A colourful and educational dinosaur display spotted in a Reception classroom has been praised by Everything Dinosaur. On a visit to Micklehurst All Saints Church Primary (Ashton-under-Lyne), team members spotted the carefully crafted children’s display.
A colourful dinosaur display spotted in a Reception classroom. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The Dinosaur Display
The teaching team had been focusing on food chains. They had used the dinosaur term topic to help the children to understand what foods animals eat. The Reception class were keen to demonstrate their knowledge. The children eagerly pointed out which dinosaurs ate meat and which ones ate plants.
As part of the varied term topic, the children had been making replicas of fossils. Some of these fossil replicas were on display in the classroom.
Fossil replicas that have been painted in bronze, silver or gold as part of the dinosaur display. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Praising the Children and the Teaching Team
The fossil replicas had been created by pressing dinosaur models into salt dough. These objects had been painted a variety of metallic colours. The children’s artworks certainly made a colourful dinosaur display in the classroom.
We tested the children’s understanding of food chains. Some of the more capable learners were happy to identify which dinosaurs may have been omnivorous.
A spokesperson from the UK-based mail order company commented:
“We remember visiting the school back in March 2019. At the time we remarked on the beautiful school displays. The children had enjoyed their prehistoric animal themed term topic. They were eager to highlight which parts of the dinosaur display that they had personally contributed to.”
The Lyme Regis Fossil Festival (2024) is scheduled to take place over the weekend of the 8th and 9th of June. Everything Dinosaur has received an official media pack providing further details about this exciting event. A spokesperson for the UK-based mail order company also confirmed that the preceding Friday would be allocated for schools and students.
Everything Dinosaur has received the media pack for the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival 2024. This exciting event is scheduled for the weekend of 8th and 9th of June 2024. The Friday (7th June), will be reserved as a schools/students day.
The Lyme Regis Fossil Festival (2024)
The festival is organised by the Lyme Regis Museum with the support and assistance of key partners. These partners include the Charmouth Heritage Centre and the London Natural History Museum. The allocated venues are the Lister Gardens, the Jubilee Pavilion, the Marine Theatre and the Lyme Regis Museum. Aimed at families especially young children, there will be no entry fees.
Everything Dinosaur was involved in the inaugural event and has participated subsequently. Unfortunately, other commitments prevent team members from attending in 2024.
Prehistoric animal drawing fun at the Lyme Regis fossil festival. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
The photograph (above) was taken around 2016 during one of Everything Dinosaur’s visits to the festival. We provide lots of free drawing materials to mums and dads of budding young palaeontologists.
The Lyme Regis Fossil Festival is one this country’s leading palaeontological events. It brings together eminent scientists as well as top geological and palaeontological organisations. The two-day event celebrates the rich fossil heritage of the “Jurassic Coast”.
There are lots of free, family-orientated activities including shows, talks, fossil hunting walks, exhibitions and interactive displays. The organisers predict that there will be over 10,000 visitors to the Dorset town over the weekend of 8th/9th June 2024.
The new for 2020 CollectA Belemnite model. Visitors to the festival can expect to see lots of belemnites and ammonites. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The picture (above) shows the CollectA prehistoric life belemnite model. CollectA have introduced a range of figures representing iconic animals from the fossil record.
Team members at Everything Dinosaur wish the organisers every success with their endeavours. Hopefully, the weather will behave, and it will be warm and dry over that weekend.
Princeton University Press has published a new book all about Mesozoic marine reptiles. Entitled “Ocean Life in the Time of Dinosaurs”. It documents the evolutionary development and radiation of a variety of amazing prehistoric creatures that dominated marine environments during the “Age of Dinosaurs”. Beautifully illustrated by Alain Bénéteau, this book, due out this month (November, 2023), dives into a fascinating period of our planet’s history.
The front cover of the new prehistoric animal book entitled “Ocean Life in the time of Dinosaurs”. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
“Ocean Life in the time of Dinosaurs”
The book is divided into seven main chapters. After an initial chapter that “sets the scene”, there follows an introduction to the different types of marine reptile. Chapter three highlights the marine reptiles that thrived during the Palaeozoic. Subsequent chapters focus on Mesozoic marine reptiles. There are individual chapters on Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous marine life.
As well as providing information on ichthyosaurs, mosasaurs and giant pliosaurs, the authors introduce some of the lesser-known Mesozoic marine reptiles. For example, the bizarre, Australian plesiosaur Umoonasaurus is described. Measuring around two metres in length, this is one of the smallest members of the Plesiosauria clade described to date. A piscivore, at home in shallow, near coastal environments, Umoonasaurus had crests over its eyes and a thin crest running along its rostrum. The purpose of these adornments is unknown.
