Lmst

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

A few more of my vignettes (rendered in 2021) for the book, called SEA MAMMALS, by Annalisa Berta. Here are Platalearostrum and the monstrous Basilosaurus (not to scale).

#Art #Painting #PaleoArt #PalaeoArt #SciArt #SciComm #DigitalArt #Illustration #Dinosaurs #Birds #Reptiles #Palaeontology #Paleontology #SeaMammals #Dolphin #Basilosaurus

The celebrity whale Basilosaurus cetoides. Few people address it but it has very functional knees.

#basilosaurus #animalart #watercolour #watercolourart #sciart #scientificillustration #vertebrate_paleontology #fossil #palaeontology #whale #cetacean #eocene

A watercolour painting of the very long and thin ancient whale Basilosaurus.

I modified my PNSO Basilosaurus model. Originally it was very reptilian looking and had noticeable seam lines. I removed the barnacles, beefed it up, made the head more mammalian and gave it a new paintjob inspired by porpoises.

#toyanimal #animalfigure #pnso #basilosaurus #whale #cenozoic #palaeontology #collectible #marinemammal #eocene #figurecollecting #toycollecting #customfigure #fossilmammal

The PNSO Basilosaurus figure, modified to look more like a modern reconstruction of this ancient whale. It is repainted with grey countershading and is positioned on its designated base, which has been repainted as well to resemble the ocean floor with underwater lighting. The figure is shown from the right.

This weeks #Lego #Marine #Mammal of the week will be the #Basilosaurus

Each build come with a fact sheet, and parts list.
#Dinosauroftheweek
#Reptileoftheweek
#Qucikbuild
#LegoMOC
#MOCMonday
#Dinosaur

Want to build this little critter? Well here's the instructions - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1F13VWLrS5-F22zWJ7AGck536CdKYBV2Z?usp=sharing

Satirical long-necked #Basilosaurus illustration produced by Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans in his book “The Great Sea-Serpent”. The context is that Mr. Searles V. Wood Jr. speculated — in the journal Nature! — about Basilosaurus being responsible for long-necked #SeaSerpent sightings. Seemingly he had no access to a skeletal (?!?)

#AncientWhaleWeek

Link:
https://www.nature.com/articles/023054a0

An imaginary Basilosaurus with a long neck instead of a long body.

Reconstruction of #Basilosaurus from Cleland’s 1916 “Geology”

vs.

My own attempt to give Basilosaurus the correct number of vertebrae and an appropriate amount of soft tissue.

#AncientWhaleWeek #Whales #Cetaceans

A comparison of a Basilosaurus skeleton and a reconstruction. While long, it likely isn’t long enough! Also, far too skinny.

Superimposed outline over a Basilosaurus skeleton. I tried to make it look as whale-like as I could despite the outrageous length

For #AncientWhaleWeek I’d like celebrate how much better reconstructions have gotten over the years. This #Basilosaurus is from Roy Mackal’s 1980 “Searching for Hidden Animals” and uh… it looks seriously unprofessional to modern eyes (and doesn’t follow the skeleton whatsoever).

Skeletal is from:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/figure?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0209021.g001

This Basilosaurus reconstruction looks like a weird eel more than a whale.

An actual articulated skeleton of Basilosaurus isis (top). The body of this whale — particularly the lumbar region — is absurdly long.

On #WorldWhaleDay spare a thought for all the extinct prehistoric whales.

There are 8 toys in the whale category on the Dinosaur Toy Blog so far, including several versions of the serpent-like and mistakenly named whale Basilosaurus, and the appropriately named sperm-whale relative Livyatan: https://dinotoyblog.com/classification/whale/

#DinoToyBlog #whales #toys #PNSO #Basilosaurus

A long-bodied prehistoric whale Basilosaurus model by PNSO

Today's #megafauna is Basilosaurus! This Eocene #whale was about 60 feet long and sported tiny hind limbs. It is possible that the hind limbs were used to hold onto partners during mating, though they were disconnected from the rest of the whale skeleton and could not have supported weight on land. Basilosaurus's elongated shape and small tail flukes suggest that it swam by moving most of its body up and down--not just its tail.

Although this may sound like a silly mode of transportation, #Basilosaurus was the apex #preadtor of its time. With strong jaw muscles, large incisors, and serrated molars at the back of its mouth, this whale proved a formidable foe for #fish, #sharks, and even other #MarineMammals.

At Whale Valley--a rich source of marine fossils that was likely an Eocene nesting ground--#fossil evidence paints a picture of Basilosaurus's hunting habits. Nesting fossils show the contents of its stomach, and specimens of another whale species, dorodon, show bite marks consistent with Basilosaurus's teeth. Most dorodon fossils nested in Basilosaurus skeletons are juveniles--suggesting that Basilosaaurus lurked near these nesting grounds, targeting young dorodons just as modern #orcas target the calves of other whales.