“Prehistoric Times” (Issue 114 Summer 2015) Reviewed

An opportunity to unwind from our busy Summer Term schedule of dinosaur workshops, writing lesson plans for schools and so forth with the latest edition of the quarterly magazine “Prehistoric Times”, that dropped through our office letterbox earlier this week. The timing of this super magazine’s arrival could not have been better as next week our fieldwork and summer school commitments start, so let’s jump straight in.

“Prehistoric Times”

Naturally the summer has been a very “dino heavy” one, what with the release of a certain film starring Chris Pratt et al.  “Prehistoric Times” does not disappoint, the editor Mike Fredericks, takes time out from his own busy schedule to provide a short review of “Jurassic World” and to discuss the huge range of collectibles and other merchandise that have flooded onto the market.  The focus is on the American market, but the article is well written and we loved his short, concise movie review:

“Plenty of dinosaurs and plenty of action.”

We could not have put it better ourselves,  just be careful, if you haven’t seen the film yet, the article does have a plot synopsis and therefore it contains a few spoilers.  With Universal Studios having announced a sequel, conveniently (at least until a better title comes along), entitled “Jurassic World 2” scheduled for June 22nd 2018, or thereabouts, we can expect Mike to provide another merchandise overview but this time in issue PT#126!

The Front Cover of “Prehistoric Times” (Issue 114)

Concavenator features (Sean Cooper).

Picture credit: Mike Fredericks/Prehistoric Times

Concavenator on the Front Cover

The front cover features a spectacular model of Concavenator (C. corcovatus) created by the very talented Sean Cooper.  A lengthy interview provides an insight into Sean’s work and showcases some of his amazing dioramas (built/painted by Martin Garratt).  If you look carefully you can spot another Concavenator replica by Sean but with a different colour scheme inside the magazine.

Phil Hore provides part two (a sequel)? to his excellent series on the resurrected Brontosaurus and there is some wonderful reader’s artwork on display.   Special mentions to Kurt Miller, Julius Csotonyi and Russell J. Hawley for their contributions.

Tracy Lee Ford keeps us in the Morrison Formation as he explains how to tell the boys and girls apart when it comes to the Stegosauridae.  A very insightful article it is too.  He draws upon the recently published paper on Hesperosaurus, a summary of which you can find here: Did Boy Stegosaurs Have Bigger Plates Than The Girls? If you want to know the difference between different stegosaur species this article is a great place to start.  Also, look out for a short review of Tracy’s “How to Draw Dinosaurs Volume 1” in the book review section.

The Enigmatic Auroch

The enigmatic Auroch features, a prehistoric cow responsible for more human fatalities than the whole of the Dinosauria, no matter what you might see at the cinema.  Phil Hore does a great job in explaining what the Auroch was and reports on the potential to make this bovine “de-extinct”.  He even manages to squeeze a photograph in of a few Nazis, you have to subscribe to “Prehistoric Times” to learn about this historical connection.

Amongst all the dinosaur and fossil news, look out for Britain’s Mike Howgate and his feature on the Wisbech Museum and the story of perhaps the very first prehistoric animal models ever made.  Nice one Mike, keep flying the flag for those of us on this side of the Atlantic, after all, the word Dinosauria was first coined by a Lancastrian!

A T. rex Autopsy

The National Geographic Channel’s recent documentary “T. rex Autopsy”, is featured with a very informative interview with palaeontologist Matthew T. Mossbrucker and look out for an imaginative and well-written story all about Tyrannosaurus rex – The Super Predator written by Mike Kelley.

Eagle-eyed fans of Everything Dinosaur will also be able to spot a number of familiar drawings of prehistoric animals in the What’s New in Review section.  These drawings are some of the illustrations that we commission editor Mike Fredericks to create for us to illustrate our exclusive range of prehistoric animal fact sheets.

Can you Spot the Rebor Utahraptor (Wind Hunter) Illustration

The illustration on the Everything Dinosaur Utahraptor fact sheet.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

For further information on Prehistoric Times and to subscribe to this excellent magazine: Prehistoric Times Magazine.

 As ever, this is a jam-packed edition with so many highlights.  Fans of Marx toy dinosaurs won’t be disappointed as will anyone with a passing interest in Acrocanthosaurus and a special mention to Allen A. Debus for his fascinating article on the first representations of evolution in the cinema and the legal spat between Willis O’Brien and Herbert M. Dawley, that occurred at a time when stop-motion triumphs such as the Lost World and King Kong had yet to be made.

The Utahraptor illustration in this article (above) was inspired by the Rebor model range.  To view this exciting range of replicas: Rebor Models and Replicas.

All in all great stuff!