A close-up view of the small Australian plesiosaur Umoonasaurus. It is an illustration from the book “Ocean Life in the time of Dinosaurs”. A stunning plesiosaur illustration by Alain Bénéteau.
The K-Pg extinction event is discussed, and the closing chapter examines how ocean ecosystems recovered with mammals and birds evolving to fill niches in marine food chains.
There is a helpful glossary and bibliography too.
A Collaboration Between Palaeontologists
“Ocean Life in the time of Dinosaurs” is a collaboration between four scientists. Nathalie Bardet and Alexandra Houssaye are palaeontologists and research directors at the prestigious Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris, France). Stéphane Jouve is a palaeontologist and manager of the geoscience collections at the Sorbonne University (Paris). The fourth author is Natural History Museum of London palaeontologist Peggy Vincent. It has been translated by Mark Epstein.
This excellent book also provides readers with an opportunity to learn about ocean-going reptiles alive today such as sea snakes and turtles.
Taking a few minutes break to dive into a book all about Mesozoic marine reptiles. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The Book Details
The Book: “Ocean Life in the time of Dinosaurs”
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published November 2023 | Price: £25.00/$29.95 USD (hardback) | Pages: 208 Over 200 colour scientific illustrations plus black and white images.
ISBN: 9780691243948
Visit the website of Princeton University Press: Princeton University Press. Search on the website for the authors or title to find the book.
Everything Dinosaur team members wish all their blog readers a happy Halloween. Today is All Hallows’ Eve, a festive event celebrating spooks, ghouls, monsters and scary skeletons. We wish all our readers and social media followers a happy Halloween.
Can you spot the prehistoric animals? Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Happy Halloween from Everything Dinosaur
It seems fitting to post up a picture or two of dinosaur skeletons. Here is an image of a Triceratops skeleton from a dinosaur excavation kit.
A Triceratops skeleton dig kit. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The Triceratops kit allows young palaeontologists to excavate a complete miniature Triceratops skeleton. The challenge is to dig the skeleton out of the plaster block using the special digging tools. The Triceratops skeleton excavation kit is supplied with an Everything Dinosaur Triceratops fact sheet.
A cast of a Triceratops skeleton on display at the Naturmuseum Senckenberg (Natural History Museum – Frankfurt). On the left a wall mounted example of a Plateosaurus can be seen. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
A spokesperson from the UK-based mail order company, wished all their social media followers, customers and blog readers a happy and safe Halloween.
University of Bradford researchers in collaboration with other leading institutions have been awarded a substantial grant helping them to explore prehistoric landscapes.
The Submerged Landscapes Research Centre, at the University of Bradford is embarking on an ambitious project to map the Baltic and the North Sea thanks to a grant of €8 million (just under £7 million GBP). This is the largest single grant ever awarded to Bradford University.
Sea levels were much lower 20,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. The grant will permit the scientists to explore ancient landscapes that are now submerged. The funding is from the European Research Council. This research will provide a deeper understanding of how our ancestors lived in these regions. Wind farm developments are making these locations more inaccessible for scientists.
Global sea levels were 130 metres lower 20,000 years ago. Picture credit: University of Bradford.
European Union Research Funding
The EU has provided overall funding of more than €13.2 million for SUBNORDICA – a research collaboration between Moesgaard Museum, Aarhus University, the University of Bradford and the German research institute NIHK.
The scientists will be able to utilise the latest technologies to map and explore the seabed.
Underwater excavation, example from the NIhK excavation at Strande, Germany. Picture credit: Christian Howe.
Generative AI and computer simulation will be employed to identify areas where long lost settlements may still survive and can be mapped.
Researchers at the University of Bradford’s Submerged Landscapes Research Centre will lead exploration in the southern North Sea along with partners in Holland (TNO), Belgium (VLIZ) and the University of York. The University of Bradford will also host the project’s computing infrastructure, providing modelling and AI support in the quest to explore prehistoric landscapes.
The grant comes from the European Research Council, set up by the European Union in 2007 to fund research excellence in projects based across Europe. The funding is part of the Horizon Europe programme and is part of an overall budget of more than €16 billion from 2021 to 2027.
A Scientific Collaboration to Explore Prehistoric Landscapes
The funding will permit closer collaboration and co-operation between the participating institutions.
