New episode of #TerribleLizards is out with @richardfallon.bsky.social talking about Crichton, Conan Doyle, and #dinosaurs in literature. terriblelizards.libsyn.com/tls12e02-1

This is Megatherium. A species that was up to 10x the size of living sloths and weighed up to four tonnes (similar to a bull elephant). On its hind legs, Megatherium americanum would have stood 12 feet tall. 😮

I had a few errands to run at London's Natural History Museum this morning. There is so much amazing stuff there I always notice and appreciate something new, so here's a thread on things I saw...

birding in the Americas is so much fun In the UK, a small bird is probably a Wren or a Goldcrest. Over here: “McGarnagle’s Cinnamon-encrusted Beetlebasher”

On this day, 202 years ago, the first non-avian dinosaur got its scientific name: Megalosaurus William Buckland named Megalosaurus (and his wife Mary illustrated the dinosaur) based on a few bones, including a lower jaw with a really big, sharp tooth sticking out in the middle

A small thread about this Mexican monument that commemorates the most significant single event in the history of the planet (plus, the surrounding area - and criticism of Werner Herzog (sorry)) 🧵 1/

Buenas tardes from the monument in the market square at Chicxulub!

#DarwinDay “Prize Cats at the Crystal Palace Show”, 1875 Sadly, we have no record of Charles Darwin ever seeing the Dinos, BUT he was a patron of the annual cat show 🤷 and attended a poultry show on 11/08/1857, and “returned rather soured in temper” (www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docI...)

Why this new 'spiny dragon' dinosaur found in China is such a huge deal ... a new article at Discover Wildlife www.discoverwildlife.com/dinosaurs/ha... #dinosaurs

Born OTD in 1807: Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, the designer and creator of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs! Seen here, embossed in gold, on the 1875 book: “Sketches of Creation : A Popular View of Some of the Grand Conclusions of the Sciences in Reference to the History of Matter and of Life” 1/2

Have been reading Bollocks to Alton Towers by @gralefrit.bsky.social & co - better late than never! Much to love (& have visited many of the attractions), but the most interesting thing is the transformation in the fortunes of the Crystal Palace dinosaurs @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social over the 20 yrs.

Yes, yes - we know - Iguanodon, Iguanodontid, etc - but we couldn't help ourselves (original reconstruction by Fabio Manucci)

Finally, another fuzzy ornithischian: www.nature.com/articles/s41.... This is a big deal for dinosaur #paleoart, confirming some of what we've been doing for a while now, but also showing that we've probably underestimated how weird the integuments of these animals could be.

Art from a contemporary promotion for "THE LOST WORLD" (1925). #kaiju #Sizesky #fantasy #silentmovie #dinosaur #movieposter

"As much mud in the streets as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth, and it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus, forty feet long or so, waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill." 'Bleak House', Charles Dickens, 1852 #WyrdWednesday #BookChatWeekly

“A Sawrian”, by John Scott, 1936. Gideon Mantell on a mantelpiece!!

Born on this day in 1790: Gideon Mantell! Here, the Crystal Palace Iguanodon and Hylaeosaurus gaze upon their most famous fossil specimens, and ponder what might have been - if the quarrymen had just placed the gunpowder a little bit to the left in each instance..

February 3, 1790, birthday of British geologist Gideon Algernon Mantell, who was quite puzzled by strange fossils found in 1822, investing years o find out what it was ...

💖

We’re obsessed with this Tylosaurus from the Saint-Vrain Zoological Park, South of Paris, that opened in the mid-1970s and closed in 1999. The site has remained in an abandoned state, and it seems that this and various other prehistoric statues are still there!

