All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
5 03, 2018

Facts About Dinosaurs

By |2023-10-05T09:20:43+01:00March 5th, 2018|General Teaching, Key Stage 1/2|Comments Off on Facts About Dinosaurs

Dinosaur Facts

A visit to a school in the chilly south of the country to work with four groups of Year 4 children who have just started their topic for the second half of the Spring Term.  The spacious and well-appointed classrooms already had some dinosaur themed work on display.  Our fossil expert spotted a display board with some A4-sized print outs that had been posted up.  One of the Learning Support Assistants (LSA’s), explained that the facts had been pinned up in a diagonal shape, this would permit the children to look at the published facts, research whether they were accurate or not and post up their own findings either above or below.

Testing Dinosaur Facts (Published Facts About Dinosaurs)

A Colourful Dinosaur wall display. Facts about dinosaurs.
Everything Dinosaur team members are always impressed by school displays that feature dinosaurs and fossils. For example, these pupils produced a colourful dinosaur wall display during their term topic studying prehistoric animals. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/LHPA

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

Encouraging Independent Enquiry

The children were being challenged to conduct their own independent research to test the validity of the statements on the print outs.  Could they uncover evidence to either support or refute the statements (facts)?  The eager, young palaeontologists could then post up their responses either above or below the statements, the position on the wall indicating how much they agreed with the statement or how much they disagreed with the statement following their independent enquiries.  This would provide a visual display as well as giving a valuable lesson in working scientifically.

The Year 4 classes were being challenged to look for evidence, assess the validity of the evidence and either to support or refute the statements that had been posted up.

Facts About Dinosaurs

We wish the young scientists well with their endeavours, our fossil expert chatted to many of the children over the course of the day.  They were all enjoying their dinosaur and prehistoric animal term topic and many of the children already possessed a lot of knowledge about dinosaurs.  One confident learner explained in remarkable detail how the dinosaurs (non-avian dinosaurs), became extinct.

An eager dinosaur fan even asked could we come back when she was in Year 5?

For further information about Everything Dinosaur’s science outreach work: Email Everything Dinosaur.

4 03, 2018

Celebrating 300 School Blog Posts

By |2023-10-05T09:14:28+01:00March 4th, 2018|General Teaching|Comments Off on Celebrating 300 School Blog Posts

Everything Dinosaur Celebrates 300 School Blog Posts

Everything Dinosaur team members have posted up 300 articles onto their school blog!  Since we started this special “dinosaurs for schools” blog site, highlighting examples of excellent teaching and helping schools deliver lessons about dinosaurs, fossils, extinction and life in the past, we have steadily built up our collection of blog posts.  Today, we mark reaching the achievement of posting up number 300!

Everything Dinosaur Team Members Celebrate the Achievement of Reaching Blog Post Number Three Hundred

Everything Dinosaur dinosaur themed educational resources.
Teaching tips, articles, resources and free downloads. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

A Thank You from Everything Dinosaur

A special thank you to all the contributors who sent letters, drawings and other amazing prehistoric animal-themed items into our offices.  A big thanks to all the teachers, learning support assistants, senior leadership team members and parents who gave their permission for us to post up examples of children’s work.  We look forward to posting up another 300 articles featuring the various activities and extensions that come out of our dinosaur and fossil workshops.  A big thank you to all our “dinosaurs for schools” blog readers too, we really do appreciate all the feedback and comments that we receive and yes, we do read them all and we respond to all those that require a reply.

Next week, we have more dinosaur workshops to deliver and our team members have volunteered to answer questions about dinosaurs compiled by children in a Reception class located in North Wales, it should be another exciting and fascinating week at Everything Dinosaur.

Visit the award-winning, user-friendly Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

4 03, 2018

Celebrating 4,000 Blog Posts

By |2023-10-03T07:12:30+01:00March 4th, 2018|Adobe CS5, Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page, Press Releases|0 Comments

Everything Dinosaur Reaches Landmark of 4,000 Blog Posts

Team members at Everything Dinosaur are celebrating the landmark of having achieved 4,000 blog posts.  Since our first article was posted up in May 2007, a lot has happened in the world of palaeontology and the Earth sciences in general.  We have done our best to update readers on these exciting developments, covering news stories, fossil discoveries, new dinosaurs, updates on extinction theories, breakthroughs in the use of research technologies and so much more.

For model collectors and dinosaur fans, we have seen entire ranges come and go and just like the study of the Dinosauria, which is often thought of being in a golden age of discovery, so collectors of models seem to be in a golden age when it comes to prehistoric animal replicas and figures.

