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Description

New work. Nothing special, just a dinosauromorph of Silesaurus opolensis from the late Triassic of Poland.

Silesaurus belongs to a clade of silesaurids, very close to the actual dinosaurs. Known from a plenty of specimens, it is the most studied representative of its group. Silesaurids are unusual against the background of relatives. First, all known taxa were quadrupeds that was at odds with the usual for dinosauromorph and early dinosaur bipedalism. And secondly, their teeth and jaws adapted to a new type of food: starting as typical predators, silesaurids gradually moved through omnivory to herbivory.

Silesaurus teeth are conical and irregularly distributed along the jaw margin, which is unusual for predators. Another unusual feature is the beak at the tip of dentary, which is characteristic of ornithischian dinosaurs (!). All this has led paleontologists to conclude that Silesaurus is herbivorous, but recently discovered coprolites with invertebrate material (including a large number of beetle elytra) have shown that it at least sometimes ate a lot of insects. The more advanced silesaurids became more herbivorous. Silesaurus occupied about the same niche as modern ostriches and guineafowls. It relied on speed and a group behavior to avoid predators.

This Silesaurus is depicted with a speculative filamentous integument. In light of the presence of similar structures in pterosaurs and small ornithischians, far from birds, it is possible that fuzz was the ancestral integument for all avian branch archosaurs. And although this assumption is currently still waiting to be verified, I think my version has a right to exist.

EDIT: adjusted shadows and added pattern.

Black gel ink and ballpoint pens, 2020.

Description

New work. Nothing special, just a dinosauromorph of Silesaurus opolensis from the late Triassic of Poland.

Silesaurus belongs to a clade of silesaurids, very close to the actual dinosaurs. Known from a plenty of specimens, it is the most studied representative of its group. Silesaurids are unusual against the background of relatives. First, all known taxa were quadrupeds that was at odds with the usual for dinosauromorph and early dinosaur bipedalism. And secondly, their teeth and jaws adapted to a new type of food: starting as typical predators, silesaurids gradually moved through omnivory to herbivory.

Silesaurus teeth are conical and irregularly distributed along the jaw margin, which is unusual for predators. Another unusual feature is the beak at the tip of dentary, which is characteristic of ornithischian dinosaurs (!). All this has led paleontologists to conclude that Silesaurus is herbivorous, but recently discovered coprolites with invertebrate material (including a large number of beetle elytra) have shown that it at least sometimes ate a lot of insects. The more advanced silesaurids became more herbivorous. Silesaurus occupied about the same niche as modern ostriches and guineafowls. It relied on speed and a group behavior to avoid predators.

This Silesaurus is depicted with a speculative filamentous integument. In light of the presence of similar structures in pterosaurs and small ornithischians, far from birds, it is possible that fuzz was the ancestral integument for all avian branch archosaurs. And although this assumption is currently still waiting to be verified, I think my version has a right to exist.

EDIT: adjusted shadows and added pattern.

Black gel ink and ballpoint pens, 2020.