THE BIG MONKEY HAS LANDED With the Gigantopithecus fauna I finish no. 40 in our formation piece series. While being very challenging, this composition was a joy to figure out, and not just because of the animals. The verticality of these karst landscapes always fascinated me. #paleoart #sciart - ThreadSky

joschuaknuppe.bsky.social • 38 days ago

THE BIG MONKEY HAS LANDED
With the Gigantopithecus fauna I finish no. 40 in our formation piece series.
While being very challenging, this composition was a joy to figure out, and not just because of the animals. The verticality of these karst landscapes always fascinated me. #paleoart #sciart

Comments

scottiecoati.bsky.social•38 days ago

11/10 for the Megantereon licking his nuts

joschuaknuppe.bsky.social•38 days ago

The ball licker is very important!

toarcian.bsky.social•38 days ago

Is there somewhere i can view all of them in their intended resolution?

joschuaknuppe.bsky.social•38 days ago

Besides the greatest of apes this fauna is filled with an enormous amount of mammals, not to dissimilar to La Brea in diversity maybe. But instead of tar we mostly have to thank rodents, specifically porcupines, for the preservation of these fossils. Their need for calcium makes them...

joschuaknuppe.bsky.social•38 days ago

...Hoard bones in their borrows and caves. If not eaten they have a good chance of fossilizing despite the warm and humid climate. As you can see this size chart by @seismic-shrimp.bsky.social, only a fraction of this diversity made it in, but I tried to cover nearly every major clade.

joschuaknuppe.bsky.social•38 days ago

One thing you will notice is the absence of birds. This is in part because of taphonomy, one part maybe because procupines don't like to chew on bird bones and another appears to be THAT THE BIRDS WE HAVE ARE NOT PUBLISHED ON YET, ARRRGHHH. (this is a call out post)

joschuaknuppe.bsky.social•38 days ago

And before someone mentions it, yes I forgot to post the colored version that has Draco in it.
Here, have the full version

gulop1th3cuz.bsky.social•38 days ago

That’s a neat detail!

nomascus.bsky.social•38 days ago

Interesting color pattern - reminds me a bit of Burian's reconstruction

joschuaknuppe.bsky.social•38 days ago

Now that you say that!

exalt47.bsky.social•38 days ago

I'm kind of surprised at how chill the bottom right corner seems to be.

It's interesting how at first glance, the goings-on feel understated, but a lot is actually happening here.

gulop1th3cuz.bsky.social•38 days ago

BEEG MONKE TIME!!!!!

It was glaciation that killed the beast…..

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply