A reconstruction of the biotope of Sansan (Miocene, Gers, France)

[archeo]

I begin the reconstruction of the biotope of Sansan in France (Gers).

 

https://books.google.com.sv/books?id=7s8yAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=fr&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/fr/collections/memoires-du-museum-national-d-histoire-naturelle/la-faune-miocene-de-sansan-et-son-environnement

https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/fr/collections/memoires-du-museum-national-d-histoire-naturelle/mammiferes-de-sansan

https://www.mnhn.fr/fr/paleosite-de-sansan.

 

[archeo]

A first animal : Sansanosmilus a Saber tooth cat (Barourofelidae). If the skull is well known, our knowledges of the skeleton of the body are more fragmentary. We made our reconstruction based on the skeleton of a jaguar (Ginsburg, 1961)

bibliography:

Peigné S.   2012. Les Carnivora de Sansan, in Peigné S. & SEN S. (eds), Mammifères de Sansan. Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris : 559-660 (Mémoires
du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle ; 203). ISBN : 978-2-85653-681-0.

GINSBURG L. 1961. La faune des carnivores miocènes de Sansan (Gers). Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, 190p

FILHOL H. 1891.  Études sur les mammifères fossiles de Sansan. Masson ed. 319p.

 

 

 

 

 

[jpc]

impressive.  

[Pagurus]

Stunning.

[archeo]

thanks

An Elephant now: Archaeobelodon. There is a skeleton in Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris and an other in Naturmuseum Augsburg

 

 

From left to right : Paris, reconstruction of the squeleton, Augsburg

[archeo]

The 3D reconstruction.

 

 

[Mahnmut]

Cool!

Are you going to rig them?

Best Regards,

J

[archeo]

Yes all models will be rigged, models posted above are in neutral possition.

[fifbrindacier]

I'm eager to see your reconstitution of the Amphicyon or of the Macrotherium sansaniense.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Splendid stuff. 

[archeo]

14 hours ago, fifbrindacier said:

I'm eager to see your reconstitution of the Amphicyon or of the Macrotherium sansaniense.

Yes it is for the next few months (Macrotherium sansaniense or Anisodon grande?) with Dicrocerus and Brachypotherium. But now I just finished Pliopithecus

 

 

[archeo]

Two Rhinoceros: Brachypotherium (rare in Sansan) and the most common Hoploaceratherium. Their ecology is unclear. For some Brachypotherium would have the same way of life as Hippos for others it lived in drier environments than swamp forests. Hoploaceratherium preferred marshy or riverine environments.

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by archeo

[archeo]

Reconstruction of the head of Amphicyon major.

The skeleton of the skull is poorly preserved (the zygomatic arches are absent). We supplemented with different other species to establish an average width of the skull. This being done, we compared the profile and top views with that of a Dog. We are then inspired by the method of Moraes et al (2022). The skull of a dog associated with the skin (data from a scanner) have been distorted to match the profiles of an Amphicyon. The result is something like a Pitbull.

 

Moraes, Cicero & Pereira, Hugo & Requicha, Joao & Alves, Lara & Alexandre-Pires, Graca & Jesus, Sandra & Guimaraes, Silvia & Ginja, Catarina & Detry, Cleia & Ramalho, Miguel & Pires, Ana Elisabete. (2022). The Facial Reconstruction of a Mesolithic Dog, Muge, Portugal. Applied Sciences. 12. 10.3390/app12104867.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 24, 2023 by archeo

[Bringing Fossils to Life]

Nice reconstructions! I like seeing the process of reconstructions like these.

