Plateosaurus the Prosauropod

Plateosaurus Mother and Calves

Plateosaurus was an early dinosaur.  It lived in the Triassic Period 214-204 million years ago.   The Triassic Period was the first period of the Mesozoic Era.  Dinosaurs first appeared and evolved into different types in the Triassic Period.  The Plateosaurus was what is called a Prosauropod.  If it helps you. . . think of it as a PREsauropod.  Prosauropods were the ancestors to the more well known Brachiosaurus, Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus), Argentinosaurus, Patagotitan, and etc.  Sauropods were the biggest animals to ever walk on land.  They had long necks and tree trunk like legs.  They were herbivores (they ate plants) and probably had to eat at least 100 lbs or 45 kilos of plant matter per day.  They grew fast and some were approaching 70 tons in weight.  Some  were around 130 feet  or 30.5 meters long.   Some were 60 feet or 18 meters tall. 

The Prosauropods were smaller of course.  They were the first long neck dinosaurs.  Plateosaurus could be as long as 33 feet or 10 meters.  They weighed about 8,800 lbs or 4.4 tons.  They probably could walk on all four legs but they clearly were also bipedal.  That means they could walk on two legs. 

Plateosaurus was discovered in Germany by a physician named Johann F. Engalhardt.  The vertebrae he discovered were near Nuremberg Germany.  Since then over 100 specimens have been found in several parts of Europe. 

There is some evidence that these huge dinosaurs laid their eggs and abandoned them.  The young would have been hatching among many other nests and they would have a mad dash to the nearby forest for cover. . . kind of like baby sea  turtles rushing for the water after hatching on the beach.  Eventually as a sub-adult or perhaps adolescent animal the offspring would join the herd. 
There are several very unusual trees and other plants in this drawing of Plateosaurus.  They are all some of the weird plants that lived in the Triassic Period.  I have not drawn some of these before.  Make a point to check them out. 

The below are older drawings of Sauropods that evolved from Prosauruopods like Plateosaurus.  These older drawings are further up the lists of printable pages to color at home.  Click on the buttons at the top of the blog.  The drawing of Plateosaurus is new so it is at the bottom of the list labeled Paleontology and the list of All Printables.   

Brachiosaurus feeding on Cycads

Apatosaurus herd migration

Argentinosaurus at Nesting Site

Patagotitan the biggest Dinosaur

Tree Fairies

Tree Fairy with Sword and Shied

Dryads are tree spirits that live in or around a tree.  Woodland or Forest Fairies live in the forest and may favor a particular type of tree.  These are forest fairies.   Or are they Tree Dryads?  Or would you prefer the term Woodland Fairies.  They both are armed.   They both are defending a particular tree.  So I am calling them Tree Fairies.   Maybe they are happy because they are in the forest and all is well.  This top Tree Fairy is holding a sword or large knife and a small shield.  Her arms are bent at the elbows.  If you look at the knife or sword you might notice that maybe someone failed in their attack or the tree or on this particular tree fairy.   You should look at the wings of each fairy.  The Fairy with the sword and shield has opaque wings. . . . meaning you can't see through her wings.  The Fairy with a spear has transparent or at least translucent wings. . . so you can see through them. 

Interesting fact:  I went to a BYU Football game last week and these fairies are based on one of the dance team members.  The BYU dance team is called the Cougarettes.   They frequently win at the national team dance competitions.  I think is is fair to say that they are as much athletes as the football team is.  I also consider the cheerleaders athletes... (both male and female). 

The amount of time these college students spend to practice and perform easily is as much work as being a college athlete on a team like football, basketball, swimming, soccer, volleyball, or track etc.  That does not take anything away from those hard working athletes who are also college students.  My brother was a college athlete and he said is was like going to school and having a full time job.

 I was in Cougar Band. . . and since I was a percussionist I had to take Marching Band AND Percussion Ensemble classes.  We also had to memorize most of or all of our music.   Plus we learned a new routine or marching field show for each home game.   We also traveled to a couple of away games and performed there. 

I think we should admire the athletes for their work ethic to succeed and I also think we should admire the other student performers we see at college football games. 

Tree Fairy with Spear

Prorotodactylus the Proto-dinosaurThe

Prorotodactylus

(New drawing so it will be at the bottom of the Mesozoic section of the list that is under the Paleontology button that you can click on at the top of the page.  

