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Belmonts Clay Art on Etsy

Dino sketches

Guys, palaeontology is not some big fun guessing game. We're not pulling things out of our ass for fun. We have a LOT of ways to tell what an extinct animal may have looked like. Everything from scars on bones, mathematic calculations on load bearing, soft tissue impressions, understanding modern biology, signs of rate of growth, preserved organic materials - we can tell a LOT from fossils. We can get pretty good ideas of how things probably looked. We can definitely get a broad idea of an animal, its shape, its size. Even things like colour, patterning, and integument follow recognisable rules and trends. Maybe we can't get everything absolutely certain, and maybe there are some areas we're questioning, but we do have ideas grounded in reasonable assumptions.

No, T. rex did not look like a round, soft bird. No, plesiosaurs were not penguin shaped. No, a Triceratops was probably not bright pink and purple all over, and no, Brachiosaurus could never have had a trunk. These are things we absolutely can and do know.

Palaeontology is a science, and treating it like some experiment in imagination just harms an already misunderstood and looked-down-on field. Especially when our science is so often talked over or ignored by people who want to make animals "cool" or "scary" or "retro". Please. Understand the intricacies here and stop acting like our study means nothing.

A small collection of stabby iguanodon thumbs

Howdy cousin

What’s better than dinosaurs? Dinos merged with crystalline rocks of course! Trust me, I’m a paleontologist.

Sometimes you just need some encouragement from an older and wiser dino. 🦕💕 Hang in there friends!

5 more days to sign up for August’s garden pup pin & postcard! 🌱

More fruit dinos.

Rexie snugs <3

For you dino and Mario fans... May I present Yoshter

Yoshter's person first wrote in January. He was 20 plus years old and had had many adventures, including travelling, going to college, and some nerve wracking washing machine rides (he won't do that anymore). But now, he had a few issues that needed more expert assistance. Here are his diagnosis photos:

As you can see, he had some fading, and stuffing compression. His spine scales were felt and had flopped and suffered from pilling. And he once had mechanics inside, which no longer worked, so he and his person wanted the velcro removed and his white chest fabric extended so he could have a full belly and tail.

An appointment was made for surgery, and a bed reserved for Yoshter's arrival in April. First step in treatment upon arrival was a spa to see if we could help with his color fade. I don't redye patients, but lots of times the spa does brighten them up. Here's Yoshter in his bubble bath:

Once he had dried (I don't show drying because honestly, fully deflated stuffed animals sitting on towels under skylights is not attractive, and can be a bit traumatizing)... his velcro came out and he got stuffed to his fullest potential so I could figure out how far to extend his belly, then got a heart with a bit of his original stuffing. Green of course! To match his skin. :-)

For his belly/tail extension, there was really only one fabric which felt right, so surgery proceeded once it was approved. Here's his tail:

And here he is with new scales... can you spot my mistake?

stay tuned for the next post for the answer and the end of Yoshter's story.....

an attack on DecayingCosmos on artfight! Koi fish spinosaurus is the only thing that exists.

My paleo pride series to date! All the pride stuff with prehistoric fauna I’ve come across was exclusively dinosaurs, so I wanted to include some less popular taxa.

(Check image captions for the text since the white-on-white is awful to read)

(source)

Yoshter continued....

So the problem was... Yoshter had too many scales! Fortunately, removing one and redistributing the others was a fairly straightforward surgery.

Here he is, all better and ready to fly home to Michigan:

His person wrote:

AAAH he looks wonderful!!

And once he was home there was one more email. His person wrote:

HE’S HOME!! Oh goodness, I just had the worst day at work and coming home to find him waiting for me and getting to hug him was exactly what I needed. He looks even better in person than in the photos!! So much healthier than he was before, and the new tail fabric is so soft!! Thank you so much for helping him!

And here's the photo of him happily at home:

new stickers are now available in my shop!

Venusaur from Pokémon Stadium 2

Me and my large party of pachies were adopted by a random allo female on no rules server once. She didn't expect to see that many of us when she proposed to adopt me.

The Isle fan art