Speculative Evolution
The Fossils on Mars
Bats of the Post-Human Era
Natural History
Paleontological Illustration
Animal Illustration
Other Work
Sculptures
Fantasy and Narrative Illustration
The Fossils on Mars
Bats of the Post-Human Era
Paleontological Illustration
Animal Illustration
Sculptures
Fantasy and Narrative Illustration
Paleoart
Patagonykus puerti
Watercolour, colour pencil. 2023.This is a highly speculative reconstruction of the animal, and as such many details are fabricated.
You may have seen this animal’s relative, Mononykus, in the Prehistoric Planet series. Just like its cousin, Patagonykus has a bizarre single-digit hand tipped with a large claw. It may have been adapted for feeding on insects. The skull is missing from the fossil, but here I’ve given it a slender snout like its relatives with whisker-like rictal bristles which are pronounced in several birds such as nightjars and kiwis. Thought to have lived in a heavily forested evironment, the feather pattern was inspired by tinamous and quails, while the colouration was inspired by the lazuli bunting.