All printable drawings are found on the All Printable button up top too.  

Prorotodactylus was an early reptile that lived in the early Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era.  It was a proto-dinosaur or a dinosauruomorph.  It is quite likely the ancestor of the dinosaurs.  It was found in the Holy Cross Mountains of Poland.  Many tracks attributed to this small reptile have been found there.  A Prorotodactylus skeleton has never been found.  The footprints show that it had five toes but the outer toes were beginning to evolve away.  The outer toes were reduced.  So Prorotodactylus was on its way to having three fingered hands and toes. . . like Allosaurus.

The tracks show that Prorotodactylus walked on all fours and since the back feet often stepped on the front foot tracks the back legs appear to have been longer than the front legs.  This ancestor to the dinosaurs was about the size of a small house cat.  It was about 2 feet or 61 cm long.  It most likely weighed around 2-3 lbs. or 1-1.5 kilos.  It appears to be a predator of small early vertebrates like lizards, and possibly small ancestors to our modern mammals.  It probably ate insects as well.

It possibly was an omnivore too.  In recent finds in Switzerland they found that pollen from flowering plants dates way back to this time period.  This is the Triassic Period.  Previously it was thought that the flowering plants did not appear until around the T. rex time in the Late Cretaceous Period.  The ERA of dinosaurs include the following Periods:  Triassic Period. . . when this animal lived,  Jurassic Period. . . when Allosaurus lived,   and the Cretaceous Period. . . when T. rex lived. 

Allosaurus by a River

(Notice the three roes and tree fingers on each hand and foot.)

This is an older drawing from a previous post so it is located further up the list 

when you click on the Paleontology button at the top of the page.  

T. rex before the Meteorite Strike

(Notice that in T. rex there are three toes, but it evolved out of one of the three finger on each hand.)

This is also an older drawing.  These proto-feathers on the T. rex would not have been present on  Prorotodactylus.  Feathers evolved much later than the Triassic Period.  But if you think about it, Prorotodactylus is most likely the ancestor of modern birds.  

Jesus Stories

Jesus reads from the Torah

Jesus once was asked to read from the Torah in the synagogue where he was raised.  So this is the people that helped raise him.  I think of the congregation where I was raised in Southern Utah.  You knew everyone on a first name basis.  This is very remarkable because Jesus read a prophecy about himself and announced that in was being fulfilled right now.   This freaked the people out and they actually tried to drag him to a cliff and throw him off.  But he was able to miraculously pass through the crowd unseen.   The story makes me think of a line from one of my favorite hymns,  They hymn is called Jesus once of Humble Birth and the line is:  "Once rejected by His own."
So these people that tried to murder Jesus were the people from His own congregation who knew Him and knew His family.  Jesus said that a prophet was not accepted in his own country.  By the way, the Torah is the first five books from the Bible.  It is called the Law and were revealed to and written by  the prophet Moses.

Jesus delivers Furniture

Jesus was probably a carpenter since his stepfather, or foster father was a carpenter.  We don't know what kind of carpenter Joseph was.  Perhaps he built or framed houses.  But perhaps he made furniture.  .   .  maybe even fine furniture.  Jesus may have been in what would have been the Artisan Class.  He obviously was close to the lowest or peasant class because he knew all about shepherds and their relationship with their flock.  He also knew about sewing and harvesting.  He talked about these things in his parables that he used to teach.  He also referred to the upper classes and ruling classes when he talked about Masters and Servants.  He, Jesus may well have been in this intermediate class because He made fine furniture.  This drawing depicts Jesus delivering some fine furniture that He or Joseph built for a client.  

By the way Jesus' home synagogue probably included people of several classes.  The recent archaeological evidence shows that Nazereth, far from being a small backwater town, was kind of a suburban town  near a thriving city.  The city, recently discovered by archaeologists, was called  Sepphoris.  Jesus and Joseph may well have marketed their fine furniture to clients from Sepphoris.  They probably also would have marketed furniture for the local people in Nazereth as well.   Now, maybe this is not all true, but it is possible.  Jesus certainly seemed comfortable around all classes.  Of course being the Son of God, Jesus would have been intimidated by no one.  

