“The Crystal Palace fireworks themselves again for the season! An elaborate set-piece of prehistoric beasts of “The Lost World”” from the Illustrated London News, 18th July 1925 Big displays by Brock’s Fireworks (usually unrelated to Nov 5th) were an annual attraction at the Palace

We missed Godzilla Day yesterday, but here’s an exclusive, never-before-seen photo from the set at Studio Toho! This early design was supposedly due to creator Tomoyuki Tanaka‘s sympathy/solidarity towards Crystal Palace FC being relegated from the Third Division South in the 1953-54 season…

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Check out these Brontosaurus by William Scheele, painted for a 1988 series of collectible cards. They’re so chunky and cute, almost like toys! They’re surprisingly muscular for the time, too. The arms on the one in the foreground are downright scary!

Aaargh, another International <insert creature> Day! BUT, this International Sloth Day allows us to share this v rare photo from 1922 - possibly the only one that shows what the original large hands of the Megatherium looked like! (OG vs small hands is part of current restoration discussions…)

Incredible stuff from "Dinosaurs: Fun, Fact, and Fantasy", 1982, with the voice of the legendary Derek Griffiths

Why look: a box of some sort of newish, bookish things arrived this morning. Seems to be about spinosaurid #dinosaurs... coauthored with @davehone.bsky.social... and published by Bloomsbury. Available 6th of November In the UK; then worldwide in early 2026.

A flashback to one of our favourite photos, taken during conservation work on the standing Iguanodon back in 2015, by Lynn Hilton❤️💚 (www.lynnhilton.com)

A very good morning from this unimpressed glyptodon model - which was to be one of twelve real scale sculptures in Ciutadella Park, Barcelona. Only a mammoth was completed before the project ended in 1910 (All the models are here: mdc.csuc.cat/digital/coll...)

They really did choose some truly iconic artwork for this book, and I think this would be my first ever encounter of the fabled @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social since my copy is from 1988 and I’d only been alive a few years at that point 😅 Some truly beautiful vintage Palaeoart on display here

Adventures with a new birding scope! The very top of the Crystal Palace transmitting station - the highest point in London (thanks to the 109m hill it is on) Taken from 2.5lm away. 75x zoom, with 6x phone camera zoom Birds do occasionally chill up there, but haven’t managed to line up a shot yet

A literary Iguanodon at the Earth Sciences Library. Do any other libraries have dinosaurs or other antediluvian creatures carved into the furniture?

“Do not all these beings who preceded man and who are emerging from their tombs today seem like monsters? Yet they are connected to us by original bonds” Translated from “Le monde avant la création de l'homme” (The world before the creation of humankind), by Camille Flammarion. Art by Georges Devy

The spectacularly produced new art book, Mesozoic Art II, hit the shelves! I happen to be one of the artists featured in the line-up of fantastic people who bring the dead back to life! A great opportunity to talk about my creative journey 🧵

Articles or photos that reference the condition of the Crystal Palace Dinos before 1950 are quite rare. The caption on this photo, dated as 1924, refers them being “extracted from the mud”, which could imply a period of time where the lake also needed some attention..

“The Antediluvians recognize an old acquaintance” This cartoon appeared in Punch magazine, 27/07/1861 - linking the old age of our Dino friends with the previous appearances of the “Great Comet of 1861” The comet is now designated C/1861 J1, and is due to return in 2267 so…see you then, yeah??

Due to some dreadful admin error we accidentally had @tetzoo.bsky.social join us on this episode of #TerribleLizards talking about marine reptiles in all their semi-aquatic and aquatic glory. terriblelizards.libsyn.com/tls11e09-anc...

We undertake lots of serious historical research, but this may be the most important of all: what in the *blue hell* was the “Hobbledeegobbledeecastle” in the Crystal Palace North Tower Gardens? Even this 1910 programme doesn’t know (The one from 1908 simply calls it “The funniest thing on earth”)

🚨 PARK UPDATE 🚨 Good morning everyone. Please note that the lower path along the Sedondary/reptile island is now CLOSED The upper path is still open. From here there are restricted views of some of the sculptures, with restoration work v much underway. The paths around the mammals are still open

Mesozoic Art II - edited by @sharkbitesteve.bsky.social and myself and featuring the incredible work of 25 cutting-edge palaeoartists - is out in just a few days. The ultimate must-have book on modern #palaeoart / #paleoart. Buy yours now ... www.bloomsbury.com/uk/mesozoic-... #books #dinosaurs

This is a fantastic (and rare) photo of the Megalosaurus in it’s red paint scheme, which lasted from the 1970s through to 1982/3 Note the harsh contrast between the red and the green tones of accumulated dirt, moss, algae etc

Hello Bluesky! We're an enthusiastic bunch of folks in south-east London delving into the history of Penge, as well as sharing our love of all things historical. Find us at pengehistorygroup.co.uk as well as on Eventbrite www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/penge-hist...

Good evening to all Lego-related new followers 👋 Actual bricks played a major part in the construction of the sculptures. The smaller ones had a solid brickwork core, and the four largest dinosaur ones were hollow:

🚨 THIS IS NOT A DRILL 🚨 We’ve just seen this, by creator “Menapian” - a 4,998-piece set of the Great Exhibition (1851) Crystal Palace - complete with a bonus Megalosaurus and Ichthyosaur… beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...

