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Description
  "A young Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus has left his herd. Although he is not of an age or size where he poses a threat to the older bulls, he will be soon, so they drove him out. He has left the inland plains and ventured deep into the jungles that make up the western Kaiparowits region. Food is plentiful here, and without a herd, the dense jungle provides a degree of safety.
"The hadrosaur stops for a drink. The water in these estuaries has a slight saline taste; kickback from the Western Interior Seaway that cuts what will one day be the United States in half from north to south. The young hadrosaur sees an alligator, a Leidyosuchus, hissing at him from the bank. At almost 11 feet, she would be considered a respectable size for a modern alligator, but she is too small to pose a threat to a 1,400 pound hadrosaur. He bellows at her, issuing an alarming sound that is amplified by his hollow crest. The alligator retreats.
"A lucky glance to the left, and the Parasaurolophus spots movement. Without a moment's hesitation, he sprints in the opposite direction.
"Right away, the young Parasaurolophus recognized the golden crown of a mature male Teratophoneus. The tyrannosaur would be reluctant to attack an adult Parasaurolophus, and unlikely to approach a herd unless it was desperate, but against a subadult Parasaurolophus that it outweighs by the better part of a thousand pounds, the odds are much more in the theropod's favor.
"Speed is on the Parasaurolophus' side. He makes good distance as he races along the sandy bank of the shore. Once he's put some good distance between himself and the jogging tyrant, he lets out a reflexive honk.
"He no longer has a herd. No one will come to his aid now.
"To make matters worse, the tyrant erupts from the brush to his left, forcing the Parasaurolophus back towards the bank f the river. Were he more intelligent, the hadrosaur might wonder how the tyrant could have possibly closed the distance so fast. A glance back reveals that the initial attacker is still behind him; these two Teratophneus are brothers. Like the Parasaurolophus, they recently departed from their parents. Unlike him, however, the tyrants have each other, and their parents spent many years teaching them how to handle this very situation.
"The tyrants reveal that the initial attack was meant to exert the hadrosaur. Now they are committed to the chase, and the distance is closing fast. The Parasaurolophus must cling to the edge of the bank as he runs. A slight turn would put him in the path of the-
"A massive head explodes from the estuary. The Parasaurolophus can barely process the movement before pain shoots up his leg.
"Deinosuchus, the River King.
"As soon as the enormous alligator has the hadrosaurs leg, the chase is over. The tyrant brothers aren't about to let this meal go without a fight. Absent hesitation, they both lunge forward and latch on.
"A deadly game of tug-of-war ensues. At over seven tons, this Deinosuchus bull is a giant even among his own kind. He is nearly forty feet long from the tip of his broad snout to the end of his powerful tail. His bite can generate enough force to crush a car. Despite such imposing features, he did not land his bite at a good angle, the tyrannosaurs are holding their own. Their jaws are impressively-muscled too, and they are lathed onto the hadrosaur's back instead of his shin. The screaming hadrosaur is pulled back and forth. The tyrant brothers start to gain ground. As they manage to get the hadrosaur fully on land, the Deinosuchus shifts and bites higher up on the leg..."

  Hey, folks! When I hit 2,000 followers on Instagram, I held another commission giveaway! The winner of the contest chose a scene of Deinosuchus tussling with two Teratophoneus, his favorite dinosaur. With his approval I had the grappling predators fighting over a live Parasaurolophus. As per the client's request, I designed the Teratophoneus to be clearly similar to my T. rex (bristled filaments and a cornified crown), while having enough distinctive features to be easily distinguished. Being adults while the known Teratophoneus material is from a subadult, I made my Teratophoneus more robust and a bit larger, as explained in my skull study for this piece. As Deinosuchus' closest modern relative is an alligator, I opted to go for grey instead of the more common green. For the scene I made sure to include the estuaries and jungles that seem to have dominated the Kaiparowits formation.

  Cheers, folks!

