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Vintage Dinosaur Art: Dinosaurs (a Little Golden Book) 

After so many trips back to the '80s and '90s, it's good to return to a book that's properly vintage. Dinosaurs was number 355 in the impressively diverse Little Golden Book series from Golden Press of New York, and was published in 1959. It was a simpler time, when a kids' dinosaur book could be purchased for a mere 25 cents, and palaeoart consisted of lush forests, erupting volcanoes, and giant lizards...all too literally.For you see, while the illustrator William de J. Rutherfoord was [...]

A 4th grade quiz on dinosaurs that the teacher would have given me an “F” on 

Here is a quiz on “Dinosaurs: Genesis and the Gospel” given to fourth graders at a South Carolina Christian school: The quiz was based on material from Answers in Genesis. Atheists and skeptics, of course, have made much of this quiz since it was first posted on the internet a few weeks ago. Christians are

Vintage Dinosaur Art: Dinosaurs - A Picture Dictionary 

Today's featured book is 1990's Dinosaurs: A Picture Dictionary. Featuring evocative artwork by Tessa Hamilton, it features a welcome variety of animals due to its alphabetical imperative - an organizing theme which also forgives some temporally and geographically questionable pairings of animals. It also just so happens to be the book I chose for Mike Keesey as his prize for his second place showing in the LITC All Yesterdays contest. It begins with a brief introduction to dinosaurs, set [...]

Mesozoic Miscellany 59 

Plenty of news about Jurassic Park 4 lately, with the latest latest news being that it might not be happening any time soon. Still, it's inspired a nice flurry of writing among our blogging comrades, and that's a good thing. Matt Martyniuk at DinoGoss wrote about it, with this nice turn of phrase: "it's a bit sad that JP has eaten its own tail and become the self-perpetuating font of inaccurate science the original film was designed to destroy." Andrea Cau doesn't really care either way, and [...]

Stuart Sumida interview at AWN 

At last year’s FMX, I had the honor of interviewing Stuart Sumida, paleontologist consultant to the animation and vfx world, anatomy professor and all-around extraordinary science outreach. I know I should also mention lover of Dimetrodons and dinosaurs , and fantastic person, but you’ve got to draw the line somewhere. The interviews are available at

Anklyosaurs Were More Diverse Than Previously Thought In the Late Cretaceous 

Euoplocephalus tutus and the Diversity of Ankylosaurid Dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada, and Montana, USA Authors: 1. Victoria M. Arbour (a) 2. Philip J. Currie (a) Affiliations: a. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Abstract: Few ankylosaurs are known from more than a single specimen, but

Cowboys, Dinosaurs & Evolution – A tribute to Ray Harryhausen 

“The Valley of Gwangi“* (1969) is considered one of the most notable prehistoric-monster-movies of all times – this fame is based on the unusual story (adapted from a script by special effects pioneer Willis “King-Kong” O’Brien) but more so on the stunning creature effects featured in the movie and produced by special effects legend Ray

Who Becomes Dominant After a Mass Extinction? 

“These scientists have identified an outcome of mass extinctions–that species ecologically marginalized before the extinction may be ‘freed up’ to experience evolutionary bursts then dominate after the extinction.” Quote from H. Richard Lane, Program Director, National Science

Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie 

Ceratopsia triumphant! The international trailer for Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie is here, giving us our first good look of what to expect. Pachyrhinosaurus takes center stage here, and among the supporting cast are mighty Edmontosaurs, feathered Troodons, and a few big nasty theropods. No Wittonesque shaggy coats or bristly bits on the Pachyrhinosaurs, but it's going to look mighty pretty. Guess I'll have to get over my aversion to 3D. I'm feeling pretty stoked. This is exactly the [...]

