Diego Ortega

Thanks Carl!😄

Sketch page

Drawing WIP, lineart in progress

Drawing WIP, lineart finished

Drawing WIP, partially coloured

✏️To close the thread, some WIPs of the piece, including a page for notes and sketches

This is the 3rd part of a series about fossil sites in Spain, showing the prehistoric biodiversity of the country. The previous entries were focused on the Ordovician and Devonian periods:
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Tablas de Daimiel National Park

Flamingos and ducks in a lagoon near Alcázar de San Juan

Flamingo in a lagoon near Alcázar de San Juan

Cranes flying at sunset over a lagoon in La Mancha

🦆The region of La Mancha still contains numerous wetlands, like those of the Tablas de Daimiel National Park. Different from the swamps of the Carboniferous, they are especially relevant for their birdlife

Museo de la Minería in Puertollano Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PuertollanoParquePozoNorteMuseo.jpg

Fossils at the Museo de la Minería in Puertollano Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MuseodelaMineria_Salas_Puertollano.jpg

🚂🏛️Coal mining is not longer carried out in the area, and the old coal mines are now a protected space. Some of the fossils discovered in the basin are displayed in the local museum in Puertollano, Museo de la Minería. Others can be found in the Museo Geominero (in Madrid)

Fossil of Iberospondylus schultzei. Source: https://web.igme.es/museo/pieza_mes/2018/noviembre.htm

🐟Fish fossils include those of acanthodians, chondrichthyans (among them Orthacanthus, the top predator in the ecosystem) and bony fish, as well as tracks and coprolites, while tetrapods are represented by the temnospondyl Iberospondylus (adapted for brackish water or even the sea) and ichnofossils

Mining facilities of Puertollano in 1880. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Instal·lacions_mineres_a_Puertollano_(extracted-restored).jpg

🌱⛏️One of these areas was the Puertollano basin, where mining activity led to the discovery of fossils, mostly of plants and vertebrates (invertebrates are rare) Among plants, the most relevant is the lycophyte Omphalophloios puertollanense, preserved in great detail due to the volcanic activity

Map of the Earth 310 million years ago, some time before the setting of the drawing. The Iberian Peninsula appears slightly South of the Equator. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mollweide_Paleographic_Map_of_Earth,_310_Ma_(Moscovian_Age).png

🌐During the Carboniferous period the landmasses of Earth merged to form Pangea. The Iberian Peninsula, on the eastern edge of the supercontinent and partly covered by the Variscan mountains, was close to the Equator. Forests and swamps covered its surface, creating coal deposits in many areas

Drawing showing biodiversity from the Carboniferous of Puertollano, which includes plants, arthropods, fish and tetrapods. From left to right, top to bottom: - The giant millipede Arthropleura walking through the forest floor, next to an amphibian (maker of the Puertollanopus tracks) and insects - General view of the swamp landscape, with a volcano erupting in the background - A early synapsid, maker of possible Dimetropus tracks - Pecopteris monyi, leaves of a tree fern - A pair of Acanthodes swimming through vegetation and smaller fish - The temnospondyl Iberospondylus schultzei swimming next to some platysomid fish - Small clam shrimp Euestheria - Two lycophytes Omphalophloios puertollanense next to some swamp creatures - The xenacanth Orthacanthus hunting in the murky waters - Juvenile shark Lissodus hiding from the fish Progyrolepis speciosus - Puertollanichthys richtei, a small fish, swimming through the vegetation

🌴🦈Carboniferous Puertollano🐸🌋
In the lands of La Mancha, fossils from the Late Carboniferous known from old coal mines reveal a tropical coastal swamp ecosystem, rich in aquatic and plant life
#paleoart #FossilFriday #Carboniferous #Puertollano
🧵Thread for additional explanation

Everyone is busy creating paleoart of the new spinosaur, but the truth is that a couple of weeks ago, the description of Foskeia was published, a very strange rhabdodontid found in northern Spain that is already one of the smallest dinosaurs

¿Conocías la existencia del Volcán de Enmedio? su nombre es real, y se localiza entre Gran Canaria y Tenerife.
En esta zona es donde se han producido los terremotos de mayor magnitud en el Archipiélago
efe.com/canarias/202...

1/2 You've probably heard of Punch, the little Japanese macaque who went viral after being abandoned by his mother.

I was interviewed by Indian Express to explain why this can happen and what the future holds for him.
indianexpress.com/article/expl...

