Although, I know that many birds and dinosaur-birds lived alongside
dinosaurs some 125 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous, I
always get surprised by the new discoveries. How come the ancient birds
looked so advanced and modern as early as that?
The newly described Chinese fossil bird Hongshanornis longicresta wouldn't make you turn your head if it flew by you. It seemed so common. Only a closer look, a very close look, would reveal that it had tiny teeth in the front of its beak and claws on it's wings.
A couple of years ago I was engaged in a project of producing and mounting a theropod sculpture on the famous and rich Barremian track site on the Main Brijun island in Croatia. The tracks are roughly of the same age as the Chinese Jehol bird fossil. There are theropod tracks of various sizes at the site. The largest footprints measure about 60-65 cm in length. I have also noticed a large crock footprint, iguanodontoid tracks and possibly a pterosaur footprint there.
The sculpture at the Main Brijun Barremian tracksite by the the team of artists: sculptors Stjepan Gracan and Bozica Dea Matasic; painting and mounting by painter Zlatko Kauzlaric Atac; cconsulting and preliminary drawings by Berislav Krzic. It took almost 3 years for the sculpture to be produced and mounted at the track site in 2012:
The newly described Chinese fossil bird Hongshanornis longicresta wouldn't make you turn your head if it flew by you. It seemed so common. Only a closer look, a very close look, would reveal that it had tiny teeth in the front of its beak and claws on it's wings.
A couple of years ago I was engaged in a project of producing and mounting a theropod sculpture on the famous and rich Barremian track site on the Main Brijun island in Croatia. The tracks are roughly of the same age as the Chinese Jehol bird fossil. There are theropod tracks of various sizes at the site. The largest footprints measure about 60-65 cm in length. I have also noticed a large crock footprint, iguanodontoid tracks and possibly a pterosaur footprint there.
The sculpture at the Main Brijun Barremian tracksite by the the team of artists: sculptors Stjepan Gracan and Bozica Dea Matasic; painting and mounting by painter Zlatko Kauzlaric Atac; cconsulting and preliminary drawings by Berislav Krzic. It took almost 3 years for the sculpture to be produced and mounted at the track site in 2012:
More photographs of the M. Brijun theropod sculpture
My preliminary drawing of Eocarcharia (meaning "dawn shark") a carcharodontosaurid theropod
dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous as a possible track maker and a reference for the sculptor (2006).
A couple of theropod footprints at the Veli (Main) Brijun Barremian site (125 mya) (photo credit: Berislav Krzic):
Here is my restoration of the ancient bird Hongshanornis longicresta:
You can read more about the bird's find here:
National Geographic
... or if you are interested more, here is the free scientific paper:
A new specimen of the Early Cretaceous bird Hongshanornis longicresta: insights into the aerodynamics and diet of a basal ornithuromorph
National Geographic
... or if you are interested more, here is the free scientific paper:
A new specimen of the Early Cretaceous bird Hongshanornis longicresta: insights into the aerodynamics and diet of a basal ornithuromorph
No comments:
Post a Comment