#didymoceras

[transparentfossil]

7.3" Cretaceous Heteromorph Ammonite (Didymoceras) - South Dakota

[gabipaleo]

Didymoceras nebrascense - an unusual ammonite from the Late Cretaceous, ~70 million years ago, found in the seas of North America. It was one of heteromorph ammonites, known for their odd shells that formed a variety of strange and complex shapes. The spiral shell of Didymoceras, like other heteromorphs, impacted its locomotion, causing it to drift slowly with ocean currents. During that it likely used its tentacles to catch small prey, while the unusual shell shape might have helped against predators.

Fossil evidence suggests sexual dimorphism, with females larger than males. This size difference was likely linked to reproductive roles, as females needed more space to store eggs and additional protection, a trait common in other ammonites.

[scienceskink]

Titanites and Didymoceras art

Quite like making invertebrate art with these brushes on clip art studio, they're just a mix of the default chalk and pastel brushes.

[veloci-raptor]

Flocking Together #5

Tselfatia

Didymoceras

Patagorhacos

Orcinus citoniensis

[sabrinazoarium]

a fossil a day keeps the sad vibes away --- stickers! prints!

[namu-the-orca]

“Barry’s Ammonites”

This painting was commissioned by a friend, who wanted to give this as a Christmas present to her husband. He used to dig up ammonite fossils in the United States. This piece recreates some of the species he found most often, in the way they may have been all those millions of years ago.

Species portrayed are: a male and female Didymoceras stevensoni, D. nebrascence, D. cheyennense going after some fish, two Oxybeloceras sp. having a showdown, a shoal of Solenoceras sp., ‘Slash’ the ammonite, Mosasaurus hoffmannii, three Baculites grandis about to become Christmas dinner, Archelon ischyros way in the background, and some unspecified Crinoids. Now this is probably the right time to say that I am not a professional paleo artist. Ammonites are obviously not my area of expertise, and all the markings and soft parts are completely speculative, largely based on modern cephalopods. Still, I am very happy with the end result, and I learned so much while painting. About how to make sand look like sand, how many colours cuttlefish have in their eyes, how water caustics work. Details added to show off some of those little sparkles and dots and things!

Just for the record, this painting ended me. It took more than 45 hours work to do, one ~13-hour portion of which was done almost non-stop until 4 in the morning. I had a deadline. And I vastly underestimated this thing.