#chasmosaur

Western North America hosted a remarkable diversity of dinosaurs during the Campanian period. Among the most diverse clades was the Chasmosaurinae. Up until now, ten chasmosaur species have been recognised from the upper Campanian of western North America, with distinct species occurring in the northern and southern parts of the continent...

Read more: New species of dinosaur discovered lying forgotten in a museum

tamamonomae.jpg (10/29/2003), Susan Morgan under DeNonikus/Shoes/Chasmosaur (via)

In the late 1990s a partial skeleton of a ceratopsian was discovered in New Mexico, USA. These remains were initially thought to belong to Torosaurus, but after more of the specimen was recovered in the mid-2010s it became clear the bones actually represented an entirely new species of horned dinosaur – officially named in 2022 as Sierraceratops turneri.

Sierraceratops lived during the Late Cretaceous, around 72 million years ago, in what at the time was the southern region of the island continent of Laramidia. About 4.6m long (~15'), it had fairly short chunky brow horns, long pointed cheek horns, and a relatively large frill.

It was part of a unique lineage of ceratopsians that were endemic to southern Laramidia, with its closest known relatives being Bravoceratops from western Texas and Coahuilaceratops from northern Mexico.

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Triceratops horridus

The drab palette of the body was inspired by mammalian megafauna, primarily rhinocerotes. The blue colouration was inspired by the colourfulness of birds, but there was no specfic reference in-mind. This was meant to be an older bull; I imagine females would have less colourful frills, as bright ornaments are usually secondary sex characteristics.

Camptosaurus dispar

Colouration innspired by the Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros). Depicted individual is female.

Scolosaurus cutleri

Colour pattern was not referenced from any specific aninimal. This individual was inteded to be a female, I imagine males would be more brightly-coloured.

Heterodontosaurus tucki

ahkahna.jpg (04/01/2004), Susan Morgan under DeNonikus/Shoes/Chasmosaur (via)

Chasmosaurus had huge openings on its frill. Thes helped to lighten the frill so they could move and lift their heads.

Posted by David Orr at 7:40 AM

Welcome to part two of the LITC 2014 Dinosaur Gift Guide! If you missed the first installment, check it out here. the goal with this brief series of posts is to highlight artists and other independent creators of dinosaur goods. Since paleontology depends on the work of artists to reach the public, it's vital to directly support them when possible. There has never been an easier time to do it, and dinosaur lovers have never had such a wealth of amazing art by so many talented people. Onward with the second installment. I've decided to split this guide off into a trilogy to keep the post lengths reasonable, so the third and final part will be coming Wednesday!

The Paleopost Postcard set, featuring the work of Tiffany Turrill and Brynn Metheney. Tiffany Turrill and Brynn Metheney are concept artists in the videogame industry, and every single time they share their dinosaur work, it's the sweetest of sweet treats. Their Paleopost postcard set is a great way to get some of their finest work in one package - saurian and otherwise extinct. Arthropod Meeting by Glendon Mellow, available from his Redbubble shop as a print or as part of his wonderful 2015 calendar. Glendon Mellow doesn't do a lot of dinosaurs, but his utterly unique eye deserves inclusion here, often drawing from prehistory for inspiration in his surreal juxtapositions. His Avimimus, available as an iPhone or Galaxy case would be a great set of training wheels for someone working up the nerve to commission him for one of his striking tattoo designs! Trikeratos by Scott Elyard, an exploration of cybernetic technology and prehistoric life, available as prints, pillow, tote bag, or tee at Redbubble. Scott Elyard also has a uniquely unfettered imagination, with a portfolio populated by cybernetic saurians and brightly colored skull portraits. Lesser Bowertyrant by Raven Amos, available as a print, pillow, or tote bag from Redbubble. Raven Amos' work is consistently eye-popping, with bold color choices, stylistic daring, and intricate line work. Raven's work is available at Neatorama as well as Redbubble. The Neatorama store also includes her Nintendo/Kaiju Mashup series. Her GaMario and Linkzilla are slam dunks. The mighty Dreadnoughtus, illustrated by Christopher DiPiazza and available as a print from the Jersey Boys Hunt Dinosaurs Zazzle shop. Christopher DiPiazza has been sharing wonderful watercolor paintings of dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasties for a good long while over at Jersey Boys Hunt Dinosaurs, and you can support him and the blog as an enterprise at their official Zazzle shop. From their heraldic blog logo to feathered maniraptors panoramas, there's plenty of great stuff to choose from. The Caffienated Raptor mug, by Emily Willoughby and available from her on-line store. Emily Willoughby is a shining star in today's paleoart universe, bringing a naturalism to her feathered maniraptors that perhaps more than anyone other single body of work invites lovers of today's extant theropods to extend that appreciation to their Mesozoic forebears. The TetZoo Aisle The covers of All Yesterdays and Cryptozoologicon: Volume 1, from Irregular Books. The fellows of the TetZoo/ Irregular Books empire are marvels of productivity, especially considering the high quality of their work. I consider All Yesterdays a must-have for paleoart enthusiasts, both for the sheer volume of beautiful, challenging work inside and for the way it communicates the strong tug-of-war between imagination and inference at the heart of paleontological restoration. Their Cryptozoologicon: Volume 1 applies a similar approach to the existence of cryptids. Darren Naish's Tetrapod Zoology: Book 1 would round out a nice little book set. Of course, there are other options available to support their unflagging efforts to educate and inspire natural history enthusiasts. Memo Kosemen sells prints from his DeviantArt account, John Conway sells his from his own site, and Darren Naish sells his designs on tees at Redbubble. The TetZoo Podcast also has its own Redbubble shop.