Everything Dinosaur Celebrates Posting Up 4,000 Blog Articles

4,000 articles on the Everything Dinosaur blog.
Everything Dinosaur celebrates posting up 4,000 blog articles.  Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Everything Dinosaur – Our First Thank You

A very big thank you to all the researchers, press officers, undergraduates, university professors, field team members, media companies, professional palaeontologists, dedicated fossil collectors, teachers, manufacturers, scientists and prehistoric animal fans who have shared stories with us so that we can post them up on this weblog.  We really do appreciate all the help and assistance that we have had along the way.

Our Iguanodon Gives Everyone a Big Thumbs Up!

Iguanodon thumbs up!
Praise from a dinosaur!  A big thank you to all our contributors and to our readers. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Our Second Thank You

Also, a very big thank you to all our readers, feedback providers, reviewers, commentators, email senders, letter writers, picture takers and so forth that have helped keep our blog so fresh, vibrant and diverse.  We will continue to strive to bring you updates on research, information on new discoveries and photographs of fossils and other amazing wonders.  Next week’s blog postings are already in place, we can’t give too much away at this time as a number of them have embargoes, but what we can say is that the next few posts will reflect the aims and objectives of our weblog, to educate, inform and indulge fans of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals.

Everything Dinosaur Working with Major Universities

One article scheduled for release next week has been written with the co-operation of the University of Manchester, it covers research into an aspect of Cretaceous theropod behaviour.  Another article prepared and ready for adding in the next few days has been compiled in collaboration with Eofauna Scientific Research, we will be announcing the next prehistoric animal figure in this exciting, new model range.  We will also be posting up some exclusive photographs of the new Eofauna Scientific Research model.

To view the Eofauna range of prehistoric animal figures: Eofauna Scientific Research Models.

Wonder what exciting scientific developments, discoveries and new products we will be covering in the next 1,000 posts?

Visit the user-friendly Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

3 03, 2018

Schleich New Models for 2018 (July)

By |2023-10-03T07:05:56+01:00March 3rd, 2018|Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Everything Dinosaur Products, Main Page, Photos of Everything Dinosaur Products|0 Comments

Schleich New Models for 2018 (July)

At the end of last month, Everything Dinosaur posted up information summarising the retirements from the Schleich range of prehistoric animal models.  The Germany-based figure and replica manufacturer has announced a number of retirements and several dinosaur models are now out of production.  However, Schleich has already introduced five new figures into their “Dinosaurs”* range in 2018 and Everything Dinosaur is aware of plans to add a further three models in the summer.

“Dinosaurs”* – the prehistoric animal figures produced by Schleich come under the sub-brand of “Dinosaurs” although this part of their range also includes several non-dinosaurs such as Dunkleosteus, the new for 2018 Dinogorgon (see picture below) and Dimetrodon.  The exact taxonomic position of Herrerasaurus remains controversial but for the time being we include this Triassic carnivore within the theropod dinosaur Suborder.

Five New Schleich Figures Were Introduced in Early 2018

New Schleich prehistoric animals (2018).
New Schleich prehistoric animal models (2018).

To read Everything Dinosaur’s recent article about Schleich retirements: Prehistoric Animal Model Retirements from Schleich.

Three New Large Prehistoric Animal Models for Summer 2018

As stated previously on this blog, Schleich intend to bring out three large prehistoric animal figures in the summer of 2018.  We are expecting our first deliveries around July, the models could arrive a little earlier, perhaps a little later, but three new Schleich replicas are expected in the summer.

The Schleich Juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex

Schleich T. rex juvenile.
The Schleich Tyrannosaurus rex juvenile. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Schleich will also be bringing out a juvenile Therizinosaurus, with a similar colouration to the red/black adult Therizinosaurus figure that was introduced a few weeks ago.

A Schleich Juvenile Therizinosaurus Figure Due Out in Summer 2018

Schleich juvenile Therizinosaurus.
Schleich juvenile Therizinosaurus model. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Schleich Juvenile Therizinosaurus

The Schleich juvenile Therizinosaurus looks a very fearsome beast indeed.  There may also be a number of colour variants of existing Schleich models introduced, a blue coloured Psittacosaurus and a sandy coloured Herrerasaurus for example, if we get further information from Schleich about product developments we will post it up on this blog and on our social media platforms to help keep all our customers informed.

The third figure due to be introduced next summer is a colourful Pteranodon.  Schleich will be adding to their pterosaur portfolio by adding a Pteranodon longiceps figure to their range.   This is good news as the future of the “World of History” Quetzalcoatlus looks uncertain and this model may well be retired.

The Schleich Pteranodon Model – Close-up View of the Head

Schleich Pteranodon replica.
Schleich Pteranodon model.  Due to be flying high in the summer of 2018. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Schleich Quetzalcoatlus Model – Heading for Extinction?

Schleich Quetzalcoatlus model.
Schleich Quetzalcoatlus model due for retirement?

