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Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins: the first grand master of palaeoart
Few of us need an introduction to the Crystal Palace dinosaur sculptures (here shown during construction in 1854), or their artist, Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, but not many of us know much about...
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The "palaeontological folklore" of mastodon hair
The American mastodon Mammut americanum is one of the most iconic members of the North American megafauna. A frequent subject of museum displays, books and technical research for over two centuries, we...
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Megaloceros giganteus: behind the antlers
Megaloceros giganteus galloping about: a rare scene in palaeoart, but probably a common sight in life. Famed for its size and headgear, we mostly ignore the fact that Megaloceros was among the most...
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Dinosaur fossils and Chinese dragons: ancient association or modern wishful...
Dinosaurs and dragons: is there a better fit between fossils and folklore? Common wisdom is that Chinese dinosaur species, perhaps including Yutyrannus huali, became associated with local dragon lore...
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Film review: Ammonite (2021)
After a long wait and much online discussion, the Mary Anning-inspired historic drama Ammonite is finally on general release. As goes the popularisation of palaeontology, Ammonite is something of a big...
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A tale of plesiosaur tails: vertical fins or horizontal flukes?
The giant elasmosaurid Albertonectes vanderveldei forages for invertebrates and small prey deep underwater. From this posterolateral view, the vertical tail fin is unmissable - but should I have drawn...
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Theropod dinosaurs were a bunch of buttheads: the evidence for and...
When it comes to imagining aggressive behaviour between large Mesozoic theropod dinosaurs, the main game in town is head-biting: individuals grappling with one another by locking jaws around each...
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The long, winding road to the first sauropod palaeoartworks
It's a well-verified fact that the best dinosaurs to draw are the sauropods, exemplified here by the mighty Giraffatitan brancai. But the route to this modern realisation was a difficult one. When...
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An interview with Emily Willoughby, author and artist of Drawing and...
That most obscure theropod taxon Tyrannosaurus chews on bones on the front cover of Emily Willhoughby's new book, Drawing and Painting Dinosaurs: the latest entry into the growing literature dedicated...
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The silent dinosaur hypothesis
The story of how dinosaurs were resurrected for cinema in the early 20th century tends to focus on the visual components of these technical feats: the 2D animation and stop-motion technology that made...
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Quetzalcoatlus 2021: a strange pterosaur, or just strangely interpreted?
Quetzalcoatlus lawsoni scavenges a juvenile Torosaurus, recently killed (judging from the decapitation) by a large tyrannosaur. We've been waiting for ages to learn more about this pterosaur following...
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Tyrannouroboros: how everything old is new again in recent proposals of...
Tyrannosaurus engages in some closed-mouth vocalising, but which species of Tyrannosaurus is this? It might seem that, up until recently, there would be only one answer, but this is actually an old...
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Introducing The Art and Science of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs: out next month!
Behold, the cover of The Art and Science of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, available for preorder now, and on general sale next month!Next month sees the publication of what might be one of the more...
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The mad, mad, mad stilt-legged tyrannosaurid hatchling (and other efforts at...
By now many readers will have seen the excellent, excellent BBC/Apple TV+ documentary Prehistoric Planet, a show being widely celebrated as the most significant televisual portrayal of dinosaurs since...
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Can dinosaur movies have too many dinosaurs?
Yes, against my better judgement, we're going there. (Publicity image for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. This image is too populous online to find its original source, so let's just assume it's the PR...
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Attempted adventures in dinosaur facial restoration, starring Giganotosaurus
Giganotosaurus carolinii carries the remains of a juvenile rebacchisaurid while sporting a bunch of crazy tissues on its face. Big scales, horns, and is that some kind of thick pad over its snout? Is...
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Palaeoart reference review: the Beasts of the Mesozoic 1/35 Tyrannosaurus rex
"Hi, I'm the 1/35 unpainted Beasts of the Mesozoic Tyrannosaurus. You may remember me from this Kickstarter campaign and the Creative Beast Studio website. But now I'm being reviewed at this blog to...
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Tyrannosaurs wrecks Triceratops
Well, this doesn't need a caption.Predicting what will become a palaeoart meme is a dark, mysterious art. Sometimes news drops that should, given everything we know about the folks who create and like...
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Tabletop adventures + dinosaurs: introducing Dr. Dhrolin's Dictionary of...
Tabletop gaming and (scientifically credible) dinosaurs: together at last! The draft cover of Nathan Barling's Dr Dhronlin's Dictionary of Dinosaurs, a book illustrated with my palaeoart and now being...
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Happy 10th birthday, Mark P. Witton's blog
The very first image posted at this blog, way, way back in November 2012. It shows a coloured version of a piece I created for the Pterosaur.Net blog earlier in the same year. How time — like so many...
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Book review: John Conway's A History of Painting (with Dinosaurs)
It's Christmas time, which means it's time for a festive book review! This year's subject: John Conway's A History of Painting (with Dinosaurs).It was ten years ago that palaeoartist John Conway, along...
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Can studies of living animal colour constrain the colours of dinosaurs? A...
Mighty Tarbosaurus bataar carries its Therizinosaurus cheloniformis prey through a Masstrichtian forest in the rain. Colour-wise, I've decided that a ruddy-orange dorsum, light venter, disruptive black...
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Horned dinosaurs vs. theropods: how much did horns matter?
The hero of the hour, Triceratops horridus. But how often were those long horns stuck into predatory dinosaurs in defensive action? I feel a long discussion coming on...A persistent idea around...
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New paper: Fresh evidence and novel analyses strongly suggest that theropod...
A juvenile Edmontosaurus disappears into the enormous, lipped and gummy mouth of Tyrannosaurus. Those of us in the palaeoart community are used to seeing lips on dinosaurs now, but neither the lipped...
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Book review: Prehistoric World of Zdeněk Burian, Volume 1: From the Creation...
Finally: a modern book devoted to everyone's favourite mid-20th Century Czech palaeoartist, Zdeněk Burian. It's big, it's expensive, and it's amazing. For palaeoart fans, it's an essential purchase.As...
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