Also did New Forest birding early this morning. Redwing, Song thrush, Marsh tit and Long-tailed tit and not much else BUT I did have a close-up encounter with a woodcock... alas, no photos!

Morning birding in a tiny scrap of woodland at the eastern edge of Southampton. Always good to see (and hear) nuthatch.

A substantial insight into the building of an 'alternative timeline dinosaurs' scene now up at the Tet Zoo patreon.... www.patreon.com/c/TetZoo

Massive book review SUBMITTED. It might be the longest book review I've written, and I've written a lot.

Confirmation provided by merlin app. Blue tits and magpies nearby too, obviously. I added alt text to video but it's not showing, grr.

I was saying recently that kinglets - both goldcrests and firecrests - are regular denizens of the crappy overbuilt suburbia where I live. Here's confirmation: a goldcrest singing and filmed from the plants at the front of my property. Aaand....

Proof that the creatures of #Avatar have been responsible for bringing some new visitors to Tet Zoo. The article in question is here... tetzoo.com/blog/2022/12...

Weird vintage dinosaurs acquired today.

A substantial insight into the building of an 'alternative timeline dinosaurs' scene now up at the Tet Zoo patreon.... www.patreon.com/c/TetZoo

Dinosaurs of A House of Dynamite. Two unidentified brachiosaurs, the Papo 55001 T. rex and a UKRD Dilophosaurus.

Dinosaur intelligence commentary AND latest Cretaceous spinosaurid response articles are both out, but no time yet to report or discuss. Thoughts coming I promise.

A vernacular plural for Parasaurolophus species or individuals would be parasaurolophs. It cannot be parasaurs because that would apply to species or individuals of Parasaurus (which is a pareiasaur). In other words, don't use 'parasaur' for parasaurolophs.

Weird vintage dinosaurs acquired today.

Night in the suburbs. By creatively cropping I can make the surrounds look more interesting than they actually are.

It's finally been cold enough for frost, and ice on the pond. We've literally had two below-zero nights here over the winter... two. Luckily the frogs are still not beginning their breeding cycle here in Dec/early Jan but they ARE elsewhere across the region: Cornwall had spawn on 2nd December!

I worried about our House jumping spider finding enough food so I bought some fruit flies for him. Ultimately I bought him an enclosure. Not because I _want_ to contain him, but because I want him to be safe. He immediately escaped though (got out through one of the tiny ventilation holes).

For the record, before stopping work for Christmas I was at the 50% word count mark for my next book (to be finished early 2027). That's terrible news, since I still have months of writing and research to do. Word count limits always approach way too quickly in my line of work.

I was saying recently that kinglets - both goldcrests and firecrests - are regular denizens of the crappy overbuilt suburbia where I live. Here's confirmation: a goldcrest singing and filmed from the plants at the front of my property. Aaand....

I have about eight pages to finish (give or take, I keep re-working things) of this damn book. It’s taken almost 2 years of my life to complete. I could use any words of encouragement you’ve got to get me over the finish line.

tapping the sign again #art

Don’t you quite a few stegosaurs?

The Distortus rex figure made for Jurassic World Rebirth is not selling. No-one buys it. So I'm glad I held off as it's only a matter of time before it's remaindered.

Just back from seeing #AvatarFireAndAsh - loved it, and oh boy are there amazing moments involving creature design, hats off to the creatives :) Here are spoiler-free images relevant to events...

Just back from seeing #AvatarFireAndAsh - loved it, and oh boy are there amazing moments involving creature design, hats off to the creatives :) Here are spoiler-free images relevant to events...

They have arrived. No time yet to read anything but they look pretty good. New from Princeton University Press. #dinosaurs #books

A discussion of #Avatar creatures I published following the release of the FIRST film back in 2009. So, no discussion of the newer animals from #AvatarWayofWater and #AvatarFireandAsh. But I hope you enjoy it anyway... tetzoo.com/blog/2022/12...

A discussion of #Avatar creatures I published following the release of the FIRST film back in 2009. So, no discussion of the newer animals from #AvatarWayofWater and #AvatarFireandAsh. But I hope you enjoy it anyway... tetzoo.com/blog/2022/12...

They have arrived. No time yet to read anything but they look pretty good. New from Princeton University Press. #dinosaurs #books

The House crab spider that lived in the bathroom has disappeared. But now this is there - a totally new species for me, Anyphaena, the buzzing spider! Yes they do make an audible buzzing.

Loooong book review went to three reviewers, despite irreverence it passed the trials :) Fingers crossed on the _next_ one, as it's very odd...

For more on the increasingly wibbly wobbly world of mysterious monsters, follow @sharonahill.bsky.social, @charlespaxton4.bsky.social, @tetzoo.bsky.social, and the MonsterTalk podcast (and others!)

Dek beloved, I'm coming

Evening in the woods

Jon Favreau sent me a Christmas present.. again. Truly he's a fantastic person and it's been great to work with him :) Oh, and watch #PrehistoricPlanetIceAge on Apple TV.

I was reading a book today and was reminded of this (from a recent Tetrapod Zoology article)...

Tetrapod Zoology 20th birthday coming up in late January 2026. There will be a zoom event for those interested.

Looking for a new start in 2026? We are recruiting for three great job opportunities. Come and join the team and help achieve our vision of a world rich in wildlife where bats and people thrive together. Deadline for applying is 12th January 2026. To find out more: www.bats.org.uk/the-trust/jo... 🦇

Finding some bat species are photoluminescent in ultraviolet is one remarkable discovery for 2025. We had a feature on this in Spring 2025 issue of our membership magazine, Bat News. To discover more about #bats 🦇 and help bat conservation join today www.bats.org.uk/support-bats... #BatYearReview

Tetrapod Zoology 20th birthday coming up in late January 2026. There will be a zoom event for those interested.

Step 1

Merry Christmas, here's a non-Lord of the Rings usage of "fell beast" by a Victorian paleontologist via @tetzoo.bsky.social Wondering if this was a stock phrase around Tolkien's era. If you ever got pranked by an Australian about "dropbears" they're real, just very extinct #prehistoricplaneticeage

Help the SciArt Feed 🐡 reach 5,000 subscribers! The intersection of art & science. No generative AI, no NFTs; a curated Feed of great visual art by skilled people. 🧡 Please share, pin & like today:

Thank you so much for having me @robinince.bsky.social and friends!

Did you know this fact from paleoecologist Emily Lindsey? She and fellow scientific consultant @tetzoo.bsky.social share what went into getting "Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age" right: buff.ly/3gAzCGf

More inventory... I have a lot more pterosaurs than I thought.

Mesozoic Art 1 & 2 eds Steve White & Darren Naish

Finally made a start on a TetZooTowers_collection inventory, and box 1 was mostly sharks, rays and cephalopods.

Also pretty close to what #arksurvivalascended currently looks like. x) Merry Christmas!

Alrighty, who got #MesozoicArtII for Christmas? @sharkbitesteve.bsky.social and I hope you enjoy it :)

You will not regret turning the sound on