It has gone intriguingly without notice that my beloved profile picture has actually received no published legend, such that to date I still receive such unwitting question as 'why is that dinosaur's arms drawn so damn small?' Alright, let's set it straight: an adapted except from Sham (2000, unpublished thesis):
From bones to flesh - the new Tyrannosaurus rex
The late Maastrichtian Montana. Dawn on the tropical lowland floodplains. The air was warm and humid. A thin veil of fog failed to disguise the dominance of angiosperms: ancient laurels, magnolias, sycamores and water lilies studded the bank of the unbraided stream channel. Palms were thriving, albeit ferns and herbs, on which dews dropped, were still ubiquitous, with conifers vying to fill the canopy. The solitary Tyrannosaurus rex patrolled along the overbank, jerking its huge head in rhythm with its pace, and pausing to sniff the air. A familiar odor drifting in a breeze prompted him - a gracile male but still powerfully built - to investigate. Downstream nearby, a vigilant Troodon formosus was gnawing at a Triceratops horridus skull that rested on the muddy sandbar (the post-crania was long gone - floated downstream during a recent flashflood). Suddenly the tyrannosaur caught the long awaited low-pitched bellows: the first herd of Parasaurolophus sp. entered his territory after a three-month migration along the epi-continental shoreline. Exhausted, they traveled upstream for fresh water and the lush ground foliage. The tyrannosaur gauged the herd - worn out enough to warrant an ambush. It cautiously closed in within striking distance, its stereoptic eyes locked onto an unsuspecting juvenile. Then... an exploding roar. It charged straight across the water with tail raised for balance, jaws agape calculating where to land the bone-shattering bite...
Commentry
The gracile Tyrannosaurus rex was restored in an active, endothermic pose with avian musculature layout, modelled after MOR 555 (Horner et al, 1993). That this morph belonged to male gender is actually debatable (Brochu, 2002 contra Larson, 1994, 2008). Stereopticity in tyrannosaurs was proposed by Stevens (1998, 2006). Unlike the kung-fu rex (DMNH), the swing-phrase leg was restored with digits closed as per my personal observation on cursorial birds. Troodon formosus was redrawn after Doug Henderson's earlier work, seen here without a maniraptoran wrist. Its footprints was constructed with reference to Gatesy et al (1999). Interestingly, Holtz's (1995) interpretation of the arctometatarsalian clade (Tyrannosauroidea + Bullatosauria) outside of Maniraptora had led to the restoration of both dinosaurs without feathers, while currently the presence of at least some downy integuments is seen as the orthodoxy (as phylogenetically bracketed by Sinosauropteryx prima). Parasaurolophus sp. was based on Greg Paul's illustration on P. walkeri, albeit its presence in the Maastrichtian is actually questionable. Putting in an Edmontosaurus regalis or Anatotitan copei might be more appropriate. It is notable that Triceratops sp. skulls are highly polymorphic (Forster, 1996). The Lancian flora is restored according to Johnson (1997) although later references e.g. in CJES (2002) also existed.
© Leo W Sham, MMI et MMVIII
From bones to flesh - the new Tyrannosaurus rex
The late Maastrichtian Montana. Dawn on the tropical lowland floodplains. The air was warm and humid. A thin veil of fog failed to disguise the dominance of angiosperms: ancient laurels, magnolias, sycamores and water lilies studded the bank of the unbraided stream channel. Palms were thriving, albeit ferns and herbs, on which dews dropped, were still ubiquitous, with conifers vying to fill the canopy. The solitary Tyrannosaurus rex patrolled along the overbank, jerking its huge head in rhythm with its pace, and pausing to sniff the air. A familiar odor drifting in a breeze prompted him - a gracile male but still powerfully built - to investigate. Downstream nearby, a vigilant Troodon formosus was gnawing at a Triceratops horridus skull that rested on the muddy sandbar (the post-crania was long gone - floated downstream during a recent flashflood). Suddenly the tyrannosaur caught the long awaited low-pitched bellows: the first herd of Parasaurolophus sp. entered his territory after a three-month migration along the epi-continental shoreline. Exhausted, they traveled upstream for fresh water and the lush ground foliage. The tyrannosaur gauged the herd - worn out enough to warrant an ambush. It cautiously closed in within striking distance, its stereoptic eyes locked onto an unsuspecting juvenile. Then... an exploding roar. It charged straight across the water with tail raised for balance, jaws agape calculating where to land the bone-shattering bite...
Commentry
The gracile Tyrannosaurus rex was restored in an active, endothermic pose with avian musculature layout, modelled after MOR 555 (Horner et al, 1993). That this morph belonged to male gender is actually debatable (Brochu, 2002 contra Larson, 1994, 2008). Stereopticity in tyrannosaurs was proposed by Stevens (1998, 2006). Unlike the kung-fu rex (DMNH), the swing-phrase leg was restored with digits closed as per my personal observation on cursorial birds. Troodon formosus was redrawn after Doug Henderson's earlier work, seen here without a maniraptoran wrist. Its footprints was constructed with reference to Gatesy et al (1999). Interestingly, Holtz's (1995) interpretation of the arctometatarsalian clade (Tyrannosauroidea + Bullatosauria) outside of Maniraptora had led to the restoration of both dinosaurs without feathers, while currently the presence of at least some downy integuments is seen as the orthodoxy (as phylogenetically bracketed by Sinosauropteryx prima). Parasaurolophus sp. was based on Greg Paul's illustration on P. walkeri, albeit its presence in the Maastrichtian is actually questionable. Putting in an Edmontosaurus regalis or Anatotitan copei might be more appropriate. It is notable that Triceratops sp. skulls are highly polymorphic (Forster, 1996). The Lancian flora is restored according to Johnson (1997) although later references e.g. in CJES (2002) also existed.
© Leo W Sham, MMI et MMVIII
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