AGATHAUMAS: Palaeobotany Book Review 

Popular books featuring palaeobotany are few and far between. I have a cherished copy of Douglas Henderson’s Dinosaur Tree – a wonderful portrait of the life of a tree, with dinosaurs reduced to passersby. (Want to make a documentary, anyone?) So I was pleasantly surprised to encounter Fabio Manucci’s review of this and another book

Vintage Dinosaur Art: more from The How and Why Wonder Book of Dinosaurs 

Yes, it's back! After the rapturous reception it received last time, a return to the glorious How & Why Wonder world seemed absolutely necessary - vital, even. This was, after all, the "terrible, terrible book" that proved to be a key source of childhood inspiration for a number of celebrated palaeontologists. Also, how could I have left out this disturbingly anthropomorphic creature last time...?Why, "Trachodon", if it weren't for your alarmingly flattened facial features, you would be [...]

Walking with Dinosaurs! 

Last week was the Birmingham premiere of the best show currently touring the UK right now – Walking With Dinosaurs! In a word, it was AWESOME! The T-rex below, for example, actually had me a bit scared! The sound, man… … Continue reading

Premiered This Day (1981): Caveman 

imageDirected by Carl Gottlieb and starring Ringo Starr, this film is probably best known for introducing Starr to his future wife, Barbara Bach. Famed Animator Jim Danforth oversaw the creation of the dinosaurs. A more interesting film with overtones of The Creature From The Black Lagoon (0:57) is Island of the Fish Men, also starring

Vintage Dinosaur Art: Dreaming of Dinosaurs 

Have you ever dreamt of dinosaurs? John Rice surely did, and was thus inspired to write a fine book of poetry about them. Fortunately, his poems tend to be either jolly whimsies or meditations on the meaning and significance of dinosaurs in a temporal context - as opposed to being incomprehensibly surreal and containing psychosexual themes that, on waking reflection, have terrifying implications for one's mental wellbeing (or is that just me?). In line with the mix of tone in the poems, Charles [...]

All Yesterdays Contest Gallery 

A few months ago, the folks here at LITC announced a contest. It was not your ordinary All Yesterdays Contest, though it had those words in the title. Rather, we wanted our contest to reflect the length and breadth of artistic style, as well as offering up new ideas about prehistoric organisms.Well, the wait is mostly over. Our three winners will be announced in a few days. The following is a gallery filled with the fantastic runners up. Below are pieces that draw from all kinds of [...]

My 2nd Pair of Reviews 

As an Art Evolved member, I post a pair of my reviews here every month or so, the 1st being positive & the 2nd being negative. I'd really appreciate it if you'd read said reviews & vote "Yes" for them in the bolded links below. Besides wanting to make sure said reviews give a good idea of what to expect, they need all the "Yes" votes they can get because 1) the 1st is for a very good book that deserves more attention, & 2) the 2nd is outnumbered by opposing reviews (which don't give [...]

Nine-Year-Old Applies for Museum Curator Job 

“Museum CEO George Sparks says along with all the resumes he got from Ph.D.s there was one applicant with just a third-grade education. [...] Along with his hand-written, three-page cover letter, he attached a letter of recommendation from his

Vintage Dinosaur Art: The How and Why Wonder Book of Dinosaurs 

Very, very occasionally, when the planets in the Solar System arrange themselves in an apparently haphazard, but in fact entirely co-ordinated and precise pattern, a truly superb and genuinely vintage dinosaur book appears, like a distant, glittering jewel, over the eBay horizon. (The rest of the time, I buy any old rubbish from the '80s and you get lousy filler posts.) The How and Why Wonder Book of Dinosaurs is just such a book. It's also no less than the first dinosaur book owned by a [...]

Popular ELI in March 2013 - Dinosaur footprints 

We have just published the statistics for March 2013. The results can be seen at 'ELI in the world'. At the beginning of each month we publish an Earthlearningidea that has been popular during the previous month. In March, it was 'The meeting of the dinosaurs - 100 million years ago'. This activity is about interpreting the evidence given by dinosaur footprints. At first pupils think

Good, Semi-good, and Bad Dino Sources 

This post was inspired by Holtz's "A Dinosaur Lover's Bookshelf" article ( http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/book-reviews/16928013/dinosaur-lovers-bookshelf ). It's nothing formal, just a list of what I (as a non-expert dino fan) think are especially notable dino sources (for better or worse) & why. Even still, I hope that at least some of you will get something out of it. 2 more things of note: 1) Just in case you were wondering, the sources aren't listed in any particular order; 2) [...]