Hodari El Nundu

@hodarinundu.bsky.social

Very dangerous artist :B

No monkey had ever jumped so far :B In times like this I miss my father, back when he was all about the wonder of space exploration. Me, I’m more fascinated by Earth, but still, to think we started as a bunch of apes wandering into the open savanna, getting a clear view of the Moon…

Dragon's moon :B Inspired by the beautiful full moons this year, and by the recent article about how our Moon was volcanically active during the Cretaceous. Was this visible from Earth? Did dinosaurs take notice? Good thing about being an artist is, you can draw whatever :B

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Speculative miniature sabercat... :B Known machairodontines are generally speaking large cats- even the smallest known are leopard or lynx sized. I wonder if any truly tiny species evolved- maybe in some island. Imagine one housecat sized or smaller, but still able to kill prey larger than itself..

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Apparently there's a myth out there that pronghorn have telescope eyes that can see the rings of Saturn. That sounds real cool but I don´t think it's true. Also getting distracted by astronomy probably would have been maladaptive in the Pleistocene...

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Remember when a bone found in a Mexican cenote was described as a new species of Panthera (P. balamoides) and I doodled this and everyone was like no way it can haul that crocodile up and at the end it didn't matter because the bone turned out to belong to an Arctotherium? Yeah.

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Somewhere in Pleistocene South Africa, a quagga tried to cross the river to rescue a goal caught by a leopard. Unfortunately, there's leopards in the water too... Inspired by leopard seal fossil from Ice Age South Africa.. Colder climate may have allowed them leopard seals to range further north...

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The supposed giant chicken Gallus tamanensis from the Pleistocene was one of the first obscure prehistoric creatures I posted online back in 2007. I drew it again this year, extra crisp color. It's fragmentary and no one knows if it truly was a giant chicken- but it totally should be. :B

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Dare getting closer? The Pliocene python Liasis dubudingala ("strangling ghost") is the largest snake known to have lived in Australia. It has been estimated at 10 m long and may have been arboreal, aquatic, or a bit of both. I imagine it hunting near rivers, hanging there like a living noose... :B

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Drew this during a break from work :B Two Pachystruthio (colossal ostriches from the early Pleistocene) chased by sabercats. These birds reached up to 450 kg and 3.5 m tall being easily among the largest birds known to have existed. They seemingly adapted well to cold and even glacial climates!

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