Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures Part 2

It's time for us to continue our tour of The Illustrated Directory of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures. 

In the last post we met the "Weirdo Goof", Gay Pride Segisaurus, Creepy lizard-faced Deinonychus, and the worst skeletal restoration ever.

In this post, as promised, we meet the Carnosaurs. A.K.A: Every large theropod (Though again, this book is honest about it) represented to you by a retro Spinosaurus. Apparently "an Allosaurus-sized theropod from Niger, Africa."

The first profiled Carnosaur is Allosaurus. Specifically the kindly old granny Allosaur that bakes cookies for the boys when they come back from the hunt.

One Ceratosaurus and an over-weight Dilophosaurus later, we come to the Tyrannosaurids. :D

This is only the second goofiest Tyrannosaur in the book.

Two pages later, we find Daspletosaurus messily devouring the scattered remains of... something.

Next we meet the King Himself:

Um... it appears that Barney killed Baby Bop and then stuck his face in the gutter.

Jump ahead to the prosauropods. Dig the gnarly hands on this Plateosaurus.

Now for the sauropods. Apatosaurus gives Allosaurus two enthusiastic thumbs up!

In the "Hydsilophodont" section, we find a Tenontosaurus that isn't being attacked by Deinonychus! Breaking new ground!

I like the badass look on his face. He's like "Bring it! I've been through it all!"

As we head on to meet the Iguanodontids, we get an unenthusiastic wave from a bored-looking Muttaburrasaurus.

Later on, we see a poor theropod learn the hard way why you never hug Iguanodon. Yeah. Iguanodontids have issues.

Skip way ahead to the Ceratopids. Here's a classic paleoart meme with a twist: A charging Triceratops facing off against a T. rex... who appears to be making the earliest known Trollface.

They don't make'm like that anymore.

Looks like he gets his comeuppance, though.. Sheesh, T. rex. Know when to stop.

At the end of the book is a section about non-dinosaurs. This is where the "Other Prehistoric Creatures" in the title comes in, but it still feels like an after-thought. The section is titled "Dinosaur Contemporaries", which is odd, because it includes Permian animals like Dimetrodon and Lycaenops. o.O

Here's an example of a short-lived but memorable paleoart meme: Germanodactylus hanging bat-like from a tree.

I actually think this is pretty awesome. I can imagine it watching it's prey from this position like a silent gargoyle, and then swooping down like a Mesozoic Batman.
Prey: "Who are you?"
Germanodactylus: "I'm your worst nightmare!"

Speaking of short-lived paleoart memes, here's a more long-lived one. One that refuses to to die even today: Questzalcoatlus scavenging carcasses like a vulture.

Seriously, this myth needs to die. Real Azhdarchids were much more interesting: Giraffe-sized terestrial crane analogues FTW!

On that bomshell, we have come to the end of our tour. It has certainly been an interesting trip through the surreal world of outdated and unintentionally hilarious paleoart. Let us say goodbye to the "Weirdo Goof", Gay Pride Segisaurus, Creepy lizard-faced Deinonychus, Granny Allosaurus, Trollface T. rex, enthusiastic sauropods, badass Tenontosaurus, grouchy Iguanodontids, Bat Germanodactylus, and vulture Quetzalcoatlus. Especially vulture Quetzalcoatlus.