ANIMARAPTOR

Artist, animator and graphic designer, who sometimes make paleo- and even specevo stuff

[animaraptor]

MULEFA REIMAGINED

First of all, I want to give a disclaimer: I have not read the original series of books to which this race belongs (His Dark Materials). I see the mulefa as a detached idea of animals without spine with a trunk that resemble modern herbivores like antelopes and move on seed wheels, which I wanted to make "more realistic" without the dive into more details of the original lore.

I decided to draw my own interpretation of this race, as mulefa are most often depicted with the same anatomy as vertebrates, although they should not have a spine or such.

So, in my interpretation, the mulefa could have descended from an octopus-like ancestor that uses a similar locomotion, but with one difference — it comes from bivalve locomotion, that is, compression of the flaps to create a jerk. In addition to the flaps, the creature has six main tentacles, which have a cartilaginous base of a "neck", "skull" and claws for preparing food, and additional, longer and narrower tentacles, "arms", convergent in function to the squid's tentacles and located on a separate "flap", not connected to the rest. On the skull of each tentacle there is a primitive pair of eyes and, in fact, the fleshy process itself, which extends far enough from the cartilaginous base. The jaws have a radula and a separate, longer tooth. The main brain is located inside the body between the valves. The head, tail, and limbs of the mulef are homologous to the tentacles of the ancestor, and the body consists of flaps, respectively. The base of the long tentacles grows to the posterior flap, which eventually divides the body into two segments with a subspecific junction. The "hands" of the mulef have the function of pushing off from the road surface and, consequently, acceleration/deceleration. All of the limbs of the mulef lost one of the jaws and eyes, while the other became the basis for a finger with a claw — with the exception of the head, in which they remained jaws and eyes, actually. The brain in the body has become secondary to the head center, plus the centers have been preserved in the limbs — this allows zalef (singular mulef) to automate the movement process and "not think while driving."

[animaraptor]

[animaraptor]

Made some abstract gorgonopsian on holidays as present for friend

[animaraptor]

Of all the vertebral animals, 3 groups of animals conquered the sky: pterosaurs (archosaurs), birds (archosaurs) and bats (SYNAPSIDS WITH NON-RHEUMATIZED BONES WITHOUT LUNG SACS AND PRESERVED TEETH, PLUS HAVING SOME KIND OF MONSTROUS MEAT STRUCTURE ON THEIR HEADS THAT SHOULD VIOLATE THE LAWS OF AROMODYNAMICS AND THEY FLY FASTER AND IN FULL FLIGHT IN THE DARK BECAUSE ECHOLOCATION)

there is a black sheep in every flock

(based of memed MichaelJLarson King Ghidorah Kevin art)

[animaraptor]

I sketched such an "dinoaustralopithecus", where I kept the tail (since it is important for dinosaurs, since running is tied to it), raised my posture, strengthened and shortened my neck, and also tried to adapt my arms for more successful javelin throwing. Most likely, they will descend from flightless ape-like descendants of microraptors or other related species that have occupied a large arboreal niche, which will repeat the evolutionary history of humans. The shoulder bones will begin to perform the function of the shoulder blades, the palm (what is in the palm, it seems, is called the metatarsal) — the forearms, forming something like a cap, and the lower phalanges of the fingers — a false metatarsal. The thumb will become partially rudimentary (just a bone stick opposed to other fingers and capable of pressing against the palm), and the other 2 fingers will create an analogue of a high-precision claw. Perhaps the true shoulder blades will rise up, forming a hump to make it easier to throw a spear.

[animaraptor]

[animaraptor]

THE LEECH-EATER

A quick sketch of one idea: What if there were terrestrial leeches that specialized in feeding on tree sap?These could be short-lived creatures that, as adults, would thrive in the middle of spring, when there are still many predators, but the temperature outside is already above zero. They could gnaw through the bark of trees with slow movements of their mouths and teeth, crowning the proboscis that appeared to plunge into the bark, reaching the cherished "nectar". The leeches could secrete excess moisture through the skin, creating a glue-like hardening substance with an unpleasant taste (for birds), giving the leech a shell of mucus and forest debris.As summer approached, the females would lay cocoons with eggs in drilled holes, where they slowly develop and overwinter until the following spring.; after the warming, new peonies will be born, which, upon hatching, will arrange an orgy of hermaphrodites and a feast of cannibals for the future and will come out into the world in search of suitable vacant plots on which they will sit for the rest of their short lives — until the time comes to repeat the miracle of life. Anyway, most of the energy from the juices consumed by the leech will be spent on creating cocoons, not on its growth.

