Dynamognathus

@dynamoterror.bsky.social

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Wildlife, rewilding, spec-evo, and paleontology enthusiast/artist.

A trail-camera photo of a bright red male cardinal, standing on the ground in a small clearing in a forest.
Black-and-white pencil drawing of a mother and subadult cub of the ancient canid Mesocyon coryphaeus. They have somewhat Marten-like proportions, and the mother is laying down while chewing on an ungulate limb bone while the cub is sitting upright in front of her. They are surrounded by fallen leaves on the forest floor
Simple black-and-white pencil sketches of three fictional Enantiornithean birds in lateral view, for my spec-evo project of Kerguelen. The first is a hawk-like form with fully feathered legs, the second is a tiny fluffy orb that acts like a wren, and the third is a sort of upright-quail looking thing with a rounded head fully covered in fluffy feathers such that the beak isn’t visible (like cock-of-the-rock birds).
A rough black-and-white pencil sketch of a sequence of snout illustrations, all of non-mammal cynodonts with increasingly long and trunk-like upper lips, showcasing how Tritylodonts with non-flexible lips may develop something that looks like an elephant trunk (although the nostrils remain up near the base of the trunk).
A photograph of a Southern Plains Bumblebee (Bombus fraternus) standing in lateral view on the long flower stem of a Chinese Tallow Tree, surrounded by leaves and other flowers of this tree and the dappled light they create. The pale yellowish hairs are very short and have a velvety look.
A lineup of eight colored-pencil-drawn big cats, all based on real living and extinct big cats from Africa, for the continent of Sukaya in the fictional world of Tyrannoc. From left to right, the species are: African Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Sabre-toothed Lion (based on Adeilosmilus), Sukayan Scimitar Cat (based on Homotherium), Kisu (based on Metailurus), Kitisho (based on Dinofelis), and Punhal (based on Megantereon).
A black-and-white infographic of a fictional prehistoric animal, which is my submission for Sawyer Lee’s codex-contest featuring a jumble of very large fossils that need reconstructing. I’ve depicted it as a huge terrestrial basal cetacean, with long, columnar limbs and somewhat sauropod-like feet. The head is proportionately small and pointed and the neck and tail are both quite short. On the left side of the image are a skeletal reconstruction and life reconstruction, both in the same walking pose. On the right side are two smaller sketches, one showing the evolution of such a lineage and the other showing a predatory encounter between this land-whale and a similarly massive dragon.
Two black-and-white pencil sketches of prehistoric mammals: a Desmostylus on the left treading water upright, facing the viewer, and a Numidotherium on the right walking away from the viewer at an angle with its head raised and small trunk curled up.
An illustration of a lakeshore scene during the Pliocene at what would become the Camp Del Ninots fossil site, made by Mauricio Anton. A tapir and her calf, multiple ducks and turtles, a herd of Parabos tigneresi, and a Stephanorhinus are all present along the forested shoreline.
Screenshot of figure three from the new paper reclassifying the Camp Del Ninots Alephis as Parabos, comprised of six top-down photos of near-complete articulated skeletons of this bovid. Five are the full skeleton, and one is the front half of the skeleton.
A colored-pencil drawing of Konobelodon britti, a massive shovel-tusked cousin of elephants that lived in southern North America during the late Miocene, walking with its head raised up, mouth open, and trunk curled up as it sprays a jet of misty water over its head. A large, vibrant rainbow curls across the middle of the spray.
A colored pencil drawing of two small brownish-colored bees amongst three Plains Coreopsis flowers, one flying and one sitting in the middle of a flower, while the nose of a Paramylodon ground sloth approaches from the background (taking up most of the frame).
A screenshot of Figure 8 from a scientific publication that describes a new genus of stink-bug-like hemipterans (Similihypoxys). All are greenish with a dark horizontal stripe roughly across the middle of the thorax and darkened wings, generally top-heavy diamond-shaped insects.
