African Mud Turtle
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ceratosaurus.bsky.social
African Mud Turtle
@ceratosaurus.bsky.social
29 followers 74 following 86 posts
Amateur artist, master procrastinator

Adores anything living, but extinct stuff especially

Jack-of-all-trades, I do drawings, blockbench models, pixel art and clay
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ceratosaurus.bsky.social
Doing something a little different
A WIP diagram of Megistaspis limbatus, an asaphid trilobite that is the type species of Megistaspis. Made with Inkscape.
September 9, 2025 at 12:17 AM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
Some #floorphone for my friend @floorphone.bsky.social

MePhone is doing pushups while Floory is watching something (I headcanon YouTube Shorts) on MePhone's screen
MePhone4, a black iPhone-reminiscent phone from the object show Inanimate Insanity, is doing push-ups outside on the grass. The Floor, a fellow character from Inanimate Insanity, is underneath MePhone and looking up at his screen, saying "Ooh~...❤️"
September 2, 2025 at 1:27 AM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
My submissions for the #LemuriaChallenge

(Descriptions in alt text)
Bryomedusa graptolithoides Habitat: Coral Reefs Clade: Bryozoa (relative of Cyclocladus) Size: 20-30 cm long Ecology: Pelagic Filter Feeder Additional Info: Bryomedusa is a genus of filter-feeding bryozoan related to Cyclocladus that has evolved to become pelagic. Its mesh-like structure reduces the weight of the bryozoan’s skeleton. Its zooids act like cilia, both sifting through water to find food and keeping the bryozoan afloat, while the vibraculan zooids at the base allow it to swim forwards. Tabulospongus auraeum Habitat: Snail Reefs Clade: Porifera (Demospongiae, Acarnidae) Size: Up to 10 meters across, 1 meter tall Ecology: Sessile Filter Feeder Additional Info: Tabulospongus is a crucial part of Lemuria’s snail reef ecosystems: it provides additional substrate for vermetid snails as well as providing hiding places for small fish. The vermetid snails encrusting on the sponge provide it with protection from organisms that would like to eat it through the simple expedient of providing a physical barrier. However, if the encrusting snails grow over the small pores through which Tabulospongus intakes water, they could eventually starve the sponge. To prevent this, Tabulospongus turns spicules surrounding the pores into upwards-pointing spines that can grow up to a centimeter long. Harpagonemertes gigas Habitat: Snail Reefs Clade: Nemertea (Monostilifera) Size: Up to 10 meters long Ecology: Benthic Ambush Predator Additional Info: Harpagonemertes is a truly enormous nemertean (though still between 3 and 5 times smaller than the longest species of modern nemertean, Lineus longissimus) that acts as the apex predator of the snail reefs. It uses its proboscis, armed with a single highly venomous stylet, to capture pelagic prey like small fish and pelagic annelids. Like some other nemerteans, Harpagonemertes has incredible regenerative powers, being able to regenerate a new tail or head after amputation. Tittilatios spp. Habitat: Snail Reefs Clade: Annelida (Sabellida) Size: 10 cm tall Ecology: Sessile Filter-Feeder Additional Info: Tittilatios is the most common genus of sabellid