Dinosaurs Reimagined

[Kahlil Algya]

Chancesare many of us had a time in our childhood where dinosaurs were the coolest things we could conceive. So massive, powerful, and alien in appearance. They were more like fantastical beasts than real animals who once dominated our planet.

But this perspective is changing. The tremendously rich mythos surrounding dinosaurs has been undergoing a gradual evolution for generations, stretching as far back as the imaginings of the Iguanodon sitting in the belly of the Oxford Museum of Natural History.

No longer are dinosaurs the fantastical monsters of Hollywood nor real-life dragons just without the ability to breathe fire. Scientific findings and new media depictions now show dinosaurs as complex, believable, and, most importantly, natural, animals. They now resemble the ones still alive today in the Anthropocene, the current period of geologic time where humans have greatly impacted the climate and environment.

This may be a bold claim. That a cultural shift and scientific journey centuries in the making has completely reinvented dinosaurs. But we need only look at documentaries like Prehistoric Planet, YouTube series like Dinosauria, and 21st century paleoart to see that these ancient animals have undergone significant makeovers. Yet they are no less compelling.

Palaeontologists agree that the two groups of dinosaurs have differences in their bone structure and metabolic processes. However, the most important difference is that non-avian dinosaurs, such as heavyweight sauropods like Diplodocus and Saltasaurus, were already extinct by the late-Cretaceous extinction event. Some populations of avian dinosaur were able to survive and evolve into modern-day birds. They also had hollow bones and were warm-blooded.

Various raptors, like the iconic Velociraptor which features so heavily in first the Jurassic Park and now the Jurassic World franchise, are often reimagined with a body coated in similar feathers. With their small forelimbs outfitted with longer primary feathers, they resemble some flightless birds today. Notably, this dinosaur was sized up for cinematic effect in the Jurassic franchise. The real Velociraptor was small, the size of a medium to large dog. Instead, a raptor the size of the ones we see in cinema could only go by the name of the Utahraptor which was discovered in 1991 in Grand County, Utah. The Utahraptor had a formidable sickle claw and is the biggest raptor found so far.

If you are interested in seeing a modern-day interpretation of raptors, the recently released 2022 documentary series Prehistoric Planet, is a visual and educational treat. The series, produced by the team behind Planet Earth and narrated by Sir David Attenborough, bases each episode around a certain biome, like coasts or deserts, and explores the variety of prehistoric life which inhabited it around 150 million years ago. Velociraptors are diminutive in comparison to herbivorous giants, covered in feathers and hopping around like birds rather than stalking like wolves.

Since releasing it few people were interested in seeing some of the visuals a bit longer, and wanted more information about the Carnegie Quarry and the strat column. Here is my illustration of the major Brushy Basin large dino lineages:

And here is a frame of ReBecca in the Quarry surrounded by an astonishing abundance and diversity of dead dinosaurs. The main takeaway here is that this was a remarkably productive ecology. Behold yall.

Originally we planned on doing this documentary as two parts, but it became clear in editing that the story was more digestible and the complicated post-production process more manageable if it were broken into three parts. So, this part 1 is a bit shorter than the other parts will be, but I hope it helps people understand and appreciate the Morrison on a foundational level that will hopefully give significance to the forthcoming parts 2 and 3. Unfortunately breaking the first video into two parts meant that I needed to regroup and re-record narration, as well as generate some more art, sound and motion graphics to clarify the story, and subsequent refinement, hence the various delays.

With a Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus Rex towering over them, Smith and her mother, Paige, had wandered into a re-creation of the world 66 million years ago just before an asteroid struck the planet, destroying the dinosaurs and practically everything else.

These dinosaurs lived in what is now the arid American West, which was then a pretty tropical place with a seaway running through it. The deltas extending from that seaway turned out to be a perfect place to die and, over time, fossilize, explaining why the area is so fossil-rich.

Some of the rock samples are submitted by fossil hunters hoping to have their specimens exhibited behind glass windows of the Fossil Lab, where visitors can watch scientists as they study and conserve the remains.

The flowering of the planet after the dinosaurs shows that the Earth is resilient and can regenerate over time. But humans are now driving rapid changes in the environment, Behrensmeyer says, warning that our actions could have serious consequences for life on the planet.

An artist named John Conway is now drawing fuzzy tyrannosaurids; he shows one chasing a pair of Gallimimus that look a lot like Emus except for their long tails. In other words, not just the main subject but all the dinosaurs in the image are feathered.

