Let's build Struthiomimus dino skull puppets

Download and print your Struthiomimus puppet pattern here: http://dontmesswithdinosaurs.com/?p=2431

In this video I'll show you how to construct the #Struthiomimus dinosaur skull puppet using a free puppet pattern you can download on my website.

When you create your struthiomimus puppet, I hope you'll post it to social media using the hashtag #StruthioFlock!

  / brianengh_art  
  / brianengh_art  
  / brianengh_art  

This #dinosaur #puppet pattern is based on a real fossil - the skull of a Struthiomimus altus (this specimen was nicknamed "Margie"), which was excavated from Montana. Casts of this skeleton are now on display in several museums around the world.

Struthiomimus lived at the end of the age of dinosaurs, in the late Cretaceous period, and went extinct alongside T. rex and Triceratops 66 million years ago. Struthiomimus means "ostrich mimic" and is part of a larger family of ostrich-like dinosaurs called ornithomimids, which means "bird-mimics". These names are a bit silly though because the ornithomimid dinosaurs evolved this long-legged, long necked dinosaur body plan about 80 million years BEFORE the modern bird family that includes ostriches and emus. Modern ostriches and emus belong to a family of birds called ratites. Large ratite birds, such as ostriches and emus, actually evolved from small birds that survived the extinction that wiped out Struthiomimus and the other non-bird dinosaurs. When two distinct groups of animals evolve similar body forms due to living similar lifestyles, scientists call it convergent evolution.

This video was made in partnership with Studio Channel Islands. For a drawing lesson based on this Struthiomimus fossil you can see that on their youtube page here:    • SCIART Home Studio | Create a Dinosaur Les...  

Big shoutout to Anthony Maltese (   / mosasaurologist   ) of Triebold Paleontology Inc, who let me use this skull cast for this demonstration. Shoot him a tweet to say thanks!
http://trieboldpaleontology.com/strut...


Timecode for easy reference:
Building begins at 4:29 - starts with assembling the mouth plate
8:57 assembling lower jaw
16:38 assembling sides of skull
25:02 assembling the top of the skull