Tumblr Roundup 1/31/15

I should do one of these; I foresee another break soon.

-Welcome back! (The irony...)
-Was Savape's character based on the Autobot Whirl?
-Has Savape taken on saber-toothed cats?
-Why is Zahavi so random?
-How many languages do the characters know?
-How did Zahavi get his powers?
-Do the characters ever meet the press?
-How do pterosaurs, marine reptiles, and mammoths at the museum feel about being called dinosaurs?
-Is Ebeff a Therizinosaurus or a Beipiaosaurus?

Tumblr Roundup 5/29/14

Been a while since the last one!

-Does the comic Claming the Throne have permission to mention Raptormaniacs?
-Why would anyone not like Skull?
-Why does Skull keep going on about his plans if he knows he won't succeed?
-How does Skull know his plans won't ever succeed?
-Has Skull ever thought of assembling an army of insects to take over the museum?
-Where are the characters' coverts, primaries, and secondaries?
-If the characters had the chance to make a summer blockbuster, what would it be?
-Have the characters met any hesperornithines?
-Where have the characters been?
-Do the characters interact with the modern animals at the museum?
-Have the characters met any sauropods?
-Are there any mammaliaforms at the museum?
-If Savape causes so much damage, how does she avoid getting kicked out?
-Can the characters fly?
-Is Skull the only dinosaurian skull cast?
-Have the characters ever fallen sick?
-Does Remex like cheese?
-Is Zahavi familiar with the work of his namesake scientist?
-Have the characters dealt with young-Earth creationists?
-What would a visit to the Acme Museum be like for us?
-Will the museum ever give Skull a body?
-A plea for the characters to come back.
-Is there a Drinker in the museum?
-Does anyone try to sneak drugs and alcohol into the museum?
-The characters respond to chirping noises.
-Has Savape ever used a Swiss army knife?
-The characters respond to being called cute.
-Does Savape try to steal people's stuff?

Tumblr Roundup 1/14/14

-Have the characters ever been attacked by hadrosaurs?
-Have the characters ever met any alvarezsauroids?
-Thoughts on tapirs.
-Have the characters ever accidentally talked to a visitor?
-Does the museum get visits from unfriendly BANDits?
-How does one bubble-wrap a dinosaur?
-Clarification on bubble-wrapping.
-Thoughts on owls.
-How does Savape kill things 50 times her size?
-Have the characters encountered Gastornis?
-How does Skull feel about doing nothing except go on about his doomed plans?
-How does Skull speak?
-Why is Skull still around if nobody likes him?
-Do the characters ever get anything from the museum cafeteria?

Tumblr Roundup 8/18/13

Fewer questions this time, but as long as they don't screech to a halt I don't find that a bad thing. I don't want to be too overwhelmed.

-Have the characters fought any hippos?
-Would the characters rather receive fan mail or a crate of small rodents?
-What would Skull do if he succeeded in taking over the museum?
-Have the characters gotten visits from a certain Canadian alvarezsaurid?
-Do the characters like roast beef?
-Can Savape run on water while flapping?
-Ground up or trees down?
-What does Dinky think of Ostrom?

Quick Announcement

Taxonomy is serious bizness.

Introductions

Panel One
Ostrom: Hi! I'm Ostrom the Deinonychus!

Panel Two
Ostrom: This is Zahavi the Jinfengopteryx.

Panel Three
Ostrom: And Savape the Archaeopteryx.

Panel Four
Savape: What are you staring at?

Panel Five
Ostrom: You can't hold your wings that way.
Savape: Oh.

Panel Six
Albertonykus: My apologies... I overlooked that fact in my earlier drawings...

In spite of the "theme song", this webcomic isn't going to parody Animaniacs too closely, but sharp-eyed readers might find similarities nonetheless. Also, I have more Animaniacs song parodies in the pipeline.

This webcomic gives me an excuse to revamp some of my maniraptor drawing styles. For example, I used to draw all beakless maniraptors with bare-skinned snouts. Now the feathers reach their snouts, leaving only the tips bare.

A few things to note: Zahavi is meant to be pronounced "zuh-hay-vee" and Savape should be pronounced "suh-vay-pee", so their names rhyme. I originally wanted Savape's name to be Sape, after Sapeornis chaoyangensis, which is in turn named for the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution, but it didn't ring well. In the end I simply took SVP (Society of Vertebrate Paleontology) and stuck vowels between that acronym, so it became her name.

Raptormaniacs "Theme Song"

I originally wanted to create a blog to talk about interesting things about dinosaurs in general. However there are already many blogs that do that, most of them by paleontologists, or at least people who actually know what they're talking about. Instead, my blog will be the home of what will hopefully become a webcomic starring the "Raptormaniacs". Who are the Raptormaniacs?

Sung to the tune of the Animaniacs theme song*. If you aren't familiar with Animaniacs, go here. Listen to it a couple times. You'll catch on real quick. Trust me.

The three main singers are Deinonychus antirrhopus, Jinfengopteryx elegans, and Archaeopteryx lithographica. Other dinosaurs here are (in order of appearance): Passer domesticus, Albertonykus borealis, Caudipteryx zoui, Therizinosaurus cheloniformis, and the skull of Tsaagan mangas.

I'm not sure how difficult my writing is to read. No doubt it's probably a tad small. So, here are the lyrics.

It's time for Raptormaniacs**,
In some of us our teeth do lack.
Smaller prey we do attack,
On plants we also snack,
We're Raptormaniacs!

We have got feathered wings that can grow to be real long,
'Cept alvarezsaurids, but theirs are still quite strong.***
With our semilunate carpals we can tuck our arms away.
Just be your best,
Don't touch our nests,
Or else you're gonna pay!

We're Raptormaniacs,
We can run up trees real fast.
Our variety is vast
And not just fossil casts,
We're Raptormaniacs!

Some of us can swoop and fly to help them get around,
Others think that things are better going back down to the ground;
We need agility and speed because predators abound.
With killing claws
And toothy jaws
We prowl where food is found.

We're Raptormaniacs,
We're survivors to the max.
We went to H**l and back
When a space rock left a crack.
We're Raptorman-y,
They say we're brainy,
Paul, Gregory,
Raptormaniacs!
Those are the facts.

*Animaniacs and all related elements, including the Animaniacs theme song, are property of Warner Bros. The drawing and parody lyrics are mine, though.
**Here "raptor" means maniraptor, not deinonychosaur or hypercarnivorous bird.
***Maniraptor forelimb reduction is also found in many flightless birds, and to a lesser degree troodonts and some oviraptorosaurs. However, none of these have the strangely powerful forelimbs alvarezsaurids did.