A really interesting afternoon yesterday on Dinosaur Island, and the soon-to-be-reopened Crystal Palace Museum We’re thrilled to be involved in some of the conservation work, and also something very secret and exciting 👇

The Country of the Iguanodon 2: No Country for Old Iguanodons

Monday.. 1/3

An incredible, trippy daydream from 1889 - artist unknown(?) - from the book “The Story Of Man: A History Of The Human Race”, by J. W. Buel There are a few Crystal Palace and Crystal Palace-adjacent creatures here, including the classic depiction of a horned Iguanodon from decades earlier! 1/2

👇 A fantastic thread 👇

Ah, old newspaper research.. The Leighton Buzzard Observer, 02/09/1890: a worrying start, but ends with: “However galling this conclusion may appear to man's self-esteem…it is with extreme pleasure that I find science proclaiming the intellectual superiority of the much calumniated sex - Woman”

The book "Palaeontology in Public" is one year old today! 🦣🦖🦕🎂🎉 We've apparently had 7,756 downloads (!!), so many thanks to @uclpress.bsky.social for publishing it and making it open access, and to all the contributors, and to everyone who has read it so far

Today (Jan 21st) is the day... TWO DECADES of Tetrapod Zoology. We start with a review of what went down in 2025... it was quite a busy year. Huge thanks to everyone who visits, reads and leaves comments at Tet Zoo, and especially those who assist with efforts. tetzoo.com/blog/2026/1/...

Geology for the win! 👇👇👇

Last week, we had a high-vis and hard hat venture behind the restoration project fencing in Crystal Palace Park and saw the current state of affairs with some of the sculptures As ever, the Crystal Palace Park Trust updates page has the latest: www.crystalpalaceparktrust.org/pages/regene...

Coprolites aren't my favourite type of fossil, but they're a solid #2.

A visit to the Grant Museum of Zoology was very cathartic today - a lot of the creatures appeared to be venting their frustrations with current affairs..

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Supermantellisaurus! (if you want to get into all that...)

“They can be a great people, Igg-Don - they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you...” Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins (probably), 1854

Park update: many of the sculptures remain unopened after Xmas. Or perhaps these are coccoons or chrysalis (We don’t thing chrystalpalisalis will catch on..)

Happy New Year everyone To start things off, we’re very happy to announce that WHY DINOSAURS? - the amazing, award-winning 2024 documentary “about dinosaurs and the people who love them” that we were a part of - is now available to watch for FREE! @whydinosaurs.bsky.social www.whydinosaurs.com

Well, if it’s 31 December, it’s... yes, of course: 172nd anniversary of the dinner Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, creator of the Crystal Palace dinosaurs, gave for 21 leading academics and other VIPs inside the Iguanodon

The @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social are in the news: BBC News - Seeing in the new year with dinner in a #dinosaur www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

IguanoDon Corleone 👌

From a photo taken recently by @lukespillane.bsky.social We’re not sure what vibes we are getting from this. A boxer? Artist’s muse? Superhero? Grieving war widow??

Another delightful ICYMI - the dinosaurs of Crystal Palace get a new lease of life - great piece here from FT mag on the history of this crazy Victorian project (many hours of my SE London childhood spent staring at a muddy member of the troupe) www.ft.com/content/2451...

Wishing all our friends, followers, and well-wishers a peaceful and relaxing few days ahead x

Rounding off the year with a nice local story about the 'Crystal Palace Dinosaurs': their past and present, their exalted place in the history of science, and the latest project to conserve them for future generations - in today's @ftweekend.com. as.ft.com/r/aa778cba-5...

Have you finished wrapping your dinosaurs yet?

Christmas in (a very ancient) Dorset

Did you know that on Christmas Day, it is perfectly acceptable to raise a glass and remember the dinosaurs In the "Cosmic Calendar", a way to visualise the entire history of the universe by compressing it into a calendar year, the first dinosaur would appear on December 25th (at approx midday) 1/3

Hi all. The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs are the subject of a fantastic article, by Henry Wismayer, in today’s FT Magazine. We are proud to have advised, and be featured in it. We’re lead to believe that it is Christmas soon, so here’s a free link - our gift to you all xx as.ft.com/r/aa778cba-5...

Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, 1962, getting into the Christmas spirit

We’re going live to our reporters at the Iguanodon model on the roof of the brand new Gail’s Bakery in Crystal Palace..

Iguanodon ✅ Megatherium ✅