As far as their furniture quality goes, Jesus was the Son of God.  I think that He probably made amazing quality furniture.  I like to think that he would sell a very nice table to a poor person for a price they could afford.  And He would have the skills to make an elaborate table for someone of the ruling class as well.  The Bible indicates that Jesus had brothers and sisters. . . well, half brothers and sisters.  Joseph would need to be successful enough to support his family.  The wedding at Caanan was probably a family wedding and so Joseph or Jesus (if Joseph had passed away by then) would be helping finance the party.   

Artist's note:  The eyes of Jesus are probably a bit larger than they should be, but it is kind of a stylized drawing.   Also, I suppose that if he was successful, Joseph's workshop was probably fancier than this drawing shows.  One final thing.... I know the podium is off center.  Sorry.  It is too hard to fix since I draw with fine point Flair markers.  

Jesus Walking along the Beach at the Sea of Galilee

Jesus was raised in the village of Nazereth that is set next to the Sea of Galilee.  He called fishermen to be some of His Apostles.   He was familiar with fishing and boats it seems as well.  I guess since Jesus was the Son of God He probably had the highest IQ of anyone born on Earth so He was an excellent observer of the world and society around Him.  I can imagine that Jesus took contemplative walks along the beach to clear his head or ponder things gods ponder.   He would have seen the fishing boats and the fishermen.  I suppose He may have even known Peter and his brother Andrew.  

Hedgehog

Hedgehog

Hedgehogs are small animals that root for food under and in hedges or bushes.  While looking for food they make snorting sounds like tiny pigs.  Hence the name "hedgehog"   The young are born live like most mammals are.  They come in a litter of 8-10 or so babies and they only stay with their mother for about a months then they can go off on their own.  Hedgehogs are native to the old world.  So they are found in Asia, Europe, and Africa.  There are 17 different species.  They were also introduced to New Zealand. 

Hedgehogs are omnivores.  They feed on insects, mushrooms, frogs, toads, snakes, berries, grass, roots, melons, and even carrion.  Carrion is dead animals.  Hedgehogs are NOT rodents as some people think.  They are in Order:  Erinaceomorpha, not Order:  Rodentia.  They have spiny hair adapted into quills for defense.  But they do not have poison on their quills.

Or neighbor has a hedgehog pet and she brought it over today.  This drawing is from the photo of that hedgehog.  His name is Quill and my wife is holding him in the photo.  He is an African Pygmie Hedgehog.  He eats small insects like crickets, meal worms etc.  You have to watch their diet and keep it high protein and low fat.  They can only have treats like watermelon or banana a few times a week.  This hedgehog is about 3/4 grown.  He has doubled his size in three weeks.  When our neighbor first got him he weighed only 1.6 oz 45 grams.

Quill the Hedgehog

Eleanor the Fairy Queen

Eleanor the Fairy Queen with her Mini Dragon

Eleanor is one of the Fairy Queens.  She was recently asked. by the High Fairy Queen, to relocate from Germany to reorganize the fairies on the East Coast of North America.  She, like all fairies, is multiligual.  Of course that is for the rare occasion where fairies need to speak with or interact with humans.  Eleanor actually prefers the name Ellie.  She has a great friendship with the Dragon Community.  (Yes there are some dragons who are not evil, but rather, they are both good and helpful.)  Queen Ellie has a team of the good Mini-Dragons that serve her.  Her Mini-Dragons can carry messages and gather information.  You have probably never seen either a fairy or Mini-Dragon.  This is because they are usually invisible to the non-magic community.   This drawing is from a time in the Early Spring when the leaves were just starting to come out.  The Marigold bush was an early bloomer.  Notice that Queen Ellie is wearing a tiara. 

Things with Wings

Today's theme is Things with Wings!  The new drawings include fairies, a dragon, an angel, etc.  The drawings I am including from previous posts include flying dinosaurs, Pterosaurs, (they are NOT the same thing.), birds, (also called Avian Dinosaurs), etc.

Angel playing Harp

I saw a beautiful young woman playing harp at the hospital today.  I took a photo and thought of doing this drawing.  Obviously she was not dressed up as an angel.  But I liked my idea.  Her music was very beautiful too.  I did not get her name or her permission to post the harpist photo.  By the way, I don't believe angels have wings.  I believe they are dressed in white and often surrounded by brilliant light, but no wings.   IF I can find the harpist and get her permission I will post the photo of her playing.  I also plan on drawing her much more accurately.  This angel drawing really does not look like her.  But I did do the drawing very loosely based on the photo of her that I took.  

