A Review of Prehistoric Times Magazine (Spring 2014)

Another bursting at the seams edition of Prehistoric Times with its front cover of a Chasmosaurus (model by Shane Foulkes) highlighting the fact that “Chasm Lizard” is one of the prehistoric animals featured in issue 109.  Phil Hore does an excellent job on summarising the rather convoluted history of this genus and his article has some super Chasmosaurus inspired artwork sent in by readers.  Not to be undone, Tracy Lee Ford chips in with a detailed explanation of the various species assigned to Chasmosaurus and does a splendid job in sorting out which of the former members of the Chasmosaurus genus have been reassigned elsewhere and why.

Prehistoric Times

In addition, he even manages to insert a little bit of the work of Charles Dickens and we though Dicken’s only wrote about megalosaurs (Bleak House).

Prehistoric Times (Issue 109)

Beautiful Chasmosaurus on the front cover.

Picture credit: Prehistoric Times/Everything Dinosaur

Nanuqsaurus hoglundi

In the news section, there is information on Nanuqsaurus hoglundi, whose fossils were find well inside the Arctic Circle.  It’s name means “polar bear lizard” which is very appropriate.  News stories featured include Anzu wyliei from North Dakota and possibly the largest theropod dinosaur known from our side of the Atlantic, Torvosaurus gurneyi.  T. gurneyi fossils have been found in Portugal, this is a specimen that we at Everything Dinosaur know quite well, what with the amount of new discoveries being reported to us by our friends on the Iberian peninsula.

To read more about Torvosaurus gurneyi: Meet “Savage Lizard” – Europe’s Largest Meat-Eating Dinosaur Described to Date?

Allen Debus takes us back to the 1930s a time when Chicago was host to the Worlds Fair which featured an exhibition of life-size prehistoric animals.  Part two of this highly informative article will be in the next edition.

To read more about Prehistoric Times/subscribe: Prehistoric Times Magazine.

Lots of model news and reviews, plus a super section dedicated to giant prehistoric birds, with a focus on the Ratites.  Once again, the article is accompanied by some excellent reader artwork and imagery.

Sculptor and artist John Gurche is interviewed and there is a special feature on how John was tasked with creating fifteen hominin sculptures for the Smithsonian Institute and its “Hall of Human Origins”.  Some of the models he has produced are simply breathtaking, the Smithsonian will shortly become the  museum for all other palaeoanthropologists to look up to.  John’s book “Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art and Imagination Help Us to Understand Our Origins” is reviewed in the excellent Mesozoic Media section and the book is already on our Christmas shopping list along with ironically, another book reviewed, “At the Top of the Grand Staircase”, which documents the fauna and flora from the Upper Cretaceous deposits to be found in this part of southern Utah.

All in all, an excellent magazine jam packed with lots and lots to keep dinosaur fans entertained and informed.

For dinosaur models and prehistoric animal figures: Prehistoric Animal and Dinosaur Models.

Everything Dinosaur Reviews the Autumn Issue of Prehistoric Times Magazine

Issue 107 of Prehistoric Times, the magazine for dinosaur fans and serious model collectors has arrived in the office and fans of the artwork of John Sibbick are going to be delighted with the front cover.  The illustration of  two allosaurs fighting over the carcase of a Camptosaurus was painted by John, a man who has been much in demand recently, as he was responsible for the prehistoric animal paintings that now adorn the new Royal Mail First Class stamps that came into circulation last week.

Inside the magazine, its sixty-two pages are jam packed with lots of features, articles and illustrations.  There is a profile and interview of  commercial illustrator Jerry LoFaro and in the light of the news that Jurassic Park IV (Jurassic World) is likely to be in cinemas by the summer of 2015, dinosaur expert Gregory S. Paul gives his view on the “JP” franchise.

Prehistoric Times Autumn 2013 

The autumn (fall) edition of Prehistoric Times magazine.

Picture credit: Mike Fredericks/Everything Dinosaur

Utahraptor and Uintatherium

Utahraptor and Uintatherium are the prehistoric animals showcased in this edition.  There are lots of pictures and drawings submitted by readers and Phil Hore provides a highly informative text, focusing on the largest of the dromaeosaurs and on the mighty Eocene, herbivorous mammal with the strange and bumpy appearance.  Surprisingly, Utahraptor features in a Star Trek novel, the things you learn about when reading Prehistoric Times.

Tracy Lee Ford gets in on the act and provides a master-class in dromaeosaurid illustration, including some interpretations of the very latest scientific data.  He also edits the Paleonews page, covering topics as diverse as ichthyosaur evolution, Chelonia and giant pterosaurs.