UK nineties nostalgia attack!! Indie band The Wonder Stuff in front of the Megalosaurus. This photo appeared on a postcard, and on "The BootLegged Groove Machine" album (Hat tip to Chris Young for bringing this to our attention)

Hi Lisa. Work on the statues is now very much underway, yes (Steam cleaning of the reptiles started a couple of days ago. Note the difference in the lower half of the Megalosaurus!)

Armoured dinosaurs have of course been on our mind, so a VERY GOOD MORNING to you from this..interesting depiction of a Hylaeosaurus - by “F.John” - from a series of cards produced by a German cocoa company, early 20th Century.. 1/2

The heraldic Iguanodon on Maidstone's coat of arms seems to be drawn a bit differently each time. The designer of this version went to quite a lot of effort to make the dinosaur look as early modern as possible, including giving it mammalian ears. Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/kapta....

There are still tickets left for our Secrets of the Sculptures walking tour on Saturday 30th August! Discover the history behind the artworks in Crystal Palace Park - pay what you can 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/secrets-of...

@jamespascoe.bsky.social , this is amazing - what a cornucopia of Cretaceous creations. Hopefully we’ll see you next year 🙏❤️

We've just seen that the Dinosaurs appear at #11 in the Independent's "17 best things to do in London with the kids this summer" article 👍 (The lower path along the Secondary/Reptile Island is still open, so all the sculptures can still be viewed ok) www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/en...

Think I took a wrong turn somewhere....

It’s almost time (again) for the rescheduled Penge Festival Fete, this Saturday Aug 2nd at Royston Rec, 12-5pm Marvel at our gazebo and giveaways, purchase t-shirts, pin badges (back in stock!) and books, and ask if any of us have actually found time to watch Jurassic World yet..😬

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology... A reconstruction of the lost Crystal Palace #Palaeotherium (2023), by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins. Commissioned by @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social with guidance from @nhm-london.bsky.social & @markwitton.bsky.social. Part 1 of 5. #SciArt #PaleoArt #CrystalPalacePark

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology... A reconstruction of the lost Crystal Palace #Palaeotherium (2023), by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins. Commissioned by @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social with guidance from @nhm-london.bsky.social & @markwitton.bsky.social. Part 1 of 5. #SciArt #PaleoArt #CrystalPalacePark

Definitely one of our proudest projects since being founded in 2013, and we are grateful to all involved 🙏

Friends, followers, well-wishers, valued HR colleagues: we URGE you to watch this new animated short below, from the bottomlessly-talented David Armsby The Victorian antediluvian world brought to life, and then a wild ride through paleoart history. Incredible 🏆 youtu.be/OH57rtnKCEM

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♂️

Here’s a fantastic print of some of the gang, now available from local artist Kathryn Corlett: kathryncorlett.co.uk/products/dis...

Monday morning. A white pony grazes. Below, the marine reptiles bask silently by their now- drained tidal lake..

Oooh, hola! If you ever find yourself in Eastern Spain, be sure to visit Bosque Pétreo, in Castellote - part of the Dinópolis theme park.. This replica of the Crystal Palace standing Iguanodon will be one of your rewards!

1968: Blue Peter visit the Dinos!! John Noakes, Patch the dog, and Freda the tortoise arrived by boat. Freda is introduced to an incorrectly-shelled, Dicynodon, John misidentifies the Megalosaurus, and a picnic (allegedly prepared by Valerie Singleton..) is had by the Iguanodons..

It's nice to see us get a link in the Guardian editorial from last week - that also features our friend @chrismanias.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What Did Dinosaurs Actually Look Like? www.thamesandhudson.com/blogs/all-ne... #SciArt #SciComm #PaleoArt #PalaeoArt #Dinosaurs #Dinosaurs #Paleontology #Plaeontology #JurassicWorld

Ahead of Jurassic Park Rebirth finally going on general release, here's our final hybrid/mutant creation.. The "Pterodactyles" spooked some of the viewing public back when the Sydenham Crystal Palace opened, who likened them to flying crocodiles. Here, we put that to the test..

Happy #WorldAsteroidDay At events, we’ve been asked by kids if dinosaurs would have seen THE asteroid before it hit LOTS of assumptions, but a 10km object coming in at 45° would hit the atmosphere 200km away, so its angular size would be ~3° - approx 5x the size of the moon - before hell begins..

And because I love this stuff, here are scale models of two of the @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social, plus an absolutely fabulous illustration that went with them.

Ahead of the impending conservation work, here’s a series of “then and now” comparisons - using the original photos taken by Philip Henry Delamotte between 1853-1855, and the equivalent vistas from today! Note the “tent” for the Dinos yet to be finished in the 2nd old pic, and the bare scenery..

“La Domenica del Corriere” was a popular Italian weekly newspaper, which ran from 1899 to 1989. It became well known for its dramatic full-colour front and back covers, and this from 20th November 1955 was no exception.. “Horrible monsters in London..” (full translation in the ALT text)

We *think* that the paths around the Secondary/reptile island, and the boating lake itself, will finally start being fenced off from early next week..🤞