Comments on: Dinosaur Art: The World’s Greatest Paleoart -- exclusive excerpt

By: Amelia_G

Amelia_G — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 05:23:00 +0000

There’s dinosaur audio too! Douglas Irvine’s “Soundscapes of the Dinosaurs.”

By: Brainspore

Brainspore — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 18:56:00 +0000

It’s true that dinosaurs’ closest living relatives are birds, but in terms of ecological niche a triceratops is much closer to a rhinoceros than a parakeet.

Maybe some dinosaurs selected mates based on bright coloration, but it seems most likely that dinosaurs as a group had a wide range of colors and patterns adapted to individual species’ needs. We see this varied approach even within modern primates: some of us attract mates with brightly colored faces and/or buttocks, others have fur well-suited for camouflage, and some of us walk around buck naked.

By: Rob Lammle

Rob Lammle — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:35:00 +0000

I reviewed this book earlier in the month for another website (pardon the plug:
http://tophatsasquatch.com/dinosaur-art-worlds-greatest-paleoartists/) and it does not include Age of Reptiles. But that’s because it’s looking at more modern artists that have been prominent since the Dinosaur Renaissance of the 1970s. Zallinger’s work is gorgeous and iconic, but considering the mural was painted in 1947, it’s not exactly up-to-date on modern dinosaur theories, which this book tries to bring to the forefront with the excellent artwork inside.

In addition, each of the artists is interviewed for the book, and Zallinger died in 1995.

By: MelSkunk

MelSkunk — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:24:00 +0000

This reminds me of how annoyed I am that dinosaurs are so frequently drawn in perfect profile.

By: Nagurski

Nagurski — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 15:33:00 +0000

Gametes aren’t good at running, but some can swim ok.

By: Dan Hibiki

Dan Hibiki — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 14:13:00 +0000

Because it’s nearly impossible to guess what that sort of colouring or plumage will look like. It’s easy to guess what camouflage will look like and since a lot of the bigger killers depended on short bursts of speed they’d need that camouflage to hunt. And let’s face it, dinos killing dinos is fun to draw.

As an artist this gives you a lot to work with and the Sexual colourization are an excuse to add what ever design flare you feel like throwing in.

By: Josh Brown-White

Josh Brown-White — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 13:58:00 +0000

Why is it only logical to assume most were camouflaged? Considering birds as their descendants, a huge number of avian are very garishly clad for the purposes of sexual selection, and even a large number of reptiles display at least seasonal color expression for sexual selection purposes.

I’d add that one of the hypothesies for dino plumage specifically revolves around sexual selection in at least some species (granted, for most dromeosaurs a more functional usage hypothesis seems to have the most support, though as with modern avian there is no reason it couldn’t be both purposes)

By: Boundegar

Boundegar — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 12:33:00 +0000

Oh crap. I am defeated.

By: aliktren

aliktren — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 09:08:00 +0000

Purchased :)

By: chaopoiesis

chaopoiesis — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 06:29:00 +0000

Hmmm… this begs the question of whether colliding asteroids hang moonlike in the sky, waiting to be painted, or just flash in out of the blue at 30000 miles per hour and blow the shit out of everything.

By: Chip Daniels

Chip Daniels — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:06:00 +0000

I still have that book, complete with my notations in the margins from when I was 8 or so.

By: Androsko

Androsko — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 02:04:00 +0000

I finished the cover for you

By: pjcamp

pjcamp — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 02:03:00 +0000

If it doesn’t contain Rudolph Zallinger’s famous mural Age of Reptiles, it isn’t complete.

http://www.peabodystore.com/images/posters/reptileposter.jpg

This in an old Time-Life book that fascinated me when was kid. I stared a that picture for hours.

By: urbiegreen2001

urbiegreen2001 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 01:24:00 +0000

The computerized graphic are terrific BUT if scenes from “Prehistoric Animals” by Augusta and Burian (published 1956) are not included in the collection. it misses the source from where all else follows. The nomenclature may have changed over the years but the paintings are still incredible almost 60 years after publication

By: Dan Hibiki

Dan Hibiki — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 01:22:00 +0000

Wild guesses. Mostly it’s just logical to assume most dinosaurs were camouflaged in some way, but other then that there’s not much evidence to go by.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 00:36:00 +0000

My family are gay serial killers. What’s your point?

By: Brian Donohue

Brian Donohue — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 00:30:00 +0000

Any Dave Miller in there? He’s an old friend from my hometown, became one of the foremost paleo-illustrators around, his work was shown on the dino-floor of the Nat Hist Museum here in NYC. I’ve got one of his originals, an artist proof of this carnivorous subaquatic scene.

By: Mitchell Dobrenen

Mitchell Dobrenen — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 00:17:00 +0000

How do they know what color to make the dinosaurs?

By: Donald Petersen

Donald Petersen — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 23:53:00 +0000

I’m gonna buy this–these are gorgeous! I’ve loved dinosaur art since I was a kid, and one of my most prized possessions is The Dinosaurs, by Stout, Service & Preiss. My copy is autographed by Bill Stout his ownself… he even drew an oviraptor freehand for me! Lots of great artwork in that one, but since it was published 28 years ago it might be a tad dated. I can’t get enough of this stuff.

By: jgs

jgs — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 23:51:00 +0000

s/gamete/gamut/

But this looks really cool and I will buy it!

By: Boundegar

Boundegar — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 23:36:00 +0000

I swear those things are gay serial-killers. BoingBoing, why aren’t you more family-oriented?