The Schleich Quetzalcoatlus (pictured above), was introduced in 2011, the bizarre wing markings caused a bit of a “flap” when it was first introduced and many collectors and model fans commented that the “Saurus” Quetzalcoatlus (pictured below), had more realistic wings.  If the Quetzalcoatlus figure is withdrawn, then perhaps Schleich will consider adding a new flying reptile model to its range over the next couple of years or so.

To read Everything Dinosaur’s original 2011 article about the arrival of a controversial Quetzalcoatlus figure: Schleich Quetzalcoatlus Causing a Flap.

The “Saurus” Quetzalcoatlus Figure

Schleich "Saurus" Quetzalcoatlus model.
A more conventional pterosaur model?

View the range of Schleich prehistoric animal figures available from Everything Dinosaur: Schleich Prehistoric Animal Models.

To read Everything Dinosaur’s recent article about the summer 2018 models from Schleich: New Schleich Prehistoric Animals (Summer 2018).

2 03, 2018

What’s Your Favourite Dinosaur Book?

By |2023-10-03T06:56:09+01:00March 2nd, 2018|General Teaching|Comments Off on What’s Your Favourite Dinosaur Book?

What is Your Favourite Book About Dinosaurs?

Writing about our favourite dinosaur book.

Yesterday, was World Book Day, an opportunity to celebrate books, authors, illustrations and the joy of reading.  For part of the day team members were tweeting and re-tweeting the various pictures put up on social media that highlighted the numerous activities taking place at schools that we had recently visited to deliver dinosaur workshops.  We received lots of emails and we responded to all those that required a reply, praising the efforts of the children, teachers and other grown-ups who had worked so hard to make World Book Day memorable.

In one of the email that we received, we were asked to nominate our favourite book about dinosaurs.

Our Nominated Favourite Dinosaur Book (Childhood Favourite)

favourite dinosaur book.
Beautiful dinosaur book. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Favourite Dinosaur Book

Choosing a favourite dinosaur book from our substantial collection was quite hard.  However, after much deliberation we chose “Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Reptiles”.  This publication was first put into print in the mid 1960’s, the text by Jane Werner Watson guides the reader through geological time and focuses on the rise of the dinosaurs.  The illustrations are by Rudolph F Zallinger and they are beautiful, although like the few facts in this book, they are now hopelessly inaccurate and out of date.  Zallinger painted wonderfully detailed landscapes, populated by dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures.

We love the small details in Zallinger’s paintings, the tiny mammal appearing next to the giant Triceratops, the beautifully crafted plants and the woodland that forms the backdrop to a dramatic illustration of Ornitholestes attempting to catch Archaeopteryx.  We know that Ornitholestes and Archaeopteryx lived in different parts of the world, but as children this book really captured our imaginations and helped to fuel a life-long fascination with ancient animals, fossils and life in the past.

The Joy of Reading – Browsing Books

Browsing books.
Time for browsing at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Picture credit: The Frankfurt Book Fair Press

Visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

2 03, 2018

Snow and Ice Affecting Deliveries

By |2023-10-02T16:46:32+01:00March 2nd, 2018|Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page, Press Releases|0 Comments

Bad Weather in the UK – Delays with Deliveries

Currently much of the UK is experiencing severe weather conditions.  Snow and icy conditions are affecting much of Scotland, East Anglia, Yorkshire, the Pennines, north-eastern England, the south-west and south-eastern England.  This prolonged period of cold weather has led to the cancellation of many trains and the road network, including several major roads, has been very badly disrupted.  Driving conditions are described as treacherous for many parts of the United Kingdom and we at Everything Dinosaur are aware that the weather has caused widespread transport chaos.

Deep Snow Covers Much of the UK and More Snow is Forecast

Heavy snow falls.
Heavy snow falls across much of the UK causing disruption. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The Impact on Deliveries/Collections

The severe weather is having a deleterious effect on parcel deliveries and collection services.  Everything Dinosaur has been informed that courier services in parts of the country are likely to be very badly affected with a temporary suspension of some deliveries and collections.  The safety of the drivers is paramount and whilst we are aware that the courier companies will do their best to operate as normal, we do appreciate that due to the bad weather, some services such as next day delivery may not be possible in parts of the UK for the time being.

Dinosaur Deliveries in the Snow Can Be Difficult

Everything Dinosaur's "dino van" covered in snow.
A dinosaur van covered in snow. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

If all this snow and ice reminds you of the Ice Age, take a look at this model range which includes Ice Age prehistoric mammals: Safari Ltd Prehistoric World Models and Figures.

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:

“Whilst our dedicated team members continue to pack and process orders as quickly as they can, we do appreciate that delivery delays are likely to occur.  We advise all our customers to allow extra time for deliveries, purchasing a couple of days early can make all the difference.”

