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Submitted: February 21
Image Size: 1.2 MB
Resolution: 850×1046

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Microraptor Omnivoryby *EWilloughby

Digital Art / Drawings / Animals

Here's my submission to Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs' version of the "All Yesterdays" contest. This version of the contest is differentiated from the original by requiring the artist to illustrate the speculative behavior in a style different from their usual, with a specific emphasis on straying from the hyper-detailed, realistic style that most paleoartists seem to be trying to capture these days. I tried a sort of cell-shaded, pseudo-vector type of look for mine, which I'm sure most of you will notice is very different from my usual fare.

Anyway, this is a little different from most entries to this contest in that while it's speculative, it is something that I genuinely believe is the case (that Microraptor was an omnivore), and I think it's perfectly possible that one of the ~300 undescribed specimens of this animal may preserve plant matter gut contents. Hard to say. In any case, I think that Microraptor has certain features that are consistent with omnivory in maniraptorans, including having somewhat unusual dentition by dromaeosaur standards.

Here I've depicted it munching on a tasty cycad fruit.

I intend to do a more in-depth blog post exploring this concept sometime in the coming weeks. I also hope that my watchers aren't sick of me drawing Microraptors yet... there will be more to come.

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~RSNature Mar 2, 2013

So natural, very vivid composition, your best work so far in my opnion.

~ChocolateStarfire Feb 24, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

I like Microraptors :3

*EWilloughby Feb 24, 2013

Yay! They like you too. :>

~Ornitholestes1 Feb 23, 2013 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Amazing! Definitely not getting tired of the Microraptors.

*herofan135 Feb 23, 2013

Really amazing work, such great colouring and attention to detail. You really captured microraptor in all its glory!

But aren't cycads and their fruit and seeds extremely toxic?

*EWilloughby Feb 23, 2013

Thank you!

I think that most extant cycads are toxic to human (unless they've been processed - cycads such as Macrozamia are still eaten by humans, despite being toxic). Plenty of wild animals, though, routinely eat cycads and must have some kind of mechanism to prevent themselves from being affected by the toxins, so I assume the same would be the case in dinosaurs - cycads were so ubiquitous in the Mesozoic, I'm sure they were being eaten!

*herofan135 Feb 24, 2013

Ah ok, thanks for the heads up!

That actually makes alot of sense now.

~Tarturus Feb 22, 2013 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Makes sense. I hear the troodontids were omnivores, so it could well be that at least some of the dromaeosaurs were as well.

~Sontine Feb 22, 2013 Digital Artist

Now this is different, I like it!

~babbletrish Feb 22, 2013 Professional Traditional Artist

Beautiful!

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