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Description
This is the first complete "animals in their environment" piece I've made in a long time. I am not very proud of the result, and I definitely need more practice (in terms of composition, lightning, painting of sky and vegetation...), but at least is a place to start from

Leaving these considerations apart, today I present a scene featuring a series of birds near the shores of the lake that would eventually turn into the Messel pit, in Germany. During the Eocene, around 47 million years ago, a lake of volcanic origin was located at this site. Surrounded by a subtropical forest during the greenhouse climate of the middle Eocene, the area was full of life, including fish, insects, reptiles, birds and mammals, many of which were representatives of modern groups of animals. Due to the characteristics of the lake (an anoxic bottom layer and periodic toxic gas releases) the creatures that died and fell into the water were fossilized and preserved exquisitely, many of them showing remains of feathers, hair and other soft tissues

As part of a long-term ongoing series depicting the avifauna of the fossil site, in this scene I've depicted aquatic birds, or at least those related to aquatic modern relatives. Most of the bird fossils from the Messel pit are from terrestrial and arboreal birds, but a few of them show some degree of relation with the waters of the lake. From left to right:

- Juncitarsus: this long-legged bird was related to both flamingos and grebes, although its body plan certainly resembles more the former (except from the adaptations for filter-feeding). Juncitarsus was a wading bird of medium size, slightly smaller than the lesser flamingo
- Rynchaeites: an early member of the ibis family, with less adaptations for wading than its modern relatives. It was probably more suited to searching food in the forest floor, but I guess that it may also have ventured into the water for some tasty snails, crustaceans or worms. The remains of this ibis are relatively abundant in the fossil site, with around 15 known specimens
- Unnamed charadriiform: only one fossil from this type of bird has been found at Messel. It was probably a small wader, although its relationships are not very clear, as the fossil is incomplete (it lacks the skull and the hindlimbs)
- Masillastega: a relative of gannets and boobies, Masillastega is one of the few Messel birds that were definitely aquatic. Only the skull of this bird is known, but it does not show the adaptations for plunge diving of its modern relatives (it also differs from them in inhabiting a freshwater environment, instead of a marine one). I decided to depict it as cormorant- or darter-like, although there are no indications of a diving lifestyle
- Messelornis: this bird, nicknamed the Messel rail, is by far the most abundant bird in the Messel pit, with more than 300 specimens that make up to 2/3 of the total avifauna of the site. Messelornis was thought to be a relative of the modern sunbittern, a South American bird that lives mostly on the ground, but more recent studies show that it was more closely related to rails. Despite being though as a frugívoros bird, one specimen of Messelornis was found with a fish inside, indicating an omnivorous diet and some interaction with the lake's waters.
- Perplexicervix: this bird was relatively big for the standards of Messel birds, being about the size of a crow. Despite being known from 5 relatively complete skeletons, the relationships of this bird are not very clear, although it shares some similarities to New World vultures and screamers (a kind of anseriforms); I opted to depict it based on the latter. Although screamers are not strictly aquatic birds, they can be found near bodies of water, hence the presence of this bird in the scene. The fossils of Perplexicervix show some weird tubercles on their vertebrae, but their origin is unclear.

Description
This is the first complete "animals in their environment" piece I've made in a long time. I am not very proud of the result, and I definitely need more practice (in terms of composition, lightning, painting of sky and vegetation...), but at least is a place to start from

Leaving these considerations apart, today I present a scene featuring a series of birds near the shores of the lake that would eventually turn into the Messel pit, in Germany. During the Eocene, around 47 million years ago, a lake of volcanic origin was located at this site. Surrounded by a subtropical forest during the greenhouse climate of the middle Eocene, the area was full of life, including fish, insects, reptiles, birds and mammals, many of which were representatives of modern groups of animals. Due to the characteristics of the lake (an anoxic bottom layer and periodic toxic gas releases) the creatures that died and fell into the water were fossilized and preserved exquisitely, many of them showing remains of feathers, hair and other soft tissues

As part of a long-term ongoing series depicting the avifauna of the fossil site, in this scene I've depicted aquatic birds, or at least those related to aquatic modern relatives. Most of the bird fossils from the Messel pit are from terrestrial and arboreal birds, but a few of them show some degree of relation with the waters of the lake. From left to right:

- Juncitarsus: this long-legged bird was related to both flamingos and grebes, although its body plan certainly resembles more the former (except from the adaptations for filter-feeding). Juncitarsus was a wading bird of medium size, slightly smaller than the lesser flamingo
- Rynchaeites: an early member of the ibis family, with less adaptations for wading than its modern relatives. It was probably more suited to searching food in the forest floor, but I guess that it may also have ventured into the water for some tasty snails, crustaceans or worms. The remains of this ibis are relatively abundant in the fossil site, with around 15 known specimens
- Unnamed charadriiform: only one fossil from this type of bird has been found at Messel. It was probably a small wader, although its relationships are not very clear, as the fossil is incomplete (it lacks the skull and the hindlimbs)
- Masillastega: a relative of gannets and boobies, Masillastega is one of the few Messel birds that were definitely aquatic. Only the skull of this bird is known, but it does not show the adaptations for plunge diving of its modern relatives (it also differs from them in inhabiting a freshwater environment, instead of a marine one). I decided to depict it as cormorant- or darter-like, although there are no indications of a diving lifestyle
- Messelornis: this bird, nicknamed the Messel rail, is by far the most abundant bird in the Messel pit, with more than 300 specimens that make up to 2/3 of the total avifauna of the site. Messelornis was thought to be a relative of the modern sunbittern, a South American bird that lives mostly on the ground, but more recent studies show that it was more closely related to rails. Despite being though as a frugívoros bird, one specimen of Messelornis was found with a fish inside, indicating an omnivorous diet and some interaction with the lake's waters.
- Perplexicervix: this bird was relatively big for the standards of Messel birds, being about the size of a crow. Despite being known from 5 relatively complete skeletons, the relationships of this bird are not very clear, although it shares some similarities to New World vultures and screamers (a kind of anseriforms); I opted to depict it based on the latter. Although screamers are not strictly aquatic birds, they can be found near bodies of water, hence the presence of this bird in the scene. The fossils of Perplexicervix show some weird tubercles on their vertebrae, but their origin is unclear.