Welcome to Artemis Paleozoo

Artbook now available at the publisher website (U.S. & Canada)

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A letter from the APZ team:We're so excited to release our book! It's been a long time coming, and we're so incredibly thankful and excited to share our paleozoo with the world. This project has been incredibly rewarding, and we hope you love our zoo as much as we do.We'd like to offer a small gift to website visitors: free art! Click here to access website-exclusive phone and desktop wallpapers and a coloring sheet from our artists Alex Vieira, Laura Ekblad, and Nathan Dehaut.

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Welcome!

With contributions from 17 artists, creatives, and content experts, Artemis Paleozoo is a 100-page artbook that explores what an authentic, modern-day dinosaur zoo might be like. This project incorporates art and science to showcase a more up-to-date understanding of animal welfare and conservation.This book features scientifically-informed renditions of over 60 species—dinosaurs, pterosaurs, insects, amphibians, and more! The art styles featured are nearly as diverse as the zoo roster, from comic book charm to naturalist realism.Artemis Paleozoo is published by Rextooth Studios.

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The Zoo

Built along the Mendocas Peninsula, Artemis Paleozoo is home to a massive menagerie of prehistoric species. Your journey will start at the family-friendly "Paleo Basecamp." Guests can navigate the winding adventurous paths through other themed habitats or take the Pteroglide Gondola to get a Kepodactylus'-eye view.

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• THE ZOO
• A STORY

Meet the Team

This artbook was a team effort and a love letter to paleontological and zoological media and science that inspires us.