Butterflies at Shenandoah National Park

Butterflies photo from Shenandoah National Park

This is the photo I took when my wife and I visited Shenandoah National Park. It inspired the drawing of the two  butterflies on the thistle flowers.  Shenandoah National Park is a very beautiful place.  

Fairy greets a Unicorn

Flower Fairy visits a Rose

(If fairies were or are real, I would imagine that they would come in all shapes, sizes, and races.  

The traditional idea of all fairies being drawn tiny. super thin. and petite doesn't sit well with me.

  I truly believe that beauty in people or fairies for that matter...comes in all forms.)

Dragon with Smoking Nostrils

The dragon is not smoking tobacco or something.  He is just creating his own internal smoke.  The idea, scientifically speaking, is that maybe dragons had a way of  making methane inside their bodies.  Or maybe even they made or make Hydrogen molecules.  This would help make dragons like a Hydrogen balloon.  So they would be lighter than air.  Hydrogen is VERY non-dense.  

(This is the last of the new drawings... So these top drawings are found at the bottom of the lists.

  The lists are found by clicking on the buttons and the top of this blog page.)

THE FOLLOWING DRAWINGS ARE FROM PREVIOUS POSTS:

Microraptor flying through the Forest

Elagant Fairy and Baby Dragon

Bald Eagle fishing for King Salmon

Pteranodon chick on a Ledge

Auburn Fairy

American Robin

I had to use this one. . . my name is Robin....and I'm an American.

Dinos for small kids to Color

Spinosaurus taking a Swim

These drawings are for young kids to color.  Most of them do not have too much detail.   But they do have SOME detail.  The printable versions are found by clicking on the correct button above.  They are all new drawings so scroll down to the bottom of the correct list.   

First is Spinosaurus.  Spinosaurus was a swimming dinosaur that lived near the water. . . probably rivers and lakes.  They ate fish, like the pictured sawfish.   Some sawfish were much bigger than this one.   The snout of a Spinosaur had motion sensors to detect fish in muddy river water.   The large finger claw was like a sushi knife.  Although Spinosaurus was the biggest carnivore among the dinosaurs, it had relatively weak jaws.  It cut its food up.  

T. rex Mommy with her Two Chicks

Egg shell from Portugal indicate that baby Theropods, like T. rex, were hatched with sharp teeth for eating  but clearly without the ability to take care of themselves.  Paleontologist Robert Bakker says that when he thinks of T. rex he thinks of tenderness. . . because they were clearly good parents.   

Lythronax with Cynodont Friend

Lythronax was a type of Tyrannosaur that lived around 80 million years ago in what is now Southern Utah.   Its name means "Gore King".  It was around 26 feet or 8 meters long.   It may have had protofeathers as shown here.  I have seen friendship between animals of different species.  Like our dog when I was a teen was named Buck.  He, Buck, was best buddies with our female Tabby cat named Junior.   So I imagined that maybe a young Theropod like Lythronax could have become friends with a Cynodont.  Cynodonts were an early mammal that lived in the dinosaur times.  

Triceratops Coming at You

This Triceratops is a drawn with a bit more detail.  Triceratops was the largest and last of the Ceratopsians dinosaurs.  It had eyebrow horns as long as broom handles.  Its head was attached by a joint that allowed it to swivel hits head around to presumably fight off  predators like T. rex and to spar with other dinosaurs of its own kind.   The "eye spots" on the frill are an inferred trait.   Some modern animals have eye spots to make the animals look bigger.   So some paleontologists infer that the frill on a Ceratopsian or horned dinosaur would be a good place for eye spots to evolve.  

Jesus in the Old World and in the New World

All drawings like these two, are found by clicking on the top buttons and you will find them in the correct category.  The newer drawings are found at the bottom of the correct list.  
ALL drawings are found in the "All Printables" button.  

Jesus in the Old World near Jerusalem

All Christians believe that Jesus lived in the Old World.  His existence is clearly a historical fact.  Christianity changed the world in so many ways.  Jesus taught people to love their enemies, repent of our sins, and that He came to Earth to pay the eternal punishment price for our sins.  All of us sin.  We need the cleansing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ to make our repentance possible.  In the Old World Jesus was killed and yet after three days he was resurrected (which means he came back to life).  After His resurrection He taught his disciples in the Old World for 40 days and told them to go forth and preach the Gospel.  He then ascended to Heaven.

