossing a small river in Montana during the late Cretaceous Era. Basal avians called Enantiornithines are shown in the foreground. One Enantornithine is depicted with a captured amphibian in its mouth.
The botanical illustrations in this subsection depict the Black Walnut tree and Coffee plant cultivation for Kitchen Gardens magazine. Three other illustrations portray the Whale Fall Decomposition cycle through a series of images portraying the three recognized stages in the process. Hagfish, Greenland Sharks, benthic crabs, polychaete worms, and bacteria all contribute to the the “recycling” of entire whale carcasses on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. The Cetacean artwork was prepared for Natural History magazine.
Rear cover illustration a Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) for Kitchen Gardens Magazine (acrylic emulsion paints).
Whale Fall Decomposition Cycle Stage 1 prepared for Natural History Magazine 1999. Amphipods, Hagfish, Crabs, and a Greenland Shark are visible consuming the carcass.
Whale Fall Decomposition Cycle Stage 2. Species labels are present on the image. © M. Rothman 2005
Whale Fall Decomposition Cycle Stage 3. Species labels are visible. © M. Rothman 2005
Rear cover illustration for Kitchen Garden magazine of shade-grown Coffee agriculture (Coffee arabica). Painted in acrylic emulsion colors.
The Bulgo Sandstone (Narrabeen Group) is a rare example of a coeval fauna and floral group from the early Triassic era. Included in this illustration are the principally known paleobotanical elements including Dicroidium, Lepidopteris and Pleuromeiales foliage. The illustration appears in ALCHERINGA: An Australian Journal of Paleontology https:doi.org/10.1080/03135518.202402392489
This is the first reconstruction of the earliest known member of the Nymphaeaceae family, Microvictoria svitkoana. It shares recognizable characters with the modern genus Victoria, which includes the giant Amazonian water lily. This newly described Cretaceous species, M. svitkoana, is vastly smaller in scale than its extant counterpart, V. amazonica.
Protofageous Turonian era (Cretaceous) digital flower reconstruction based on Scanning Electron Micrographs of Dept. of Plant Biology, Cornell University specimen stubs 269 and 322.
Protofageous Turonian era (Cretaceous) digital flower reconstruction based on Scanning Electron Micrographs of Dept. of Plant Biology, Cornell University specimen stubs 46, 324, and 740.
This is a whole plant Podozamites-Swedenborgia reconstruction prepared in the program Procreate using an iPad.
This subsection of my work is represented by examples of paleo-botanical and paleo-zoological reconstructions done with traditional or “corporeal” media like pen & ink, graphite, and acrylic emulsion paint. It is in contrast to the section entitled “Digital fossil plant reconstructions from specimens at Cornell University”, which were developed entirely within programs like Adobe Photoshop,
Pabiania variloba habit reconstruction
Pabiania variloba was a member of the order Laurales represented by numerous fossils found at the Rose Creek site in Nebraska and the Hosington III site in Kansas. (Eastern side of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, Early Cretaceous Albian). I examined images of fossils in their respective matrices in the paper "Early Cretaceous angiosperm leaves from the Dakota Formation, Hoisington III locality, Kansas, USA" (Wang, Dicher). (Palaeontologia Electronica 21.3.34A 1-49. https://doi.org/10.26879/841 palaeo-electronica.org/content/2018/2270-early-cretaceous-leaves). I then developed their habit and coloration based upon logical inferences.
This is a reconstruction of the uppermost Rhaetian seed fern Lepidopteris ottonis from Bosarp, Skåne, Sweden. The male plant is depicted. The illustration was prepared for the Swedish Museum of Natural History and published in the journal Palaeogeography, Paleoclimatology, July 2023. DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111723
This is a complex reconstruction of both the paleo-flora and avialan fauna of the the Northeastern Chinese Liaoning region in the early Cretaceous era. The flora is dominated by Ginkgoid trees, Bennettitaleans, Equisetites, and ferns. The avialan component is represented by Confuciousornis sanctus, Jeholonis prima, Longipteryx sp., Yanornis martini, and Sapeornis chaoyangensis. (N.B.: More recent analysis indicates that the avialan feather colors may have been more subdued. See my general “Paleotological reconstruction” subsection for a more conservative treatment of this same image).
Crassidenticulum decurrens, like Pabiania, cited above (Wang, Dicher), dates from the Early Cretaceous Dakota formation and its fossil remains have been found at the Rose Creek site in Nebraska, and the Hoisington III locality in Kansas. Crassidenticulum is believed to be in the Chlorantaceae family.
This is a reconstruction of the Bennettitalean Nilssonia brevis based on a modern reinterpretation of T.M. Harris 1941 / 1961 (integration of Beania cones) with Nilssonia foliage from A.G. Nathorst 1909 (S066995, S068163, S068164, etc).
This is an estuarine habitat group of the Early Jurassic Höör formation in Sweden with the dominant Bennettitalean Nilssonia brevis in the foreground at the margin of a pyroclastic event.
This is a reconstruction of Swedish Early Jurassic estuarine habitat with Hybodont sharks swimming in the background and Palaeoxyris egg cases attached to submerged Neocalamites (Equisitum) stems.
This is a reconstruction of the ca.90 MYBP, early Coniacian era, Late Cretaceous flower Archeastella verticillata of the Futaba Group in Japan. The painting depicts a whole flower in an apical/lateral view; in a partially dissected flower from that same view; and in an orthographic pure apical view.
This whole plant reconstruction of the mid-Triassic, tree-sized plant Dicroidium zuberi, is based upon on the consideration that Pteruchus barrealensis was the male reproductive organ (microsporophylls) and specimens of Umkomasia feistmantelli were the megasporophylls). Specimens of the genus Dicroidium, and closely related taxa, have been located at multiple sites of what was once the Continent of Gondwanaland.
This subsection of my illustration portfolio contains reconstructions of “recently” extinct and endangered animal species. Iconic fauna like the Great Auk, the Falkland Islands Wolf, the Passenger Pigeon, the Carolina Parakeet, and the Thylacine Wolf (aka “The Tasmanian Tiger”), are depicted in their native habitats. Please scroll downward to see all the image content.
This painting depicts the two last adult Great Auks (Alca impennis) just before they were killed by fisherman on the Icelandic Island of Eldey Rock on June 3, 1844. Their sole egg was simultaneously smashed when their bodies were collected.
Detail from the painting “A.O.U. 382 In flight reconstruction of the extinct Carolina parakeet”. Used as the cover art for the journal AUK Volume 129, April 2012.
Detail from the painting “A.O.U. 382 In flight reconstruction of the extinct Carolina parakeet” before embedding within the actual cover design..
Extinct Great Auks (Alca impennis) on the Geirfuglasker Rocks, Iceland prior to 1830.
The extinct Falklands Island Wolf (Dusicyon australis) and a freshly caught Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus). Charles Darwin encountered the Falklands Island Wolf when his science survey ship the HMS Beagle visited the archipelago.
An Okapi (Okapia johnstoni) in the Ituri Forest, Zaire. First known to Western Science only since the 19th Century. The Okapi is threatened throughout its range by the bush meat trade and widespread civil conflict.
