#Paleobiota

[futuristicsandwichcloud]

Carcharocles Megalodon

[dinosly]

This is one of the few artworks for my Solnhofen formation paleobiota series! Compsognathus longipes was found in the Solnhofen limestone deposits in 1959, long said to be the smallest dinosaur. This depiction shows the lil critter sharing the horrifying table manners of the shrike, namely stabbing its prey on thorns for ease of consumption. I want to show well known prehistoric creatures in ways never thought of and bring new life and new quirks to the ecosystems of the past. I'll archive more of these soon, so stay tuned!

[albertonykus]

If you could save at least 20 species from the Mesozoic Era in order to create a new ecosystem in the modern era, which species would you choose & why? Some suggestions though; refrain from making this list solely non-avian dinosaurs & refrain from choosing species that are identical to ones alive today. You also don't need to worry about species that make up the basis of the ecosystem (i.e. detritivorous, pollinating or predatory invertebrates), they'd already be present in the new ecosystem.

Off the bat, I’d probably avoid mixing and matching species from different time periods and localities, because it would likely take a lot of trial and error to find a combination that could function as a healthy ecosystem. It would probably be simpler to do this with species that we know actually shared an ecosystem with one another in the past.

With that in mind, my immediate thought would be to bring back the entire paleobiota of the Nemegt Formation. (You didn’t set an upper limit on the number of species. 😛) It’s got some of the most unusual dinosaurs (Deinocheirus, Therizinosaurus) as well as groups whose life history is enigmatic or controversial (alvarezsaurids, oviraptorids, pachycephalosaurs), and though I’m not particularly into tyrannosaurids and sauropods, I’m sure there are numerous people who would jump at the chance to observe them in life, and the Nemegt’s got those, too.

The main downside given your specifications is that there aren’t many non-dinosaurian vertebrates known from the Nemegt, but depending on how this scenario works, maybe that wouldn’t be an issue. If we were also allowed to bring back all the Nemegt species that have not yet been discovered, then we’d probably also end up with many unnamed mammals and non-dinosaurian reptiles that presumably were around.

[harmalite]

Morrison formation paleobiota pt. 1