We members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints believe that after his resurrection and ascencion, Jesus Christ visited the people in the the New World. . .  In fact we believe he also visited people in many other parts of the world.   Some "Mormon" archaeologists think that this visit of Christ (that is found in the Book of Mormon) happened in Mesoamerica.   Others think it took place in the Mississippi Valley.   Some think it happened in the Yucatan Peninsula.  Some think it took place in South America.  There is some more of the newer theory about the Book of Mormon lands being located in the Mississippi River Valley area that you can look up online.  I found it under:   "Wayne May-Book of Mormon Archaeology of North America"

Wherever this amazing visit took place, we believe it DID happen.  We know that Jesus said he had other people to visit too.  So I would not be surprised if Jesus visited several parts of the Americas and even people on other continents.   We believe that Jesus is the god of the whole Earth.  It makes sense that after His resurrection He would visit with many of His people in many parts of the world.  

Jesus in the New World somewhere

Dinosaur Parenting

Dinosaur Parenting is something that can be inferred by the fossil evidence.  We are pretty certain that both Ceratopsians like Triceratops and Theropods like Allosaurus were parents who cared for their young.   On the other hand, the huge Sauropods quite possibly only allowed their young to join the herd after the young were partly grown.  Kind of a sea turtle mentality. . . lay the eggs and leave em.   

The first two drawings are new and so they will be at the bottom of the correct list.  Use the top buttons to find them.  Also, older drawings are further up the list.   

Triceratops Parenting

Allosaurus Parenting

Argentinosaurus at Nesting Site

Allosaurus caring for her Chick

Triceratops Mother and Two Calves

Bowmouth Guitarfish

Bowmouth Guitarfish

The Bowmouth Guitarfish is a beautiful ray.  It LOOKS like a cross between a shark and a ray  but it is a ray that looks a lot like a shark.  I photographed one from the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Utah.  It is in the big tank with sharks and sea turtles.  I included a Unicornfish in the drawing because there are Unicornfish in the tank as well.  The drawing includes sea worms and an electric eel.

Both sharks and rays are called cartilage  fish or cartilaginous fish because instead of hard bones they have bones made up of cartilage.  This class of fish have hard teeth so they are found often.  The class is called Class:  Condrichthyes.  The Bowmouth Guitarfish has very unique teeth it uses for crushing shells of shellfish.  It also eats small fish.

Jaw from a Bowmouth Guitarfish
Notice the amazing patter of the teeth.

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Sea Turtle at Loveland Living Planet Aquarium 

The little boy is my grandson.  

Apatosaurus

Apatosaurus Herd Migration

(new drawing)

Apatosaurus is one of the first large Sauropod dinosaurs ever to be found in modern times.  This dinosaur was up to 80 feet or 24 meters long.  It weighed up to 32-72 long tons.   These weights are estimated so no precise measurement is known.   

It is thought that large Sauropods probably laid a large clutch of eggs about the size of a volleyball.  The young would probably been left to fend for themselves after hatching. . . but when they were as big as say a modern elephant they would join the herd and have the protection of the enormous adults.   Tracks in Texas, USA were found that indicated that possibly the sub-adults or young were kept in the middle of the herd when traveling or migrating.  This would give them maximum protection from predators.  So as you look at the above drawing consider that the "babies" are as big as a full grown elephant.  

 No predator. . . like Allosaurus or Torvosaurus.... would have a chance against a healthy herd with huge adult Apatosaurus.  The tail is thought to have been weaponized.  It could almost certainly be used as a formidable weapon to fight off predators

A funny thing happened.  At the American Museum of Natural History in NYC... for 80 years they had the wrong head on their Apatosaurus.  By the way, the name was changed to Apatosaurus from the name Brontosaurus.

They fixed the problem and this skeleton now has the correct head.  

We went to this amazing museum recently.  What a thrill to see this 

and other original first finds from over 100 years ago.  

The following are drawings from older posts:

Apatosaurus cracking the Whip

Apatosaurus D. Train

This drawing is inspired by the Apatosaurus from the great PBS series Dinosaur Train. 

Apatosaurus feeding on Cycad

Apatosaurus Mother and Young for Small Children

Apa