worm present in the snail reefs and has a lifestyle rather similar to other sabellids. It uses its crown of tentacles to filter plankton from the water, which it then eats. If threatened by a predator, Tittilatios can retreat into its tube. Dracoderes rapax Habitat: Coastlines Clade: Kinorhyncha (Cyclorhagida) Size: 4 cm long Ecology: Opportunistic Detritivore and Scavenger Additional Info: Dracoderes is a large genus of kinorhynch found on the coastlines of Lemuria, burrowing in the sediments of the wrack line and surf. Like its much smaller cousins, Dracoderes primarily feeds on diatoms and detritus found in the sediment; however, it is also usually one of the first scavengers to arrive at a washed-up corpse or frond of algae. To allow for efficient diffusion despite its size, Dracoderes has a ridged cuticle that increases surface area. Cardiodiscus commensalis Habitat: Coral Reefs Clade: Acoela (Convolutidae) Size: 1 cm long Ecology: Coral Epibiont Additional Info: Cardiodiscus, named for its resemblance to the geometric shape of a cardioid, is an epibiont of large corals like Megamedusa. It feeds on the coral’s mucus and transfers zooxanthellae from the host’s body to its own to allow it to secondarily photosynthesize. However, it does little harm to its host, hence the specific name. Phyllodoce peregrinus Habitat: All Oceans Clade: Annelida (Phyllodocidae) Size: 10 cm long Ecology: Pelagic Scavenger and Predator Additional Info: Phyllodoce peregrinus is a pelagic member of the common benthic genus Phyllodoce. P. peregrinus has a number of adaptations for pelagic life, including enlarged parapodia similar to the related nektonic genus Tomopteris and a translucent body. It uses its eversible proboscis to capture small prey like copepods.
August 20, 2025 at 12:03 PM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
the humble Canadia:
July 2, 2025 at 7:36 PM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
Or Cheloniellon, a large, flattened Devonian vicissicaudatan (relatives of trilobites) from the Hünsruck Slate with a specialized pair of second cephalic limbs used for sensory purposes
June 19, 2025 at 5:21 PM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
Aegirocassis, a large, filter-feeding Early Ordovician radiodont from the Fezouata Shale of Morocco (reconstruction by prehistorica.art)
June 19, 2025 at 5:18 PM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
An aline for my art swap with @he-who-silenced.bsky.social
Two limpet-like aliens emerge from the ocean onto brown mudflats. They have a flat, tan body and a grey shell. The left one is fully in frame, and can be seen laying eggs. The right one is not fully in frame. The sky is cloudy and greyish-blue, and two clouds can be seen.
June 11, 2025 at 12:50 AM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
#paleoart of a baby (meraspid 0) Platypeltoides submitted for the KOI spring contest.
A baby Platypeltoides trilobite resting on pale sand in a shallow ocean. The trilobite is light brown and only has two segments: a cephalon (head) and pygidium (tail). Protruding from the rear end of the cephalon are two genal spines.
May 28, 2025 at 12:21 AM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
Keurbos susanae, a new enigmatic arthropod from my old friend the Soom Shale, has been finished!

