Not used for Contest 2013

[Federreptil]

So many models!!!
And a herd of Alamos! Neid!    

"Neid" back ;-)
I will never achieve the beauty and clarity of your collection. My dinosaurs and books are also on very simple Ikea shelves - but they're a mess. I could never present my few Invictas so beautifully.
I'll never be able to limit myself when collecting and follow a clear concept. If everything is to be lost in a herd, I often lose the charm of the original.
With the alamosaurs, I also reach a limit in terms of cost and space requirements. I looked admiringly at the pictures of the new Argentinosaurus from Haolonggood. But at that size, it's beyond the scope of what I could achieve with a diorama.

[Paleo Flo]

So many models!!!
And a herd of Alamos! Neid!    

"Neid" back ;-)
I will never achieve the beauty and clarity of your collection. My dinosaurs and books are also on very simple Ikea shelves - but they're a mess. I could never present my few Invictas so beautifully.
I'll never be able to limit myself when collecting and follow a clear concept. If everything is to be lost in a herd, I often lose the charm of the original.
With the alamosaurs, I also reach a limit in terms of cost and space requirements. I looked admiringly at the pictures of the new Argentinosaurus from Haolonggood. But at that size, it's beyond the scope of what I could achieve with a diorama.

Thank you so much for your kind words.
I fact my collection has more grown as planed thanks to Haolonggoods attractive offerings. 
But I try to keep it clean and follow my intentions. I guess an Argentino (can't decide between brown or green) and a Brachio/Giraffa (when released) will find their way into my collection. Maybe the red Utacceratops will also come (for me it is hard to say no to ceratopsians  ).
For 2025 I will try to limit myself in terms of collecting. Maybe a Kentrosaurus, an Iguanodon and an Archaeoypteryx by Haolonggood could be to tempting.
Who knows.

[Baryonyx]

Phenomenal work!
I recommend the new Recur Triceratops for your herd!

[Federreptil]

I recommend the new Recur Triceratops for your herd!

Thanks for the tip: I'll check it out 
It would be the first Recur figure in my collection.

[thomasw100]

These dioramas are so amazing. I really like the concept of modeling entire dinosaur ecosystems. I was thinking of making some smaller dioramas but found it difficult to impossible to source scientifically accurate models of Mesozoic plants and trees. I wish that a company like Haolonggood would start producing a few such plants. I saw that Paleokhris showed some 3D printed trees in one of his videos but so far these have not appeared in more detail on one of his social media accounts.

[Federreptil]

I was thinking of making some smaller dioramas but found it difficult to impossible to source scientifically accurate models of Mesozoic plants and trees. I wish that a company like Haolonggood would start producing a few such plants. I saw that Paleokhris showed some 3D printed trees in one of his videos but so far these have not appeared in more detail on one of his social media accounts.

Finding the right plants for the Mesozoic is indeed no easy task. I have been looking for good solutions for about 10 years. Most ready-made model trees are simply too small in scale. The leaves of the plastic models, such as those from Collecta, are actually too thick and there are too few varieties. Certain varieties such as Araucaria simply don't exist. With Gingko and Magnolias, you have to assume that certain details such as the distinctive leaf shapes are not important at the desired scale. The aerial roots of Mangroves or swamp trees are not available on the shelf. A full-scale Redwood would quickly reach impressive meter sizes, so some things are also a compromise for me and every year there is an attempt to improve them. The jungle plants with wire-reinforced leaves from the Prassiri Ebay store (Thanan Diorama Exporter), which were at the center of the Gobi diorama last year, work really well. From 100 million years there are Conifers such as Pines, for which there are wonderful replicas for military diorama builders. The basis is still ferns, here JTT offers wonderful small individual plants and for the masses still the heads of the plastic mini palms for architectural models. Laser-cut sheets made of brass foil are not easy to work with and paper is unfortunately far too delicate. However, the best method is obviously still to make your own models. Irimali provides fantastic instructions here or you can look for instruction videos on YouTube.

