What a singularly bizzare creature. I cannot emphasize that enough. It's some bastard child of a turtle, warthog, parrot, and reptile, with some domestic pig thrown into the mix. This is Psittacosaurus sibiricus, without a doubt one of the weirdest ceratopsian ancestors out there.
Yes, folks, not everything in this genus is P. mongoliensis. Not even close. I think just the sheer weird factor inherent in this particular flavor of Psittacosaur should make it pointedly clear that an entire class of dinosaur should not be dictated by ONE subspecies. And really, why should it be? Are we just getting lazy as paleontologists? "It's just another Psittacosaur - put it in the pile with all the others." That's not the line of thinking that got us this far...
Anyway, as you can probably see, I'm having a bit of trouble with the head angle. Practice makes perfect - or insane, as the case may be.
Also, Andrey Atuchin's skull reconstruction, which I have been drawing from - mainly because it's the ONLY one out there. But also, because this is a very talented artist.
2 comments:
I can see you've just about nailed it.
(I'd like to see it in person, too, tho. And no, that is not a transparent excuse to get you out here.
(Or maybe it is.)
Hmmm...never seen that skull reconstruction, but I love it! Definately better than the "thing" in the description. Those are some mean-looking jugal horns! And I've never seen an animal with palpebral horns!
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