This Mesozoic Month: December 2019

And just like that, 2019 is done. Let’s look back on what this last month brought us from the Mesozoic, shall we? From the entire LITC crew, here’s to a fantastic 2020.

In the News

• The first Cretaceous dinosaur fossils ever discovered in Ecuador belonged to a newly described saltasaurid, Yamanasaurus lotaensis.
• Tralkasaurus cuyi is a brand-spanking-new abelisaurid from late Cretaceous Argentina.
• New Zealand has a new pterosaur, the lonchodectid Parirau ataroa (Note to self, remember to avoid biorxiv in the future).
• Jinbeisaurus wangi is a newly described upper Cretaceous tyrannosauroid from China, a small animal that is the first theropod from Shanxi province.
• A new stem-therian from Cretaceous China, Origolestes lii gives us a look at the early evolution of the modern mammalian inner ear.
• From the middle Jurassic of Argentina comes Asfaltovenator vialidadi. Read more from Fernanda Castano at Letters from Gondwana and Mike Walley at Everything Dinosaur.
• New research seeks to understand the evolution of the predentary in toothed ornithomorph birds of the Cretaceous. Read more from Albert at Raptormaniacs.

Around the Dinoblogosphere

• Was Dippy, the famous Diplodocus from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, in the original Star Wars movie? Matt Lamanna thinks so!
• At Dino Dad Reviews, Andrew shares The Dinosaur Expert, the story of a young girl with precocious paleontological knowledge.
• Time Scavengers features an interview with Riley Black about their path in paleontology.
• Riley also treats us to a top ten post at the NHMU blog chronicling the best dinosaur discoveries of the 2010s.
• Continuing his series on alternate timeline dinosaurs, Darren Naish looks at “dinosauroid” ideas: those entertaining the notion of non-avian dinosaurs evolving to a human-like sentient state.
• At Darwin’s Door, Adam Manning digs deep into Borealopelta.
• Bryan Gee introduces us to the zatracheidid temnospondyls and their interesting noggins.
• Abby Howard, author and illustrator of the awesome Earth Before Us series we’ve featured a bunch here, was the subject of an interview at Mark Witton’s blog.

Dispatches from Himmapaanland

Easing back into some proper work with this Parasol-rolophus. Perhaps my most excruciating pun yet. This of course harks back to my ancient 'An Airing' piece. Hadrosaurs with howdahs (TM) are my thing. Besides, there was no other pleasing way to incorporate a parasol. pic.twitter.com/A5Yqz4FIBP

— Natee ~A drift of dust~ (@Himmapaan) December 5, 2019

There were a few good ones, I suppose. I feel cagey because the year was characterised by long, protracted periods spent on 'bit parts,' punctuated by just as many bouts of unproductivity & depression. It was a year of forcing one foot in front of the other. 1/3 #Artof2019. https://t.co/OEQMhP7pzs pic.twitter.com/qXIryzBPns

— Natee ~A drift of dust~ (@Himmapaan) December 9, 2019

You all know this aria, even if you may not immediately recognise the words: https://t.co/uYSM4R7IE7. pic.twitter.com/6lB8i1Z72C

— Natee ~A drift of dust~ (@Himmapaan) December 8, 2019

The LITC AV Club

Jurassic Reimagined

Flying with Ferrodraco

Mummies of the Mesozoic

The Empty Wallets Club

• Mark Poulin’s MarMarSuperstar shop on Etsy has some nice dinosaur merchandise that’s whimsical and abstracted but not cliche, with geometric patterning that adds to the animals’ charm. In addition to the sauropod pendant shown here, there are more Mesozoic treats to find by browsing the shop.
• From pendants to… pedants. If you’re not ashamed to be an insufferable know-it-all, here’s the shirt for you.

Your Moment of Paleoart Zen

The Canadian paleoartist who goes by Tapwing delivered day after day of evocative black-and-white paleoart all during #DrawDinovember. I knew I needed to feature something this month, and it was really hard to choose! But I’m going to go with this amazing Bajadasaurus, which evokes the feel of a bracken-laden elk in the mist, with a macabre twist. The primal inkiness of these pieces have a George Solonevich feel to them that I really love.

Check out more of Tapwing’s work at DeviantArt and follow her at Twitter.