One of the new full-color paleoart pieces featured in my & Agahnim’s new book on the creationism/evolution controversy, God’s Word or Human Reason? I’ve been waiting to share this one for ages, as it is probably my favorite of my artworks right now.

This snapshot from the Early Cretaceous Yixian of Liaoning, China, depicts a Caudipteryx zoui mother and her two chicks darting across a shallow riverbed to the safety of denser cover beyond. In the background, a pair of shaggy tyrannosauroid Yutyrannus try to decide if they ought to be interested, and a pair of Changchengornis, a confuciusornithid basal bird, glide by. Together, the three genera represent a wide span on the continuum of feathered dinosaurs and of feather complexity: from hulking, filamentous carnivore, to ground-bound, display-feathered oviraptorosaur, to flight-capable bird.



This illustration, along with 11 other full-color paintings of feathered dinosaurs, appears in chapter 4 of our new book. If you haven’t already bought it on Amazon, you can order a signed copy directly from me for $40 via PayPal at e.deinonychus(at)gmail.com, personalized with a sketch of a bird or dinosaur of your choice! (International orders are totally fine, but please include an extra $5 for shipping.)

Many thanks to Jonathan for his critiques and suggestions on this piece, as well as to Doug Henderson, my favorite paleoartist, for his undeniable stylistic influence on the composition.