The difference between pterosaurs and mythological monsters

[frameacloud]

Content warnings: For this article, none. For the linked article, a painting of gore.

August: The paleontology blog Tetrapod Zoology looks into innaccurate reconstructions of pterosaurs, and gets to the bottom of why artists have persisted in depicting a prehistoric animal so that it looks like a mythological creature. Excerpt:

"Palaeoart memes are those traditions we so frequently see in the history of palaeontological art whereby artists copy the behavioural hypotheses, body shapes, postures and even colour schemes of given animals again and again and again, not because they’re well supported or based on evidence of any sort, but simply because that’s what’s been depicted beforehand."

Sloppy guesses about how to reconstruct extinct animals tend to get perpetuated by other artists who assume those first sloppy guesses must have been based on something. Then we get used to seeing that folklore everywhere, and take it as fact.

Source

Darren Naish, "Quetzalcoatlus: the evil, pin-headed, toothy nightmare monster that wants to eat your soul." 2013-08-20. Tetrapod Zoology (blog). http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/08/20/quetzalcoatlus-wants-to-eat-your-soul/

Comments

[zeeth_kyrah]

This is the same thing I observe with dragons. We most certainly don't all match the art; I know for a fact I don't.