Paleoart Tapestries

Dilophosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now North America during the Early Jurassic.

crocodile headed dino

Dilophosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now North America during the Early Jurassic. Known for its distinctive pair of crests on its head.

A fishing suchomimus

Microraptor and ginkgo brances.

This guy's a big wormy.

its a spinosaur, they do be spiny

Megalograptus welchi was a member of a now extinct group of marine arthropods called Eurypterids, it lived during the Late Ordovician period around 449.5 to 443.8 million years ago. Compared to modern ocean dwelling arthropods, M. welchi was rather large, measuring around 1.2 meters in length, not including the large spiny appendages on the front of it's body; speaking of those spines, while it's pretty likely it used them to hunt for prey, science has yet to determine just how they were used or what type of prey it might have been hunting.

During the Late Permian period (around 260 to 254 million years ago) Inostracevia and the rest of it’s family group, Gorgonopsidae were some of the largest predators on the planet, they roamed what is now Northern Russia, stalking their prey with a smiled full of sabers. Gorgonopsids were part of a group called therapsids, a group of animals that include mammals and their ancestors. They were a group that also shared common traits with reptiles but weren’t quite part of either modern group.

A death match that took place 74 million years ago! Based on the famous fossilised remains of Protoceratops with the wing of a predatory Velociraptor in its beak and the raptor's claws burried deep into its side. Original illustration by Joseph Fells.

Also known as the Marsupial Lion, it was the largest known mammalian predator roaming Australia from 1.6 million to 46,000 years ago. Despite it’s common name, Thylacoleo wasn’t closely related to lions or cats at all, but was a member of the order Diprotodontia, which includes modern day kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, and wombats (it’s closest living relative). Thylacoleo lived at a time when Australia was packed with huge animals, such as 20 foot lizards, 10 foot tall kangaroos and multi-ton wombats. To combat this it grew big, reaching 287 pounds with muscular forearms and jaws like bolt cutters.

Dimetrodon was part of a group known as known as mammal-like reptiles or stem-mammals. While they share many traits with modern reptiles and modern mammals they are neither, but are part of the overall group called Synapsids that includes all modern mammals (even humans like you). While it is often associated with dinosaurs in popular media these sail-backed quadripeds are much older than that group and are most closely related to us than they are to dinosaurs. Dimetrodon main defining traits include a very distinctive sail supported by extensive neural spins, as well as a set of differentiating teeth that were clearly evolved to different uses, something we and most modern mammals share.

The nodosaurid Sauropelta takes a nice stroll through a serene Early Cretaceous forest sunset.

Plesiosaurus (or “Near to lizard,” a reference to it’s closeness to modern reptiles) was not a dinosaur but a marine reptile that swam in the oceans of the Early Jurassic Period, about 199.6 to 175.6 million years ago. It and other members of it’s family were often distinguished by their long necks with some later related species having necks longer than their bodies. It is thought that they used their necks to catch fish and other prey items by snaking their relatively small neck through the water to snag an unsuspecting meal, because the distance of their larger bodies would obscure their real size and not panic the prey as much, this might explain why later species had much longer necks.

In 1978 a jawbone was found in southeastern Australia belonging to a giant amphibian; this in itself was not unusual as amphibians have been found throughout huge swathes of the fossil record, some getting to be downright gigantic among the particular order that this beast belonged to, known as the Temnospondyls. These creatures were some of the first complex vertebrates to venture on land, doing so as far back as the Carboniferous period and thriving in locations across the Earth throughout the Permian, and into the age of the dinosaurs.

Your Cambrian friend

'Tis the season for little woolly mammoths to experience their first snowfall.

Roughly 259.8 to 254.1 million years ago during the Late Permian era in what would eventually become South Africa, deserts sands blew across an arid landscape. Meanwhile, to escape the oppressive heat and avoid predation a tiny synapsid called Diictodon (the name meaning “two weasel toothed”) used it’s stubby legs, sharp claws, and peculiar tusks to dig into their earth, constructing relatively large (for their size) corkscrew-shaped burrows, designed to protect and give them an easy route up and down.

Arthropleaura was an ancient ancestor to modern millipedes. There were many species, some measuring less than a foot and others growing up to around 8 feet in length, making them some of the largest Arthropods (invertebrates with exoskeletons such as insects, spiders, scorpions, and trilobites) to have ever lived.

Dear reader, From as far back as I can remember, I have never met a mammal quite as refined as Sir Chalicotherium goldfussi III. The epitome of class and aristocracy, he comes from a long line of odd-toed ungulates who’s legacy stretches back to the pliocene famous for their leaf eating skills, Sir goldfussi is no exception. His elegantly manicured claws are the envy of the plains and his top-hat is the height of fashion wear among high society. You will never find a mammal with a more amiable demeanor or affinity for picking leaves of trees. Yours sincerely, Lord Goupilictis minor

They'll always be there for you

Digital painting done in Procreate.

Struthiomimus was a Late Cretaceous theropod dinosaur measuring roughly 14 feet and length. Having very bird-like features and sharing superficial similarities to modern flightless theropods like Ostriches and Emus, it's no surprise that their name means "Ostrich Mimic."

Everyone's favourite 3-horned face!

One of the largest ceratopsian dinosaurs

The "Emperor" card from my dinosaur tarot collection featuring Tyrannosaurus.

The "High Priestess" card from my dinosaur tarot collection featuring the parasaurolophus.

Wonderfully creeping thing!

The "Magician" card from my dinosaur tarot collection featuring dilophosaurus.

The "Tower" card from my dinosaur tarot collection

It's been a long day, time for a nap, this smilodon agrees. A nice picture to show your mood, or your love for awesome extinct big cats with giant saber teeth. You can also tell everyone that yes, smilodon's gape could have reached almost 120 degrees.

*Muffled 'crawling in my skin' plays in the background*

Beautiful Cambrian trilobite from Utah - painted by a paleontologist for fossil lovers. Suitable for dinosaur fans, for fieldwork, and for school.

Cotylorhyncus was a genus of synapsid that lived during the Permian. It is notable for a having a very disproportionate head-to-body ratio, which I assume it was probably not too happy about.

Dinosaur Skull Protoceratops

Lived for 300 million years in ancient seas.