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• TEAM
• THE ZOO
• A STORY

The Multi-Million-Year Miracle Baby

Charles Nye, for Artemis Paleozoo

7:26 AM. Lorien tapped on his phone as he stepped off the staff shuttle.—Going to be late again.A half-truth. He could bolt to the staff gate, scan himself in, and sprint up the hill in four minutes, maybe even three. Such a stunt might've caused undue alarm, poor form at a zoo that kept a T. rex.His promptness was also not crucial. There were always a few people watching the egg. Lorien himself had lingered well past sundown to help. Things were stable now, meaning all they could do was wait.Passing a security stop, Lorien joined a bustling hive of work: morning prep. Conversations zipped by him, mixtures of business and life. Keepers carted stacks of trays filled with portions of mealworms, fruits, and vegetables, each with a labeled lid. Lorien weaved through foot traffic to a metal gate off the main path. He punched a combination into the electric lock and began his ascent.Beyond was a simple but winding concrete trail that followed the contour of a hill. The midway point offered a good view of the parasaurs in the valley below. Lorien had been in the company of extinct animals for six months. The adjustment period was only starting to wear off.At the hilltop was one of several veterinary hubs. The needs of the zoo's inhabitants were incredibly specialized. Major discoveries in paleofauna care, for all its joys and pains, was a daily happening.The building was sharp and angular, and there were more windows than concrete walls on the exterior. Tall steel struts supported the building's weight, painted in playful hues of orange and blue. The sign, built along the struts, read: Artemis Paleozoological Reserve: Veterinary Center CLorien produced his badge for the guard standing at the door, exchanging a quick nod as he stepped inside. It was 7:34. He fetched a metal coffee thermos from his bag and sipped on the lukewarm beverage as he waited for the elevator to slide open. He punched the button labeled "nursery" and ascended to the third floor.He stepped into a prep vestibule and tucked his personal effects in a labeled locker. People weren't supposed to bring anything consumable, including water, into the nursery chamber. The mirror above a nearby sink had a sticker of the zoo's sauropod mascot with a speech bubble; it read "Wash your hands early and often!" Beneath it, in less bold text, was the Greek translation."Πλένετε τα χέρια σας νωρίς και συχνά!"Slipping on a medical face covering, he pushed the nursery door open. Sitting at one of the two computer desks was Rox, who was recently promoted to a permanent hire. Her red hair was scrunched in a messy bun, and she was skipping between tabs on a spreadsheet."You're late," she muttered, not looking at him.A message popped on Rox's screen. Dev, a project member from abroad, was tuned in to a private feed of microphones and cameras in the nursery chamber. Their message read, "Is he late?"“I am. How's he doing?" Lorien asked.At the center of the room, bathed in a warm light, was a translucent acrylic case filled with a decaying salad of straw, ferns, and soft earth. Set in the middle, partly buried, was a grapefruit-sized egg. Its pale blue surface was rugose and speckled. An ultra-precise DNA test showed the embryo growing within was a biological male.Wires extended around the case like tendrils, each of them taking a separate measurement. They were getting real-time atmospheric and temperature data from multiple angles. Rox understood it better than he did.She shrugged at his question. "Could happen tomorrow, could be next week.""But how is he doing?" Lorien asked."Minh heard a chirp from the egg last night," Dev messaged, referencing another member of their twelve-person team who did overnights.“That’s probably good,” Rox said. She’d stopped typing and turned to Lorien. She wore a fatigued expression. “Right?”Lorien nodded. "Probably."Uncertainty was part of the excitement, but the truth was they could never be sure—not yet at least. They were trailblazers, though some of the team found it hard to shake the long shadow behind them. Out of two dozen eggs, this was the sole survivor. There was no guarantee they’d get another shot at this.De-extinction tech was becoming increasingly common. Genetic synthesis produced long-dead species and rescued dwindling populations of endangered ones, but none of that mattered without learning how to nurture them, to propagate them. This happened naturally with the care of paleoinvertebrates. Broadcast-spawning ammonites and hive-forming Cretaceous bees were among the first.The paleozoo's two Dreadnoughtus, long-necked sauropod dinosaurs the size of a building, recently produced a surprise batch of the world's first viable dinosaur eggs. Plucked from a research team in France, Lorien’s experience in rearing rare reptiles was perfect for the occasion.The team was varied and motivated, at first. Half of the eggs died within the span of two weeks. The remaining dozen slowly depleted. It was difficult to sustain morale. Everyone knew this was a possibility, but Artemis Paleozoo rallied.Following many hours of overtime and consultation with thinkers from across the world, they hard pivoted the incubation method. It was assumed the clutch would thrive in conditions similar to an ostrich or an emu. They instead resolved to bury the egg and use alternate warming angles and airflow."Sort of like a turtle?" Lorien asked during the brainstorm session."It’s the same logic,” the project lead affirmed. They made a crude drawing on the meeting room whiteboard and pointed to it. "But instead of being baked on a beach, sauropod eggs were incubated with geothermal heat and rotting plants."They did exactly that. By that time, only three of the eggs remained. Rox and Lorien helped modify the heating elements to match measurements from volcanic soil in Hawaii. The bright light hanging above the incubation chamber was mainly for visibility, though it did hasten the plants’ rotting.Rox rolled in her chair towards the incubator. “One out of twenty-four is a four-percent survival rate,” she lamented. “The labs have better odds than we do.”He gave her a half-shrug. “It’s better than zero.”