Rhamphorhynchus Mates Flying coloring page and Book Review of The Dinosaurs' Night Before Christmas

 This is my free coloring pages blog.

There are over 3000 drawings that I have done that you can print and color.

Today's newest drawing is of one of the Jurassic Pterosaurs.

Rhamphorynchus Mates Flying

Rhamphorhynchus was an early Genus of Pterosaurs from the Jurassic Period. It had a tail like many Jurassic Pterosaurs.  It was NOT a flying, but it did live with dinosaurs in the same ecosystem. There were several species, and they range in size from .5 meters to up to possibly 4 meters wingspan.  That is about almost 20 inches and 157 inches. That is a wingspan of 13 feet 1 inch.  It ate fish and cephalopods. It was a very successful Genus of flying reptile or Pterosaur.

Rhamphorynchus lived in the Jurassic Period from 165 to 148 million years ago. It was found in Taznaia and Europe. 17 million years is quite a long time for a Genus to be on the Earth, so that is why it was a very successful Genus of animals.  In looking at the drawing, you decide which is the male and which is the female Rhamphorynchus.

I got the idea for the striped pattern on the wings from a great kids' book and CD called The Dinosaurs' Night Before Christmas. It has a cute story and several hilarious dinosaur Christmas Carol parodies - with dinosaur themes: Hark the Pterodactyl Sing is one example. Allosaurus Chorus is another example. The author of the book is Anne Muecke, and the illustrator is Nathan Hale. A few other song parody titles in the book are: Hey Duckbills and Deck the Halls With Stegosaurus.

I colored in the stripes, but not in great detail. I recommend that you color the stripes a dark color, and the white stripes can be any color you want... or just keep them white. Pterosaurs may have been brightly colored. Some may have been more earthy tones. For your coloring page - you decide.

NOTE: This drawing in printable form is found by clicking on the "Paleontology" button and then scrolling down to the bottom of the Mesozoic Life part of the list, IF you are accessing this site in December 2025. 

The Dinosaurs' Night Before Christmas book and CD

Christmas 2025 The Lamb of God

Here you are at my free coloring pages blog. 

There are over 3000 pictures that I have drawn for you to print and color.

Today's drawing is of Baby Jesus in a stone manger.

The Lamb of God

Baby Jesus probably lay in a manger made of stone. He probably did NOT lie in a wooden manger, but that IS a possibility. A manger is a long feeding trough for larger animals. As a kid, I had to go out and clean mangers with a pitchfork. A manger full of hay could be used as a cradle. But if it were made of stone, then it would have been larger than the mangers shown in most Nativity sets, drawings, or paintings. This is a stone manger, not an altar. But there is some symbolism there. 

Jesus was and is the Lamb of God. He suffered for us to pay the eternal prince for our sins, so we can repent. This means that when we repent of our sins and strive to do better, we can be forgiven and one day return to live with our family and our Heavenly Parents. The lamb in the drawing is also symbolic. Can you see why? 

We all lived in our premortal life. Jesus was our big brother. He volunteered to be our Savior. It is actually amazing that Jesus, the Creator of the Earth, was born into mortality in a stable and was laid in a manger for his cradle. 

We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas. It is appropriate to celebrate Him - even though He was actually born in the spring, not the winter. The sacrificial lamb was an animal that was sacrificed in the Temple by the Jews. The lamb sacrifice was to represent the sacrifice of Jesus, who was sacrificed to suffer and die for our sins.  Then He was resurrected after 3 days and opened the door for all of us to be resurrected one day. So, Merry Christmas! We celebrate our salvation that Jesus made possible. 

Finally, the bird is a dove. The dove is a symbol of peace and of the Holy Ghost. 

NOTE:  This drawing is available to print and then color. Just go to the button labeled "Holidays." Then scroll down to the bottom of the Christmas part of the list. Click on the title, and you can print your picture or coloring page. 

Abelisaur on a Flood Plain

 This is my free coloring pages blog.

Today I have drawn a coloring page of an Abelisaur. 

Abelisaur on a Flood Plain

Abelisaurs are a group of Theropod predatory dinosaurs. They lived 80-70 million years ago in the Cretaceous Period. Many of them lived in what is now South America. They ranged in size, but footprints at a Bolivia fossil footprint site show that perhaps there were some REALLY big Abelisaurs. There are footprints that are over a meter long... 1.2 meters to be exact. They are probably Abelisaur footprints. That would indicate that there were Abelisaurs that were up to 40 feet long! That is about as long as Tyrannosaurus rex. 

