Mosasaurus hoffmannii Skull

[Dinoreplicas]

Had a few requests for 3D printed marine reptile skulls over the last few months so I'm starting a Mosasaurus.

My orthographic drawing of the M. hoffmannii holotype cranium. Adapted from Street and Caldwell (2017), also reffed Lingham-Soliar (1995) & other misc info thrown in where relevant.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Nice!

[Justin_]

Those tiny teeth under the eye socket .... I didn't know they had those. Do many other reptiles have them?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Those tiny teeth under the eye socket .... I didn't know they had those. Do many other reptiles have them?

They aren't really under the eye socket. They are centered in the middle of the skull.

[Dinoreplicas]

Nice!

Thanks.

Those tiny teeth under the eye socket .... I didn't know they had those. Do many other reptiles have them?

As @Blade-of-the-Moon says, they are at the mid-line of the skull in 2 rows of 8 (on Mosasaurus at least), snakes and monitor lizards have a similar arrangement. The side view doesn't show the 3D depth of parts very well, not sure if it's worth making an underside view or just figuring things out in 3D as I go along.

They aren't really under the eye socket. They are centered in the middle of the skull.

Nice photo you found @Blade-of-the-Moon, good view of the pterygoid teeth. Is that Tylosaurus?

Added the jaw to the orthographic drawing.

Pic removed - see Reply #19 for update

I've adapted these views from what are already good drawings in the papers I mentioned. I prefer to this because I like the details in my top and side views to line up, published specimen drawings and photos don't always account for perspective. That's not a criticism in any way, those published images are there to show the anatomy, not be a guide for 3D modellers .

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I'm not a 100% sure, I pulled it from a google image search so..maybe? lol 

[Dinoreplicas]

Finally managed to make time for 3D modelling the Mosasaurus skull. These simple sub_D boxes are the base shapes for a template sculpt.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

looking good

[Dinoreplicas]

looking good

Thanks, now I've made a proper start I'll try and keep the momentum up and get this finished quickly.

Been picking away at this, bit basic but good enough for a template sculpt. Next stage re-topo for multi-res sculpting.

[Dinoreplicas]

Quick lightmap UVs then I can texture paint a rough structure for a base mesh (red lines). More a loose guide really, things come together better when I start putting polys down.

[modelnut]

Beautiful! 

As one of those requesters I am very excited about this one. I will definitely be wanting two of them in 1/24th scale.

If you feel the need to do more aquatic reptiles there is always Kronosaurus and Elasmosaurus . . . 

- Leelan

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Beautiful! 

As one of those requesters I am very excited about this one. I will definitely be wanting two of them in 1/24th scale.

If you feel the need to do more aquatic reptiles there is always Kronosaurus and Elasmosaurus . . . 

- Leelan

Would love a 1:1 Elasmosaurus !

[Dinoreplicas]

Thanks guys. Back on with the Mosasaurus skull again, had to break off for a week.
Retopo-ing to make a base model for multi-res sculpting. There's Blender plugins for this but I get by with a fairly lo-fi approach.

[Dinoreplicas]

Base mesh traced over the template sculpt, UV map to do.
Might make a few changes, I'll take another look tomorrow.

[modelnut]

Beautiful! 

How will you keep the sclerotic rings in place in a printed skull?

- Leelan

[Dinoreplicas]

Beautiful! 

How will you keep the sclerotic rings in place in a printed skull?

- Leelan

I'm planning a similar arrangement to my Velociraptor skull. I have square section struts on the rings fitting into holes in the upper cranium.
I think they're pretty inconspicuous SOME PHOTOS HERE. For a more invisible look the struts could be removed and replaced with thin piano wire.

[Dinoreplicas]

Not satisfied with the original poly mesh so I made some topology modifications. Hopefully a little better for sculpting with an more grid-like area between nasal openings and tooth line. The odd awkward pinch or pole here & there but mostly at out-of-sight or higher density areas, should be OK for my purposes.

[modelnut]

How big is your skull in real life? They finished prepping a fossil last year of a Tylosaur skull that is five feet long. She is named "Debbie Sue".



https://www.kotatv.com/content/news/New-museum-presents-world-class-discovery-kids-get-free-fossils-571381141.html

- Leelan

[modelnut]

Never mind. Using your original post your skull would be 1.37 meters in 1:1 or 4.5 feet. 2.25 inches in 1:24 scale.

How about a nine-foot Kronosaurus skull next? 

- Leelan

[Dinoreplicas]

Never mind. Using your original post your skull would be 1.37 meters in 1:1 or 4.5 feet. 2.25 inches in 1:24 scale.

Your length calc is correct, MNHN AC 9648 is a little smaller than the spectacular Tylosaurus skull you reference.
The lower jaw comes in around 1.44m. There's another M. hoffmannii mandible (knicknamed the Penza monster) with a length of 1.7m

How about a nine-foot Kronosaurus skull next?  - Leelan

Probably take another break from skulls after this, pliosaurs are cool though.

Updated the orthographic drawing to correct the position of the foramina on the mandible. Dunno why I had them in the wrong place.