Even way over on the other side of the dinosaur evolutionary tree, the group known as the Ornithischia was probably birdlike too. A recently discovered fossil of a very early small dinosaur shows clearly that it had at least kiwi or Emu-type feathers, if not complex feathers like modern birds. The fossil dates from more than 200 million years ago, meaning it must resemble the ancestor of all dinos, Ornithischia and Saurischia alike. Its pelt seems to show that the earliest dinosaurs emerged from the Triassic with a warm covering and did not look like lizards at all; actually, they looked an awful lot like kiwis.

Basically, Hollywood dinosaurs just look like fossils with skin draped over it. That's because those artists tend to base their drawings on the fossils alone, while ignoring what the animal might have looked like with layers of fat and other things.

Paleoartists John Conway and C.M. Kosemen drew animals like the way Hollywood draws dinosaurs to show us why dinosaur art can sometimes be so flawed. And you can barely recognize the animals. Check it out:

"The most common error is taking the skeleton and putting in muscle, and then shrink-wrapping the skin onto that shape. This ignores fat deposits, flaps of skin and other soft tissue that living animals have," John Conway told BuzzFeed over email.

Sometimes, paleoartists incorrectly draw dinosaurs' skin texture. We all know iguanas, for example, are not actually furry. Similarly, lots of dinosaurs were not scaly, many of them even had feathers.

Did you hear? Legoland's Dino Valley is now open at the California location! This reimagined land includes three rides, an interactive build and play area, plus new costume characters. James and I got the inside scoop and got to check out Dino Valley on opening day! We were hosted by Legoland for the day and we had so much fun exploring!

The three updated rides include DUPLO Little Dino Trail, Explorer River Quest and Coastersaurus. The land was previously called Explorer Island. Each ride was reimagined with dinosaurs in mind. The Explorer River Quest was their Fairy Tale Brook. The new land is more fitting for this generation. My kids both love dinosaurs and each ride has giant lego dinosaurs updating the land's theme.

We got to meet two new characters, LEGO T-Rex Guy and LEGOPaleontologist Girl. Both characters are super fitting for the new land. James has always loved being an explorer and the characters were a perfect fit to encourage kids to explore more.

Dino Outpost is an interactive build and play area. Kids can uncover buried bones and forgotten fossils, plus build their own LEGO dino creations! Be sure to ask a team member for a button in the new land. The buttons are free and given out all over the park.

Following a transformative four-year renovation, the Yale Peabody Museum reopens to the public on Tuesday, March 26, at 10 a.m., with rejuvenated galleries, reimagined exhibits, and refurbished dinosaurs, including a towering Brontosaurus with some new pep to its step.

The exhibition galleries, now represented on three floors instead of two, are brighter and easier to navigate. The third-floor galleries, including the David Friend Hall mineral and gem gallery, will open on a phased schedule later this spring.

Throughout the museum, exhibit labels and other text are tailored to be more accessible and interesting to a wider range of audiences. Museum ambassadors will be stationed alongside exhibits to share insights, answer questions, and create a sense of belonging for all communities. The Peabody is fully accessible to people with disabilities. Visitors will also enjoy a new gift shop.

Last Saturday, as the temperatures soared to the high-high 80s, my wife Susan and I attended the Sonoma County Fair, where we watched the roaring, undulating actions of animatronic dinosaurs, ate lunch (calamari and chips for me, fish tacos for her), and basically boiled in our own skins for about three hours.

Later that evening, after cooling down a bit back home in Petaluma, Susan and I headed out again, taking the one-hour drive to the Napa Town and Country Fair, where we searched out and found some dessert (a frozen banana for Susan, a strawberry funnel cake for me) and took in a highly energetic and massively well-attended drag show, hosted by San Francisco drag entertainer Sasha Devaroe.

Devaroe and company obligingly posed with many of the attendees who lined up after the performance to thank the performers and take selfies. Before and after, that Barbie box was open to anyone who wanted to step inside.

Blending history and fantasy, science and art, the story of how dinosaurs were discovered and reimagined comes to life through splendid illustrations in this handsome slipcased volume.

Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Brontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus...these exotic prehistoric creatures continue to fascinate more than 200 million years after they last roamed the earth. Dinosaur skeletons have been reconstituted, reconstructed, and interpreted by scientists and artists since the first fossils were uncovered near Caon City, Colorado, in 1877, sparking the Bone Wars. In 1907, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History mounted "Dippy" the Diplodocus, which sparked dinomania, igniting the imagination of popular culture and Hollywood. From the Morrison Formation to Montana's Hell Creek, and from Mongolia's Gobi Desert to Argentina's Patagonia, new discoveries and excavations have uncovered a lost kingdom that has inspired myriad homages.

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