Tag Archives: Birds

Facial Expressions

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Jaime A. Headden

The various and many ways to make a “cheek,” and the various facial tissues for which we have primary (preserved remains) and secondary (inferred) evidence for, in fossil sauropsidans. (These images are CC-BY-ND-NC. Please don’t take them without permission.)

Posted in Art, Biological Comparison, Biology, Biomechanics, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Reconstruction | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Toothed Birds

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Jaime A. Headden

It soars over the tossing waves on enormous, outspread wings. With nary a flap, the bird is soaring dynamically high above the ocean, its eyes scanning the sky around it and sea below. It may seem unremarkable to us today: … Continue reading →

Posted in Biological Comparison, Biology, Biomechanics, Paleobiology, Paleoecology, Paleontology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Toothed Birds, A Preview

Posted on September 27, 2014 by Jaime A. Headden

A piece I’ve been mulling around for about a year, but my laziness interfered. No more.

Posted in Art, Reconstruction | Tagged | 6 Comments

A Short Piece on Piscivores – Not All The Same

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Jaime A. Headden

So you think you know a piscivore if you saw one? Not so fast. Take a look: Piscivores come in a large array of sizes and morphologies. Not all have teeth. Some are slender-snouted, others broad. What mostly defines a … Continue reading →

Posted in Biological Comparison, Biology, Paleoecology, Paleontology, Terminology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

The Skimmer, Exploded

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Jaime A. Headden

Rhynchops niger is a fun animal. Not only does it have this wonderfully huge lower bill, there’s lots of fun little structures of the jaw that interact in ways one doesn’t really expect in birds.(The gap in the upper and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biology, Biomechanics | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Pneumatic Air Sacs in Dinosaurs

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Jaime A. Headden

Following all that work I’ve been doing on anatomy in oviraptorids, it should not come as a surprise that I am looking for ways to effectively represent this amassed data in digestible chunks. I don’t always want to write novellas … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Reconstruction, Terminology | Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments

Reconstruction Deconstruction

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Jaime A. Headden

As an artist, I view the world through an interpretive lens, not merely how I might depict a thing or what reaction I might get, but how I might see things in different lights; one has to be a little … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Paleontology, Reconstruction | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

More Bird Jaws…

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Jaime A. Headden

A quick post, on what I would prefer to be a “big post” day, due to focus on my oviraptorid study and other projects (but still about jaws and stuff). This one is also about jaws  — surprise! — in … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Oviraptorids and Cranial Morphometrics 2: Reloaded

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Jaime A. Headden

Hot on the heels of my post on how cranial morphometric analyses of theropods end up excluding oviraptorids from them, a new paper ups the ante. (Of course, I do not mean that these papers actively exclude oviraptorids, but rather … Continue reading →

Posted in Morphometrics, Paleobiology, Paleontology, Science Reporting | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

The Beak is NOT a Lie

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Jaime A. Headden

The turtles and birds are the only living archosaurian animals today with a “beak,” a keratinized rhamphotheca covering the margins of the jaw [n1]. These features are associated with a lack of teeth, which has caused a question of correlation: … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biological Comparison, Biology, Paleobiology, Reconstruction | Tagged , | 3 Comments