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this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2023
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This is a serious issue with our perception of dinosaurs though. So many animals that look completely different to one another nowadays have quite similar skeletons. You really can't be too sure about fat distribution, muscles, cartilage, skin features, colours, textures in fossils.
Dinosaurs are traditionally represented in drab colours, with skin placed upon the skeleton with a process known as "shrink wrapping", tightly attaching the skin to the frame. But many animals that we know now really don't work like that.
Anyone who’s interested in this should check out the book All Yesterdays, where artists have tried reimagining dinosaurs with actual muscle and fat instead of the shrink-wrapped look. They updated some classic dinosaur designs based on recent findings, such as how triceratops may have had spines/quills along its back like a porcupine.
To demonstrate how unrealistic the shrink-wrapping style is, for the second half of the book they applied that technique to known modern animals with some terrifying results, like these swans.
Don’t forget All Tomorrows