A black-and-white pencil sketch of a wild Manticore (vaguely horse-like fictional cynodont) sitting down to groom itself with glands. One arm is lifted over its downward-pointed snout, and behind it the porcupine-like spiked tail lays flat on the ground.
Rough black-and-white sketch of a Deinotherium opening its mouth and reaching its trunk up into the branches of a tree as its lower jaw hooks over a large branch, anchoring the head in place.
Four rough black-and-white pencil sketches of prehistoric animals, roughly arranged in quadrants on a piece of paper. In the top left is the long-legged, cheetah-like sabertooth cat Yoshi, with its back arched and tail tucked under in a defensive posture as it snarls. In the top right is the front half of a Tylosaurus rex as it snatches a much smaller Terminonaris (an ancient croc). In the bottom left is the little euharamiyidan Xianshou, sitting on a branch as a fuzzy orb and staring directly at the camera. In the bottom right is the jerboa-like South American weirdo Argyrolagus, happily rolling around on the ground with its legs kicking up and eyes closed.
A rough black-and-white sketch of a small bee flying through the air, away from the Coreopsis flowers and the comparatively gigantic nose of a ground sloth taking up most of the background. Another similar bee is sitting in the middle of one of the Coreopsis much closer to the sloth nose.
A very, very pixelated cropped photo of a Horned Lark staring directly at the viewer.
Quick pencil sketch of a very concerned/frightened stick figure person side-eyeing the head of a large gomphothere-like tritylodont (close cousin of mammals) from my personal speculative-evolution project.
Black-and-white pencil sketches of two prehistoric mammals; on the top is the bulky hyena Pachycrocuta trotting towards the viewer at an angle with its tail curled up, and on the bottom is the strange carnivorous afrothere Ptolemaia, walking towards the right in lateral view with its eyes closed and vaguely smiling (given an otter-like body shape although we only know of its skull).
Figure one from the description paper of the blind cave wasp Troglopompilus miracaecatus, showcasing two photographs of researchers walking through cave N-745 where this wasp is known from.
A rough black-and-white pencil sketch of the head of Parachoerodon rhynchus (a long-jawed elephant cousin) in lateral view. The ears are quite large and roughly Asian-elephant-shaped, the head is overall low and long, and the upper tusks gently curve upwards. The tip of the long lower jaw is capped with a small, shovel-like keratinous blade that projects forwards and upwards.
A cropped screenshot of a figure from the new Choerolophodont paper, showcasing photos of the tip of a Parachoerodon mandible and the large slits on either side + the roughened tip that are proposed to support a keratinous blade or spade of sorts.
A colored-pencil sketch of a scene in middle-Pleistocene Southeast Asia, depicting a Honey Badger surrounded by two Yellow-throated martens. The honey badger is snarling and trotting towards one of the martens, which is crouching down and flicking its tail up. The other marten is standing tall on all fours behind the badger, with an adorable expression on its face. They are on an open, sandy trail surrounded by tall grasses, with a few dry, brown leaves scattered around.
Very rough black-and-white sketch of Nanaimoteuthis grabbing a much smaller mosasaur, depicting it with the anatomy seen in some of Hodari Nundu’s and others’ artwork wherein it looks more like something out of the monsterverse than a huge cirrate octopus.
A colored-pencil drawing of two large marine animals of the Cretaceous, the large cirrate octopus Nanaimoteuthis and the large Chimaera/rabbitfish Edaphodon. The octopus is relatively elongated for its clade, with two large fins curled downward in a swimming stroke as it passes over the Edaphodon, which cruises along the seafloor. The shadow of Nanaimoteuthis is visible along the seafloor and passing over the lower body of the Edaphodon.