[archeo]

few references used for the reconstruction

Argot C. 2010 — Morphofunctional analysis of the postcranium of Amphicyon major (Mammalia,
Carnivora, Amphicyonidae) from the Miocene of Sansan (Gers, France) compared to three extant
carnivores: Ursus arctos, Panthera leo, and Canis lupus. Geodiversitas 32 (1): 65-106.
Peigné S. — Les Carnivora de Sansan, in Peigné S. & SEN S. (eds), Mammifères de Sansan. Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris : 559-660 (Mémoires
du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle ; 203). ISBN : 978-2-85653-681-0.
Ginsburg L. 1961 — La faune des carnivores miocènes de Sansan. Mémoires
du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle NS, C, IX : 1-190.
Bergounioux F.-M., & Crouzel F.-C. 1966 — Découverte d’un squelette
d‘Amphicyon major dans le Miocène moyen de Sansan (Gers). Comptes
rendus de l’Académie des Sciences 262 : 2015-2017.
Bergounioux F.-M, & Crouzel F.-C. 1973 — Amphicyon major Blainville
du Miocène moyen de Sansan (Gers). Annales de Paléontologie, Vertébrés
59 (1) : 1-52.

 

I mostly used Argot (2010) which is the most accurate and detailed on the body. However, I have slimmed down and lightened the animal a little. Finally it is the body of a Lion, the limbs of a Bear and the head of a dog. For the moment there is no texture, I could put him in the skin of a Wolf, a Lion or a Bear.

 

[archeo]

First test of a texture. I will test some other

 

 

[archeo]

some fur variations. Which one do you prefer?

 

[ftlcgi]

6 hours ago, archeo said:

Which one do you prefer?

Great reconstructions, i think it would be great to render a scene with more than one and individuals could have different color variations, like a small pack

[archeo]

a contact sheet

 

[archeo]

Inspired by Auguste-Nicolas Cain's sculpture "Rhinoceros attacked by a tiger" (Jardin des Tuileries)

 

[Mahnmut]

Now, thats palaeoart!

very cool!

[EmileC]

Those are amazing reconstructions! 

Bravo!

[archeo]

Sansanosmilus lying in wait in the tall grass

 

[archeo]

 

Brachypotherium attacked by three Amphicyon (when things go wrong), with four Anchitherium and a herd of Archaeobelodon in the background.

 

 

.

Edited June 12, 2023 by archeo

[archeo]

Reconstruction of Anisodon (=Chalicotherium) grande.

As always before making a reconstruction I did some bibliographical research.

The Osteology of the Chalicotheroidea: With Special Reference to a Mounted Skeleton of Moropus Elatus Marsh, Now Installed in the Carnegie Museum
William Jacob Holland, Olof August Peterson Board of trustees of the Carnegie Institute, 1914 - 223 pages

Études sur les mammifères fossiles de Sansan H. Filhol 304 pages Avec 46 planches hors texte Editions Masson 1891

Depéret Charles. La faune de mammifères miocènes de la Grive-Saint-Alban (Isère) et de quelques autres localités du bassin du Rhône. — Documents nouveaux et révision générale. In: Archives du Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Lyon, tome 5, 1892. pp. 1-15;

 Middle Miocene Chalicotheriinae (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from France, with a discussion on chalicotheriine phylogeny. J. ANQUETIN, P.O. ANTOINE, P. TASSY Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 151, Issue 3, November 2007, Pages 577–608

H. Zapfe (1977): Die Fauna der miozänen Spaltenfüllung von Neudorf a. d. March (CSSR). Chalicotherium grande (Blv.). – Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Klasse – 185: 91 - 112.

I couldn't get this paper:

ZAPFE, H., 1979. - Chalicotherium grande aus der mioziinen Spaltenfullung von Neudorf an der March (Devinska Nova Ves, Tseheehoslowakei). N. Denkschr. Naturhist. Mus. lVien, 2: 1-282.

If someone can let me check it out I would be very grateful.

 

The reconstruction of the hand seems problematic to me: plantigrade? digitigrade? knuckle walking? The reconstruction of Zapfe with the back of the hand facing outward did not suit me, it does not correspond to the drawing of the radius and the ulna of Depéret.
All known heads are incomplete and deformed.

 

I also took some photographs during a visit to the Natural History Museums in Basel.

 

 

Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle Paris (wikipedia)

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by archeo