-Keenan Taylor, Illustrated Menagerie

Description
  "A young Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus has left his herd. Although he is not of an age or size where he poses a threat to the older bulls, he will be soon, so they drove him out. He has left the inland plains and ventured deep into the jungles that make up the western Kaiparowits region. Food is plentiful here, and without a herd, the dense jungle provides a degree of safety.
"The hadrosaur stops for a drink. The water in these estuaries has a slight saline taste; kickback from the Western Interior Seaway that cuts what will one day be the United States in half from north to south. The young hadrosaur sees an alligator, a Leidyosuchus, hissing at him from the bank. At almost 11 feet, she would be considered a respectable size for a modern alligator, but she is too small to pose a threat to a 1,400 pound hadrosaur. He bellows at her, issuing an alarming sound that is amplified by his hollow crest. The alligator retreats.
"A lucky glance to the left, and the Parasaurolophus spots movement. Without a moment's hesitation, he sprints in the opposite direction.
"Right away, the young Parasaurolophus recognized the golden crown of a mature male Teratophoneus. The tyrannosaur would be reluctant to attack an adult Parasaurolophus, and unlikely to approach a herd unless it was desperate, but against a subadult Parasaurolophus that it outweighs by the better part of a thousand pounds, the odds are much more in the theropod's favor.
"Speed is on the Parasaurolophus' side. He makes good distance as he races along the sandy bank of the shore. Once he's put some good distance between himself and the jogging tyrant, he lets out a reflexive honk.
"He no longer has a herd. No one will come to his aid now.
"To make matters worse, the tyrant erupts from the brush to his left, forcing the Parasaurolophus back towards the bank f the river. Were he more intelligent, the hadrosaur might wonder how the tyrant could have possibly closed the distance so fast. A glance back reveals that the initial attacker is still behind him; these two Teratophneus are brothers. Like the Parasaurolophus, they recently departed from their parents. Unlike him, however, the tyrants have each other, and their parents spent many years teaching them how to handle this very situation.
"The tyrants reveal that the initial attack was meant to exert the hadrosaur. Now they are committed to the chase, and the distance is closing fast. The Parasaurolophus must cling to the edge of the bank as he runs. A slight turn would put him in the path of the-
"A massive head explodes from the estuary. The Parasaurolophus can barely process the movement before pain shoots up his leg.
"Deinosuchus, the River King.
"As soon as the enormous alligator has the hadrosaurs leg, the chase is over. The tyrant brothers aren't about to let this meal go without a fight. Absent hesitation, they both lunge forward and latch on.
"A deadly game of tug-of-war ensues. At over seven tons, this Deinosuchus bull is a giant even among his own kind. He is nearly forty feet long from the tip of his broad snout to the end of his powerful tail. His bite can generate enough force to crush a car. Despite such imposing features, he did not land his bite at a good angle, the tyrannosaurs are holding their own. Their jaws are impressively-muscled too, and they are lathed onto the hadrosaur's back instead of his shin. The screaming hadrosaur is pulled back and forth. The tyrant brothers start to gain ground. As they manage to get the hadrosaur fully on land, the Deinosuchus shifts and bites higher up on the leg..."

  Hey, folks! When I hit 2,000 followers on Instagram, I held another commission giveaway! The winner of the contest chose a scene of Deinosuchus tussling with two Teratophoneus, his favorite dinosaur. With his approval I had the grappling predators fighting over a live Parasaurolophus. As per the client's request, I designed the Teratophoneus to be clearly similar to my T. rex (bristled filaments and a cornified crown), while having enough distinctive features to be easily distinguished. Being adults while the known Teratophoneus material is from a subadult, I made my Teratophoneus more robust and a bit larger, as explained in my skull study for this piece. As Deinosuchus' closest modern relative is an alligator, I opted to go for grey instead of the more common green. For the scene I made sure to include the estuaries and jungles that seem to have dominated the Kaiparowits formation.

  Cheers, folks!

-Keenan Taylor, Illustrated Menagerie