Paleo Ink Journal

Well, I finally made it to the spawning ground of paleontology. One of the main ones at least. It was absolutely mesmerising to see all the fossils that have by now acquired legendary status. I took only a few photos, made only a few sketches, because I was busy being spellbound at one of the most extraordinary windows into the Earth's past.

What was intended to be just a doodle on a flight ended up being a sort of re-imagining of my first ever commissioned dinosaur artwork for and his mesozoic death metal band Carnotaurus. Maybe we could chalk it down to 2 carcharodontosaurids trying to bring down a (juvenile to sub-adult?) titanosaur.

If you're a well-commissioned, scientifically validated paleoartist stumbling upon this post, I openly welcome any form of critique of this.

Rajasaurus narmadensis | Abelisaurid (Late Cretaceous)

I seem to have found a sort of 'spirit animal' with the Rajasaurus, having lost count of how many times I've uploaded a drawing of it here. It is the most well known dinosaur to have been discovered in India. Here, one is pictured with a clutch of eggs. A quick snack out of the eggs of another animal? Or are these its own children? Or maybe even a rival's nest? Feel free to use your imagination on this one. The reason why there's not hint of an arm in this particular drawing is because abelisaurids had the most vestigial of tiny arms, bordering on hilarity. So much so that they wouldn't have even dropped out of the sides enough for them to be visible while in such a crouch.

I drew this on a flight.

Tharosaurus indicus | Dicraeosaurid sauropod (Middle Jurassic period)

Presenting my first ever attempt at the scientific reconstruction of a prehistoric animal. This is the Tharosaurus indicus, an early dicraeosaurid discovered in Rajasthan, India. It is based on the research paper published by Sunil Bajpai et al in August 2023. Alongside the drawing are glimpses of my (slightly messy) research method which largely involved drawing every photo of every bone from the paper, extensively researching related sauropod papers and books and trying to arrive at as objective a conclusion as possible about how it would've looked.

And then of course, not making a mess of the drawing. That's a whole other story.

The Tharosaurus, named after the desert it was discovered in, was dated back to between 170 and 165 Ma, meaning it is the oldest known diplodocoid. This could imply it to be the originating taxon of all diplodocid and dicraeosaurid lineages, making the prehistoric lands that are now in India an important source of sauropod evolution.

1. Tharosaurus indicus, a reconstruction based on the paper published by Bajpai et al.
2. Researching the research paper- understanding the neck vertebrae
3. Researching the research paper- understanding the dorsal (back) vertebrae and rib
4. Researching the research paper- understanding the tail vertebrae
5. Summary of paper to help turn words into a picture
6. Summary contd.

Rajasaurus narmadensis | Abelisaurid (Late Cretaceous period)

Named in 2003 as the 'king lizard' of India, Rajasaurus narmadensis is the most well known dinosaur amongst the sparse fossil record of India. It exhibits the characteristic features of the abelisaurid group of the carnivorous theropod dinosaurs, including a high, boxy skull, ridiculously small arms and in this case, a head crest that can be seen on its most likely evolutionary cousin from Madagascar, the Majungasaurus.

Tyrannosaurus rex | Tyrannosaur (Late Cretaceous Period)

For those who've missed me, I'm back!

Here's a sketch I drew out of imagination (and boredom) on a flight I took recently. It probably has a tonne of scientific and artistic errors but I'm reasonably pleased with the result. I'm hoping to be more regular with posting new artwork, and less regular with saying so without doing so!

A big thanks to those of you who've stuck around!

So it's already been a year since a hapless Argentinosaurus and 3 bloodthirsty Mapusaurs found themselves on a death metal split album cover. How (deep) time flies!

Thank you Power Beast , Carnotaurus for this opportunity!

Carnotaurus/Powerbeast - Turonian Terror Split Cassette Carnotaurus/Powerbeast - Turonian Terror Split Please email us about shipping outside of the US [email protected]

Hi all,

Just returned from a trip to Europe which included a visit to the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels, Belgium. I was so happy to be there and was very impressed by the way the museum is curated. Needless to say, I decided to draw some of the dinosaurs on display. What was most fascinating for me was the story of the Bernissart iguanodons and how 30 of their skeletons were found buried 322 metres under the ground together.

Isisaurus colberti | Titanosaur (Late Cretaceous period)

Neither an Egyptian goddess nor a terrorist outfit nor an intelligence bureau were the source of this creature's name. It was, instead, named after the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), which was the office of the 2 scientists who named this unique looking sauropod. It was discovered in 1984 in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and is among the more complete titanosaur skeletons of the world. Recognisably, it has a relatively short neck for its height, much longer forelimbs than hind limbs and a skull that bears some resemblance to the diplodocid lineage of sauropod dinosaurs.

Rajasaurus narmadensis | Abelisaurid (Late Cretaceous period)

The 'king lizard' is the reigning poster child of Indian paleontology. Its species name is after the banks of the river Narmada, flowing through the Indian state of Gujarat, where it was discovered in 1983. The discovery itself was made in a cement quarry from which a few limestone rocks had initially been unearthed. Those 'rocks' turned out to be eggs. It is still unclear which species those eggs belong to.

Stegouros elongassen | Ankylosaur (Late Cretaceous period)

The last dinosaur discovery to be named in 2021, Stegouros must not be confused with the name 'Stegosaurus'. The prefix 'stego' means roof, and 'uros' means tail, a reference to the unusual shape of its flat tail. The tail has also been likened to a macuahuitl, an ancient Aztec weapon, owing to its country of discovery, Chile.

Mapusaurus roseae attack Argentinosaurus huinculensis | Carcharodontosaurid and Titanosaur (Mid-Cretaceous period)

Presenting my first ever commissioned dinosaur artwork! A huge bunch of thanks to for picking me to make this for them! It was quite a challenge but also a lot of fun. I hope to have done justice to their brand of Mesozoic death metal! Check out their page for information on their split EP 'Turonian Terror' with the aptly named Carnotaurus!