Although the coiled shells of ammonites are a familiar fossil when it comes to reconstructing past environments through art, invertebrates like cephalopods (the group that includes octopuses, nautiluses, “squids” and their relatives, as well as fossil forms ammonites, belemnites and lesser known ancestral groups) normally only feature in the jaws of plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs. Artist Franz Anthony has sought to address this disservice (#justiceforcephalopods) with a series of illustrations focusing on a diverse line up of extinct cephalopods to show these animals off in their own right and not just as background characters – or lunch – in palaeoart.
I caught up with Franz to chat about the series of works, palaeoart in general and the challenges of illustrating animals known only from their hard parts and not much else. Full disclosure: I’ve been following the progress of this project, been asked about some finer points of anatomical details and I’m just in love with the finished works, so consider me deeply impartial in presenting this work here.
Source : theguardian
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