Leading Investigators: Dr Katrine Juul Andresen, Professor Vincent Gaffney, Dr Svea Mahlstedt, Dr Peter Moe Astrup. Picture credit: Katrine Juul Andresen.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur stated:
“The University of Bradford has been at the forefront of the mapping of ancient landscapes such as Doggerland and the Irish Sea. This funding will enable the team to use innovative technology and map a far greater area of European seascape.”
A team member from Everything Dinosaur was invited to address final year digital marketing students at Manchester Metropolitan University. Mike of Everything Dinosaur had received some training from the University, taking part in a “Developing Innovation” programme. As a result of his connections to the University he was invited to present to the digital marketing students. The students are looking at Everything Dinosaur’s digital footprint and Google Analytics as part of their course. The aim is to provide them with a real business to study.
Everything Dinosaur team member Mike got asked lots of questions by the digital marketing students. Picture credit: Alexandra Severn (MMU).
Everything Dinosaur Fielding Questions
Working with their teacher, Alexandra Severn (Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing Communications and Programme Leader), the students had compiled an extensive list of questions. The questions ranged from asking about our website, customer profiling and social media activities to enquiring about our favourite fossils. Fortunately, a fossil had been brought along. It is not very often a Woolly Rhinoceros dorsal vertebra takes part in a business school lecture.
One student asked:
“What was our favourite dinosaur?”
Ryan enquired:
“How sustainable is your operation? Do you consider the environmental impact at each stage of your operation?”
Amin wanted to know how the dinosaur models are made and are they made in a safe environment?
We hope the answers we provided were informative and helped the students to gain a better understanding of the business world. It was also a pleasure to be able to discuss some of the ways in which Everything Dinosaur has reduced its carbon footprint. In addition, our use of recycled cardboard and the replacement of compostable starch chips rather than using foam were highlighted.
Mike of Everything Dinosaur addressing the final year digital marketing students at Manchester Metropolitan University. Picture credit: Alexandra Severn (MMU).
Commenting on the experience, Mike stated:
“It is nice to be able to give something back to the next generation. They had compiled a challenging set of questions, and I did my best to answer them all. It was a pretty intense session, but I got the chance to talk to some of the students afterwards and they wanted to have their photograph taken with the Woolly Rhino fossil.”
Visit the award-winning and user-friendly Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.
A team member from Everything Dinosaur marvelled at a display featuring a pair of Homo erectus model skulls on display at a school. A visit to Painsley Catholic College back in 2018, provided us with the opportunity to photograph the clay models. The science and art departments had collaborated to create a beautiful exhibit that documented human evolution. Many different hominin species were illustrated. Our personal favourites were the pair of Homo erectus skulls.
The teachers at Painsley Catholic College had built a display of ancient hominins using replicas of stone tools and carefully constructed clay skulls. The image shows a pair of Homo erectus skulls. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur praised the teaching staff at the time for creating such an informative display.
Team members at Everything Dinosaur photographed a huge estuarine crocodile skull on display at a London museum. The stunning skull was part of an exhibit demonstrating reptile anatomy at the Grant Museum of Zoology (London).
An anterior view of the skull of an estuarine crocodile photographed in the Grant Museum, London. The largest reptile on Earth, the estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) from south-east Asia is also known as the saltwater crocodile or saltie. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
An Estuarine Crocodile Skull
The Grant Museum is currently closed. It is undergoing a redevelopment programme. Everything Dinosaur visited this amazing museum in 2018. The Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy was established in 1827 by Robert Edmond Grant (1793-1874). It was established to serve as a teaching collection at the newly founded University of London (later University College London).
We photographed the estuarine crocodile skull in anterior view. The estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is the largest living reptile. Some specimens weigh more than a tonne. It is a formidable predator, and it is also referred to as the saltwater crocodile or saltie.
These crocodiles inhabit both freshwater and brackish environments. They have been observed swimming far out at sea. This may explain their extensive geographical distribution. These crocodiles are found from India’s eastern coast to northern Australia. They are apex predators and generalist carnivores. This crocodile is regarded as a maneater and sadly, there are numerous fatal attacks reported each year.
Once hunted for its skin, the numbers of this species of crocodile have dramatically increased since legal protection was implemented.
The Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy
The Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy is an amazing place to visit. It is full of stunning skeletons demonstrating the diversity of vertebrate life on Earth. It is also home to a vast collection of invertebrate specimens. If in London in 2024, a visit to this museum is recommended.
