Art revealing science: marine mammal palaeoart

ABSTRACT

Apart from mythological drawings (e.g. unicorns and mermaids), some appearing during classical times, marine mammals have been the subject of palaeoart since the seventeenth century. Whales were the first marine mammals to be portrayed in detailed pencil and ink scientific illustrations printed as woodcuts and copper engravings. The early and mid twentieth century witnessed an increase in number of paleoartists, such as Zdenêk Burian and Charles Knight painting in rich, vibrant colours. Later, more attention was focused on portraying the ecologies and environments inhabited by fossil marine mammals based on analogies with living species resulting in restorations of entire animal and plant communities. In the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries, traditional illustrations were complemented by digital art with an emphasis on accurate, realistic portrayals of fossil marine mammals based on new interpretations of their anatomy, ecology, behaviour and habitat. Apart from the inextricable connection of palaeontology and art, palaeoart also serves a vital role in visually communicating science and evolution to the public as portrayed in museum exhibitions and other venues.

KEYWORDS:

• Marine mammals
• palaeoart
• history
• vertebrates

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to the following scientists and artists who generously shared their work: Mauricio Alvarez (University of Chile), Giovanni Bianucci (University of Pisa, Italy), Robert Boessenecker (University of Charleston, South Carolina), Carl Buell, Karen Carr, Terry Chase (Ozark Museum of Natural History), Julius Csotonyi, John Flynn (American Museum of Natural History, Ewan Fordyce (University of Otago, New Zealand), Alberto Gennari, Phil Gingerich (University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology), Stephen Godfrey (Calvert Marine Museum), Richard Hulbert (Florida Museum of Science), John Klausmeyer (University of Michigan), Naoki Kohno (Tokyo Museum of Science and Nature), Julio Lacerda, Olivier Lambert, Kees Moeliker (Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam), Takashi Oda, Mary Parrish, Adam Pritchard (Virginia Museum of Natural History), Natalia Rybczynski (Canadian Museum of Science and Nature), Takashi Oda, Greg Rami (AMNH Library), Mette Steeman (Gram Museum), William Stout, Daryl Trankina, Ray Troll and Anna Valenzuela-Toro. An anonymous reviewer is acknowledged for comments that improved the quality of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.