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Thylacoleo carnifex sketches

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Had a conversation with Thumbclawz recently on the general wretchedness and scarcity of reconstructions of this terrific animal, so although lord knows I'm no Jay Matternes, John Sibbick or Mark Hallet I thought I'd take a crack at it. Not easy! There aren't many good photos of skeletons online - if you look at the one on Wikipedia you might think it's tailless! - so take the accuracy of this with a large grain of salt until I get more info.

I love reconstructions like this because Thylacoleo isn't very closely related to anything alive today, and it's near relatives are mostly arboreal vegetarians wheras it was a terrestrial (although still able to climb) definate carnivore. A lot of artistic license is overlaid on the actual bone photos. For example, from looking at the bones alone you'd never know tigers were brilliant orange and stripey while lions were plain and maned.

Top left: Front and side views of the face. Note the weird teeth! Thylacoleo's incisors, not the canines, were the main killing teeth. It had a broad skull and massive cheekbones, indications of ginormous jaw-closing muscles. Its bite was more powerful than a modern lion, which is twice its size. I intentionally gave it a bit of a pit bull look.

Top: A view from behind, crouching in preparation to spring, a close-up of the eye, and a lethal pudge paw showing the velociraptor-like thumb claw.

Center: Inspired by a Mark Hallet drawing of a sabertoothed cat. The thing it's attacking is supposed to be a baby diprotodont (giant wombat) but looks like a guinea pig - I need to do more research into what they looked like.

Bottom: Simple outline over a skeleton. I think I need to bulk up the forelimbs a bit.

These are fairly boring since they're just fur and flesh, no attempt to add markings or distinctive fur texture. I'll probably give it cryptic coloration / disruptive patterns since it was an ambush predator.
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kesslerwolf's avatar

Great to see you trying your hand at some paleoart!!! Pleistocene megafauna is a favorite subject of mine. This piece is truly awesome!!! Have you, by any chance, seen Gabriel Ugueto's reconstructions of Thylacoleo and Palorchestes? They are startlingly plausible and lifelike.