Our knowledge of the Dinosauria is constantly changing as new fossil discoveries are made and advanced scientific techniques are employed to interpret dinosaur body and trace fossils. A new book written by Professor Michael Benton (University of Bristol) with superb illustrations by renowned palaeoartist Bob Nicholls brings to life these extraordinary reptiles. Entitled “Dinosaur Behavior” and published by Princeton University Press, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the latest dinosaur research.
Spectacular prehistoric creatures how they lived, fed, sensed the world around them and interacted with each other is vividly portrayed in this comprehensive new dinosaur book.
“Dinosaur Behavior” by Professor Michael Benton (University of Bristol) and illustrated by renowned palaeoartist Bob Nicholls. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
“Dinosaur Behavior”
“Dinosaur Behavior” is divided into seven chapters with each one focusing on a different aspect of the Dinosauria. The first chapter provides a perspective on the dinosaurs, explaining their evolutionary origins, how scientists construct ancient worlds from the geological record and the forensic approach to fossil excavation and preparation. Subsequent chapters deal with various aspects of dinosaur biology and how behaviour can be inferred from scientific evidence.
There are over 150 beautiful illustrations by the highly respected palaeoartist Bob Nicholls. Many of these artworks were specially commissioned, helping to portray dinosaurs as active, complex animals. For example, in the chapter dealing with dinosaur locomotion the origins of powered flight are explained. The clear and concise narrative is accompanied by beautiful illustrations of the varied evolutionary paths taken by different types of dinosaur to adapt to a life in the trees.
The text is accompanied by stunning illustrations helping to explain the numerous areas of scientific research concerning the Dinosauria included within the book. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The image (above) shows the feathered Anchiornis (top left) and the bizarre Yi qi, a scansoriopterygid with bizarre bat-like wings.
Social and Highly Active Reptiles
Author Michael Benton is a professor of vertebrate palaeontology at the University of Bristol. He is a fellow of the Royal Society. Over a long and distinguished career, he has done a great deal to inform the wider public about how our views regarding iconic dinosaurs have changed. His latest book explores the behaviour and physiology of these fascinating animals. It provides a fresh perspective on the complex lives of non-avian dinosaurs, how they fed, choose mates, raised their young, communicated and ultimately became extinct.
Aimed at the general public as well as dinosaur fans, students and academics, this is a beautifully crafted book that updates the reader on the amazing research that is providing thrilling insights into the lives of dinosaurs.
The front cover of the recently launched dinosaur book “Dinosaur Behavior” by Professor Michael J. Benton and illustrated by Bob Nicholls. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Published by Princeton University Press
“Dinosaur Behavior” is published by Princeton University Press. It will officially go on sale on the 31st of October (2023).
Published in time for the festive season, this stunningly illustrated guide to the Dinosauria would make an excellent gift.
Highly recommended.
Book Details
The Book: “Dinosaur Behavior An Illustrated Guide”
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published October 2023 | Price: £30.00/$35.00 USD (hardback) | Pages: 222 Over 150 scientific illustrations plus colour photographs.
ISBN: 9780691244297
Visit the website of Princeton University Press: Princeton University Press. Search on the website for the author or title to find the book.
In 2015, Everything Dinosaur team members visited Wren’s Nest. This is a nature reserve and SSSI (Special Site of Scientific Interest). The exposed strata dates from the Silurian and it is full of fossils including the occasional trilobite. Whilst exploring this location, a photograph was taken of a trilobite tribute. A plaque honouring the “Dudley bug” (Calymene blumenbachii).
A trilobite plaque at the Wren’s nest SSSI (Dudley, West Midlands). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Remembering the Trilobite
The Trilobita were remarkably abundant and diverse during the Palaeozoic. These ancient marine arthropods originated in the Cambrian. The last of their kind are believed to have become extinct at the end of the Permian.
The abundant fossils to be found at the Wren’s Nest nature reserve represent life on a Silurian reef approximately 420 million years ago. Team members have visited Wren’s Nest several times. This location was designated Britain’s first National Nature Reserve for geology (1956).
The motif is an inscription it reads:
“Scour the ground for geological litter my feet drenched in an ancient sea.”
Everything Dinosaur team members have prepared some images of CollectA invertebrate models including the CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular trilobite model (Redlichia rex). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
The picture (above) shows a CollectA trilobite model.
Over 700 different types of fossil are known from Wren’s Nest. Over eighty are unique to this location and found nowhere else on the planet.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“Wren’s Nest is a geological gem. We recommend a visit, especially in the early summer months prior to the school holidays. In the height of summer this location can get extremely busy and there is limited nearby parking”
