i woke up in a cold sweat with this cursed AU for MCSM. this is my contribution as a paleontology nerd, i’m so sorry in advance
stupid AU where everything is the same, but everyone is a raptor of some kind. i am such a nerd that i legitimately put thought into what type of dinosaur each character would be and why, and i’ll give explanations for each one. this was stupid and really rushed, but it was so much fun to do, and i hope you all enjoy???
—————————————-
let’s start with Jesse, who was the second easiest choice behind Axel; they are a speculative smaller subspecies of Deinonychus antirrhopus.
Deinonychus was one of the most important discoveries in paleontology, and would give rise to what is known as “the Dinosaur Renaissance”, which sparked how we see dinosaurs today. this was because of it’s clear appearance as an agile, active predator (which is not how dinosaurs were seen at the time of its discovery), and later, it’s striking resemblance to the feathered, gliding dinosaur Archaeopteryx. Deinonychus even modeled how the “Velociraptors” looked in Jurassic Park! however, the issue lies in the fact that Deinonychus was a medium-sized raptor, and Jesse… well, they’re not very tall. i really wanted to use Deinonychus, but the size wasn’t right, so i settled for a speculative, smaller subspecies. Deinonychus is also speculated to be a pack hunter, which would definitely work in Jesse’s favor. also i think it’s funny; Deinonychus antirrhopus means “counterbalanced terrible claw”, and i find that to be the most ironic thing for Jesse, given how clumsy they are. i love it.
———————————————
next, Axel! he was the EASIEST choice by far; he is a Utahraptor ostrommaysorum.
you probably already know Utahraptor; it’s the largest and most heavily built of all raptors, often growing just over 6 ft tall at the hips. Axel is also very tall and heavily built, so that immediately clicks. but adding on to this, in contrast with other raptors, Utahraptor was likely more of an ambushing raptor rather than a pursuit raptor, and that clicks with Axel hating running and relying on more aggressive and explosive tactics, so to speak. and finally, the most funny detail; if you’ll notice, the Utahraptor’s lower jaw juts out slightly and curves away from the upper jaw. this was probably to gain a better grip on prey, but it does give them a very strange look even when their mouth is closed. it makes that comment that Lukas made about Axel being a mouth breather even funnier, at least to me.
————————————-
Olivia! i had a little bit of trouble with her, but i think i settled on a good one; she is a Dromaeosaurus albertensis.
Dromaeosaurus was a shier, smaller raptor that lived up north in what is now Canada, enduring freezing polar winters and months of total darkness. it’d take a lot of brains to be able to pull strings to survive that, which Olivia certainly provides. Dromaeosaurus also relied more on the chase and brain power, rather than brute force, though they would’ve if needed be. recent studies also show that raptors probably had very similar capabilities to modern birds, so if they had a brain kind of like corvids, they could’ve even used primitive tools at times. comes in handy with redstone, eh? Dromaeosaurus was also a good tracker, thanks to its sensitive nose and sharp eyes. also, they’re very important but often overlooked. Dromaeosaurus was the leading dinosaur for the names of all under the “raptor” umbrella; the dromaeosaurids.
————————————
Petra! she’s my favorite character, i’ll just admit that lmao. but i gave her the same treatment as everyone else here, so; she is an Austroraptor cabazai.
Austroraptor was a tall, lean, and quick raptor which inhabited the warm swamps of South America. obviously, Petra is the second tallest in The New Order, and Austroraptor was the second tallest raptor on record, so that checks out. but i think the build of Austroraptor checks out too; it’s moderately built, both for speed and strength, with the classic claw. it was very slender and judging from their leg bones, could be a very good pursuit raptor that could also maintain speeds for extended periods of time, which matches Petra’s love to race and run. what sets Austroraptor apart, however, is it’s diet; it was speculated to be at least partially piscivorous, meaning it ate a lot of fish. it’s teeth were slightly conical and acted almost like hooks, which would be quite painful to an opponent. Austroraptor was pretty good at it’s niche, but it wasn’t afraid to go elsewhere if needed. And Petra loves to go elsewhere.
—————————-
Lukas! he was a little tricky for me to figure out, i’m not gonna lie. i was stuck between these two: Velociraptor mongoliensis and Saurornitholestes langstoni. but i had to choose only one, and i ultimately had to go with a speculative larger subspecies of Velociraptor, since i already broke the size rule with Jesse.
