All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals is a 2012 art book on the palaeoartistic reconstruction of dinosaurs and other extinct animals by John Conway, C. M. Kosemen and Darren Naish. A central tenet of the book concerns the fact that many dinosaur reconstructions are outdated, overly conservative, and inconsistent with the variation observed in modern animals.[1] This focus is communicated through an exploration of views of dinosaurs and related animals that are unusual and sometimes even confusing to viewers, but which are well within the bounds of behaviour, anatomy and soft tissue that we see in living animals.[2]
The book first recounts the history of changing perceptions of dinosaurs as expressed in artwork. It begins with the sluggish and slow dinosaurs seen in the works of Charles R. Knight, and then continues into analyzing reconstructions after the dinosaur renaissance. It points out that these reconstructions do not take the often bizarre integumentary coverings of living animals into account, and that dinosaurs should be portrayed as natural animals that aren't 'shrink-wrapped' with many of the individual bones visible.
The remainder of the book consists of pictures with accompanying explanatory texts. Each picture displays a hypothetical adaptation that an extinct animal could have possessed, such as a plesiosaur disguised on the seafloor like a wobbegong or something that dinosaurs aren't usually shown doing, such as a sleeping Tyrannosaurus. The texts describe the adaptations or habits and explain why they are plausible. Some of the entries are deliberately made to break a paleoartistic cliché, such as a Tenontosaurus walking alone without a predatory Deinonychus in sight (Tenontosaurus is almost exclusively depicted in dinosaur art as the prey of Deinonychus).
The second and last major section of the book is titled "All Todays", and depicts animals from the present day as if non-human paleontologists from the future were reconstructing them from fossilized skeletons. Some of the creatures are somewhat recognizable, like a vulture depicted with pterosaur-like wings; others are completely unrecognizable, like a rhinoceros reconstructed with no nose horn and a sail instead of a hump. By showing how completely extant animals might be misunderstood if known only from skeletal remains, All Yesterdays shows that our own conceptions of extinct animals are likely equally mistaken.
ReceptionEdit
Subsequent to its publication, All Yesterdays has proven influential on the modern culture of palaeoart.[1] The book and its associated concepts have sometimes appeared in publications covering the nature, history, and 'best practices' of palaeoart, particularly in the context of emphasizing the need for modern depictions of dinosaurs to be consistent with how living animals look and behave.[3] This 'post modern' approach to palaeoart is thought to be seminal in the modern culture of identifying and subverting overused palaeoart memes and tropes, and may be an accurate reflection of the "contemporary mood of palaeoartists more than any other project."[1]
All Yesterdays has received mostly very enthusiastic reviews from palaeontologists, and is perceived as introducing or popularising a new "third wave" approach to palaeoart after the classical period of Knight, Zallinger, Burian and others, and the more modern work of Bakker, Paul, Henderson and others. For example, John Hutchinson of the Royal Veterinary College wrote "This is a thinking person’s book ... for rumination, to challenge your preconceptions, not to have a flashy coffee table book. It’s not eye candy — it’s more like brain jerky."[4] And Mike Taylor wrote "All Yesterdays is not only the most beautiful but also the most important palaeoart book of the last four decades".[5] Writing for The Guardian, palaeontologist David Hone notes that "... the key point is that they are in many ways no more extreme or unlikely that what we see in living species of birds, mammals and reptiles, and no less plausible than many more 'traditional' views of dinosaurs."[2]
2013 sequelEdit
In 2013, an All Your Yesterdays "crowdsourced" sequel was released, also focusing on speculative aspects of paleoart, which invited "fan works" in the style of All Yesterdays, by various invited hobbyist to professional artists, including established paleoartists.[6]
A creature dubbed "Bearded Ceticaris", conceived by artist John Meszaros as a filter-feeding anomalocarid, was published in All Your Yesterdays as a speculative art concept. In 2014, during a taxonomic study, the actual Cambrian anomalocarid Tamisiocaris was discovered to have been a filter-feeder. In honor of Meszaros's prediction, Tamisiocaris was included in a new clade named the Cetiocaridae.[7][8][9] Though, Cetiocaridae would later be renamed Tamisiocarididae in 2019.[10]
^ abcWitton, Mark P. (2018). The Palaeoartist's Handbook: Recreating prehistoric animals in art. U.K.: Ramsbury: The Crowood Press Ltd. ISBN978-1785004612.
