Prehistoric Media Pastiche - A contemporary fictional setting.
Hello again,
Today I will show you a setting I have had in my head for a long time. I have tried a few iterations but only just recently got it right.
The setting is a typical schlocky "Lost World" setting that is typical of so many pieces of media featuring prehistoric fauna. I took influence from a lot of them, but foremost in my mind were "Land of the Lost" and Pellucidar.
The setting features many typical known dinosaurs and prehistoric fauna, coexisting on an earth-like planet, alongside humans, both primitive and civilized. My rationale is that it's much like "The Land of the Lost", anomalous holes in time open and close here, connecting it to earth during the past and present. This has, over millions of years, allowed many creatures and civilizations to establish there. In this time, many species have remained almost the same due to genetic drift from these holes, but numerous fictional creatures and races exist, that have evolved to exploit this new land.
I have not drawn every creature involved, because many typical ones simply look as they do in contemporary, accurate portrayals. The full list of fauna and civilizations is here:
https://www.deviantart.com/boverisuchus/art/My-Prehistoric-Setting-884965025
I have based a lot of these occurrences on the standard tropes and beasts of typical prehistoric fiction.
Now that the setting is set up in your mind, here is the fun bit, I will show you creatures that are unique, ones that evolved in this setting, and exist nowhere else.
Flamboyantly feathered Caenagnathid dinosaur, maybe 4 meters long.
Very tiny Compsognathid, about 27cm long.
Large, nearshore-marine Hupehsuchian ichthyopterygian, an 8-meter long fish-eater that is able to haul out on land.
Horse-sized, athletic fast-running Hyracodontid rhino, unique in having a horn, and resembling the mythical unicorn.
Small primitive Pterosaur which is a nocturnal sanguiphage, a vampire of large tetrapods, mainly dinosaurs.
3.5 meter long Shuvosaurid, about as tall as a large man.
Large-billed, Kookaburra-like Enantiornithine bird.
Leviathanic, 18-meter long macropredatory Thalattosuchian.
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16-meter long, dinosauric alien livestock originating from colonization attempts by the "Alien Astronauts". This creature can be either domestic or feral.
Raccoon-like invasive alien creature, former pets of the "alien astronauts".
Tree-sloth-like theropod, which lives in the treetops feeding on leaves and fruit.
Rhinoceros-sized, slurpasaur-like horned armadillo.
Capuchin-sized, bat-winged monkey, feeding on fruit and insects.
Near-shore and lagoon-dwelling "aquatic ape".
Bull-elephant sized primitive Proboscidean, semi-aquatic, resembling Koch's Missourium.
Fair-sized, wallaby-like Macropod, having tusks and cranial horns.
Komodo-dragon sized, Palaeosaniwa-like lizard, able to spit venom defensively and in order to hunt.
A 3.5 meter long primitive Ceratopsian, which reproduces as prodigiously as a pigeon, because it rears its young on a a glandular substance similar to pigeon-milk.
Eusocial, swarming species of small Suminia-like Anomodont, having a caste system and building giant woven "hives" out of plant fibers in the crowns of trees.
Fair-sized Coelophysoid having a venomous bite and grooved teeth.
Smallish Hadrosaurid which sprays defensive fluid from an anal gland, like a skunk or even the mythical Bonnacon.
Large species of Ceratopsid resembling the apocryphal genus Agathaumas.
4.3 meter long, well armed basal Thyreophoran, descended from something like Jakapil.
Another bipedal, basal Thyrophoran of the same family, larger, reaching 8.5 meters long.
A draconic, flying Scansoriopterygid, reaching the size of a large pterosaur, wingspan perhaps 7 meters.
A smallish, colorful Stegosaur, possessing scales, armor and plumes which are both fluorescent and iridescent.
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Update August 2024
I recently revised this setting into a more expansive list that embraces the idea of this setting as a whole world, that you might find in a novel series or open-world-style videogame. In doing that I edited the list, included more plants for utilitarian purposes and set-dressing as well as adding many more invertebrates, insects and fish for mostly the same reason.
I also decided at this point to add some more speculative creatures, some of which were transferred and re-drawn from older or aborted projects, others added here were in the list before, but I only illustrated them just now.
A long-jawed, raptorial cave-cricket.
A small, seahorse-like Placoderm.
15-meter-long, frilled oceanic deep-diving Trematosaur amphibian. Based partly on the idea of sea serpents being giant newts.
An armored giant Amphisbaenian, shaped partly like Bipes, that burrows in order to feed on termites.
A lizard-sized, colorful-plumed Protorosaur.
A kangaroo-shaped, beaked, turkey-sized hopping Dinosauromorph, related to Lagerpeton and Marasuchus.
A robust, burrowing badger-esque Noasaurid.
Manatee-like aquatic grazing Psittacosaur.
A dwarf, short-tailed swimming Nodosaur taking the niche of a snapping turtle.
A long-snouted Dicobunid the size of a goat, which squirts noxious defensive fluid from its pre-orbital gland.
Flightless, stalking and wading Azdharchid.
A giant, 1.5 meter long predatory Ottoiid worm, found burrowing in estuaries, river mouths and shallow coastal waters.
A relatively tiny, dwarf freshwater-porpoise found in some tropical rivers and estuaries, it reaches only about 76 centimeters long.
A 45-centimetre-long stem-species of snake, somewhat resembling the original 4-legged "missing link" between snakes and lizards. Unlike the most primitive snake, this species is larger and a somewhat more active predator. It is able to burrow, swim and crawl fairly swiftly.
