Dr. Laura Panko

Pencil Drawing, 8.5" x 11"

This is my pencil drawing of an antelope vertebra (about 5 inches high). It was created with techniques used by professional science illustrators, who need to render images that are precise and accurate. In graduate school, I studied vertebral evolution along the path of evolution leading to mammals. Studying bones from a modern animal like the antelope is crucial for interpreting the evolutionary history recorded by the fossils.

"This drawing shows the time and effort that was put into it, it is detailed and precise. Through studying bone structures between animals, researchers have been able to provide evidence in favor of Darwin’s theory."

"Antelopes are way too fast for any predators around them today. Wonder why? The evolved to run away from the cheetahs that are now extinct in North America. Somebody forgot to tell the Antelopes to slow down and smell the roses."

"A stunning depiction of a focal evolutionary structure. Simple, yet elegant and meaningful."

"The word that comes to mind when I see this is ‘homology’"

"Hauntingly simple."