Abelisaurs had vestigial arms that were small. Their hands had 4 fingers, but only two of the fingers had phalanges or finger bones. The fossil site in Bolivia called Torotoro has evidence of Theropods going swimming. Their claws left claw marks in the sand as the Theropod dinosaur pushed off to go swimming.  So, this drawing shows an Abelisaur about to go for a swim. By the way, as the drawing title says, Abelisaurs lived and hunted on wide open flood plains. That is interesting when you consider that the dinosaur tracks at Torotoroare located between 8000 feet and 9350 feet.

Some Abelisaurs had eye bumps or almost eye horns above each eye. I guess you could call them eye crests. Those crests were probably for sexual display and species recognition. 

Newer findings show that grass and flowering plants WERE around in the late Cretaceous. So that is why you see them here in this drawing. There is a cycad and some ginkgo trees, plus some conifers as well. 

NOTE: This drawing is available in printable form by clicking on the button labeled "Paleontology." Then scroll to the bottom of the Mesozoic Life section. Have fun coloring!

2 Fairy coloring pages

 This is my free coloring pages blog.

There are over 3000 of my drawings that you can print and color.

Today I am posting two new Fairy drawings.

Hanniah the Lacewing Dragon Fairy

Hanniah is a beautiful and kind Fairy. Of course, being kind is a huge part of beauty. Hanniah loves dragons - especially baby dragons. Baby dragons are also called "dragonlings."  Since dragons are not the best parents, for their offspring to survive and thrive, they rely on Dragon Fairies. Dragon Fairies take care of the egg and hatchling. The Dragon Fairy will care for the dragonling until the juvenile dragon is old enough to care for themselves. In this drawing, you can see that Hanniah has just taken possession of a dragon egg. The dragon egg is about to hatch.  She will need to care for the dragonling until it is around 6 months old. Then it will be able to care for itself. Also, part of that time, Hanniah will be bonding with the dragonling and teaching it to not eat humans... or Fairies.

Noelia the Christmas Fairy with Christmas Dove

Noelia is a Christmas Fairy. She loves decorating for Christmas. She is receiving help from a Christmas Dove. Christmas Doves are a symbol of peace. And Jesus is the Prince of Peace. The Christmas Dove is bringing a sprig of holly to help decorate the Christmas Tree. The holly will be an ornament on the tree. Notice that Noelia is wearing a wreath made of holly.  By the way, IF this is in North America, then the sprig would be of Oregon Grape because holly doesn't grow in North America.

NOTE: This pair of drawings is available to print by clicking on the correct button.  The Dragon Fairy drawing is located at the bottom of the page of "Fantasy, Myths, and Circus."  So you need to click on that button. The Christmas Fairy is found by clicking on the button labeled "Holidays." Then scroll down to the bottom of the Christmas section. Click on the desired title to get the printable drawing or coloring page. New drawings are located at the bottom of lists of titles. Have fun coloring!

Fantasy Sentient Beings - A Fairy, a Mermaid, and 2 Centaurs coloring pages

 This is my free coloring pages blog.

Today, my latest drawings are Fantasy drawings. 

All of these are considered Fantasy or Magical sentient beings.

Southwest Cliff Fairy

Cliff Fairies are often associated with Native American culture, particularly in the Southwest of North America in the countries of the USA and Mexico.  There are still some European Fairies that have fallen in love with the Red Rock country of the Southwest. This drawing shows magnesium stains on the rocks. Magnesium stains are a dark reddish brown, or medium brown, or light brown, or even green.

Maelina, the name of this Fairy, is sitting on a high, jutting cliff wall.  She is holding her wand. She is a bit curvy. You should know that although many artists depict Fairies as being very thin, like people, not all Fairies are built like Disney's Tinkerbell. Some are much more curvy. All body types are accepted in the Fairy society. The Fairies of Light do not have body prejudices. All are welcome. 

Shark Mermaid

Sharks are an important part of the ocean ecosystem. Yet over the last 50 years, shark numbers worldwide have declined by over 70%. Shark Mermaids are striving to protect sharks from overfishing. This Mermaid is named Piastria. She has a powerful magical trident that she uses to cut fishing line, remove the hook, and heal the shark's mouth. 

Can you identify the following in this drawing from a reef?  

Black Tip Reef Shark

Lobster

Sea Anemone

Underwater Sand Worms

Clownfish (by the anemone)

Brain Coral

Two other types of Coral

Clams

Oysters with Barnacles on their Shells

Seahorses

One more species of Tropical Reef Fish

Centaur Couple with Magical Lighted Sphere of Helios 

Centaurs are sentient beings. So they are intelligent, like humans are. Of course, Fairies and Merpeople are sentient as well.  In this drawing, we see two teenage Centaurs. They have a Sphere of Helios that is glowing. Notice that the sphere is the source of light in the drawing. The Sphere of Helios has powerful magic. Centaurs nowadays are generally Beings of Light, so they would only do Light Magic, not dark magic. This couple is actually sweethearts, and love is the most powerful magic there is.

