Paleoartists sometimes depict ancient animals affected with albinism or melanism – white or black. It’s plausible an animal like this actually lived. Siamese pattern on Patriofelis, an oxyaenid from Eocene North America. ![]() While my job concerns living animals, it got me thinking this might be an interesting topic when applied to prehistoric life, and perhaps even provide inspiration for paleoartists. This is mostly inspired by my work at Arador Innovations, a research and science outreach company specializing in animal cognition. Lately, I have been thinking about not so much animals as populations or species, but as individuals: their lives, experiences and emotions. However, that is only one side to their complex lives, and if they were anything like living animals, a surprisingly small part. They fought over mates or scarce resources and sometimes suffered horrible injuries that can still be seen in their fossil bones. Dinosaurs and other ancient creatures obviously hunted and fell prey to each other just like wild animals still do. Is this an accurate representation of what we know about wild animal lives, or a false image stemming from our love for drama? ![]() Scientific names of dinosaurs also often play into this imagery, calling the animals “butcherers”, “reapers” or with names of mythical monsters and fictional villains. Probably the most typical behaviour of large predatory dinosaurs: loafing.ĭocumentaries and movies tend to depict the lives of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals full of violence, growling and roaring, killing and getting killed.
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