Danielle Dufault facts for kids

Danielle Dufault is a talented Canadian artist who brings ancient life back to life! Born in 1988 or 1989, she is a paleoartist and biological illustrator living in Toronto, Ontario.

She works as the main paleontological illustrator for the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Danielle is also the artist and host of the popular zoological (animal science) YouTube channel called Animalogic.

What Does Danielle Dufault Do?

Wendiceratops by Danielle Dufault

Bringing Dinosaurs to Life: Paleoart

Danielle Dufault's journey into paleoart began when she was just eight years old. She visited the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and was amazed by the dinosaur skeletons. As a child, she loved drawing and exploring nature. She spent hours outdoors, digging for worms and collecting insects. She also enjoyed reading books about paleontology and keeping up with scientific news.

Danielle studied Technical and Scientific Illustration at Sheridan College in the Greater Toronto Area. During her third year, she got to work at the ROM as part of a special program. After finishing her degree in 2012, she did some work for the ROM. Soon, she became a full-time illustrator there.

Today, she is the main paleontological illustrator for the ROM. She works closely with scientists in the ROM's Evans lab.

How Does She Create Paleoart?

Danielle uses both traditional art methods, like drawing, and digital art tools. When she starts a new project, she talks with paleontologists (scientists who study fossils). They share what they know about the ancient creature she will draw.

She gathers information about the creature's habitat (where it lived). She also learns about other animals from the same time and place. This helps her understand how the creature might have looked. For example, if it was a predator or prey, its colors and patterns might be different. She also looks at real fossils and other scientific drawings.

Her amazing artwork has been featured in many science journals. It helps show what newly discovered dinosaurs and ancient creatures looked like. Some of her famous works include illustrations of the Wendiceratops and the Zaraapelta nomadis. These are two dinosaurs that were recently discovered.

She also illustrated a 500-million-year-old worm-like creature called the Ovatiovermis cribratus. She even helped create an animation of a paleozoic marine creature called a hyolith. This creature evolved over 530 million years ago!

Exploring Animals: Animalogic

Since 2014, Danielle Dufault has been the host of Animalogic. This is a popular zoological (animal science) YouTube series. On the channel, she shares fascinating facts about animals from all over the world. She also creates the illustrations for the show.