“Better than zero,” she sighed.Dev sent a message. Rox returned to her computer and read it aloud, “Can we name it now?”“I assumed the zoo was going to hold a contest,” Lorien said, envisioning the unavoidable Sauropod McSauroface.“Well, let’s just say we can,” Rox said. “When he hatches, he’ll be a world first. Maybe something like Neil?”“Really? Neil Armstrong?” He chewed on the thought. The contrast with outer space was a little strong, considering why the dinosaurs went extinct. “What about ancient mythos? Is there anything we haven’t used?”Artemis Paleozoo, built along a Grecian coastal peninsula, had many of its animals named after figures of antiquity or phrases in the local language. This wasn’t a blanket rule; the T. rex was called Chuy as a double entendre, and the deinocheirus was named…Mike.When the first dreadnoughtus hatched, the female, they named her Mítera. She strongly imprinted on her care team and started exhibiting defensive behaviors around them, earning her motherly moniker. Goliath, the male, received a much more on-the-nose treatment. Despite being two years younger than Mítera, Goliath quickly outpaced her growth. Together, they traversed a paddock that rivaled the area of a commercial airfield.“Prometheus,” Dev suggested. “Ignoring the horrendous fate.”Rox shook her head. “I think too many people are going to think about the horrendous fate. That, or the movie.” She nudged Lorien. “You haven’t answered.”He crossed his arms. “Let’s see. What about big things in mythology? Giants?”Rox said, “There’s a big snake in Norse myth that goes around the world.”“Jörmungandr,” Dev supplied, already positioned to look it up.“That’s a lot,” Rox said, re-reading it a few times. “Dramatic, though.”“And violent,” they messaged. “Kills Thor in the myth.”“We have animals in this zoo named after Greek gods,” Lorien said. “Not exactly model citizens.”Dev’s response read, “I did not say the violence was a bad thing.”“First pets?” Rox asked. “I’ve only ever had fish, though.”“I had a terrapin,” Lorien said. “We bought him from the pet store. My parents made me figure out all of his care. Learned a lot.”“What was his name?”“Joe,” Lorien said.This warranted a snort from Rox. “Little Joe the sauropod?”A shrill beeping sounded from the computer. The egg wriggled faster, and a thud from inside formed a fissure along the shell. Joe/Jörmungandr/Prometheus was arriving today.Lorien struggled to contain himself. “It’s happening!”"I just sent a message to Animal Care," Rox said. "Who else should I contact?""For now, just the people in the nursery group chat," Lorien said. "Everyone's going to want to see the baby.""Status?” Dev messaged."Parts of the shell are flaking off," he said. “It’s happening so fast.”There was a chain of squeaks and chirps from the incubator. After a decisive nudge, the top of the egg shattered. Lorien adjusted the overhead light, dimming it slightly as to not blind the baby. He felt Rox’s enthusiastic death grip on his right arm. The blipping from the computer, Dev’s messages, was near-incessant."Here he is,” Rox whispered.What they could see of the torso was pigmented coal and pale gray, patterned like a fawn. The head and neck were a fiery orange. Its head was squat and triangular, eyes still mostly closed. Growing from the animal's snout was a thin, razor-like projection: an egg-tooth."It's so ugly, I love him!" Rox gasped, cupping her face.Lorien crouched watch the dinosaur at its level. Over the next half hour, the baby dreadnoughtus relieved itself of its calcified crib. Standing on wobbly legs, it stumbled to the incubator boundary. The hatchling thumped the wall, stood on its back legs, and slowly lifted its eyelids.Lorien made eye contact with the first natural-born dinosaur infant in 66 million years. The dreadnoughtus had a beady, somewhat vacant expression. Lorien was reminded of the little terrapin that swum in circles in the wide glass vase, the one that barely lasted a year despite his child self’s best efforts. Joe the terrapin’s premature passing taught him his first hard lesson in animal care. He felt, in a roundabout way, this was a second chance."What did you say earlier, Rox? Little Joe?” he asked.“It’s a ridiculous name,” she said.“It’s an ironic name, and I think the irony’s cute,” he said. “Joe could also be short for Jörmungandr.”Rox read her screen. “Dev said we should stylize it as Lil’ Joe on the Trilo-Byte database.”“Say less,” Lorien said, snatching a clipboard from a side table. He scribbled a note on the header of the day log. "And here it is for the ages."It read, "LV, RD, DO present for hatching; tentative name for hatchling: Lil' Joe, 8:06 AM, 25 August 2023." Rox handed Lorien a pink highlighter, which he promptly used to box in and fill the name. Lorien held up the clipboard and glanced back to the little dinosaur. It seemed to be looking at him expectantly.“Lil’ Joe,” he read aloud. With a playful scoff, he added, “There’s no way they’re going to keep this name.”