Stephen Poropat — Palaeontologist
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Illustrations

I have been fascinated by dinosaurs since I was five years old. The fact that they were often enormous, mostly extinct (aside from birds), and very real may have had something to do with it. During high school and undergraduate, I found time to draw dinosaurs, and was fairly committed to this until I started my Ph.D...

The majority of the illustrations displayed here are almost ten years old, and many of them have not aged well (or contain anatomical inaccuracies - Compsognathus and Troodon 
should have feathers, Massospondylus and Plateosaurus should not be walking quadrupedally, etc.). Unfortunately, these are the current cream of the crop. I hope to find time to complete more illustrations and to improve my technique in future.

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THEROPODS

The only group of dinosaurs which survived the end-Cretaceous extinction were the theropods - as birds. All were bipedal, and many Mesozoic forms were carnivorous and bore sharp teeth in their jaws (like Tyrannosaurus and Deinonychus). However, therizinosaurs seem to have been herbivorous, and other groups either reduced (oviraptorosaurs) or lost (ornithomimids, modern birds) their teeth.
Abelisaurus comahuensis (2006)
Achillobator giganticus (2006)
Acrocanthosaurus atokensis (2006)
Anzu wyliei (2005)
Appalachiosaurus montgomeriensis (2005)
Buitreraptor gonzalezorum (2006)
Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (2004)
Carnotaurus sastrei (2004)
Ceratosaurus nasicornis (2005)
Chilantaisaurus tashuikouensis (2005)
Citipati osmolskae (2006)
Compsognathus longipes (2008)
Megalosaurus bucklandii (2006)
Poekilopleuron bucklandii (2007)
Troodon formosus (2007)

SAUROPODOMORPHS

Sauropodomorphs include primitive forms ("prosauropods") and true sauropods, which include the largest terrestrial animals of all time. Aptly described by Ann Elk in a Monty Python sketch as being "thin at one end, much, much thicker in the middle, and then thin again at the far end", sauropodomorphs were all herbivorous. All forms had small heads relative to body size, and jaws which lacked chewing teeth.
Abrosaurus dongpoi (2006)
Bonitasaura salgadoi (2006)
Brachytrachelopan mesai (2006)
Camarasaurus lentus (2004)
Chuanjiesaurus anaensis (2005)
Massospondylus carinatus (2007)
Plateosaurus engelhardti (2007)
Rhoetosaurus brownei (2006)
Thecodontosaurus antiquus (2007)
Adrift and at Peace II - sauropod and pliosaur in the Eromanga Sea (2014)

ORNITHOPODS

One of the first dinosaurs ever described was an ornithopod, the thumb spike-wielding Iguanodon. However, the most easily recognisable ornithopods are the duck-billed hadrosaurs, some of which had elaborate head crests. Ornithopods, which were exclusively herbivorous, varied greatly in size and shape from the diminutive, bipedal and fleet-footed Hypsilophodon to the ponderous, hulking Shantungosaurus.
Charonosaurus jiayinensis (2005)
Claosaurus agilis & Hesperornis regalis (2006)
Hadrosaurus foulkii (2007)
Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis (2006)
Muttaburrasaurus langdoni (2006)
Parasaurolophus walkeri (2011)

THYREOPHORANS

Most of the thyreophorans, or "shield bearers", can be placed in one of two main groups: the plated and spiked stegosaurs; and the armoured (and sometimes club-tailed) ankylosaurs. All thyreophorans, except the most primitive forms, were probably only able to walk on all fours, and all were herbivorous. They were the best-armoured dinosaurs to evolve, and their remains are known from every continent.
Ankylosaurus magniventris (2001)
Chialingosaurus kuani (2005)
Hylaeosaurus armatus (2007)
Minmi sp. (2006)
Scelidosaurus harrisonii (2008)

MARGINOCEPHALIANS

The "fringe-headed" Marginocephalia includes two main groups: the bipedal, thick-skulled and often dome-headed pachycephalosaurs; and the frilled (and often horned) ceratopsians. Early ceratopsians were probably equally able to walk bipedally or quadrupedally, whereas the later ceratopsids were exclusively quadrupedal. All marginocephalians were herbivorous, and most (if not all) hail from the Northern Hemisphere.
Achelousaurus horneri (2006)
Agujaceratops mariscalensis (2005)
Centrosaurus apertus (2005)
Chasmosaurus belli (2005)
Chasmosaurus russelli & Vagaceratops irvinensis (2005)
Stenopelix valdensis (2007)
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