From the artist’s blog:

Order Print

Spinosaurus aegyptiacus with jaws wide trawls for mesozoic fish.

Reconstruction of the Cretaceous ecosystem recorded in the Kem Kem beds of Morocco. Illustration by Brian Engh under the scientific guidance of Tor Bertin.

The big gnarly looking fish in the foreground are of the genus Lepidotes, reconstructed based primarily on L. maximus. These fish had rows of flat peg shaped teeth adapted for crushing mollusks, and the one foremost in the frame is eyeing an aquatic snail grazing on the algae-covered driftwood. In the background a couple large predatory tarpon (Cladocyclus pankowskii) can be seen gliding along stealthily. In the foreground observing everything is a giant side-necked turtle (Galianemys whitei). Further back in the frame, swimming around the Spinosaur’s hip area are some small fish that we shall say are of the genus Diplomystus. Between the two spinosaurs another Galianemys swims. In the foreground in front of the background Spinosaur a lungfish (Ceratodus humei) patrols the bottom for molluskan prey, ambling along on its leg-like fins. Just right of the lungfish two large cretacious gar of the genus Oniichthys survey their domain. Way in the back just to the right of the background Spinosaur, a school of Lepidotes and a sawshark (Onchopristis numidus) flee in the wake of the Spinosaur’s piscivorous predation. In the air above the Spinosaurs flies and dragonflies buzz about as Tepejarid and Siroccopteryx/Coloborhynchus pterosaurs soar majestically above.

I did this illustration for a paper being published by a paleontologist named Tor Bertin. It was super exciting to work with a scientist on a paleo illustration for the first time. He provided me with the science that made reconstructing this environment possible as well as the grounding to keep my imagining of these animals vibrant and believable without becoming overly speculative or sensational.

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