Another enjoyable edition of “Prehistoric Times” magazine.  This quarterly publication aimed at fans of prehistoric animals and palaeoart just gets better and better.  The front cover artwork for “Prehistoric Times” issue 156 was supplied by acclaimed American artist and illustrator William Stout.  The artwork depicts a scene from the Jurassic and readers are treated to some other examples of William’s work inside.

John Lavas continues his inventory of Zdeněk Burian’s prehistoric elephants with part two of the discussion on mammoths. Most of the beautiful illustrations featured were created in 1961 but look out for an iconic example of Mammuthus primigenius artwork from 1941 which occurs towards the end of the article.  Burian’s work inspired talented Polish sculptor Marta Szubert to create a bust of a Coelodonta antiquitatis.  It was the start of a career recreating prehistoric life for numerous museums.  Several examples of her work are included in an article inside this issue.

The front cover of the next issue of “Prehistoric Times” magazine (issue 156 – winter 2025/6). Picture credit: Mike Fredericks.

Picture credit: Mike Fredericks

Alamosaurus and American Faunal Interchange

Phil Hore is our guide to the titanosaurian sauropod Alamosaurus and there are some spectacular illustrations too.  Congratulations to all the contributors.  Readers who submitted artwork include Tim Bollinger, Dale Novak, Chuck Egnaczak and Jeri Hurt.  Some illustrations depict this giant herbivore interacting with predatory dinosaurs. A theme utilised by Anthony Pichler and Christoffer Gertz Bech.  We noted the Alamosaurus shown in lateral view by Jason Abdale and Phil Hore’s use of the term “sauropod hiatus”.  The absence of sauropods from North America is subsequently discussed by the aforementioned Jason Abdale in a feature that explores the faunal interchange between North and South America towards the end of the Cretaceous.  Jason, a professional historian, writer and artist also outlines the presence of hadrosaurs in South America.

In turn, Tracy L. Ford continues the hadrosaur theme in his regular column.  The challenging task of understanding the hadrosaur manus (hand) is explained. New information gleaned from hadrosaur mummies has enabled palaeontologists to gain a better understanding of the anatomy of the manus.  Excellent line drawings help to clarify how the fossil material has been interpreted.

New Prehistoric Animal Models

Other regular contributors include editor Mike Fredericks who reviews some of the latest offerings by CollectA, Papo, and Schleich.  His favourite new CollectA model is the 1:20 scale prehistoric giraffid Sivatherium.

The new CollectA male Sivatherium model shown in lateral view.  The CollectA Deluxe 1:20 scale model is a favourite of the magazine’s editor.

Mike demonstrates his versatility by also overseeing the “Mesozoic Media” section of the magazine.  Reviews of several publications are provided. It is great to see a review of “The Secret Lives of Dinosaurs” by Dr Dean Lomax and illustrated by Bob Nicholls.  This is an excellent book – highly recommended.  Prehistoric plants enter the limelight with the publication of “The Princeton Field Guide to Mesozoic Plants”.  In addition, we note the inclusion of “Spinosaur Tales: The Biology and Ecology of Spinosaurs” by Dr David Hone and Dr Mark Witton.

Regular contributor Randy Knol opines on eurypterids and praises the CollectA Jaekelopterus figure before moving on to discuss megalosaurs and small theropods.  He concludes his round up of news for model collectors by discussing Australian Pleistocene megafauna.

Examining Arizonasaurus

The second prehistoric animal to be highlighted is Arizonasaurus.  Our thanks to Phil Hore for his entertaining and enlightening article. This Middle Triassic archosaur has inspired a large amount of reader submitted artwork.  There are too many amazing sail-backed reptile illustrations to enable me to name check all the talented and dedicated artists, but favourite illustrations include those contributed by Paul Passano, Giovanni DeBenedictis, Josh Dillon, Maximillan Reichardt, Joshua Ballze and Gabriel Ugueto. Other noteworthy contributions come from Wade Carmen and Kevin Hedgepeth who along with Tracy L. Ford chose to highlight elements of the skeleton.  Thanks also to George Feldman for his ammonite crunching Arizonasaurus.

Issue 156 of “Prehistoric Times” also includes several palaeontological articles.  For example, palaeontologist Dr Jordan Mallon explains why some dinosaurs grew to enormous sizes and American palaeontologist Kenneth Carpenter dives into the swimming secrets of plesiosaurs.  Preston Knowles discusses the evolution of sharks, an article that continues the elasmobranch theme from an earlier issue, whilst Sean Kotz walks us through the painting of a Paralititan figure.

A World Without the “Park”

The usual “Paleonews” feature is included, and it was great to see the work on diplodocid integument by Tess Gallagher summarised in this section of the magazine. Robert Telleria pens an intriguing article that unpicks the “Jurassic Park/Jurassic World” franchise and examines the toy merchandise that accompanies the films. Last by not least, we note the two superb illustrations of Triassic Antarctica that can be found inside this issue. William Stout created this artwork. We referred to these beautiful illustrations earlier.  The fauna of the most southerly landmass has inspired this artist. A diorama of the Antarctica during the Jurassic is featured on the magazine’s back cover.

The back cover artwork of “Prehistoric Times” issue 156 highlights the fauna of Antarctica in the Jurassic. The illustration was created by William Stout and readers will find two other examples of the American artist and illustrator’s work inside the magazine. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

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