International Deliveries Affected

Several international airports such as Glasgow and Dublin have been closed due to heavy snow.  This has affected flights and as such, our international customers may find delays in deliveries too.  Everything Dinosaur has implemented contingency plans to help minimise the disruption to our packing and despatch of orders.  We have put in place arrangements to assist with the prompt collection of parcels from our premises and team members have ensured that orders placed by 2.30pm yesterday afternoon for first class or second class delivery by Royal Mail, have already been sent out.

The Arrival of Stock at the Everything Dinosaur Warehouse

The Everything Dinosaur warehouse remains open, but there may be delays in shipments/deliveries reaching our warehouse due to the severe weather.  Contingency plans are in place to help minimise the impact of this period of very bad weather on deliveries into our own warehouse.

Everything Dinosaur team members urge customers to try and place orders early to help give delivery companies more time in the current severe weather conditions.

We will continue to monitor the situation and update you as and when necessary.

Be safe, stay warm.

Visit the award-winning Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.

1 03, 2018

“The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs” by Steve Brusatte

By |2023-10-07T06:39:06+01:00March 1st, 2018|Book Reviews, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page|0 Comments

“The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs” – The Story of the Dinosauria

At Everything Dinosaur, we get sent quite a lot of books from publishers for our team members to review and comment upon.  There is certainly a wealth of publications dedicated to the science of palaeontology and the Dinosauria in particular.  Every once in a while, we discover a real gem, one that has been well-written and manages to tread that careful line between providing enough academic detail but still managing to retain an appeal to the general reader.  The forthcoming “The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs” by Steve Brusatte is a case in point.

“The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs” by Dr Steve Brusatte

Going on Sale in Early May “The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs”

"The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs"

“The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs” by Steve Brusatte.

Picture credit: Pan Macmillan

Dr Brusatte has skilfully crafted the story of the evolution of the dinosaurs and their ultimate demise, interweaving his own reminiscences about his early career as a palaeontologist and introducing a diverse cast of characters that have illuminated dinosaur research and done much to change our perception of the “terrible lizards”.

Around One Hundred Academic Papers

Now in his early thirties, Steve has managed to cram a lot into the last decade or so.  The Everything Dinosaur blog has written numerous articles featuring his research and discoveries, several of which are discussed at length in this, what is likely to be a bestseller, when “The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs” goes on sale on May 3rd (2018).

As an author of somewhere around one hundred academic papers and having undertaken fieldwork in places as far afield as China, New Mexico, Portugal and Poland, Dr Brusatte is ideally placed to provide an overview of the latest research into the Dinosauria.  In this informative and immensely enjoyable book, Stephen Brusatte chronicles the evolution of the first dinosaurs and plots their gradual rise to dominance over other Archosaurian contemporaries.  He charts their progress through the End Triassic extinction event and their emergence as the dominant terrestrial mega fauna on our planet.

Fieldwork in New Mexico, Mapping Late Cretaceous/Early Palaeocene Mammalian Fauna

Steve Brusatte and Ross Secord (New Mexico).

Stephen Brusatte (back) with Ross Secord (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) during field work in New Mexico looking for mammal fossils.

Picture credit: Thomas Williamson/Reuters

Tyrannosaurus rex and Feathers in the Spotlight

As well as documenting the rise and eventual demise of the Dinosauria, Steve dedicates a couple of chapters to the tyrannosaurids, providing a useful update on his research into the family tree of the Tyrannosauridae as well as introducing recent additions to this great dinosaur dynasty, the long-snouted Qianzhousaurus sinensis, affectionately nick-named “Pinocchio rex” and Timurlengia euotica which roamed Uzbekistan some 90 million years ago.  Dr Brusatte has played a prominent role in the scientific study of these two large theropods, so far, this American palaeontologist now based at the University of Edinburgh, has named ten new dinosaur species.

For models and replicas of tyrannosauroids and other theropod dinosaurs: Age of Dinosaurs Models and Figures (PNSO).

Timurlengia euotica – A Recently Described (2016) Late Cretaceous Tyrannosaur

The tyrannosaurid Timurlengia.

The tyrannosaurid Timurlengia wandering its flood plain home.

Picture credit: Todd Marshall

Recommended Reading

With March 1st being World Book Day, an annual event celebrating authors, illustrators and the joy of reading, it seems appropriate to dedicate today’s blog post to promote “The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs”, written by one of the leading palaeontologists of the 21st century.  Highly recommended.

Book Details

Title: “The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs”

Author: Steve Brusatte

ISBN: 9781509830060 (Hardback)

Pages: circa 390

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Release date: May 3rd 2018 (RRP = £20.00)

To order a copy, just visit the link and search for author “Steve Brusatte”: Find “The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs” Here.

Also available as an audio download.

Go to Top