[irimali]

Congratulations on your win!  I voted for yours.

It's really cool to see all of your behind the scenes shots and other views of the whole setup, the different scenes and all the smaller animals.  I wish museums had more dioramas like this, showing the whole ecosystem the way you have.

 

[Federreptil]

Congratulations on your win!  I voted for yours.

It's really cool to see all of your behind the scenes shots and other views of the whole setup, the different scenes and all the smaller animals.  I wish museums had more dioramas like this, showing the whole ecosystem the way you have.

 

Dear Irimali,
Thank you for your praise and for entering the competition. I can only agree with the topic of dioramas in museums. I think there are too few dioramas and that they should be bigger 

[Federreptil]

Young animal in danger. More stories from Hell Creek 66 million years ago:



The pack has separated the young animal from the herd and is slowly surrounding it.



This is pure speculation, but young tyrannosaurs are more agile and could well hunt together in a pack. There are known bite injuries from conspecifics in the predatory dinosaurs. Perhaps these already occurred in the youth when chasing and distributing the prey together.



Edmontosaurids are perfect for long migrations. So it will have been large herds on the hike. Adult animals would have been too big for most predators. Even an adult Tyrannosaurus Rex would have found such a giant herbivore a risky encounter.



The young would still be worthwhile prey. But difficult for a lone hunter to separate from the herd and chase down. This would be much more likely for a young, agile pack.



In the process, the herd would try to get to safety. The loss of a single member during the migration is manageable if the predators are then satiated and take a break. It won't be the last victim.



The Pachycephalosaurier hike in the protection of the large Edmontosaurier. In case of danger, the small dinosaurs can save themselves with fast sprints. In return, the large dinosaurs could benefit from the sharp eyes of their smaller companions, who can identify danger more quickly. And so they can function as an early warning system for the herd.



The younger Tyrannosaurs still have to stay away. Their prey consists of lizards and mammals, and they themselves would be welcome prey for the older juvenile predators.



The mammals have other enemies as well. But some of them would not disdain a dinosaur's nest if they had the opportunity to steal eggs.



The mixed herd of edmontosaurids and pachycephalosaurs continues its great migration.



But this is – like everything here – a speculation about the behavior of dinosaurs. Driven by the known facts, probabilities and many analogies to the inhabitants of today's savannahs. The large herds and their predators. The difficulty remains that no living land animal reaches these sizes and it is therefore questionable whether today's behavior can be transferred at all.

[Tattu]

Bravo! Love the storytelling in your dios

[Libraraptor]

Thumbs up for all those backstage insights and dioramas you haven´t used. This thread to me belongs to the most interesting ones on the forum!

[Federreptil]

Bravo! Love the storytelling in your dios

Thank you for the praise. Hopefully the diorama concept will continue to work. Even if it doesn't give you the opportunity to get a compact collection of outstanding beauty by selecting individual models from your own collection, simply because more than half of all models are subsequently painted over.

[Federreptil]

Thumbs up for all those backstage insights and dioramas you haven´t used. This thread to me belongs to the most interesting ones on the forum!

That is high praise for the whole project. Then it was worth going the long way over the eleven years. Even if there is a fireworks display these days that has meant almost a year of preparation. Even if some components have been around for a decade. But it is also exciting to see how some ideas and goals have changed over time or even return to old convictions in a circular fashion.

[Federreptil]

The dwarfing of the Tyrannosaurus Rex – new stories from Hell Creek:



Sauropods remain a success story of evolution until the extinction of the Nonavian dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Even though most finds of Titanosaurier are made in the southern hemisphere.



The northernmost finds on the American continent are attributed to Alamosaurus and overlap with the range of Tyrannosaurus Rex in the southwestern United States. But a fully grown Alamosaurus, with a confirmed length of 21 meters and an estimated potential of up to 30 meters, was certainly no prey for a T-Rex.



