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Last year, I drew a Hyneria lindae, based off of recent discoveries and related fish. As soon as I finished it, I started working on a Hynerpeton bassetti, the Ichthyostegoid from the same site that is known from a shoulder girdle and a jaw, and possibly some other material as well. Hynerpeton is known to have been more muscular than Ichthyostega, because of the larger muscle attachments on its cleithrum (shoulder), and at one point was thought to have lost its external gills, but significant doubt has been cast on the evidence for this claim. Hynerpeton's jaw is not as robust as another stegocephalian from the site, Densignathus rowei, which was more derived and muscular. For this reconstruction, the skull (which is covered in skin but fully reconstructed) was based off of Ichthyostega, but the jugal bone was based off of a specimen from Red Hill that has been attributed to Hynerpeton. The shape of this bone affected those around it and suggest slightly different proportions in Hynerpeton than in Ichthyostega, especially concerning the shape of the orbit. The shoulder was incorporated so that the shape of the trunk would be correct, and the foot pads were based off of tetrapod footprints from the Early to Middle Devonian. The lateral line is again based off of its placement of Ichthyostega, as were the scales. In the background, above the water's surface, a forest of Archaeopteris spp. trees and Otzinochsonia beerboweri lycopsids is visible; within the murky river, the red mud that gave Red Hill its name after it was deposited is covered over with plants.

This reconstruction is meant to be a sequel to my Hyneria lindae reconstruction I finished about five months ago; unfortunately, I have no specimens of Hynerpeton, which is very rare.

If anyone would like to see any citations for the papers that I used in making this reconstructions, please ask below. Enjoy!

 

 

Hynerpeton bassetti reconstruction typo fixed.png

Edited by Bringing Fossils to Life
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That is an awesome recreation.  So awesome that I really feel bad about what follows.  My eyes were immediately drawn to the area in the mouth with the teeth.  The bright white teeth with the water behind just doesn't look right to me.  Can you slightly change the tooth color, so there isn't a stark contrast in that area?  Can you close the jaws, so the water isn't behind the teeth?

 

EDIT:  I should have stated that I look at TFF posts on my 20-inch computer screen.  TFF members who use an iPhone probably have no idea what I'm talking about.

 

Marco Sr. 

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"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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Here is an updated version with the changes suggested by @MarcoSr. I added some lips to the lower jaw; it was "shrink wrapped" anyway, and I dulled down the teeth. I also added the upper anterior teeth; I seem to have forgotten them in the first reconstruction.

 

 

Hynerpeton bassetti reconstruction  with background jaw updated smaller.png

Edited by Bringing Fossils to Life
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28 minutes ago, Bringing Fossils to Life said:

Here is an updated version with the changes suggested by @MarcoSr. I added some lips to the lower jaw; it was "shrink wrapped" anyway, and I dulled down the teeth.

 

 

Hynerpeton bassetti reconstruction  with background jaw updated smaller.png

 

Looks so much better to me.

 

Marco Sr.

"Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day."

My family fossil website     Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros     My Extant Shark Jaw Collection

image.png.9a941d70fb26446297dbc9dae7bae7ed.png image.png.41c8380882dac648c6131b5bc1377249.png

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