This is an idea I decided to add recently, it is based loosely on schlocky horror movie monsters such as Poseidon Rex and Dinoshark. This is a 10-meter-long marine descendant of Spinosaurids that lives mainly in near-shore waters, much like a shark. It is a generalist predator with teeth that have a cutting edge, it will prey on fish, sharks, cephalopods and the young of marine reptiles.
Update December 2024
I have a few more creature entries which I have drawn and added just now, any other miscellaneous entries will be added here too.
Upland rainforests that crest one of the larger mountain ranges of this world, play host to the largest and most unusual mushroom. The fruiting bodies of this fungus are essentially perennial, with a coarse fibrous stalk that may grow as tall as 1.9 meters. The tough stalk remains year-round, with the spore-bearing cap re-growing 2 or 3 times each year. The cap may reach over a meter in diameter. The mycelium of this fungus may reach as much as a few kilometers across, and will often result in dense groves of these mushrooms extending over the forest floor.
This basal-kind of bird mostly feeds upon the berries of fruiting bushes and small trees. A large portion of these are the deadly-toxic berries of a certain kind of Nightshade plant. Most animals would die from ingesting these fruits, but this bird sequesters the toxins into its flesh and feathers as a defense. Every part of this bird is highly toxic for this reason, which means that it is seldom preyed-upon. If a predator consumes any part of this bird, it will almost always die horribly from its toxicity, most inexperienced predators become ill simply after grabbing it and spitting it out. Its coloring is highly aposematic, thus clearly warning predators of its toxicity.
Another new picture, this species has been on the fauna list from the beginning but I just now added the picture. This is a kind of ape, closely related to the genus Pan (and about the same size, but a little lighter). It is mostly an obligate biped, able to walk and run very well on its hind-legs. They are more at home on the ground than chimps and inhabit a mosaic of forest and open country, retreating to the trees if the group is threatened. However, like their cousin the chimps, this species can be highly aggressive, and is able to wield tools and improvised weapons to devastating effect. This individual is baring his teeth and brandishing an animal bone, presumable during a conflict.
A type of pale, translucent, eyeless Woodlouse found exclusively in the depths of cave systems.
A kind of tiny blind beetle related to fungivorous grain-beetles, that only inhabits cave systems, feeding entirely on the mildew that grows there.
Update Feb 2025
I have removed some of the creature entries on this page that have since been repeated or more fully-covered in other subsequent blog-posts. Also I have a few new creatures to share...
Time portals to leading from Aion to the Ediacaran period are relatively rare, and the primitive animals that venture through are so undeveloped and vulnerable as to barely ever survive long. The exception is this form, a thick, mat-like stem-animal thought to be descended from Dickinsonia, and reaching a similar length to Dickinsonia rex. This creature appears to be a specialized offshoot that arose to take advantage of briny hyper-saline near-shore lagoons which occur in some parts of Aion's coasts, mainly near the arid zones of Champsopia and Trans-Australis. This passive feeder simply sits atop the carpet of green-algae, digesting it and absorbing the nutrients directly into its body. It prospers only in these algae-rich, hyper-saline lagoon-bottoms as most other forms of animal life find the water-layers here highly toxic. The osmoregulatory abilities of this animal are assumed to be highly specialized for this purpose, but are yet to be studied.
This is a kind of large, tuberous-branching Stromatolite that is common in tropical near-shore waters, mainly where numbers of encrusting epifauna are low. This particular variety is unique to Aion and is speculated to have evolved there.
Found only in isolated areas of montane rainforest, this unique terrestrial snail is notable for growing various tiny mosses, fungi and lichen to cover its shell. About the same size as a regular garden snail, it's covering is thought to mainly serve as camouflage, but may also augment its diet.
Common in treetops of the rainforests that span Pan-Patria and Trans-Australis, this unusual reptile is a specialized kind of Drepanosaur. Reaching about 27 centimeters when fully stretched out, it hunts from ambush much like a praying mantis, balancing upright and snatching prey with its large-clawed forelegs. Prey includes insects, spiders and various smaller vertebrates.
Reaching up to 11 kilograms, this mammal is a kind of giant, predatory Multuberculate. Thought to be a member of the Ptilodontoidea, its trenchant incisors and slicing premolars make it a devastating predator. It is adept and hunting both on the ground and in trees, being a skilled climber and leaper.
This is a unique species of freshwater Hydra, found only in the depths of one particular large, cold lake in Pan-Patria. A veritable giant, it's body may measure up to 2.7 centimeters long, and its arms can extend some distance further in order to snatch small water-borne invertebrates.
This bird-like Dinosaur reaches about the size of a large rooster, being some kind of Pennaraptoran, although it's exact relationships are unclear. A fowl-like omnivore, it is noted for being belligerent and well able to defend itself with the hypertrophied spurs it bears on the ankles.
This unusual Archosaur is thought to be an Allokotosaur allied to or possibly descended from Teraterpeton. A slow-moving, armored reptile which reaches no longer than 1.8 meters, it feeds almost entirely on mound-building termites, which it excavates with its large fore-claws. The beak-like snout and long extensible tongue allow it to harvest large amounts of termites in one sitting. As well as its heavy armor, it also possesses a skunk-like glandular defense in the event of a predator, it will face its rear-end to them and squirt it with a noxious, foul-smelling fluid that can blind its assailant.
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So that's it, be sure to check the link at the top of the page which leads to the list that outlines the setting, in order to see what other stuff I added.
I have hammered out most of this setting. If I add other species, or draw more fictional kinds, I will add them here, updating this entry. I may eventually make maps to go with it, too.
All images, designs and writing on this blog are the property of Timothy Donald Morris, do not use, reproduce, or copy them without my permission.
© Timothy Donald Morris 2022-2025
© Timothy Donald Morris 2022-2025
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