This herd shows that there should have been even larger trees on the Cretaceous savannah than there are today. After all, the tall neck would only have brought an advantage if the titanosauruses had used it to gain a particular food advantage. Just as today the neck height of giraffes matches the tree heights of the Serengeti. Given the size of the titanosaur, the giants would have to spend a large part of the day feeding, and would also need to tap into rich sources of food. But groups of sauropods would not roam the redwood forests without permanently changing the landscape. No dense forest would remain.



If there had been birds along the paths of the Titanosaurus herds, they would have taken advantage of the arrival of the giants.



Near the tracks of the giants, insects would be sure to be flushed up or even injured by the footsteps, making them easy prey.



In direct comparison, it is clear that the Tyrannosaurus Rex probably avoided the active sauropods as a rule and rather considered how they could catch the smaller Thescelosaurs.



The highly stretched necks as well as the broad triangular base at the trunk are the characteristics of the current reconstructions of the Titanosaurier. These features are emphasized ever further, so that the smaller figures here already get a tendency to tip forward because of the massive neck. Even if the neck of the sauropods is assumed to have a lightweight construction with large air sacs for ventilation, a lot of mass remains. So perhaps less height and less mass would be more realistic after all, because a low, forward-held neck would make it easier to eat and would increase the range of trees. Other food competitors such as horned dinosaurs and hadrosaurs would still not have to be feared. It would also be easier to imagine that the heads would have to tilt down to the ground to drink. This is because the mobility of the necks is very limited for the stability of the necks, so that strong bends and even snake movements are out of the question.



Even a small group of six animals shows the power of change that the migration of sauropods would have on the landscape. Young trees would always be in danger of being knocked over and trampled.



A flock of Nyctosaurs accompanies the Alamosaurus herd.



Meanwhile, the Pectinodons hunt for smaller prey in the undergrowth. Here, too, the giants could drive some small animals out of hiding during their migration.



Could a single Tyrannosaurus Rex successfully hunt on the savannah? Or is this way too simplistic? Lions hunt in prides, and males hunt in small groups or alone, depending on the situation, food supply and social behavior. Why shouldn't there have been several constellations in the course of a Tyrannosaurus's life?



There will be a separate series about the Tyrannosaurus when the Titanosaur series is over.

[Federreptil]

Family reunion in the Hell Creek formation 66 million years ago:



There seems to be a pattern. When a short-shield variant of Centrosauridae appears among the Ceratopsida, a long-shield variant of Chasmosauridae is not far away. It is logical to that extent, because the main difference between the individual species seems to be the many variants of horns and shield ornaments. Why should there be this differentiation if there is no reason for differentiation? So the natural counterpart to Triceratops would be Torosaurus.



First, a look at the smallest dinosaurs in green. These are often overlooked among all the giants.



As late as 2010, Jack Horner and John Scannella assigned the finds of the Torosaurus to the Triceratops, explaining the Torosaurus as an older form of the Triceratops. The reason for this was the lack of young Torosaurus. However, the transition from the closed horn shields of the Triceratops to the wide-open holes in the shields of the Torosaurus was also missing. In the meantime, the Torosaurus is considered a species of its own again. In 2014, the Horrible Horn Horde still consisted of the united Triceratops herd with the pensioners – today there are two separate herds again, which meet here.



This is all the more logical because differences only make sense where there is something to distinguish. like the different antlers and horns of antelopes when they occur together. There is speculation as to whether an intensive blood flow to the shields could have this display function and whether attractive patterns could appear there.



Nevertheless, many of the current models for such large animals are already very colorful and folkloric patterns or huge eye motifs can be found on the shields. This seems to be more a result of the museums, which like to combine ethnographic and scientific collections. But the question remains, which large eyes are supposed to scare off here? If the largest eyes are actually the T-Rex, which are small buttons by comparison. That is why both species deliberately do not show any color extravagances here.