Velociraptor is the most widely known, famous, and beloved raptor of all time, and obviously a fan favorite, so that already checks a box. but adding to this, Velociraptor is a very well-documented dinosaur with some incredible specimens. Velociraptors were also likely to be stealthy and tenacious hunters who used their brains, speed, and ability to take a tumble (which Lukas does a LOT) to their advantage. Lukas is also confirmed in game to be attractive (which is still so funny to me), so i added all kinds of cool looking display feathers in a blue color, because 1) his text and eyes are a blueish color and 2) blue is a kinda rare color in nature, and a lot of birds today seem to like the it. also, in episode 7, remember how his nose wasn’t right in the portrait? i kind of like to imagine that Cassie heard that he was a Velociraptor and assumed he was the Jurassic Park version? so Lukas just comes in, sees the portrait, and is like “where tf are my feathers”
——————-
last but not least; Rueben! i had some trouble picking out a genus and species, but i knew immediately that he had to be a small ceratopsian. i chose for him, Microceratus gobiensis.
Microceratus is an adorable looking ceratopsian that was only about the size of a very small dog. but don’t let it’s appearance fool you. ceratopsians have some of the biggest characters and presences in paleontology, with the audacity to match. Rueben definitely has character, personality, and audaciousness. don’t get me wrong, they would probably rather not fight (at least some of them. can’t say the same for Triceratops), but they sure would’ve if they had to. Microceratus doesn’t have a ton of defenses, but it did have a sharp, crushing beak, and could dodge and run very quickly if it had to. it’s front legs were a bit shorter than it’s hind legs, which allowed it to run bipedally. i also just generally think of ceratopsians like the wild boars and rhinos of the dinosaur world, so i guess that just fits, considers Rueben’s main attack is headbutting (which makes me think i could’ve made him a pachycephalosaur too). i just love the idea of this tiny prey creature sticking with a bunch of predators who constantly protect him.
that’s all for now!! thank you for reading and allowing me to infodump about my special interest combined with a hyperfixation lol. i might do more stupid sketches based on this idea in the future if people like it
77 notes
·
View notes
Daurlong wangi Wang et al., 2022 (new genus and species)
(Type specimen of Daurlong wangi [b: close-up of skull; c: close-up of eye socket; d: close-up of preserved feathers; e: frog skeleton preserved nearby; scale bars = 20 mm for b and 10 mm for c], from Wang et al., 2022)
Meaning of name: Daurlong = Daur dragon [in Chinese]; wangi = for Wang Junyou [director of the Inner Mongolia Museum of Natural History]
Age: Early Cretaceous (Aptian), about 121 million years ago
Where found: Longjiang Formation, Inner Mongolia, China
How much is known: Nearly complete skeleton of one individual with preserved feathers.
Notes: Daurlong was a dromaeosaurid theropod, making it a fairly close relative to Velociraptor and Deinonychus. It was especially similar to Tianyuraptor and Zhenyuanlong of the Jehol Biota (also from the Early Cretaceous of China). Like Tianyuraptor and Zhenyuanlong, it had relatively short forelimbs for its size, and was larger than most other Early Cretaceous dromaeosaurids that have been found in China, being about 1.5 m long in total length.
The type specimen of Daurlong not only preserves an exceptionally complete skeleton with feather remains, but also a dark mass in its abdominal cavity. In terms of shape and anatomical position, this mass resembles the preserved intestines of Scipionyx, a theropod known from a well-preserved juvenile specimen from the Early Cretaceous of Italy, and may therefore also represent preserved intestinal remnants in Daurlong.
Reference: Wang, X., A. Cau, B. Guo, F. Ma, G. Qing, and Y. Liu. 2022. Intestinal preservation in a birdlike dinosaur supports conservatism in digestive canal evolution among theropods. Scientific Reports 12: 19965. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-24602-x
273 notes
·
View notes
Chimken, book and living fossil relative
Unspecified Dromaeosaurid fella and chicken.
This picture was drawn in October at a con I attend each year, they have a few Wacom Cintiqs and other tablets from Wacom to try out there each year. This year the theme of the con was ‘’we’re too old for this’’ so I at least wanted to be in the theme to an extent.
I still feel like it’s missing something, some contrast, a kick of something.
If I had more time the chicken was supposed to be a witch and I imagined some effect and drama for the raptor, like flying feathers or something. But it has some charm like this I guess. Is rough around the edges.
Anyway two watermarks because I’m paranoid.
58 notes
·
View notes