doi.org/10.1002/spp2.70004
Keurbos susanae, an enigmatic arthropod here reconstructed after Acheronauta, pursues a conodont in the polar waters of the South African Soom Shale. The water is dark green and becomes lighter close to the top, and there is a large iceberg on the top-left corner. Underneath the iceberg, there are the faint shapes of moon jelly-like jellyfish. The arthropod itself is white and worm-like, with a dark underbelly adorned with scleritis. It is curving up, trying to pursue the Notiodella.
April 2, 2025 at 10:45 AM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
A conference abstract by Satyanarayana, et al. describes trilobite fossils from the Late Triassic Lower Dharmaram Formation in Telangana. This discovery shows that trilobites DID in fact survive the end-Permian mass extinction and even entered freshwater niches in the wake of the extinction.
Image of a conference abstract. The abstract is titled First record of philipsiid trilobites (Proetida: Phillipsiidae) from the Upper Triassic of Telangana and reads: Trilobites (Order Trilobita) were one of the most successful clades of the Paleozoic, with an estimated 20,541 valid species as of 2008 (Adrain, 2008) and undoubtedly many more that have been described in the years that followed. However, it is widely accepted that trilobites went extinct as part of the end-Permian mass extinction following a long period of decline from the middle Devonian (Lerosey-Aubril & Feist, 2012). Recent finds in the upper Triassic fluvio-lacustrine Lower Dharmaram Formation (Dasgupta, Bannerjee, and Ghosh, 2022) challenge this belief. Fragments of trilobite exoskeletons recovered from the Lower Dharmaram formation have been assigned to cf. Pseudophillipsia, suggesting both that phillipsiid trilobites survived the end-Permian mass extinction and that they moved into freshwater ecosystems. References: Adrain, Jonathan M. "A GLOBAL SPECIES DATABASE OF TRILOBITA: PROGRESS, RESULTS, AND." Advances in trilobite research 9 (2008): 27. Lerosey-Aubril, R., & Feist, R. (2012). Quantitative approach to diversity and decline in late Palaeozoic trilobites. Earth and life: global biodiversity, extinction intervals and biogeographic perturbations through time, 535-555. Dasgupta, S., Banerjee, S., & Ghosh, P. (2022). Petrographical and Geochemical Study of Syn-Rift Sediments, Pranhita-Godavari Intracratonic Gondwana Basin, India: Genesis and Paleo-Environmental Implications. Geosciences, 12(6), 230. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12060230
April 1, 2025 at 3:16 PM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
My sketches for this week's flocking #paleostream! All in all, a pretty productive flocking. The Saurosuchus was a little rushed because I had to leave for dinner as it started, but im proud of everything else.
The head and neck of Argentinadraco, an azhdarchoid pterosaur with a ridge on its lower jaw, on a light gray background. The head is primarily black and bare, with some red pycnofibers around the edge and "scaling" reminiscent of a black vulture, while the neck is black as well. A sketch of a male Pterygotus, a large eurypterid, releasing spermatophores in a shallow sea. A sketch of Saurosuchus, a large loricatosuchian, on a tan, faded background with some faded plants. The head is brown and boxy, and the bottom of the throat is orangish-yellow. A sketch of a beached Odobenocetops, an unusual whale with forward-placed eyes and two large, asymmetrical tusks. The Odobenocetops is lying on its side, with a dark back and a pale underbelly.
March 15, 2025 at 4:03 PM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
My #paleostream flocking sketches
A Bothriolepis being stalked by an Aztecia Spriggina munching away at a Charnia A horribly inaccurate Opthalmosaurus eating a belemnite
February 4, 2025 at 5:28 PM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
Added antennae to the Mucronaspis
January 19, 2025 at 9:19 PM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
I explored the Soom Shale in this Joschua Knuppe-style formation piece. This Ordovician lagerstatte was deposited in the Hirnantian glaciation and has many cool creatures, including many undescribed ones.
A Joschua Knuppe-style illustration of the Soom Shale, a late Ordovician lagerstatte with many cool creatures A labeled Joschua Knuppe-style illustration of the Soom Shale, a late Ordovician lagerstatte with many cool creatures
January 19, 2025 at 8:46 PM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
Josch's reaction to the Tameryraptor piece:
January 19, 2025 at 8:43 PM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
I only drew the first two sketches for this week's #paleostream flocking
Two brown Han solo, Ordovician agnostids, copulate on a white background The holotype of Tameryraptor on a museum display is about to get hit by a British bomb during the Bombing of Munich.
January 19, 2025 at 8:41 PM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
Made the Isotelus more "accurate" because we actually have Isotelus maximus markings preserved
An Isotelus, a large tan trilobite with brown markings, is walking across the seabed. Above it, a bright red “star” shines. This “star” is actually the afterglow of a gamma-ray burst that happened just a few days ago and will cause the end-Ordovician extinction event.
December 9, 2024 at 9:21 PM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
My first digital piece, an Isotelus walking along the seabed unaware of its forthcoming demise
An Isotelus, a large brown trilobite, is walking across the seabed. Above it, a bright red “star” shines. This “star” is actually the afterglow of a gamma-ray burst that happened just a few days ago and will cause the end-Ordovician extinction event.
December 9, 2024 at 11:49 AM
ceratosaurus.bsky.social
My first piece of art on this account, a quick sketch of Omnidens I drew during my French class
Pencil sketch of Omnidens, a 1.5-meter gilled lobopodian from the Cambrian of China
November 9, 2024 at 1:59 AM