Everything Dinosaur’s Top Ten Blog Posts of 2013

As we move towards the end of the year, it is time to reflect on all the work put into the writing of this blog by Everything Dinosaur team members.  Over the last twelve months or so, a further 369 articles have been published on this blog and just for a bit of fun we thought it would be interesting to look at the top ten most popular articles posted.

Everything Dinosaur

How we have calculated the most popular web log articles is based on a combination of factors such as total number of comments placed, number of emails received, requests for further information, Facebook likes, Google pluses and of course things like re-pins and the posting up of our work onto other platforms.  Naturally, we have tried our best to remove any bias from the listings.  For example, an article posted up in January has more chance of getting into the list compared to a feature put up much more recently.

The top ten certainly cover a variety of subjects.  Naturally, there was a lot of interest in articles to do with Everything Dinosaur model reviews, or news of 2014 additions to model collections but lots of dinosaur themed and palaeontology based topics get into our top ten list.

Top Ten Most Popular Blog Posts

So without any further fuss, here is the top ten blog articles for 2013.

10).  News of Papo’s new model releases for 2014 just sneaks into our countdown, the article posted up just a few days ago has attracted a great deal of interest as Papo state that an Archaeopteryx, a baby Triceratops and a Dilophosaurus dinosaur model are going to be included in their model range next year.  We at Everything Dinosaur, already knew about these introductions some time ago, we assisted on the pics and we have already committed to stocks.  Next meeting with Papo is in three weeks so we can provide more information after that.  To view the article: New from Papo for 2014.

9).  ‘The discovery of a new dinosaur genus on the island of Madagascar, the first for a number of years, comes in at number nine.  The dinosaur discovered is a member of the abelisaurid, theropod dinosaurs it has been named Dahalokely tokana.  To read the article, which was originally published back in April: New Dinosaur Discovery Made in Madagascar.

8).  We shoot forward to the Miocene for our next entry, a remarkable story of the discovery of a prehistoric lizard preserved in amber.  Insects, pollen yes, but a lizard preserved in fossilised tree resin, this was an amazing discovery, one that generated a lot of interest and emailed comments and requests for more information when we wrote about this astonishing fossil find in July: Miocene Lizard Preserved in Amber.

7).  New research into dinosaurs’ paternal habits and behaviours makes it lucky number seven for the Dinosauria in our top ten.  The article, which postulated that the males may not have played a very significant role in brooding the young was published on the Everything Dinosaur web log in May: Dinosaurs as Devoted Dads?

6).  The latest research into that “Terror Bird” – Gastornis just misses out on our top five articles for 2013.  The article reviewed new data postulating that Gastornis may well have been herbivorous.  The article published in September, builds on earlier research that Everything Dinosaur reported upon back in 2012: Isotope Research suggests that Gastornis was a Herbivore.

5).  Team members get lots of feedback from model collectors and dinosaur fans on their model reviews (both written and the video reviews).  Into our top five goes this very popular review of the Papo Carnotaurus model introduced in February of this year.  The video has had over fifteen thousand video views on Youtube.  You can see the video review of the Papo Carnotaurus dinosaur model below:

Everything Dinosaur’s Review of the Papo Carnotaurus Dinosaur Model

Video credit: Everything Dinosaur

4).  All the way back to January 2013, for our number four, an article on some of the latest research from the Lark Quarry site with its multitude of dinosaur tracks.  This new study suggests that the tracks were not made on land at all, but they were created as the various dinosaurs made their way through a body of water: Dinosaurs not Stampeding but Swimming?

Swimming Dinosaurs Down Under?

Dinosaurs going for a dip!

Picture credit: Anthony Romilio

3).  Into our top three and CollectA’s announcement regarding new model releases next year (2014) gets the bronze medal position.  CollectA’s strategy was to make several announcements over many weeks, as Everything Dinosaur has a very close working relationship with this company we were one of the very first to publish information.  Our blog posts got picked up and used in many forums and other sites and we received lots of comments and feedback.  The article in question was published towards the end of November: New Prehistoric Animal Models from CollectA.

Bistahieversor – One of the New Models Coming (Summer 2014)

New for Summer 2014.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

2).  Riding high at number two and just being pipped at the post as it were, comes a blog post about new model releases from Safari Ltd, posted in early September.  The article can be viewed here: Safari Ltd Announces a Number of New Model Introductions for 2014.

Our blog post showed pictures of the new Pachyrhinosaurus dinosaur model (see below), as well as images of the very striking theropod dinosaurs Monolophosaurus and Suchomimus.  Looks like dinosaur model collectors are going to have a busy year next year.

New Ceratopsian Dinosaur Model – Pachyrhinosaurus to be Introduced by Safari Ltd Next Year

Horned dinosaur from Safari Ltd new for 2014.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Safari Ltd

1).  So what is the number one, the article that came out on top of our 360 plus articles published on the blog this year?  Ironically, our top post is related to the “Post” as Everything Dinosaur’s work on the Royal Mail stamp set featuring 150 years of British palaeontology and geology takes top spot.

Everything Dinosaur was contacted by Royal Mail to provide technical input into the project.  Our team members furnished Royal Mail with information on the various prehistoric animals featured on the set of first class stamps. The article originally published in October, can be viewed here: Royal Mail Issues New Set of Prehistoric Animal Stamps.

British Prehistoric Animals Celebrated on Royal Mail Stamps

A set of first class stamps.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Royal Mail

Everything Dinosaur team members often get asked to help out with dinosaur themed projects, our work with Royal Mail must have been “first class”, as we received lots of comments, feedback and emails about this work.  We even got a set of the special stamps included within a special presentation folder.

So there you have it, our top ten blog posts for 2013, look out for more articles in the next twelve months or so.  No doubt 2014 will provide us with a huge array of dinosaur discoveries, new models, amazing fossil finds, museum exhibitions and so on to write about.

The Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.