Extinct animals got sleepy, too

Ever since Naish, Kosemen, and Conway's new book, All Yesterdays, was released, a slew of new and exciting reconstructions of extinct animals have been created. For those who don't know, All Yesterdays focuses on reimagining dinosaurs and other creatures of the past in ways we don't often picture them, while still retaining an element of realism. Examples include allosaurs and camptosaurs coexisting peacefully, plesiosaurs displaying carpetshark-like camouflage, and amorous stegosaurs forcing themselves upon unsuspecting sauropods.

One particularly cute interesting illustration features Tyrannosaurus rex, the famous king tyrant-lizard, curled up on the ground taking a paleo-nap. This is an activity not often featured by paleontographers: dinosaurs in the act of sleeping, settling down for rest, or waking up.

Tyrannosaurus rex taking a li'l snooze. Don't you just want to curl up with it on your sofa? Reconstruction by John Conway, from the book All Yesterdays.

I decided to take my own shot at depicting one of my favorite animals, Centrosaurus brinkmani, in a similar fashion. This old bull is just waking up, letting out a tremendous yawn from its heavily-ornamented head. The eye is supposed to be closed, but the wrinkles I added make it look like it's a bit open. That big red thing under its neck isn't gore or viscera; that's a dewlap.

Centrosaurus brinkmani waking up from a good night's rest. Despite its outward appearance, it was probably a lot less ornery when it woke up than I am.