image: The environmental setting is semi-arid at the shores of a lagoon. A mayfly (Coxoplectoptera) rests on a shoot of a flowering plant. One of the flowers is being pollinated by a wasp Cretosphex parvus (hymenoptera: Sphecidae). The reconstruction of this plant is based on a fossil of an unidentified angiosperm, possibly related to magnolia. At bottom left is an arachnid, camel spider (solifugae) about to eat a cricket which was itself in the middle of eating a plant (a Crato monocotyledon plant Kitzschophyllites flabellate. These plants branched into threes (trifurcated) and had single leaves on each branch with serrated margins).
At lower right are two antlions (Baisopardus cryptohymen) showing distinctive wing margins. I have painted one with wings 'open' and the other 'closed' showing how the wing patterns differ when they overlap in 'closed' position. You can just make out two water-striders on the water.
Behind, a small raptor (Santanaraptor) looks out across the lagoon while two pterosaurs (Lacusovagus magnifens) wheel overhead. The reed like plants are quillworts (Isoetes). Ferns are Ruffordia. There are also some water lilies near the santaraptor, they are too far away for any anatomical details.
While doing this painting I learned how many beautifully preserved fossils there are from Crato, Brazil. Plants complete with roots, intricately preserved insects complete with wing venation and markings and so on. I have been told that there are not many artistic reconstruction of the Crato formation, which is very surprising considering the wealth of available fossils. That said, it is hard researching on the environmental settings. In spite of the wealth of fossils, I limited the amount of flora and fauna, otherwise it would get too crowded and more difficult to see. I hope I achieved a correct balance.
Credit: Richard Bizley <a href="http://www.bizleyart.com" target="_blank">www.bizleyart.com</a>
A ground breaking new book that brings together two of the major disciplines behind Jurassic Park is aiming to raise the profile of insect fossils through stunning photographs and unique illustrations.
Fossil Insects, by Dr David Penney and James E Jepson, details the incredible preservation and diversity of fossilised insects from around the world, setting the scene for what these remarkable fossils can tell us about the ancient and modern worlds, and even the future of our planet. Like the mosquito in Jurassic Park, many of the hundreds of thousands of specimens of ancient insect have been preserved in amber.
Using pioneering scientific methods and state of the art technology Dr David Penney from The University of Manchester has drawn on his knowledge of both entomology and palaeontology to discover some astonishing things about these fossilized creatures during the course of his research.
He says: "Insects are the most diverse group of creatures on the planet today. Many of them were around even before the time of the dinosaurs. Bringing together entomology and palaeontology through the study of insect fossils has great potential for revolutionising what we know about both subjects."
The ancient insects have been brought to life in the book through illustrations that for the first time depict long vanished arthropods living among the flora and fauna during the age of the dinosaurs. In a unique collaboration the artist Richard Bizley has created seven reconstructions of each of the major periods from the Devonian through to the Tertiary.
To make the animals in his paintings look realistic, Richard created models using scientific drawings and pictures of fossils. He then photographed them to see how the light behaves.
Richard says: "When reconstructing fossil insect species, special attention needs to be paid to important diagnostic features, such as the wing venation patterns and the relative lengths of appendage segments. The fact that many fossil insect species are known only from isolated wings posed additional problems. This is where the collaboration with experts became very useful and I worked closely with Dr Penney to produce an accurate reconstruction based on the comparative study of both fossil and living insects."
He continues: "Plants can be difficult, especially as we are unsure how some of them looked. It is rare to get a fossil of a whole plant, so I had to paint according to the best estimation of how they looked, using the evidence available. Fortunately, scientists have learnt enough to provide some good ideas and many living plants are closely related to those that have become extinct."
Whilst Jurassic Park remains a fantasy for now Dr Penney says the book and the film did result in an increase in research on fossil insects. He's now hoping that his book, Fossil Insects, will open up the research to even more people.
He says: "This is the first book to merge these two disciplines in an accessible way, using plain and simple language. It is a book for anyone with a passion for palaeontology and/or entomology."