An Artist’s View of the Ordovician Period

The Ordovician period represents a time in which primitive plant species and sea creatures multiplied and marine life became abundant. It was one of the stages of the Paleozoic era which was an era broken down into six different periods. The period also marks the end of the Cambrian era, which is called the Cambrian-Ordovician extinction.



The life that flourished is depicted through Ordovician period pictures, and many artists of today create these illustrations so that the world to see different aspects of that era. One of the animals that are commonly featured in Ordovician drawings are the nautiloids, which were squid-like creatures. Marine life was diverse during that period and most paintings capture the range of marine invertebrates that lived in the seas. Some of those invertebrates were brachiopods, graptolites and trilobites. Vertebrates are also drawn, which included the conodonts. Most of the pictures also capture the moisture and warmth that defined the atmosphere during that time.



Different kinds of stones can also be seen in paleontology art. Sandstone, shale, dolostone and limestone are carefully illustrated in an array of colors. Fossil imprints are engraved in most of these stones. Even though there was a lot of sea life in the Ordovician period, the waters started to become shallow as the era came to its end. This is why the stones and some land are depicted in paintings of this ancient time. Since the fossils are the only evidence of their existence, paleoartists strive to keep the memory of the animals mentioned alive. 



Josef Moravec was captivated by the prehistoric era since his childhood, and his interest started with visits to museums, which had reassembled fossils and dioramas on display. The rarity of this era and part of nature, which is considered a world that existed before time, drove Moravec to start illustrating his imagined version of that world. He aimed to create depictions that would embody the true essence of the prehistoric world through a paleontologist's point of view. This can account for why he drew most of his inspiration from Zdenek Burian. Burian was also a paleoartist, and strove to depict such images with the same accuracy. Natural History Museums hold Moravec's works in great respect, and he has won awards throughout North America and Europe.



Moravec’s Ordovician period pictures are featured by museums across the world. Paleontology is a richer study from having these accurate, lifelike illustrations to refer to. Even though artists are known for having the gift of vivid imagination, these paintings on paleontology are backed by extensive research and a passion to present those findings to the world.

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