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Peter Mark Schouten is an Australian artist and illustrator of publications in the field of zoology and palaeontology. 
His works are characterized by naturalism and faithfulness to detail, whereby Schouten incorporates his own ideas and assumptions in the reconstruction of extinct creatures and thus gives them an individual touch.
His early works deal mainly with the fauna of his home continent Australia, the first book in which his illustrations emerge throughout, Prehistoric Animals of Australia, also addresses this topic. During his work as an illustrator and co-author, he worked with several scientists, including
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
termed his skills as "rare and precious" and among the world's best.
His works are characterized by naturalism and faithfulness to detail, whereby Schouten incorporates his own ideas and assumptions in the reconstruction of extinct creatures and thus gives them an individual touch.
His early works deal mainly with the fauna of his home continent Australia, the first book in which his illustrations emerge throughout, Prehistoric Animals of Australia, also addresses this topic. During his work as an illustrator and co-author, he worked with several scientists, including Tim Flannery
Timothy Fridtjof Flannery (born 28 January 1956) is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist, Conservation biology, conservationist, Exploration, explorer, author, Science communication, science communicator, activist and p ...
(Astonishing Animals, winner of the Victorian Premier's Literary Award 2005, A Gap in Nature, Possums of the World) and John Long (Feathered Dinosaurs).
Schouten became known internationally for his portrayal of ''Homo floresiensis
''Homo floresiensis'' also known as "Flores Man"; nicknamed "Hobbit") is an extinct species of small archaic human that inhabited the island of Flores, Indonesia, until the arrival of modern humans about 50,000 years ago.
The remains of an i ...
'', which was published in 2004 as the first scientific reconstruction of this species of Hominid.
His work has been honoured in the epithet of a new species of ''Wakaleo
''Wakaleo'' (indigenous Australian ''waka'', "little", "small", and Latin ''leo'', "lion") was a genus of medium-sized thylacoleonids that lived in Australia in the Late Oligocene and Miocene Epochs.
Although much smaller than its close relativ ...
'', which was announced in 2017 prior to it formal publication. Schouten immediately began to work on an illustration of ''Wakaleo schouteni''.
Awards and honours
Schouten was appointed aMember of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours for "significant service to the visual arts as a wildlife and scientific illustrator, and to the preservation and documentation of Australian natural history". He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales
The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society.
The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June ...
in March 2021.
Works
Schouten's work as illustrator includes, * ''Tree Kangaroos, A Curious Natural History.'' Reed Books Australia, 1996, . * ''A Gap In Nature. Discovering World’s Extinct Animals.'' Atlantic Monthly Press, 2001, . * ''Astonishing Animals.'' Atlantic Monthly Press, 2004, . * ''Feathered Dinosaurs. The Origin Of Birds.'' Oxford University Press, 2008,References
External links
* http://www.studioschouten.com.au {{DEFAULTSORT:Schouten, Peter Australian artists 1957 births Living people Members of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Royal Society of New South Wales