We first asked Roman about the extinct animals he feels a strong emotional connection to, and without much hesitation, the history enthusiast mentioned the woolly rhinoceros. Then he told us more about it: “I don't have to spend too much time figuring out what he might look like because our ancestors created lifetime portraits of him in caves.

At the same time, if you rely on these images, you can understand that modern animals are not very different from some extinct animals, which helps in my work.”

Next, we wondered if Uchytel had ever been particularly surprised by something he learned during his research. It turns out that unexpected discoveries are a regular part of his work: “Every animal is a surprise. For example, it is still believed that the huge one-horned rhinoceros Elasmotherium had a giant horn on its forehead. But when I started to reconstruct it, there was evidence that if there was a horn, it was small - more like a bump on the forehead. In addition, one of Elasmotherium's skulls was found with damage to the spot that theoretically should have been protected by the giant horn. And this indirectly confirms that there was no giant horn.”

When asked how his perception and portrayal of extinct animals have evolved over time, Roman answered: “Firstly, when I started doing digital palaeo-art, most artists were still drawing prehistoric animals with pencils and paints. As I created my archive, many scientific discoveries related to these animals came to light, necessitating changes or drastic reworking of already created reconstructions. And this process is never-ending. In addition, technology changes, allowing for more realistic images to be created. At the same time, I deliberately do not use AI.”

The artist also shared his vision for his future work: “Now there is a noticeable increase in competition and I have a lot of successors. Even famous palaeo-artists started to make photorealistic illustrations. So you could say that my wife, who is a business partner, and I have given a boost to the industry as a whole. Fifteen years ago, not many people were interested in extinct Cenozoic fauna. And now it's become popular. Many people think that all modern reconstructions are created with the help of AI. But real nature is wild and ‘dirty’, and has nothing in common with an ideal picture created by a ‘robot’.”

Lastly, we were curious about what dream project related to extinct animals Uchytel would like to undertake if he had unlimited resources. We learned that: “We have long been thinking about creating a virtual Prehistoric Zoo, where sabre-toothed cats, giant sloths, big-horned deer and any other extinct megafauna from different continents and eras could walk alongside visitors.”