L.A. Underwater - Pontolis barroni

date. 2021

medium. Zbrush 2021

client. Natural History Museum Los Angeles County

description. Pontolis was a family of prehistoric basal walruses that had many comparable aspects to California seal lions, than to contemporary walruses. Pontolis barroni is a lesser known member of the family known mostly from a relatively complete skull. Pontolis barroni had a uniquely elongated skull with a very low profile, an aspect of the animal that Associate Curator of Mammalogy for the NHM, Jorge Velez - Jurage wanted to emphasize in the model. Using the lower jaw of Pontolis kohnoi (a related species) I extrapolated what I believed the musculature of the distinctly flat head of Pontolis barroni would be. The musculature study allowed us to have a better understanding of how soft tissue and flesh could have wrapped the body. Final Model was created in Zbrush. Model was rigged and animated for the exhibit by Kain Suwannaphin.