THE EVOLUTION OF THE SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING AFFECTING THE ARTISTIC REPRESENTATION OF HADROSAURUS FOULKII

Every image we have ever seen of a dinosaur was created by artists based on scientific direction, whether the artist takes direction from the individual scientist or of what is collectively understood by scientists in total. Science has only taken us so far due to the limits of exploration, discovery, existing technology and the understanding of what is known. At this point what we know of dinosaurs is limited by what science has been able to unlock from the fossilized remains of these animals. It is at this limit that the imagination of the artist must fill in the blanks. Acceptance of the above statement means that along with the continued evolution of scientific paleontological understanding of dinosaurs as related in peer-reviewed papers, books, documentaries and lectures is a record of the evolution of our artistic ability and understanding of reconstructing long gone fossil dinosaurs. Looking at a single genus of dinosaur and its history of artistic representation is akin to watching a dinosaur “grow up” from simple beginnings to complex adult via a strange family album, each page showing more clarity due to better recording methods and more novel understanding of the subject matter. Why Hadrosaurus foulkii? H. foulkii was the first dinosaur represented by enough osteological anatomy to really say much about what dinosaurs may have looked like. Published by Joseph Leidy in 1858 and being on display one way or another since 1868. H. foulkii gives us longevity of availability to the artist’s eye. For the last 7 years The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University has been exhibiting “The Art of Hadrosaurus Foulkii “an ever changing dinosaur art exhibit. This exhibit shows the diversity of reconstructive styles of contemporary artists, further adding to our understanding of the evolution and diversity of representative paleo-reconstructive work. This work creating a strange branching variation of ever changing dinosaur reconstruction.