Horns: Then and Now

 

This is Titanoceratops, one of the largest ceratopsians and the land animal with the largest known head (nearly nine feet from break to frill top). A complete skeletal mount of this dinosaur stands at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History in Norman, Oklahoma; however, the skull on this mount has always looked too big for the rest of the body to carry it, so I based my sketch on the known bones of the animal. Since some paleontologists believe that this record-breaking dinosaur may have been a species of the better known Pentaceratops, I chose to depict Titanoceratops' frill as the Sam Noble mount does (with Pentaceratops horns) and base the colors on a marbled, orb-weaver spider.

 

Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis)

Current Range: Southeastern Africa, from South Africa to Kenya

Conservation Status: Critically Endangered

Lately, I've neglected my endangered mammals project, but last Thursday night decided to tackle one of the best known imperiled species: The black rhino. Contrary to their names, both the black and white rhinos are brown or gray in color. The white rhino's name is said to come from a mistranslation of "wijd", the Dutch word for "wide", given to this species for its broad, square upper lip. In contrast, the black rhino has a pointed upper lip.

The most striking black rhino image I found was of a muddy individual feeding on flowers in Namibia's Etosha National Park. I thought the juxtaposition of the gray skin, the brown mud, and the yellow flowers would make for a great drawing, and was eager anyway to take a break from depicting endangered animals alongside their killers (like the quoll I drew last year, which shared space with a poisonous cane toad and a stalking cat).