Original artwork description:

Cimoliosaurus bernardi is a species of Plesiosaur from the Cretaceous period, reaching 7.5 meters (25 ft) in length and 1 metric ton in weight. Its fossils were found on Mount Kremenets in the city of Izyum, Kharkov region. It was very important for me to introduce him first, because this find was made on the territory of my native region.
In 1899, the fossils of the forelimb and several vertebrae were discovered by the student Mironov. He treated the find very carefully and sketched in detail the place where he found it. After that, he dug up the find and presented it to Professor Gurov at Kharkov University. Subsequently, additional excavations were started on Mount Kremenets in 1902. During 1903-1904, bones and other limbs were found, which were also transferred to the University. In 1907 they were investigated and described by the outstanding geologist and paleontologist Anatoly Ryabinin.

Now his bones (left forelimb, several vertebrae and fragments of the right forelimb) are on display at the Kharkiv Museum of Nature. Be sure to visit them after the victory of Ukraine :)

Materials used:

watercolour

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