[animaraptor]

Looks ahead ✅

Vertical pupils ✅

Ladies and gentlemen, the PREDATOR

[animaraptor]

Old attempts to create a cross between the snout of a pterosaur and a rodent by enlarging the incisors + another side note on the topic of extreme jaw changes in humans

[animaraptor]

PELAGIC SEA DEVIL

The pelagic devil, a deep-sea predator snail, is a descendant of Limacina snails (also known as sea butterflies), and a relative to one of the strangest inhabitants of the ocean - the sea angel - both of which have already developed fins. These species inhabit the depths of the sea, where they sink during the daytime and rise to the surface during nighttime. They are not very good swimmers, relying on their fins for food capture, which they use to capture food in mucus filaments that drift onto their "wings" where cilia move the food to their mouths. The mucus also helps them maintain near-neutral buoyancy by neutralizing the weight of their shells, although they will still sink unless they move their wings.

Devils, like butterflies, are also residents of the deep sea, preferring northern regions of the world ocean. They move slowly through the water column using their fins, whose role in feeding has been lost. Their bodies are stabilized by a caudal fin that also allows them to change direction. Fins are attached to shells, the weight of which is partly offset by mucus and mostly by the mantle through which gas exchange takes place. Although devils still sink as they move, they periodically make powerful strokes with their pectoral fin to adjust their degree of immersion.

They focus mainly on chemical odor and vision, living slightly higher than their ancestors. They are ambush hunters with tentacles that converge with those of angels. Devils have only three tentacles, one for each chitinous tooth of their radula, which are used like harpoons that pop out of their heads when they squeeze the front of their bodies and move water into their tentacles. Unlike angels, devils' tentacles work like cages, preventing prey from escaping. The rest of their radulas remain functional but are specialized for scraping and tearing flesh while holding prey with tentacle harpoons. Due to limitations of their shell size, devils cannot swallow large prey and spend a lot of time digesting it, sometimes up to several hours, during which time they slow down and go deeper to conserve energy. They can also be parasitic, attaching to larger animals with their harpoons, a strategy often used by young devils.

Despite starting life with the same methods of hunting and moving as butterflies do, devils gradually move towards a more active life until they grow into giants in a few years' time. However, despite this, devils remain a rare sight in ocean waters due to their mucus containing corrosive, unpleasant-tasting compounds and possibly light toxins, making them an attractive dish for squids and whales.

[animaraptor]

In other communities, I once asked for ideas for strange hybrids, and a series of small works emerged from this. The first of these hybrids is a mixture of Macrauchenia and Graptolithina (a superorganism of several zooids that occupied a niche similar to jellyfish - in this case, only one zooid is used here). There's not a lot of thought invested in this concept, but there's something to it.

[animaraptor]

I redraw Megarchelon, turtle-shark hybrid from Jurrasic World the Game, because original design look to lazy for me... it just meg with shell texture after all.

Also one of hybrid's parent, Archelon, done poorly in game (wrong beak, unlike real animal have osteoderms, not naked skin). Like, you have cool big turtle with raptor beak, and instead you make just oversized regular sea turtle? And in a end of the day, you give hybrid a shell from animal, who doesn't really have it... so it just end being blank painted fat shark. Pathetic!

Yeah, I hate this chonk guy after all

[animaraptor]

Old art of some dude. Fluffy egg)

[animaraptor]

Long time ago somebody asked me draw planaria descendant; now I have good art but also shitty concept. Dude even cant normaly move whith double spine...

[animaraptor]

This is my most popular post, and i have any idea why.

like this is a really bad spec picture? and art.. ok?

tumbler is a mystery for me

[animaraptor]

Another old sketches

[animaraptor]

THE WORST RECONSTRUCTION OF A PTERANODON

I combined two theories - one crazy, the other outdated. The result was a marsupial mammalian pteranodon according to Peters*. He looks less serious than he would like, but he still deserves to be shot with an AK-47.

A photo booth based on skeletal reconstruction on the right.

Moral: know the measure in speculation.

*Note: there is an old reconstruction of pterosaurs as marsupials, and separately - Peters' idea of pterosaurs with numerous pin-shaped structures and vents, which has long been a meme.

In Peter's defense, I want to point out that I could only get a rough idea of the skeleton of various ancient reptiles on his website, since original scientific articles required access, money or a paid subscription. Yeah...

[animaraptor]

Another pack of my random Blender artwork. Nothing serious, just joy of creation