Antarctic survivors

Well, my second paleoart image on DA and it's even older that the first one. This one was made in May 2011 and features a Koolasuchus at the bottom of the image, while two dicynodonts are looking for food in the back. The dicynodonts and the chigutisaurid temnospondyl might make you think this is a Late-Triassic scene, but no. This scene plays in the later part of the Early-Cretaceous in Australia.

Both creatures you see here are survivors of long gone times. By the Early-Cretaceous the 5-6 meter long Koolasuchus was the only temnospondyl left (that we know of). It was already known, though, for a long time temnospondyls did make it into the Jurassic with two families. Koolasuchus is the only known Cretaceous temnospondyl, though. It was probably able to survive in Australia as the waters were too cold for crocodylomorphs at the time. Ten million years later we do find crocodilian remains in Australia, but Koolasuchus is gone...

The dicynodonts are very special too. Only for a very short period of time we know that dicynodonts actually made it into the Cretaceous, and thus the Jurassic too. A skull of a (probably kannemeyeriid-related) dicynodont which was around one meter high and two meters in length was found in Early-Cretaceous layers, making it contemporary to Koolasuchus and also other creatures such as the little dinosaur Leaellynasaura.

Dicynodonts were no dinosaurs, although sometimes mistaken for one. In fact they are therapsids, mammal relatives, but still not real mammals. Those Australian dicynodonts were not the only late-surviving therapsids, though. Cynodonts may have even made it into the Eocene! At the site where the Koolasuchus and the dicynodont-skull was found also the remains of real mammals such as Bishops have been found.

For this image I'd like to thank Sten Porse for the original photographed background of the trees. Comments, feedback, requests or suggestions for new drawings are always welcome! Hope to upload another drawing soon!

Regards!