Friday, March 11, 2011

Mesozoic Miscellany #23

New Research
The likely attachment location of pterosaur wing membranes are the subject of newly (finally) published research in Acta Paleontologia Polonica. I wrote about it on Thursday, and it also got a mention at Paleoblog.

Massospondylus is the subject of a new paper, detailed at Dracovenator, addressing the major problem of the fact that it was originally named after really crummy material which has since been eclipsed by better specimens. The neotype, or new standard for the taxon, is a specimen called "Big Mama." Adam writes, "...Massospondylus has been saved, it is no longer in danger of being thrown away as yet another nomen dubium and will forever be one of the best known dinosaurs."

Around the Dinoblogosphere
Dispersal of Darwin: Always nice if I can fit Michael Barton's blog in here. This week, he shared the trailer for the new evolution vs. creationism documentary, No Dinosaurs in Heaven.

Paleo Illustrata: Stu Pond discussed the software options for 3D animators.

Saurian: This week, Saurian shared a summary of ceratopsian research presented at the 2010 Society of Vertebrate Paleontologists Meeting in Pittsburgh.

Palaeoblog: Michael Ryan shared an incredibly cool piece of artwork called The Shape of Things to Come by Geof Darrow, an illustration from the magazine Cheval Noir depicting a world in which the dinosaurs have returned and human culture is in tatters.

In the recently begun Facebook group Paleoexhibit, artists and enthusiasts have been discussing all sorts of issues around paleoart, from Greg Paul's recent writings to artist blogs from around the world. Felipe Elias has been sharing great links, including a Brazilian video about Tapuiasaurus, Carlos Papolio's site, the DeviantArt page of Gonzalezaurus, and blogs by Manuel Sosa and Ezequiel Vera.

Pseudoplocephalus: Victoria Arbour writes about her recent work in analyzing the pelvic shields of ankylosaurs.

ART Evolved: Today's Friday Speedpaint theme is "stompin' sauropods! Check out the first one, by David Maas.

The Great Cretaceous Walk: Wouldn't be a Miscellany without a Tony Martin post. This week, Tony wrote about the prickly relationship between fossil hunters and academic paleontologists, recounting more stories from Australia.

Paul Sereno was a guest on the science podcast Lab Out Loud this week, talking about his life as a paleontologist.

Twit Picks
Stuff I linked to at Twitter in the last week or so:
Tumblin'
H/T to I Effing Love Dinosaurs for reblogging Painting With Crayons, who shared this great watercolor take on the evergreen genre of fanciful extinction theories. Here's a little preview.



Paleoart of the Week
This week, I'm going with Tuesday's LITC interview subject, Glendon Mellow. Just as the interview posted here, he revealed a new work commissioned by Craig Dylke, entitled Tylosaurus Reef. The pose, he tells me, was inspired by hummingbirds!

Tylosaurus Reef, © Glendon Mellow 2011. Used with his permission.

Outrageously Off-Topic Indulgence
H/T to Mike Keesey for sharing this incredible infographic of the history of science fiction on Twitter this week.

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