NOTE: These drawings are found in printable form by clicking on the button labeled Fantasy, Myths, and Circus. Then scroll down to the bottom of the list. If you are accessing this blog in December of 2025 then the drawings' titales will be at or near the bottom of the list. 

Istiorachus a Sail-back Iguanodon from the Isle of Wight coloring page

 Welcome or welcome back to my free coloring pages blog.

There are over 3000 drawings I have done here. You can print them to color for free.

Today, the new drawing is of a newly discovered dinosaur.

Istiorachus a Sail-back Iguanodon

Istiorachus macarthurae was a dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period about 25 million years ago. It lived at what is now called the Isle of Wight. It is unique among Iguanodons because it has a sail on its back.  This herbivorous dinosaur was about 18 feet or 5 meters long. Its sail was probably for sexual display. But it may have been involved in body temperature control as well.

Iguanodons were a group of very successful herbivorous dinosaurs.  They had a thumb spike on each hand. This spike was presumably for self-defense. When the first Iguanodon was found, the thumb spike was assumed to be a nose horn. That was cleared up later.

The Pterosaur seen in the drawing is also from the Early Cretaceous. It is called Tupandactylus.  It had a large and rather flat crest that may have been used like a rudder for steering during flight.

NOTE: This drawing is found, in printable form, by clicking on the "Paleontology" button. Then scroll down to the bottom of the "Mesozoic Life" section. Click on the title to get the printable coloring page. Have fun coloring this new Iguanodon dinosaur! (And have fun coloring the Pterosaur.)

Animals eaten at the First Thanksgiving coloring pages

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is my free cooring pages blog. 

Today, I am posting some pictures I drew of the various animals that may have been served at the First Thanksgiving Feast. Yes, it includes turkey... but there were so many other forms of meat!

Wild Turkey & Passenger Pigeon

Back in 1621, in the area around Plymouth Colony, there WERE turkeys. But there were also Passenger Pigeons.  Sadly, now Passenger Pigeons are extinct... Was it the Pilgrim's fault?  Turkeys are a bird native to North America. So were Passenger Pigeons. Turkeys are found from Southern Canada to Guatemala. The largest wild turkey ever taken weighed over 37 lbs. 

Canadian Geese on a River

Canadian Geese were probably part of the first Thanksgiving Feast.  Canadian Geese, also called "Honkers," are found all over North America from Northern Canada to Northern Mexico. Waterfowl are listed as part of the first Thanksgiving Feast. 

Mallard Ducks on a Pond

Mallard Ducks are a very common duck in North America. They live from Northern Canada to Southern Mexico. The drakes have a beautiful green head that really stands out.

Whitetail Deer at an Overlook

Whitetail deer... or white-tailed deer... or white-tail deer are a common species of deer. They are found from Canada to northern South America. They were and still are the most common deer found near Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts.  The Wampanoag tribe of Native Americans brought 5 deer to the first Thanksgiving feast. So venison was on the menu... most certainly more so than turkey.

Swan, Grebes, Ducks, and Coots on a Pond

Swans were eaten by Native Americans, as were ducks and probably coots. Coots are a smaller, dark-feathered waterfowl. Grebes were probably hunted by Native Americans in the past. In the USA, Grebes are protected due to some species of Grebes almost being wiped out by European Americans.  Grebe feathers are very soft and were used in hats, etc. Notice that the grebe in the drawing is a mother with her grebelet on her back. By the way, I think swans are the most beautiful of all birds, so I could never hunt them. But I will also state that hunting organizations like Ducks Unlimited have many of the best conservationists for waterfowl. Growing up by a reservoir, we even had ducks and geese for Thanksgiving dinner some years. Nowadays, I never hunt, but I do love to fish for Trout. In fact, fish were also probably part of the first Thanksgiving Feast. In fact, the feast might have even included brook trout. 

Brook Trout in a Stream

Since it is probable that fish were served at the First Thanksgiving, I drew a Brook Trout. Brook Trout are naive to the East Coast of North America and westward all the way to Minnesota. They have bright red-orange undersides. There are some species that live in the ocean and spawn in rivers. Other species are only freshwater fish. These have been introduced to Western North America. I actually love Brook Trout. They are beautiful and are also the best-tasting trout. The meat in a Brook Trout is even salmon-colored. I have caught a lot of Brook Trout in the streams of the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Shellfish eaten at Thanksgiving

We probably don't think of shellfish at Thanksgiving. But the original Thanksgiving probably included clams and oysters from the Atlantic coastal waters.

NOTE: These drawings are found in printable form by clicking on the button labeled "Holidays" and then scrolling down to the Thanksgiving section. Have fun coloring these "tasty" animals.