Hesperosuchus agilis and Beetle

date. 2024

medium. Adobe Photoshop CC

description. Under the dense canopy of giant Araucarioxylon conifers of the Lower Chinle Formation, a Hesperosuchus investigates a recent treefall. The small pseudosuchian searches through beetle bores in the enormous trunk that may still hold larvae, however his quarry is apparently already out of reach. This painting was inspired by a paper recommended to me by my friend Paul Bryne. The paper by Leif Tapanila and Eric M. Roberts looks at the earliest evidence of Holometabolan Insect Pupation in fossil conifer wood. We agreed that this behavior preserved in the fossil record of the Chinle Formation would be interesting to depict in a painting. Paul is a paleontologist who studies pseudosuchians and also helped with the anatomy of the Hesperosuchus.