On the subject of the Pterosauria, for all those who haven’t quite got their fill of flying reptiles after reading the wonderful “Pterosaurs” by Mark Witton, there is a super article all about the attempts to replicate pterosaur flight, in particular that of the likes of the azhdarchid Quetzalcoatlus.  Amongst the reviews and product updates, the magazine’s editor, Mike Fredericks sheds some light on some amazing dinosaur themed items from the past in collector’s corner, look out for the “deliberate” mistakes on Mike’s “What’s New in Review” page, whoops!

Issue 107 even features an article on prehistoric themed roadside attractions in the United States, there is something for everybody in the autumn edition, the Prehistoric Times team must have some sort of space-aged print compactor that enables them to squeeze it all into one magazine.  Another triumph, one to read by the fireside as the nights draw in.

To subscribe to Prehistoric Times: Prehistoric Times Magazine.

A Review of the Summer 2013 Edition of Prehistoric Times Magazine

The first prolonged period of hot, summer weather in the UK for quite a while has been made all the more enjoyable with the arrival of the latest edition of “Prehistoric Times”, the magazine for dinosaur model fans and prehistoric animal enthusiasts.  It is ideal reading material for sitting outside the office and soaking up some sunshine, if only the other Everything Dinosaur team members would let go of the magazine for long enough.

“Prehistoric Times”

This issue (number 106), marks the first copy to be produced after the twentieth anniversary issue and it sets the standard for the next two decades with some excellent articles and features.  The two prehistoric animals given most prominence are Tyrannosaurus rex and the “T. rex” of its day the fearsome Triassic predator Postosuchus.  We expect that Mike Fredericks, the editor would have been swamped with artwork and indeed, lots of reader’s illustrations are featured, especially of T. rex.  There are some wonderful depictions, even feathered versions of T. rex.

How to Draw Dinosaurs

Tracy Lee Ford’s excellent series, “How to Draw Dinosaurs” focuses on this apex predator.  He compares the arm bones of Tyrannosaurus rex with those of other Tyrannosaurids and sets about building up a picture of a powerful predator with exceptionally strong hind legs, a deeper body and a more massive tail.  He concludes that such a dinosaur was not a particularly fast runner, but still an immensely capable and powerful opportunistic hunter.

Amongst all the collector news and model releases, there is a special tribute to Ray Harryhausen, whose stop motion special effects amazed us all in such fantastic films as  “Jason and the Argonauts”, “The Valley of the Gwangi” and “Clash of the Titans”.  Ray sadly passed away on May 7th, William Stout has produced a super article with artwork in tribute to Ray and there is a model diorama of the monster from the 1953 film “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms”, it looks like lighthouses were not monster proof!

Front Cover Artwork

The front cover artwork (featuring T. rex), was created by up and coming Ukrainian artist Sergey Krasovskiy.  Sergey has chosen to depict this fearsome Late Cretaceous carnivore with a conspicuous red head ala theories from Bob Bakker et al.  Sergey also contributes to the feature on Postosuchus with some great drawings of Prestosuchus chiniquensis, Ornithosuchus longidens and Postosuchus kirkpatricki.

The Front Cover of Prehistoric Times – Summer 2013

Marking the 20th anniversary of the magazine.

Picture credit: Prehistoric Times/Everything Dinosaur

Life-size Prehistoric Animal Models

There are also articles on the life-sized prehistoric animal models sculpted by Josef Pallenberg, updates on dinosaur discoveries and a special interview with artist Ricardo Delgado, part of a series the commemorates twenty years since the first Jurassic Park movie.  Team members at Everything Dinosaur even spotted some prehistoric animal drawings that we know very well in this edition and it was particularly interesting to see how clever Steven B. DeMarco “made over” three dinosaur model kits which were manufactured by Pyro many moons ago.

Once again, a great magazine and a great read.

To view the “Prehistoric Times” website: Prehistoric Times.

“Prehistoric Times” Issue 104 Reviewed

The winter edition of “Prehistoric Times” is certainly a treat for prehistoric animal model collectors and general enthusiasts for all things prehistoric. On the front cover there is a fantastic illustration of Leviathan melvillei, a huge, prehistoric whale which was an apex predator of Miocene seas, preying on other smaller cetaceans.  This was the “whale that ate other whales”  and the artwork that adorns the front cover shows this sea monster attacking a baleen whale.  As the genus name Leviathan has already been assigned to another type of animal (Mastodon), the name Leviathan melvillei has been changed to Livyatan melvillei, the original hebrew spelling of the word.

Issue 104 of “Prehistoric Times” (Winter 2013)

Meet a “Leviathan”!

