Why do some artists fall into the trap of portraying creatures with certain human-like features?

Question

For instance, I have a book on prehistoric life with an artist's rendering of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Stegosaur on the cover. The two are pointedly ignoring each other, which would be accurate, since to my knowledge they existed in different geologic periods. The smug facial expression of the Tyrannosaurus is reminiscent of a headmaster who has just caught a cunningly mischievous schoolboy red-handed, and the facial expression of the Stegosaur, whose skin is rendered a sickly shade of green, suggests an octogenarian who has not enjoyed a bowel-movement since a week last Tuesday.

Is this tendency to humanization of non-human creatures intentional or inadvertent?

Answer 1

i feel it's inadvertant.. we as a population feel a need to relate to others.. why is it that sentient, non-human animals shouldn't feel emotion?

p.s. if you have a link to the cover, or can post a pic i'd really like to see a smug headmaster of a T. rex :D

humans are by FAR not the most advanced things on the planet.. nothing is.. and it's rediculous to consider anything as more or less advanced than anyother thing..

Answer 2

Cause humans are the most advanced living organisms and usually undiscovered things are related to humans which have the most typical structures

Answer 3

I don't know if such a tendency is deliberate or not, but one wonders whether the artist gave the creatures human-like expressions or whether the viewer is perceiving them due to his/her own anthropomorphizing.