Black-and-white pencil sketches of the giant prehistoric octopus Nanaimoteuthis, depicted in a wide range of shapes and sizes. One sketch is similar in proportions to elongated extant cirrate octopus but with shorter tentacles, engulfing a swarm of much smaller ammonites in its webbed net of tentacles. Two other sketches are a slender, large-finned version next to a much chunkier, small-finned version. Two other sketches have four fins instead of two, inspired by some of the potential ancestors of octopodiformes. One is nearly Pliosaur-like in proportions while the other, holding a diplomoceras-like ammonite, has fins more similar to actual four-finned extinct cephalopods. All are entirely speculative, as all we know from Nanaimoteuthis is what the beak looks like and what clade it is in.
A map of Africa, Eurasia, and Australia with the range of the living Honey Badger highlighted in green, with a small red dot in northern Vietnam showcasing the location of the Tham Hai cave where Mellivora indosinica is known from.
A photoshopped size-comparison between the newly described fossil Honey Badger (Mellivora indosinica) and the living Honey Badger (Mellivora capensis). The extinct species is represented with a reposed illustration of a Honey Badger skeleton with the fossil tooth aligned to the same tooth on the skeleton, while the living Honey Badger is represented by a photograph of one walking in lateral view. They are standing next to a 2-meter scale bar and a black silhouette of a human.
Photograph of a tiny, striped bark scorpion crawling across an oak leaf within a small acrylic terrarium, in a relatively dark room at midnight.
A black-and-white pencil sketch of the prehistoric salamander Dynamognathus robertsoni, depicted chomping down on the head of a shrew as it walks slightly downhill.
A black-and-white pencil drawing of a pair of floating Miocene elephant-cousin heads, one being the shovel-tusked Saegusaia wimani and the other being the spoon-jawed Choerolophodon chioticus. Both are drawn facing somewhat towards the viewer with mouths open and trunks curled back, to be able to try drawing what the mouths and lips of these long-faced proboscideans may have looked like.
A colored-pencil drawing of the prehistoric armadillo Vetelia ghandii, from the Miocene of South America. It is in a partially upright hunched standing position, with a blank white background.
A colored-pencil drawing of a scene in a dense meadow, taking place in France during the late Pliocene. A Eucyon adoxus (a coyote-like canine) has stumbled upon the ground nest of an ancient partridge, Palaeocryptonyx donnezani. The mother is seen flying away in the background as the Eucyon has its nose nearly touching the six eggs in the nest, looking down at them. Tall green grass surrounds the nest and the sky is clear and bright blue.
A photograph of a Mountain Laurel shrub in bloom, with the focus on a close-up of a few branches covered in both dark green leaves and pale pink, cup-shaped flowers.
Photograph of a dense patch of Little Barley, which look like tiny versions of wheat, growing amongst similarly short grasses and flowers in an open field.
Four colored-pencil drawings of prehistoric animals, arranged roughly into quadrants on a piece of paper. In the top left is the ichthyosaur Xiphodracon, with a very long and slender snout. In the top right is the generic-mammal-ever Ectoconus, leaping away from whatever ripped the tip of its tail off. In the bottom left is the early mammaliamorph Morganucodon, curled around itself as it sleeps. In the bottom right is the bilaterally-symmetric early echinoderm Atlascystis, drawn life-size at just under 1 cm wide at the front end and around 1 cm in length.
A rough black-and-white sketch of the ancient elephant-cousin Eubelodon morrilli in lateral view, with the outline of the skull, neck, and forearms + shoulder faintly visible.
A photograph of several Little Barley plants growing close together on the edge of a backyard at a suburban house, all are less than 12 inches tall.
Page 7 of the satirical Hirudopithecus description
Page 6 of the satirical Hirudopithecus description
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A screenshot of the front page of a totally-real published paper describing a new Pliocene ape genus, Hirudopithecus, which is hypothesized to be an early Panin AND a social parasite of Hominins AND likely the direct ancestor of everyone’s favorite annoying-orange. Happy April Fool’s!