The Torosaur also used to have the longer forehead horns, but the Triceratops has since upgraded. Almost all new models get the extra-long horns based on the reconstruction of Yoshi's Trike at the Museum on the Rockies in Montana. Whether it is a species of its own may be viewed critically. But there are other places where it is clear how large the range of detail variations can be within a species, while the differences to other species may be significantly smaller than the range of variation within the species. This even applies to the skull finds of the Torosaurs.



The two species certainly encountered each other in the savannahs of the Hell Creek Formation, and may even have migrated together. Even if the finds suggest some preferences. Torosaurids occur further north and are absent from the southernmost reaches.



So the young may have come into contact with each other. Nevertheless, both sides will always know which herds they belong to. To what extent different skin colors could play a role in this remains a mystery. We don't know whether all dinosaurs had color vision just because birds do today. And the different colors of the species is also just speculation. It would be surprising if such huge animals of the savannah were as colorful as small tropical birds.



If you leaf through the Princeton Field Guide for Birds of the Mesozoic by Juan Benito and Roc Oliv, most bird species seem to come only from the Yehol Formation of the early Cretaceous. On the one hand, this shows a rich fauna in this single formation and that in most cases the conditions were not suitable for such fine fossils to be preserved. It also speaks more for a long-completed development of birds as early as the Cretaceous. And for a wide distribution of birds in the world of dinosaurs. It is exciting to see how more and more birds are appearing in dinosaur models, illustrations and films in recent years.



The simplifications of Horner and Scannella remain in place for Pachycephalosaurus. Here they have identified Dracorex and Stegoceras as juvenile developmental forms of Pachycephalosaurus because its distinctive skull dome only develops over the years.



Here are some members of the Torosaur herd, which in 2014, as the Tricerartops pensioners in the "Horrible Horn Horde", should still pass as such. To achieve this, they had to change their coloration again.



Finally, a small mammal that, along with the birds, may be the only survivors of the great catastrophe. Because it is small enough and can hide deep underground.

[Federreptil]

What is the Tyrannosaurus Rex doing?



The Pectinodons were too happy too soon. The dead young Triceratops would be a tasty find. They only found the carcass themselves. And large predators are approaching.



The two young animals from the herd of horned dinosaurs have killed the pack of teenage nanotyrants, which must now defend their prey against the numerous blackheads.



The teenage predatory dinosaurs are fast and successful as a pack. They are more successful as a team than a single adult Tyrannosaurus Rex.



Even the Quetzalcoatlus has to use its wings to protect itself before a juvenile Tyrannosaurus can get a grip on its flying membrane.



The pterosaur escapes the raptor's sharp claws just in time.



When the adult Tyrannosaurs appear, the juvenile dinosaurs have nevertheless lost. It makes no sense to take on adult animals when they lay claim to the prey. For the heavy giants, predation is the smallest risk to satisfy their hunger.



The hungry young animals flee. They will have to hunt new prey.



By chance, a lonely Tyrannosaurus Rex meets a couple looking for rewarding prey together.



Whether Tyrannosaurs hunted alone, in pairs or in groups is, like everything else shown here, wild speculation. What I really want is the impossible: information and clues about the lives of dinosaurs that could show them living together in an ecosystem.



The Tyrannosaurus Rex is one of the most reported and researched dinosaur species. 24% of the finds in the Hell Creek Formation refer to Tyrannosaurids, more than 30 finds have been documented. The most famous exhibits in museums are "Sue", "Stan" and "Trinity", even though three partial finds were needed for this. The name was chosen based on the first find, with the intention of emphasizing the prominent position of the giant predator, as it was a name that every visitor could remember. Today, the T-Rex is still the unifying constant among the main characters in the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World franchise.



In the meantime, finds of young animals have also been made and the Nanotyrannus is now classified as an adolescent Tyrannosaurus, so that there is further knowledge about the development and growth of Tyrannosaurids. There is extensive research on the appearance, movement and sensory abilities of the large lizards, as well as general knowledge about the environment in the Hell Creek formation. However, when it comes to a differentiated presentation of the behavior and way of life of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the balance looks rather bleak.



