After researching online “How to Paint Feathers” and viewing step by step videos, I made rough sketches of the Raptors with feathers. Raptors were covered with downy hair like feathers. They also had flight feathers on their arms and tail for display. I choose to keep their face and lower legs scaley. Since I’m not attaching feathers, I had to come up with a paint design to have the flight feathers appear retracted.
Before painting the feathers, I added some color accents around the Eyes & Face. Alan & Charlie’s are the same – Mystic Turquoise & Exquisite Emerald Green. Blue receives Kings Court Purple & Beacon Blue. Jadon pops with Metallic Colors Apple Red & Black Night. The first pass for features Alan & Charlie Exquisite Emerald Green. Blue fluffs with Mystic Turquois and Jadon Blazing Bonfire Orange. The feathers will require layering and other colors to make designs.
Dwarf Dinosaurs? Sounds strange but like Charles Darwin’s study of animal adaptation on the Galapagos Islands. Dinosaurs adapted to their surrounds too. Seventy Million Years Ago Global Sea Levels are high. Europe is a group of islands. In the area that was to millions of years later be the Romanian region of Transylvania, is a large island. Strange primitive Dinosaurs and Pterosaurs very different than their relatives in other parts of the world made their home.
While dwarf dinosaurs roamed the island circling high above is one of the largest animals that has ever flown. A head about 10 feet long, the height of a giraffe standing and a wing span over 24 feet is the size of a small biplane – Hatzegopteryx. Perhaps the Gigantism in this Pterosaur was to allow it to fly great distances and feed on the islands that as the sea receded made the land mass of Europe today. Hatzegopteryx named by French paleontologist Eric Buffetaut and Romanian colleagues Dan Grigorescu & Zoltan Csiki in 2002. This is the cousin to Quetzalcoatlus discovered in Texas.
Thanks to prehistoric-wildlife.com for Hatzegopteryx size comparison chart.
Magyarosaurus dacus, at 20 feet long and weighing about a ton, is known as a dwarf sauropod. Baby & juvenile Magyarosaurs were probably snacks for Hatzegopteryx. Originally named Titanosaurus dacus by Baron Nopcsa in 1915. The Baron had collected fossils in the area since 1895. Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felso-Szilvas (1877 – 1933) was a Hungarian aristocrat, adventurer, scholar, geologist, paleontologist and albanologist. He is regarded as one of the founders of paleobiology and the first to describe the theory of insular dwarfism. This is the process & condition of large animals evolving to smaller body size when their population is limited to a small environment – primarily islands. He was ahead of his time. He believed that birds evolved from dinosaurs, that some dinosaurs & pterosaurs were warm blooded, that Transylvania was then an island and that plate tectonics explained puzzling patterns in the fossil record.
In 1895 he discovered Transylvania’s first dinosaur Limnosaurus a small duck-bill now called Telmatosaurus. Nopcsa named Zalmoxes a small ornithopod in 1899. In 2010 a new dromaeosaurid was described, which experts believed to be related to velociraptor. Balaur bondoc (meaning Balaur – Dragon and Bondoc – Stocky or Stocky Dragon) was very different than other raptors. Its forearms had just 2 fingers and its hind limbs 4 toes of which 2 were sickle killing claws on each foot! In 2015 after further study, it was determined Balaur was a flightless bird a close relative to dromaeosaurids. The fossil didn’t have the head. Perhaps a future find will lead to a better classification.
Thanks to Ghedoghedo for Zalmoxes & Balaur fossil pictures
Reference for Dwarf Dinosaurs: “Weird Dinosaurs” by John Pickerell – Check it Out at your library or online for purchase.
Stay Tuned for More on the Raptor Makeovers, Dinosaur Crafts & Fun Facts!
Here are 3 of my favorites Museums. Remember Social Distancing & Masks to keep You & Others Safe while Everyone Enjoys Their Learning Experience. Consider a Membership with the Museum. In addition to Supporting Their Valuable Work there are Benefits to You. Special Preview Events for Members Only as well as Virtual Access Exclusive for Members. For more information and access to general public eLearning check out the links below.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County www.nhm.org under Research & Collections / Digitized Collections will allow you to browse their Collections. Check out the latest Activities on their site. “Dino Fest 2023” September 24th. Celebrate Everything Dinosaur.
The American Natural History Museum www.amnh.org You will find eLearning for Families, Students & Educators. Explore the Museum Virtually. Check Out SciCafe: Video Talks and Meet the Icons: Stories behind the Exhibits! There are Video Series covering Behind the Scenes at the Museum with Space & Dinosaur Explainers.
Chicago’s Field Museum www.fieldmuseum.org You can talk to “Maximo the Titanosaur” online, Yes Really! Visit Sue the largest T-Rex discovered! Check Out “Brain Scoop” and the Learning Resources – many are also in Spanish.
Check Out Your Libraries eBooks. My local Library has over 900 eBooks on Dinosaurs! Here are four books for Drawing Dinosaurs that you might find at your Library. Ask your Librarian about others.
1-2-3 Draw Dinosaurs and other Prehistoric Animals A step by step guide by Freddie Levin (2001)
Draw 50 Dinosaurs and other Prehistoric Animals by Lee J. Ames (1977)
Draw it Dinosaurs by Patricia Walsh (2006)
I Can Draw Dinosaurs by Terry Longhurst (2003)
Stay Safe & Well.
Please Remember to Wear Masks & Social Distance as Appropriate Not everyone has been Vaccinated. And even vaccinated many Young & Old have compromised immune systems. Protect Yourself, Friends, Family & Everyone You Pass!
Thank You!
I used watercolors to make Dinosaur Designs on my N95 Masks. I couldn’t get a yes or no from 3M regarding any impact this might have to the effectiveness of the mask. Many Museums sell Dinosaur Themed Masks Check them Out!
“Encouraging the Appreciation of Art and Education through the Inspiration of Dinosaurs”
Paul & Prehistoric Pals
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