#mazothairos

[ketrinadrawsalot]

The Carboniferous period was a wonderland of giant arthropods, from griffinflies to cat-sized scorpions to human-sized millipedes.

[vickysaurus-art]

Two Mazothairos chase off a passing Meganeura in a late Carboniferous swamp, startling a little Archaeothyris. A Sclerocephalus crawls ashore a little ways away, not realising there's a hidden Arthropleura right there.

I've never really drawn paleoart set in the Carboniferous, so I thought I'd start with the very basic 'giant bugs flying around in a swamp' idea. The Sclerocephalus in the lower left corner is actually a very early synapsid, and with this piece being set near the end of the Carboniferous its relatives are about to do very well for themselves indeed when the rainforest collapse happens.