My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

In 2024 I designed the Ice Age Giants coin series, for the The Royal Mint and the Natural History Museum, London. The first coin to be released featured Mammuthus trogontheri, the steppe mammoth.

Happy 83rd birthday to #MeaveLeakey! Read all about her in Sediments of Time, an inspiring autobiography full of scientific detail where she reflects on a fulfilling career in #Palaeoanthropology

https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2021/03/10/book-review-the-sediments-of-time-my-lifelong-search-for-the-past/

On July 5, Tako Koning led a trip to Knudsen’s Farm near Huxley, AB, to view the K-Pg extinction layer! After a talk in town, we hiked to see the layer up close, then visited Dry Island Buffalo Jump Park for lunch, where the layer is also visible on the bluffs. A great start to the field trip season!

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

In 2024 I designed the Ice Age Giants coin series, for the The Royal Mint and the Natural History Museum, London. One of the coins featured the steppe mammoth, it was a time to reflect on how long I'd been drawing very dead things!

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

Into 2024 with a new version of "Elevenses," featuring Sinosauropteryx, for the cover of Vertebrate Palaeontology, Fifth Edition, by Prof Michael J. Benton.

Ancient 247-million-year-old 'wonderous reptile' had a feather-like crest
By Ellen Phiddian

A strange crest found on ancient reptile fossils suggests birds and dinosaurs may not have the exclusive lock on feather-like features.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-07-24/triassic-reptile-crest-feathers-mirasaura-evolution-discovery/105560422

Fossil limb ends suggest a shift from tree-dwelling to ground-dwelling mammals at the end of the Cretaceous, possibly due to the rise of flowering plants. That shift may have helped our ancestors survive the dino-killing asteroid!

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pala.70004

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

My last project of 2023, a historical reconstruction of the lost Crystal Palace Palaeotherium, sculpted by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, and unveiled in 1854. This was commissioned by Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, with guidance from Natural History Museum, London & @markwitton.Part 5 of 5.

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

My last project of 2023, a historical reconstruction of the lost Crystal Palace Palaeotherium, sculpted by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, and unveiled in 1854. This was commissioned by Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, with guidance from Natural History Museum, London & @markwitton. Part 4 of 5.

If I were going to pen such an article I would first learn that the fossils Mary Anning used to sell in order to survive were not, in fact, dinosaurs.

I would also have first learnt that just because this has happened in the past doesn't de facto mean it isn't wrong in the here and now.

If you didn't know, now you know... Slash is a palaeontology fan.

"Dean Lomax has written a fantastic book that is as educational as it is entertaining. It’s one of the most fun nonfiction dinosaur books I’ve read."

Pre-order THE SECRET LIVES OF DINOSAURS now, written by Dr Dean Lomax, illustrated by Bob Nicholls.
Coming September 2025.

Dr. Caron will be presenting a public talk on the Burgess Shale at Telus Spark Science Centre on August 6, 2025 from 11:00am - 12:00pm.  This is his only talk in Calgary during his visit this summer and should be fascinating. More details shortly.

For more information please email david@burgess-shale.bc.ca.

A very special opportunity to hike to the Walcott Quarry with Dr. Caron.  We have a very limited number of spots left on this once-in-a-lifetime hike on August 2, 2025.

This hike is not available to book through the website; please email david@ burgess-shale.bc.ca if you would
like to join us or would like further information. Hike leaves from Field, BC, at 8:30am Aug 2, 2025. (23km, 8-10 hr) Regular rates and conditions apply.

Dr. Caron’s bio: https://www.rom.on.ca/people/jean-bernard-caron

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

My last project of 2023, a historical reconstruction of the lost Crystal Palace Palaeotherium, sculpted by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, and unveiled in 1854. This was commissioned by Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, with guidance from Natural History Museum, London & @markwitton. Part 1 of 5.

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

My last project of 2023, a historical reconstruction of the lost Crystal Palace Palaeotherium, sculpted by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, and unveiled in 1854. This was commissioned by Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, with guidance from Natural History Museum, London & @markwitton. Part 1 of 5.

Applications for the Leanne Armand award are now open. This award funds early and mid-career researchers based in Australia to access training in micropaleonotology. Applications are due 28th September, all details can be found on the AQUA website: https://aqua.org.au/sample-page/the-leanne-armand-travel-award/

#LostBones #FossilFriday In the summer of 2012, students from the Geology Department at Gustavus Adolphus College collected over 800 bones on the Des Moines River near Jackson, Minnesota.

This crunchy but beautiful left horse femur was part of the project and is now housed at the Jackson County Historical Society in Lakefield.

Jackson County: http://www.jchsmn.org
Lost Bones: https://medium.com/@dbrake40

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

Here are my 3D sculpt design drawings for the 2023 DINOSAUR CELEBRITIES coin series. The first T. rex design was considered too feathered. Designed for The Royal Mint and Natural History Museum, London.

My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...

Here are the skeletal illustrations for the acrylic blocks from the 2023 DINOSAUR CELEBRITIES coin series. I designed them for The Royal Mint and Natural History Museum, London.