Generalized conodont, inevitably based mainly on Clydagnathus (improved and updated, more conservative reconstruction)
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Kiana Khansmith

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Generalized conodont, inevitably based mainly on Clydagnathus (improved and updated, more conservative reconstruction)
Some sketches of Triassic stem-crocodiles (Prestosuchus chiniquensis and Saurosuchus galilei)
Modelled some brachiopods (unidentified lingulid and discinid) the other day as part of a larger commission. I think they came out pretty nicely.
I haven't posted in a while because I've been busy with some big commissions but here's a low-quality little guy I made as a secondary element of one of said commissions (generalized conodont):
References and notes:
Sculpt of the small bivalved arthropod Gladioscutum lauriei from the middle Cambrian of Australia (after Hinz-Schallreuter & Jones 1994).
Gladioscutum had a body only 2-3 mm long, but, being undoubtedly aware of its disappointingly small size compared to its cooler Cambrian cousins like radiodonts and trilobites, tried to make up for it with a pair of (presumably) front-facing spines that were at least as long as the rest of the head shield.
Other than improving its self-esteem, the function of Gladioscutum's extremely elongated spines is unknown. The enlarged spines of other small Cambrian bivalved arthropods have been suggested to fulfill a sensory role, but this remains speculative (Zhang et al. 2014).
References and notes:
Falcatamacaris bellua is not, as it may seem at first glance, a fictive trilobite designed by a 6-year old, but a large (~10 cm) arthropod from the Weeks Formation (early Cambrian) notably distinguished by curved pleural spines (giving it its name*), a weakly biomineralized cuticle, and an unwillingness to be classified precisely.
Bonus views of the quick 3D model I made as a drawing reference:
References and notes:
The Devonian trilobite Crotalocephalina gibba.
Made as a more or less successful exercise to emulate the style of Junnn11, the person who illustrated many of the wikipedia articles on Cambrian arthropods and Paleozoic euchelicerates (and whose art I happen to like very much).
Europasaurus holgeri, a macronarian sauropod from the Late Jurassic of Germany, most famous for its unusually small size (just over 6 m long for mature specimens) attributed to insular dwarfism.
(Repost of some older 2022 art from my general-purpose blog, with additional renders and a proper bibliography)
References:
The archeocete Perucetus colossus dives through a coastal bloom of jellyfish in the Pisco Basin (southern Peru), some time during the Eocene (with bonus multiview).
I originally intended to add epibionts to this reconstruction (reflecting the specialized communities found on many living whales, especially baleen whales). Yet, interestingly, it appears that most animal epibionts and ectoparasites of modern cetaceans, such as whale barnacles (Hayashi et al. 2013) and remoras (Friedman et al. 2013), only appeared in the Neogene or late Paleogene, or have a poorly known (co-)evolutionary history, like whale lice (Pfeiffer 2009, Iwasa-Arai & Serejo 2018) and pennellids (large parasitic copepods) (Hermosilla et al. 2015). So, no epibionts* for big lad Perucetus!
References and notes about the reconstruction:
Just wanted to say that your art, especially the 3D models, are just absolutely, unironically great to me. I love how there is obviously so much care and knowledge put into it and now really need to see whether I can get access to those papers so I can read more about the cool sponges and the Emu Bay Shale and just the lime stone pebble, even if I don't understand all of it. It might sound weird because I can't describe why, but your art is really exciting in the "science can be so much fun" way. You obviously know what you're doing in both regards and get together the Looks amazing and Communicates how interesting it is. I know I discovered this blog like yesterday but I can't stop coming back to it. Looking forward to whatever you're going to do in the future and wish you all the best!
Thank you so much for your kind words! There really is no greater compliment to me than being told that my art conveys my love and excitement for paleontology in a way that is both informative and visually pleasing!
My illustrations are usually strongly influenced by my research work (since I'm apparently part of this masochistic breed that does want to work in academia). In fact, most of my inspiration comes when reading a paper and thinking "isn't that neat?". Paleoart is such an efficient medium for communicating paleontological ideas to all audiences (experts and general public alike), and that's the way I approach all my pieces - a kind of graphical abstract, if you will. I'm glad the message comes across!
In addition to this mostly didactic concept of paleoart, I also love making it because the reconstruction process forces to ask certain questions in order to fill visual gaps (from mundane things like coloration, to more significant elements like missing anatomy or life environment) and pushes to study many different aspects of the fossils (e.g., phylogenetic affinities, functional morphology, taphonomy, sedimentology, etc.). I always learn a lot from this exploration, and some of the questions may not have ever been seriously asked before, which can lead to some pretty interesting (and fun) reflections (does anyone have any idea what colors would be most likely for an archaeocyath?).
