More Phyto-sketches
7:45 am
A couple more sketches from my ongoing studies of phytosaurs. The one above is from a four foot long skull of the big pseudopalatine Redondasuchus (the front half and teeth are reconstructed, but they show nicely the heterodonty discussed in the last post). Below is a quick smudgy sketch of a Pseudopalatus cruising along in a “high-walk.” Overall I think the armor looks a touch more convincing than that portrayed in the full-body sketch of Parasuchus from last time:
I love that “high-walk” picture! The point of view on the skull confuses me, though. The snout looks like a profile view, while the skull itself looks like a 3/4ths view, looking down.
Hi Zach -
Yeah, the skull is a little distorted and the sketch is even more distorted…definitely more of a rough study than an accurate representation of the cranial osteology.
Nice work. I love drawing skulls too.
how possible would it have been for phytosaurs to have used the high walk… high walking eusuchians can do so because of their modifications to the vertebral column… do phytosaurs also show these adaptations? Just curious… relevant papers, see Schwarz-Wings’ paper on bracing in hyposaurine dyrosaurids and Salisbury and Frey’s various papers (2001, 2006, 1988, 1989)…
I notice also Parrish (1986) concluded that phytosaur pelvic morphology was “consistent with horizontal limb movement and marked long-axis rotation of the femur and crus, as seen in early diapsids and modern lizards”…
This isn’t to bring you down though, your work is well done as always, just the composition might not be plausible…
it only comes to mind recently anyway since I’ve been looking into locomotion bracing in reptiles to help a lab mate :)
cheers,
nick
Hi Nick –
Great questions – I didn’t have any specific inspiration for that sketch (beyond the range of postures seen in today’s crocodilians).
Padian et al.’s recent (2010) investigation into Apatopus tracks reviews a lot of thinking on the posture/gait of phytosaurs and (I believe) concludes there are trackways from high-walking phytos.
It would be interesting to see what anatomical adaptations for high-walking may or may not be present in phytosaurs, and I will definitely be checking into the references you mention. If you’re well-steeped in the literature, I may shoot you a few questions once I find out more!
Thanks for your insight and comments – I’m always open to improvements!