Random Palaeo-Work ideas of the Day #8 (3K views special)

I'd like to thank everyone who clicked on the links here and stayed throughout the last year for supporting me, so here's another round of Random Palaeo-Work ideas of the Day™!

Jurassic Jaws

Art by Robert T. Bakker for The Dinosaur Heresies.

Narrative two-part documentary about the life of a Megalosaurus in Middle Jurassic England 166 million years ago given the name of Billy Buck, from a hatchling to an adult and its trials in life.

  • Megalosaurus bucklandii - The lead dinosaur species for the documentary.
  • Cetiosaurus oxonensis - A sauropod dinosaur. It maybe nowhere as big as others in Jurassic England, but they can still pack a punch.
  • Proceratosaurus bradleyi - A small tyrannosauroid dinosaur. They're quite the menace when Billy is young, but once he grows up they're only a nuisance at worst. Think the Ornitholestes from Walking with Dinosaurs.
  • Dacentrurus armatus/”Omosaurus” - A big stegosaur.
  • Callovosaurus leedsi - A small flocking ornithopod that's common in the ecosystem and an easy meal for Megalosaurus.
  • Klobiodon rochei - A pterosaur.
  • Teleosaurus cadomensis - A relative of crocodilians.
  • Phascolotherium bucklandi - A small mammal. Buck encounters them throughout his life, most prominently right after he hatches from his egg and as he dies.
  • Protochelys blakii - A turtle.
This documentary would aim to give Megalosaurus its day in the limelight, since besides the Jim henson sitcom Dinosaurs and Dinosaur Britain, it hasn't really had any major appearences in palaeomedia lately.

Not to spoil the ending (not that i've planned anything for it), but it would end with Billy dying. And of course, it flashes forward to England in the 19th century as William Buckland fist lays eyes upon the jaw of the megalosaurus that begin the study and fascination of dinosaur, which belongs to Buck.

Credit goes to Robert T. Bakker, whose book The Dinosaur Heresies inspired this idea and first informed me of Phascolotherium.

Pre/History

Anthology animated series where prehistoric life show up in human history and interact with us. It's like Dougal Dixon's If Dinosaurs were Alive Today, but like a Through Time edition.

Sample Episodes 

  • The Water Monster - In Pre-Columbian America’s deserts, a monster in the mountains seems to be making the rains stay away, causing a drought, and members from different tribes join forces to slay the monster - in question a Torosaurus.
  • War Dog - In Civil War Tennessee, three soldiers and their domesticated Amphicyon captured by the Confederates stage an escape.
  • The Omens of the West - A herd of Camarasaurus arrive in a town on nile in Ancient Egypt, where they could either signal a bountiful season or a drought according to prophets.
  • Golden Beast - The Emperor of ancient China is presented a beast from a faraway land, known as a Mapusaurus - only for it to escape and wreak havoc.

Prehistoric Pirates

An animated cartoon about a crew of dinosaurs who are pirates as they scour an archipelago for treasure to sell and pay off a terrible debt. All of them are of the beaked kind to evoke parrots. Inspired by the highly obscure genus of plesiosaur Piratosaurus by name alone. I may or may not expand it in a future post.

Main characters

  • Captain Henry Scalebeard - A Psittacosaurus, the captain and a classic Swashbuckler.
  • "Scramble" - an Oviraptor first mate.
  • Old Quacker - A Lambeosaurus who has been in the pirate game longer than the rest of the crew. He used to be the captain before he stepped down and passed the role to Scalebeard. Now, he serves as the quartermaster on board.
  • Toothless Cole - A Chasmosaurus, the muscle of the crew
  • Lightfoot - An expert pickpocket Struthiomimus who can swipe almost anything undetected.
  • Neurons - A Heterodontosaurus who is a great inventor, inventing a gun that can shoot quills at enemies.
  • Chef - The crew's gruff and tough Ankylosaurus cook.
  • Breeze - The Ichthyornis mascot of the pirates.

Antagonists

  • Captain George Sharktooth - The main villain and Henry's main rival, a ruthless Triceratops.
  • Governor Albert DeWyrm - The ruthless Dacentrurus territory governor, who has gone overboard in trying to destroy all pirates.
Credit to my friend Nathan Jackson for help with the above ideas!

Supersaur

A superhero story. It tells the story of a black palaeontologist named Eric Sizemore based in the fictional city of Darwin, Maryland, specialising in the sauropod dinosaurs who finds an unusual sauropod fossil while out digging in Colorado. It turns out it can give him super-strength and shapeshift him into a larger, armoured form and generate a giant flexible tail-like sword. He uses it to fight assorted baddies related the themes of dinosaurs, fossils, and the earth, from evil aliens and spirits, to an Ingen-like evil corporation.

What are your ideas for palaeo-media? Share 'em in the comments below!
Location: Mississauga, ON, Canada

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