Picture credit: Mike Fredericks/Everything Dinosaur

Inside the Magazine

Inside the magazine there is a very detailed article by Phil Hore on prehistoric whales, their evolution from land living mammals and their radiation into the many types of large, extant cetacean seen today.  The second prehistoric animal to be featured in this publication is Troodon, the dromaeosaur dinosaur which is regarded by many palaeontologists as being one of the most intelligent of all the known members of the Dinosauria.  Readers are asked to send in their artwork and other illustrations of the prehistoric creatures featured in the magazine.  The editor remarks in his editorial column that much to his surprise a lot more artwork featuring prehistoric whales was sent in than for the troodontids.  This might be because this is the first time in all one hundred plus editions of the magazine that prehistoric whales have been featured.

The pictures sent in, both of the troodontids and the prehistoric whales are really good and some noteworthy illustrations include those by Simon Zoppe (Dorudon) and Wade Carmen (Janjucetus), plus a superb Troodon, full colour print by Raul Martin.

To subscribe to Prehistoric Times Magazine: Prehistoric Times Magazine.

Tracy Lee Ford contributes with the second part of his excellent piece on how to draw dinosaurs with a focus on pathology found in ceratopsian dinosaurs.  In this article, the author discusses the work of Happ et al (published 2008) who describe a Triceratops skull that is  missing about thirty percent of its left brow horn.  There are deep gouges on the skull in the area surrounding the horn and on the remaining horn core material.  It has been suggested that the horn was bitten off by an attacking Tyrannosaurus rex.  To find out more about what such injuries can reveal about the behaviour of dinosaurs, the rest of Tracy’s excellent article is well worth reading.

Early Illustrations of Megalosaurus

Allen A. Debus provides a fascinating article on the early illustrations of Megalosaurus, the very first genus of dinosaur to be scientifically named and described.  This feature evidently took a lot of researching as some of the illustrations shown date from more than 120 years ago.  There is also a section on what new prehistoric animal models are due to be launched this  year plus a review of the big news stories in palaeontology over the last few months or so.

“Prehistoric Times” Magazine

Model maker Steve DeMarco lets us into a few secrets about how to create paint effects like a professional when painting dinosaur models and there is a review of a European dinosaur theme park, plus book reviews and an in depth interview with the highly talented artist Terry McKee.

All in all a highly informative and educational publication which caters for the discerning prehistoric animal model collector.

A Review of “Prehistoric Times” (Fall 2012)

The autumn 2012 edition of “Prehistoric Times”, the magazine for dinosaur fans and model collectors has arrived and as always there is a scramble amongst as to who gets to read it first.  Inside this quarterly magazine there is an exclusive interview with the grandson of the famous Czechoslovakian artist Zdeněk Burian, a brilliant illustrator of prehistoric animals and a man whose paintings have graced countless books about dinosaurs.

“Prehistoric Times”

For fans of placoderms there is a feature on how a giant Dunkleosteus model was made for use in American museums and Tracy Lee Ford presents a highly informative piece on the pathology found within dinosaur fossil specimens.  The two main prehistoric animals featured in this edition are the diplodocid Amargasaurus, as we tend to call this animal “the dinosaur that thought it was a dragon” – see the pictures and drawings to get what we mean and the voracious Repenomamus – a mammal that fed on dinosaurs.

For models and replicas of Dunkleosteus and other prehistoric animals: Age of Dinosaurs Replicas (PNSO).

The Latest Edition of Prehistoric Times

Prehistoric Times (Autumn 2012) reviewed.

Picture credit: Mike Fredericks

“The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs”

Gregory S Paul’s and his amazing book “The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs” is updated with the author himself providing information on the books content, its layout and introducing some new ideas and illustrations.  “The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs”, is to be found on our office shelves it is regularly read by our team members and it is super book which we highly recommend.  Note to other Everything Dinosaur team members we must include this volume in our blog series about favourite dinosaur books.

Lots of updates about fossil finds in the Palaeo. news section including information on the new feathered dinosaur discovery Sciurumimus, look out for the Tyrannosaurus rex skull drawing done by Mike Fredericks (magazine editor) on page 48, we recognise this drawing as this is the illustration that Mike provided us when we asked him for a motive to help us with a T-shirt design project we have been working on.

As always, “Prehistoric Times” is packed full of model reviews and news stories, congratulations to Mike Landry for his superb, fuzzy Amargasaurus illustration, my nieces particular favourite in this edition.

“Prehistoric Times”, an excellent magazine for the serious dinosaur fan, to visit “Prehistoric Times” website, simply click the link below:

Visit “Prehistoric Times”: “Prehistoric Times” Magazine.