In any case, I'm so happy you seem to be as excited about looking at my art as I am about making it! More is certainly coming, and now that I have a bit of time I hope to be able to make some more often.
A last note regarding papers: if you (or anyone) would like to read a paper I cited but cannot access it, just send me a DM and I'll be happy to share the pdf with you if I can!
I do not usually post WIPs, but I am happy with this one. The newly described basilosaurid Perucetus colossus (i.e., Chonkocetus the Large), contender for the title of heaviest known animal.
Missing parts (i.e., most of the animal, as customary for fossil vertebrates) based on Basilosaurus spp., Dorudon atrox, modern whales (Neoceti), and sirenians.
514 millions years ago in what will one day be known as the Emu Bay Shale (South Australia), a tiny Isoxys glaessneri encounters the hunter 'Anomalocaris' briggsi.
'Anomalocaris' briggsi was a large suspension-feeding radiodont related to the famous raptorial predator Anomalocaris canadensis. It is one of two radiodont species for which exceptionally detailed fossils of compound eyes are known. The eyes in this species in this species are unsual for radiodonts in that they are not stalked, and protected by a small plate which was likely a modified version of the lateral carapace elements found in hurdiids. The eye morphology suggests that 'A.' briggsi was a mesopelagic species capable of inhabiting depths of several hundred meters, using its acute vision to detect planktonic prey (Paterson et al. 2020).
Isoxys was a cosmopolitan genus of stem-euarthropod in the Lower and Middle Cambrian, characterized by a bivalved shield covering its whole body, two large eyes, and a frontal pair of so-called 'great appendages' probably used for grasping food items. These appendages show similarity with both the frontal appendages of megacheirans and those of radiodonts like Anomalocaris, and its mix of derived and basal anatomical traits (such as biramous appendages but an unclerotized trunk) make it a crucial organism for understanding the early evolution of arthropods (Legg & Vannier 2013, Zhang et al. 2021).
I tried to recreate the feeling of this common yet lovely type of scene in sci-fi movies where a ship or station gets dwarfed by a gigantic object slowly emerging behind it from the shadows - the only difference is that the 'giant' eye here is only about 3 cm wide, though that was still huge for the time.
References and technical details about the reconstruction under the cut:
I'm happy to report that this wonderful radiodont fellow finally has a proper name: Echidnacaris briggsi!
Published yesterday - along with the other radiodont from the Emu Bay Shale, now known as Anomalocaris daleyae - in this paper.
The orthid brachiopods Nanorthis bifurcata and Lipanorthis santalaurae (attached) from the Early Ordovician of Argentina.
Got inspired by a cool paper I read today and decided to try my hand at 2D art for once. I'm not very good at it but I have to admit it's pretty fun.
Reference:
Conulariids are an extinct group of probable cnidarians with 4-sided pyramidal thecae. They are relatively uncommon fossils but ranged from the Cambrian (possibly Ediacaran?) to the Triassic, comprising tens of genera and hundreds of described species (Lucas 2012).
Here are the reconstructed thecae of a small selection of species from every period of the conulariids' range, starting from the Cambrian in the top left and reaching all the way to the Triassic in the bottom right.
Since their soft parts are virtually never preserved (due to them being cnidarians and all that) (Van Iten & Südkamp 2010), most of our knowledge of conulariid biology and evolution is based on their more fossil-friendly thecae, which were composed of thin organophosphatic lamellae (Leme et al. 2008). Live conulariids were attached to the substrate by the apex of their theca; they probably captured suspended food particles or small prey using tentacles, just like other cnidarians, but it's hard to go in any more (non-speculative) detail without preserved soft tissues.
References:
Protomonaxonid sponges standing around (as sponges do) on the enthusiastically bioturbated sediment of the Fezouata Shale, 478 million years ago in the Antarctic Circle.
These early demosponges have been given the rather cumbersome designation of 'Hamptonia' christi Form B, pending a formal description. Standing a few centimeters tall, they (and several other sponges found in Fezouata) formed dense but single-species assemblages interpreted as rapid and repeated colonization events in a hostile environment (Botting 2016).
I could not resist giving them the same coloration as their fossils, which are beautifully rendered in hues of iron oxides. Surely reds and oranges aren't unusual colors for sea sponges?
References:
Generic belemnite, surrounded by equally generic Aurelia-type jellyfish.
Vendia sokolovi, a 1 cm-long enigmatic* organism from the upper Ediacaran of Russia (displaying the 'glide symmetry' characteristic of many Ediacaran forms), feeding (?) on the bacterial mats that used to be widespread before the Cambrian explosion.
*as Ediacaran organisms tend to be, alas
Some art I made a long time ago but still find kind of neat.
References: