The Palaeoartist’s Handbook: Recreating prehistoric animals in art

Extinct worlds live again in palaeoart: artworks of fossil animals, plants and environments carefully reconstructed from palaeontological and geological data. Such artworks are widespread in popular culture, appearing in documentaries, museums, books and magazines, and inspiring depictions of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals in cinema. This book outlines how fossil animals and environments can be reconstructed from their fossils, explaining how palaeoartists overcome gaps in fossil data and predict ‘soft-tissue’ anatomies no longer present around fossil bones. It goes on to show how science and art can meet to produce compelling, interesting takes on ancient worlds, and explores the goals and limitations of this popular but rarely discussed art genre. AUTHOR: Mark P. Witton is a palaeontological artist, author and researcher based at the University of Portsmouth. His palaeoartworks have featured in numerous research papers, news reports, books, television shows, museums and art galleries, and he has consulted on the appearance of fossil animals for many television shows and films. His clients include Natural History Museum, BBC, National Geographic and research institutes worldwide. 195 colour images