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Stygimoloch fight by ~Archosaurian:iconArchosaurian:

Categories Digital Art > Drawings > Animals

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©2005-2009 ~Archosaurian
:iconarchosaurian:

Artist's Comments

Stygimoloch spinifer

Originally I wanted it to be a picture of two pachycephalosaurs "flank-butting" rather that head-butting (which was proven to be practically impossible for them), but then I came to thinking that we don't really know what they were for at all, and many people are now starting to show pachys "flank-butting" so, going against the flow, I just decided to have one kicking the other. Unfortunately I was never able to give it the "motion" I wanted it to have, so I feel it is rather inadequate. But on the other hand, I don't think it looks awful, so here it is.
I also tried to make the background blurry and give a misty, 'primaeval' look to it that is common in older plaeolife art, but rarely seen nowadays, but I don't really think that worked either.

Pencil, colored digitally. Background done in Corel Painter 9, foreground in Photoshop CS2

EDIT: I played around with the layers to make it look more misty and make the atmosphere more aethereal. I hope it worked. I also worked on the tree on the left, giving it more detail and making the picture look more complete. I also fixed the right foot of the pachy on the left so it would not look twisted and worked a bit on the leaf litter too.

Comments


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:iconhairen:
~Hairen Dec 28, 2005, 9:51:33 PM
Still, it is a very nice piece. Haven't seen you create living reconstructions for a while.
:iconjconway:
*jconway Dec 31, 2005, 4:35:28 AM
Very nice drawing Mike, I like the muted colours . I think if you added a couple of semi-transparent layers you would get a bit of that misty feel you're after.

By the way, I read something by McNeil Alexander (I don't remember the ref) which argued that head to head butting would not have been dangerous, and was well within the the limits of bone and muscle strength for the head and neck - even (or perhaps especially) for the glancing blows that had Bakker worried. Since he'd done the maths and Bakker hadn't, I'd go with him, unless there's more recent research I don't know about.
:iconjconway:
*jconway Dec 31, 2005, 4:35:33 AM
Very nice drawing Mike, I like the muted colours . I think if you added a couple of semi-transparent layers you would get a bit of that misty feel you're after.

By the way, I read something by McNeil Alexander (I don't remember the ref) which argued that head to head butting would not have been dangerous, and was well within the the limits of bone and muscle strength for the head and neck - even (or perhaps especially) for the glancing blows that had Bakker worried. Since he'd done the maths and Bakker hadn't, I'd go with him, unless there's more recent research I don't know about.
:iconjconway:
*jconway Dec 31, 2005, 4:36:15 AM
That was obviously a point worth making twice.
:iconarchosaurian:
~Archosaurian Dec 31, 2005, 8:54:50 AM
Thanks! I just made some changes to make it appear more misty, among other things. Hopefully it is an improvement.

There's a paper by Ken Carpenter ([link]) saying that due to a small surface area, among other things it would have been almost impossible for "round-domed" pachycephalosaurs to hit each other, unless they faced each other perfectly straight-on, which is very unlikely. Head butting is possible for flat-headed pachycephalosaurs like Homalocephale hovever, according to Carpenter.

--
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Armchair Palaeontologist specializing in pterosaurs
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:iconthefisherman:
~theFisherman Jan 12, 2006, 8:33:17 PM
I havnt actually done much research (as in, absolutly none) But I did attend a seminar at UW La Crosse to see John Horner and he went over debunking the head butting.
In that time I did come up with the idea of rather than full on 'head butting' how lucrative is an idea is it they may have utilized a shoving match more like modern antlerd animals (white-tail deer, elk, etc.). Stygimoloch make especially good for this theory with their elongated horns that if lowered enough could interlock.

Again, all theory but what can I say im a traditionalist (to a certain extent, I still support the FDS ;)), and will come up with shit to keep certain elements in the fight. I mean hell, I challanged Horner on his scavenger theory during the question time, so I dont have a good record of picking wise battles.

--
Peace, Love, & Death Metal. - Silent Bam
:iconraptor-cut:
~raptor-cut Jan 31, 2006, 4:45:17 PM
Came across your gallery and all I can say is... wow!
Great deviations! :)
:iconapeman505:
~apeman505 Jul 21, 2006, 6:32:05 PM
AH LOVE STYGIMOLOCH!!! Did you ever hear where they think Stygi's might actually be just female Pachycephalosaurs?

--
... So Says JoH. :pirate:
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December 28, 2005
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