Paracheirodon innesi
#illustration #art #fish

an adorable juvenile pachycephalosaur crosses a log over a stream in a dense conifer forest

look at this cute baby 😍 moore et al. describe a juvenile pachycephalosaur from saskatchewan's frenchman formation, with interesting implications for pachycephalosaur ontogeny
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
(art by kaitlin lindblad)

Otro año más que veo desde casa a las grullas camino del norte. No deja de sorprenderme que tantas crucen la ciudad de Madrid y tan poca gente lo perciba.

Close-up photographs of a naturally green harvestman (Algidia viridata ssp. bicolor) with a bumpy, textured body that resembles moss or algae. The arachnid's long spiny legs and bumpy body are shown from multiple angles against a blurred green background.

Close-up photographs of a naturally green harvestman (Algidia viridata ssp. bicolor) with a bumpy, textured body that resembles moss or algae. The arachnid's long spiny legs and bumpy body are shown from multiple angles against a blurred green background.

Close-up photographs of a naturally green harvestman (Algidia viridata ssp. bicolor) with a bumpy, textured body that resembles moss or algae. The arachnid's long spiny legs and bumpy body are shown from multiple angles against a blurred green background.

Close-up photographs of a naturally green harvestman (Algidia viridata ssp. bicolor) with a bumpy, textured body that resembles moss or algae. The arachnid's long spiny legs and bumpy body are shown from multiple angles against a blurred green background.

Never miss a chance to get face-to-face with a harvestman.

This is the stunning subspecies Algidia viridata ssp. bicolor, endemic to New Zealand!

Flying a spaceship up to dock with a space station is an extreme event.
Our range sensors failed, so we had to use eyeball visuals & a stopwatch to figure the angles & speeds. Hit too hard or crooked & we could have broken the space station, killing its crew.
An incredibly tense final 10 minutes.

An American Kestral in flight, looking over their shoulder at me

What are YOU looking at? 🪶

a dolphin jumping out of the water onto crystal clear water, a near perfect reflection

Rather be making dolfriends. 🦑

Art Comission by James Stryker Colors suggested by @cascoclauda :3

Outmuscled

(Argentinosaurus & co.)

A burrowing owl looking shocked and surprised as it is either removed or placed into an artificial burrow by a human hand

I am working on a story about burrowing owls and came across this delightful photo

Source: www.aza.org/connect-stor...

Artemis II Aces Wet Dress Rehearsal, Rolled Back After Helium System Issue Artemis II begins its journey back from Launch Complex 39BImage Credit: NASA/Glenn Benson After a near flawless second wet dress rehearsal, NASA’s Artemis II mission looked ready to set off o…

Artemis II is ever so close to launch, however the need to access and repair the upper stage is keeping the mission on the ground for a few more weeks.

Read More:

derek.space/2026/02/25/a...

A collection of barn owl paintings, made though the years. These are done in different media, like watercolor, acrylics and pencil.

orangutans illustration

I’ve streamlined my portfolio to better reflect my current direction in scientific and nature illustration. #sciart
www.lazaroillustration.com
A short thread with the updated galleries 👇👇👇
Animals moving in the wild (1/12)
www.lazaroillustration.com/animalsmoving
#orangutans

What would you call an octopus with fins as big as an elephant's ears?! 🐙

If you said "Dumbo," you think like a scientist! Found as deep as 13,000 feet, this deep sea octopus flaps and drifts like a parachute to sneak up on prey, swallowing it whole!

Solar wing in action!
Here’s MetOp‑SG‑B1’s four-panel solar wing unfolding during a test by @airbus.com for @eumetsat.int.
Why just one wing?
In its sun‑synchronous orbit, one side stays sunlit almost all the time: perfect for a single, large solar array that gives the satellite its asymmetric look.

Writing didn't start 5,000 years ago. It started 40,000 years ago. 🦴

New research in PNAS (Bentz & Dutkiewicz, 2026) shows Upper Paleolithic signs were structured systems for encoding info. Our ancestors were "writing" on ivory and stone way before Sumer.

Paper: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

#Rockart

Quieto todo el mundo! Han publicado un paper en PNAS en que afirman que algunos cazadores-recolectores de hace 40.000 años ya tenían sistema de escritura! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Great Bustards Marchin´ already! ©️ Inglorious Bustards

The VIP guest list is out! 🐦✨

Our day at Llanos de Osuna was a full-blown Bustard Party. We had front-row seats for 21 Great and 5 Little Bustards displaying, leaping, and marching! Black-bellied Sandgrouse even swung by to crash the bash. 🇪🇸

#Birding #Spain #Wildlife #Nature

Una gran multitud de langostas en Lanzarote. Los expertos aseguran que es algo normal por el calor y la calima, pero que cada vez aparecen más, en gran medida por el cambio climático

#Canal24Horas
▶️ rtve.es/play/24-horas/