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Feed all the data you’ve gathered into your Computer. Use special software to build a 3-D model of Edmontosaurus.

Onscreen reconstructions

The Lost World (1925) was one of the first films to feature stop-motion dinosaurs and other prehistorie animals. The effects look poor to modern eyes, but were revolutionary for the time and amazed audiences. Jurassic Park (1993) aimed to bring accurate CG dinosaurs to the big screen. The tyrannosaur looked excellent but the “raptors” (based on Deinonychus) were wrongly given scaly bodies instead of feathers.

Walking with Dinosaurs (1999) showed that low-budget CG could be produced for TV. Some of the animals, such as the Tyrannosaurus, were highly inaccurate, but others, including Iguanodon and some of the marinę reptiles, were portrayed very well.

01 ■ Artists sketch their reconstructions before producing paintings. They base their work on fossils.

02 ■ Artists often study mounted skeletons—but sometimes these have been put together incorrectly.

03    ■ Some artists make a model of the skeleton and then work with clay

to add an accurate body shape.

04    ■ Many people

create CG (Computer generated) models. The results can be spectacular!

Special

insights

The better preserved a fossil is, the morę it can tell us:

Fossils from fine limestones and other rocks sometimes show the outline of the body.

Some fossils even reveal details such as skin color and patterns.

Volcanic ash can rapidly bury a dead animal and preserve parts that normally rot. Some still have fur or feathers.

Bodies preserved in permafrost (ground that is always frozen) may still have skin and muscle.

Mammoths and other Pleistocene animals were painted by prehistorie people. Cave art helps us reconstruct them with confidence.

Studying living animals allows scientists to make educated guesses about the colors and patterns of extinct creatures:

Elephant

Large animals have plain colors. They rely on size and loud noises to attract mates.

Arabian oryx

Large desert animals are often pale. Dark colors would absorb morę of the Sun’s heat.

Cape buffalo

Being dark makes herd animals appear as one large mass and puts off predators.

Okapi

Forest animals sometimes have stripes that look like lines of light and shadow.

Tragopan

Animals that live in shady habitats may have bright or iridescent (metallic) display patches for attracting females.

Peacock

Crests and other display structures are usually brightly colored to catch a mate’s attention.

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Three positive results of paleo art

^ Reconstructions help people w A picture an animal—and be amazed by it.

/\0 Many scientists were w u inspired at an early age by murals, paintings, or sculptures.

Some details about body size UO and shape aren’t obvious until a reconstruction is madę.

(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.

Fossil reconstruction 88|89