In the current book by David Hone "Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior" (Princeton University Press 2024), the author provides a summary of the state of research on the Tyrannosaurus Rex on pages 36ff. According to this, we can say little about social behavior; there are no common finds in Bone Beds or even in interaction. Therefore, we cannot say whether the T-Rex lived alone or in groups. There are only indications of injuries caused by their own kind. There are no nests, eggs or hatchlings and therefore no information about clutch size, breeding behavior or even offspring care. Therefore, there is no indication of mating and any courtship or sexual behavior. Although female bones can be identified, it is difficult to deduce a difference between the sexes from this. Even a different size of the sexes is not secured if the growth lasts until death. Older finds would therefore be the larger ones. Even the hunting behavior and the preferred prey are still a secret. Why in a newer study the examined teeth of a Tyrannosaurus Rex did not primarily crush bones, although that should be the special ability of the jaw, further research must show.



So this scene is pure speculation, based on analogies to the behavior of predators in today's ecosystems. And for that, probabilities and working hypotheses are tested...



The same applies to the potential prey. Although the triceratops is one of the most common finds in the Hell Creek formation (40% ceratopsids), the first bone bed was only recently discovered and is still being examined by the University of Leiden. As always, it remains unclear whether this is really a sign of herd behavior, since there may be several explanations for the accumulation of individuals at a single site.



But this is actually the question that arises with any kind of paleo-art and dinosaur documentary that shows the behavior and interaction of several species with each other and places them in a setting.

[Tattu]

Another marvelous display! I imagine it must take you many weeks/months to set these up.

[Federreptil]

Another marvelous display! I imagine it must take you many weeks/months to set these up.

The six scenes with the different constellations were shot in a relatively short period of time from the end of October to mid-November. The preparation time, on the other hand, really took almost a year. It began with considerations about the landscape and the attempt to define how familiar or foreign this ecosystem is to us. To what extent can today's subtropical landscapes be transferred to that time? What laws apply on the shores of an inland sea in the interior of North America? During the first few weeks, it was mainly the bookcase that grew.

And then there is the staff. Even though some protagonists have been waiting for an appearance for many years, such as David Krentz's little raptors – one of the first orders placed at Shapeways in 2015. Nevertheless, many new heroes have been added this year and most of them also had to be repainted to create common herds and groups with a uniform look. In the process, some ideas were also developed and implemented. The adult Tyrannosaurus, for example, is naked again, but must have lips – including Cameron and Andrea from PNSO. The adolescent tyrannosaurs (also PNSO), on the other hand, had to be partially feathered. The coloration of the large animals is significantly muted and the "display zones" with strong color accents are small and often concentrated on the head and tip of the tail. The strong patterns for the collar shields of the horned dinosaurs are deliberately avoided here as well. It makes the animals look bigger again and also fits with the comparisons to today's large animals.

For test purposes, a small diorama has been set up in the study since March. Here, the combination of the new conifers, the first olive trees with the first inhabitants – still in their original dress – could be tried out. Some of these test tracks have been published on Instagram. I will share a selection here soon.

In the end, however, it remains clear that there are still major gaps in current research and that, especially when it comes to the interaction of species in an ecosystem, much remains speculation. Thus, some of the representations in these dioramas are also deliberately "working hypotheses". And one could also question some of the settings and claims in highly praised streaming series such as "Prehistoric Planet", precisely because they come across as so credible and self-evident.

[bmathison1972]

wow I want your background/habitat for my diorama images 

[Federreptil]

wow I want your background/habitat for my diorama images 

You are already putting a lot of work into your "Mathison Museum of Natural History - Prehistoric Edition" with the backgrounds to the individual figures. A three-dimensional background would certainly be an improvement. Although, given the length of time for the animals shown, it would probably have to be several different settings. If you are serious about this, I could put together a shopping list for you that would help you get started faster.