From Fin to Limb to Art: A Love for Paleo Illustration Brings Tiktaalik to Life

Written by Meg Robinson, Ticketing System Administrator at the Academy 

I love paleoart. Fossils can give scientists a solid idea about a prehistoric animal’s appearance, but it takes collaboration between artists and scientists to bring it “back to life.” The nature of fossilized remains also makes it extremely rare to find definitive proof of an ancient animal’s coloration, so many artists and paleo-illustrators stick with nature’s most common and neutral-toned color palettes. It’s a perfectly understandable choice to make, but the modern animal kingdom features an absolute rainbow of hues and patterns. I often wonder: why don’t more artists take advantage of that? 

In the summer of 2024, the Academy’s Mediated Experiences team coordinated with Drexel’s Westphal lab to create two sets of small Tiktaalik roseae figurines. Two copies of each sculpture were printed using a fine-grained resin, and a third pair was extrusion printed in PLA plastic. The latter were intended to join the Academy’s teaching collection, while the former would become display pieces. The original files for both sculpts were created by and purchased from Miniature Museum, a team of paleo-artists who specialize in developing printable models of prehistoric animals.  

Tiktaalik roseae is often referred to as a “fishapod;” it’s a lobe-finned fish from the Devonian Period, but it’s also an early tetrapodomorph, with a distinctly un-fishlike head and functional wrists, whose two pairs of limbs were capable of propelling it both through water and over land. In a sense, it was a trial-run amphibian, and as a result paleo-artists often depict it in the muddy greenish hues shared by many modern fish and amphibians. 

Knowing my penchant for painting and customizing toys and figures, Mediated Experiences Coordinator David Schloss asked if I was interested in painting any tiktaaliks. I leapt at the opportunity, and drawing most of my inspiration from modern fish (plus one salamander), I wound up colorizing all four of the resin models.  

Redtail Catfish 

A fish with functional wrist joints is still, technically, a fish, so I was determined to base the first Tiktaalik model’s appearance off of a fish as well. A more private goal was to select a species that one of our Ichthyologists would be able to immediately identify as the inspiration, provided that I did a good job of rendering it. I chose Phractocephalus hemioliopterus, or the Redtail Catfish.

Tiktaalik is thought to have inhabited shallow freshwater biomes, like many species of catfish, but just as important for my purposes was the fact that the Redtail Catfish is an Amazonian species, which are Interim Curator of Ichthyology Mark Sabaj’s specialty. To my delight, he was able to identify the inspiration immediately. I was surprised by the absorbency of model’s material — not counting the original base coat, I had to reapply the off-white markings to the sides and belly of the Tiktaalik roughly half a dozen times before they would remain a consistent hue.  The ‘water’ on the base is really just a thin coat of translucent blue UV resin. 

Mudskipper 

I opted for another fish-spiration for Tiktaalik number two, which is primarily patterned after Boleophthalmus pectinirostris, a species of mudskipper.  Mudskippers are known for their ability to use their pectoral and pelvic fins to clamber about on land in search of prey or a more appealing tidepool, which felt like a logical, visual counterpart for an ancient fish with similar abilities.

The ‘great blue-spotted mudskipper’ is a brownish-grey animal with a generous speckling of electric-blue spots across its fins, face and back, but a number of the photos I found suggested flashes of copper and gold under the right lighting conditions, which I reinterpreted into a firebelly patten for the Tiktaalik. I recently had an opportunity to share the completed models with paleontologist Ted Daeschler — one of the researchers who originally described Tiktaalik roseae — and he liked this one best. He also encouraged me to write about painting them in the first place!  

Fire Salamander 

Leaning more towards into the “pod” in “fishapod,” the third Tiktaalik’s appearance is relatively faithful to Salamandra salamandra, the Fire Salamander. I wanted to reference at least one amphibian, though admittedly my species selection here is more personal preference than anything else. A wet fire salamander in the right lighting can appear to have a sparkling teal stripe down the center of its back, so I wanted to try my hand at replicating that effect.

I was pretty happy with the results I got after mixing some metallic paints with black acrylic, and I also diluted the leftover blend to apply to the base as a wash coat. Given that fire salamanders cap out around 5 to 9 inches in length and estimates for Tiktaalik are upwards of four feet (1.25 m), this is probably the least likely of the four to match its original counterpart, but it was my favorite to paint. 

Coelacanth 

Like Tiktaalik, the Coelacanth is another lobe-finned fish whose fossils date back to the Devonian Period, but the latter still inhabits our oceans today. They’re generally a bluish-grey with pale speckling, so I tried to stick with that palette for the fourth model. I say “tried” because the base coat dried much bluer than anticipated. Instead of redoing it, however, I adapted my plans. The resultant blue reminded me of a similarly-hued basilisk lizard I’d seen in the Academy’s Herpetology Collection — the alcohol storage medium had apparently leeched away the yellow from its original green.

That specimen was the inspiration for the dorsal stripes and counter shading to the model’s belly, while the scattering of silvery freckles harken back to the original Coelacanth-centric idea. I used UV resin to affix this Tiktaalik to its base and create the illusion of shallow water, and the standing bits of vegetation are little fabric scraps.  Adding the duckweed was fun, too; there’s also some ‘stuck’ to the Tiktaalik’s jaw and limbs.

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Tú también puedes apoyar los proyectos de investigación de la Academia, y así ayudar a entender y proteger la riqueza natural convirtiéndote en miembro o haciendo una donación a nuestras colecciones científicas.