^ abHone, David (24 March 2013). "All Yesterdays - book review". The Guardian.
^Hutchinson, John. "Yes- another day, another positive "All Yesterdays" book review". What's In John's Freezer?. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
^Taylor, Mike. "Review: All Yesterdays (Conway, Kosemen and Naish)". Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
^"Science Meets Speculation in All Your Yesterdays". Science. 2013-09-26. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
^Naish, Darren. "Of After Man, The New Dinosaurs and Greenworld: an interview with Dougal Dixon". Scientific American Blog Network (Interview). from the original on 2018-07-28. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
^Vinther, Jakob; Stein, Martin; Longrich, Nicholas R.; Harper, David A. T. (2014). "A suspension-feeding anomalocarid from the Early Cambrian". Nature. 507 (7493): 496–499. doi:10.1038/nature13010. ISSN 1476-4687. S2CID 205237459.
^"(Prehistoric) Life Imitating Art | U-M LSA U-M College of LSA". lsa.umich.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
^Pates, Stephen; Daley, Allison C. (2019). "The Kinzers Formation (Pennsylvania, USA): the most diverse assemblage of Cambrian Stage 4 radiodonts". Geological Magazine. 156 (7): 1233–1246. doi:10.1017/S0016756818000547. ISSN 0016-7568. S2CID 134299859.
October 21, 2023
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All Yesterdays Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals is a 2012 art book on the palaeoartistic reconstruction of dinosaurs and other extinct animals by John Conway C M Kosemen and Darren Naish A central tenet of the book concerns the fact that many dinosaur reconstructions are outdated overly conservative and inconsistent with the variation observed in modern animals 1 This focus is communicated through an exploration of views of dinosaurs and related animals that are unusual and sometimes even confusing to viewers but which are well within the bounds of behaviour anatomy and soft tissue that we see in living animals 2 All YesterdaysCover depicting three Protoceratops in a tree AuthorJohn Conway C M Kosemen and Darren NaishCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishSubjectPalaeoartPublisherIrregular BooksPublication date2012Media typePrint digitalPages100 pp ISBN978 1291177121 Contents 1 Overview 2 Reception 3 2013 sequel 4 See also 5 ReferencesOverview EditThe book first recounts the history of changing perceptions of dinosaurs as expressed in artwork It begins with the sluggish and slow dinosaurs seen in the works of Charles R Knight and then continues into analyzing reconstructions after the dinosaur renaissance It points out that these reconstructions do not take the often bizarre integumentary coverings of living animals into account and that dinosaurs should be portrayed as natural animals that aren t shrink wrapped with many of the individual bones visible The remainder of the book consists of pictures with accompanying explanatory texts Each picture displays a hypothetical adaptation that an extinct animal could have possessed such as a plesiosaur disguised on the seafloor like a wobbegong or something that dinosaurs aren t usually shown doing such as a sleeping Tyrannosaurus The texts describe the adaptations or habits and explain why they are plausible Some of the entries are deliberately made to break a paleoartistic cliche such as a Tenontosaurus walking alone without a predatory Deinonychus in sight Tenontosaurus is almost exclusively depicted in dinosaur art as the prey of Deinonychus The second and last major section of the book is titled All Todays and depicts animals from the present day as if non human paleontologists from the future were reconstructing them from fossilized skeletons Some of the creatures are somewhat recognizable like a vulture depicted with pterosaur like wings others are completely unrecognizable like a rhinoceros reconstructed with no nose horn and a sail instead of a hump By showing how completely extant animals might be misunderstood if