Today on Facebook, someone brought up the subject on my working as a paleontologist. A few days back, I ran across this (below) online. The cover of the issue of The Mosasaur that included the last research paper I published: Kiernan, C. R., and Schwimmer, D. R. 2004. "First record of a velociraptorine theropod (Tetanurae, Dromaeosauridae) from the Eastern Gulf Coastal United States." The Mosasaur 7:89-93.

The cover art here is actually by Richard A. Kirk, who I've worked with on several of my short-fiction collections. I asked if he'd like to do it, he said yes, and there you go. The ornithopod dinosaur being harassed by the velociraptorines is Lophorhothon atopus Langston, 1960. Originally described in the 1960s as a hadrosaur, Lophorhothon was briefly (and, as it turns out, incorrectly) suspected of being an "igaunodontian." Now, it's recognized a very basal hadrosaur. Anyway, the illustration is based on the mistaken belief that it was an igaunodontian, not a hadrosaur. It would look a bit different, correctly reconstructed.

By the way, the very first dinosaur I ever excavated was a specimen of Lophorhothon, way back in 1980.

Here's the cover:



Missing the Chalk,
Aunt Beast