A black-and-white pencil drawing of a family group of Graecopithecus apes walking both bipedally and quadrupedally around a large fallen tree in a savanna environment. A Cremohipparion three-toed horse watches them cautiously from the background, while a young male of the group attempts to poke its rear end.
A photograph of a tiny, grey-and-orange striped scorpion (Centruroides hentzi) sitting in the bottom of a small plastic drink cup.
A black-and-white pencil illustration of a scene in a shortleaf-pine/oak savanna, in the hills of the Alabama piedmont region. A jaguar leaps into frame and has grabbed a turkey in the air, as three other turkeys scatter into the air and into the surrounding tall grasses. A fox squirrel watches from high up in an oak tree, and a short-tailed shrew forages at the base of a tree in the foreground.
A close-up photo of one of my pet Northern Curly-tailed Lizards, looking up towards the viewer from the floor of a large terrarium.
A black-and-white pencil sketch of a shark, Physogaleus, nibbling on the tattered edge of a severed head of the whale Basilosaurus. The large head is lying on its side on the seafloor with mouth wide open, while the shark’s body is very curvy as it attempts to slice off a bite. Near the head on the seafloor is a much smaller crab.
A work-in-progress black-and-white pencil sketch of a family group of Miocene apes, navigating a fallen tree both quadrupedally and bipedally while a Hipparionin horse watches curiously.
A compilation of fossil images and sketches depicting the anatomy, size, behavior, and various poses of the ancient proboscidean Numidotherium, made by Joschua Knuppe.
A simple finger-painting of a horse in lateral view on the flat concrete of a sidewalk, made with local reddish-orange clay. It was made in November, it is currently the following March, and it hasn’t noticeably faded or changed at all.
Colored-pencil drawings of seven fictional plesiosaurs in lateral view, on a piece of white paper. The tiny, long-headed Grakogen and small Watigoga are at the top, the small pliosaur-shaped Zhakogen and the small-ish Daikogen are on the right, the medium-sized chonky Zanitel and slender Shodima are on the left, and the gigantic deep-sea-hunting Kadanuk is at the bottom of the page. A relatively small horizontal 2-meter scale bar is in the top left corner.
A colored-pencil drawing of the head and neck of two prehistoric carnivorans, looking at each other in lateral view from the left and right sides of the paper. The background is a faded black-and-white sketch of western North America and eastern Asia as they may have been during the late Eocene, connected at Beringia. On the left is Lonchocyon qiui, a caniform of some sort that is only known from a mandible. Here it is a mix of grey, dark brown, and yellowish markings. On the right is Eusmilus adelos, a lion-sized Nimravid feliform known from most of a skull and skeleton. Here it is drawn an overall sandy color with rusty brown highlights.
A black-and-white pencil drawing of a scene in the fictional world of Kaimere. In a dense mixed Pine-Hardwood forest along the eastern edge of the continent Ni’Khar, a large Fireback terror bird steps out into a clearing. It is staring into the foreground, at a mother Unicorn (cousin of giraffes) protectively standing next to her newborn calf. A Kaimeran Rhinoceros is standing a little further in the background with its head raised, looking at the Fireback, so the terror bird may not get the easy meal it was looking for.
Colored pencil drawing of the tentatively-valid Pleistocene horse Equus pacificus, standing in lateral view. Its head is tall and snout slightly convex, and it is relatively robust with limb proportions like a large pony. It is an overall dark rusty brown color, with a pale belly and very dark stripes along its neck and down its forelimb.
Four black-and-white pencil sketches of prehistoric horses on a piece of paper, arranged in four quadrants. In the top left is the trunked Shanxihippus bounding away from the viewer, its strange face mostly turned away. In the top right is a struggling Archaeohippus clutched in the jaws of a much larger Amphicyon, which is staring directly at the viewer with the tiny horse in its mouth. In the bottom left is a mother Megahippus in front view, looking down at her small foal running up to her. In the bottom right is Parahippus rearing up on its hind legs, standing tall and facing the viewer with one forelimb raised in a wave.