known only from skeletal remains All Yesterdays shows that our own conceptions of extinct animals are likely equally mistaken Reception EditSubsequent to its publication All Yesterdays has proven influential on the modern culture of palaeoart 1 The book and its associated concepts have sometimes appeared in publications covering the nature history and best practices of palaeoart particularly in the context of emphasizing the need for modern depictions of dinosaurs to be consistent with how living animals look and behave 3 This post modern approach to palaeoart is thought to be seminal in the modern culture of identifying and subverting overused palaeoart memes and tropes and may be an accurate reflection of the contemporary mood of palaeoartists more than any other project 1 All Yesterdays has received mostly very enthusiastic reviews from palaeontologists and is perceived as introducing or popularising a new third wave approach to palaeoart after the classical period of Knight Zallinger Burian and others and the more modern work of Bakker Paul Henderson and others For example John Hutchinson of the Royal Veterinary College wrote This is a thinking person s book for rumination to challenge your preconceptions not to have a flashy coffee table book It s not eye candy it s more like brain jerky 4 And Mike Taylor wrote All Yesterdays is not only the most beautiful but also the most important palaeoart book of the last four decades 5 Writing for The Guardian palaeontologist David Hone notes that the key point is that they are in many ways no more extreme or unlikely that what we see in living species of birds mammals and reptiles and no less plausible than many more traditional views of dinosaurs 2 2013 sequel EditIn 2013 an All Your Yesterdays crowdsourced sequel was released also focusing on speculative aspects of paleoart which invited fan works in the style of All Yesterdays by various invited hobbyist to professional artists including established paleoartists 6 A creature dubbed Bearded Ceticaris conceived by artist John Meszaros as a filter feeding anomalocarid was published in All Your Yesterdays as a speculative art concept In 2014 during a taxonomic study the actual Cambrian anomalocarid Tamisiocaris was discovered to have been a filter feeder In honor of Meszaros s prediction Tamisiocaris was included in a new clade named the Cetiocaridae 7 8 9 Though Cetiocaridae would later be renamed Tamisiocarididae in 2019 10 See also EditSpeculative evolution All TomorrowsReferences Edit a b c Witton Mark P 2018 The Palaeoartist s Handbook Recreating prehistoric animals in art U K Ramsbury The Crowood Press Ltd ISBN 978 1785004612 a b Hone David 24 March 2013 All Yesterdays book review The Guardian Witton Mark P 2016 Recreating an Age of Reptiles Crowood Press ISBN 978 1785003349 Hutchinson John Yes another day another positive All Yesterdays book review What s In John s Freezer Retrieved 29 September 2014 Taylor Mike Review All Yesterdays Conway Kosemen and Naish Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week Retrieved 29 September 2014 Science Meets Speculation in All Your Yesterdays Science 2013 09 26 Retrieved 2022 05 14 Naish Darren Of After Man The New Dinosaurs and Greenworld an interview with Dougal Dixon Scientific American Blog Network Interview Archived from the original on 2018 07 28 Retrieved 2018 09 21 Vinther Jakob Stein Martin Longrich Nicholas R Harper David A T 2014 A suspension feeding anomalocarid from the Early Cambrian Nature 507 7493 496 499 doi 10 1038 nature13010 ISSN 1476 4687 S2CID 205237459 Prehistoric Life Imitating Art U M LSA U M College of LSA lsa umich edu Retrieved 2022 05 14 Pates Stephen Daley Allison C 2019 The Kinzers Formation Pennsylvania USA the most diverse assemblage of Cambrian Stage 4 radiodonts Geological Magazine 156 7 1233 1246 doi 10 1017 S0016756818000547 ISSN 0016 7568 S2CID 134299859 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title All Yesterdays amp oldid 1166205458, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
