So with SVP (and SVPCA) well and truly over it’s time for me to try and cover at least some of the goings on there. In general on here I try to avoid covering specific papers and bits of research since a great deal of other bloggers and the media tend to do just this, and for something like a meeting much of the work in unfinished or under embargo or both. However, some aspects are quite public and this includes the various awards and prizes. Of particular importance and interest to the Musings is this year’s winner of the Lazendorf Paleoart Prize in the Scientific Illustration category, Julia Molnar, since it features a very nice pterosaur and is based on the work on Musings occasional contributor, Mike Habib. Julia’s piece shows an Anhanguera taking off under Mike’s hypothesised quadrupedal launch mechanism for pterodactyloid pterosaurs. It is very nice indeed and my thanks to Julia for letting me show it here, for more on this and others, do check out her website.
Also art related, there is a general tradition at SVP for people swapping their name badges on the last day of the event. I managed to persuade longtime friends and palaeoartists Bob Nicholls and Luis Rey to draw on each others’ name cards, so Bob had an original Rey art on his name badge an Luis got to walk away with an original Nicholls. Here are close ups of the pictures and the two of them showing off their work
Dave Hone's Archosaur Musings 
Julia’s work with Mike Habib on this piece is astounding. As (outgoing) chair of the Lanzendorf Paleoart Committee, I can affirm that the competition was very stiff—as it always is—but the Anhanguera piece was a real standout.
Beautiful anatomy. A bar to certainly set new muscle/tendon illustrations at. Do you know why there is a little ghost hand in the MC-P joint? Off to go tag some hands on a practical…very fitting.
Casey
My guess is that this was to show the fingers are there, but not let them interfere or distract from the important stuff underneath.
You are right, that is the purpose of the “ghost hand.” It’s always a challenge to convey that the object of interest is behind something else!
ps- I am sorry about the Flash website; I am not a web developer and Flash is all I know how to do! If anyone wants a portfolio I can send a pdf.
Julia
This is really beautiful work.
(It’s a shame I can’t look at Ms. Molnar’s page. It’s concealed behind an Adobe Flash wall.)