Tim Morris' Art and Project Blog

We all know Dinosaurs and Pterosaurs, those two ruling reptile groups that dominated much of the Mesozoic. They are descended from a common ancestor, and both groups have distinct features. But what if this common ancestor went through an alternate scenario during the Mesozoic? Maybe the Triassic was completely ruled on land by Therapsids, and the Ornithodirans only ruled the air? We might see a form not quite pterosaur and not quite dinosaur, like this: Perhaps this form then gave rise to the new ruling group after the large Therapsida died out in the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction. We would see dinosaurish, and non-dinosaurish froms dominate for the whole of the Jurassic and Cretaceous, on land and in the air, but none are exactly like Pterosaurs or Dinosaurs. The herbivores, for a start, are all quadrupedal, secondarily flightless, and vary from scaly to feathery, with only 2 functioning front toes. Skull. Smaller, agile form. Iguanodont-like form. Hadrosaur-like form. Giant, sau...

 I decided recently to play around with the concept of fully aquatic and marine animals managing to colonize land, as some had many millions of years ago. Currently such a thing is unlikely because so many groups of animal dominate the land already, but what if some exclusively aquatic groups were presented with an opportunity to colonize an island or landmass, free of competition? Such a thing might happen after a major extinction event, or in a Panspermic setting. So here we go: Firstly, Cambrian invertebrates present an interesting potential for a completely different terrestrial colonization event. - Sidneyia, a primitive Chelicerate, could become analogous to Insects. The unique Opabinia may become a somewhat bizarre analogue to the centipede. Anomalocaris may be the apex predator of this setting, with crab like legs and beartrap-like jaws. Another Chelicerate, Sanctacaris, could become an active, Centipede like predator with grasping mouthparts. The primitive Mollusk, Wiwaxia...