Darren Naish

Temnodontosaurus on display stand, above other animal figures.

Yup, another ichthyosaur, this time the CollectA Temnodontosaurus.

Proofs done today... juuust in time for more proofs to come in. I did get to finish an article. But zero progress on current book project.

Rebor Beelzebufo

Rebor Beelzebufo

Rebor Beelzebufo

IT IS FRIDAY MY DUDES

A look at the 2025 Rebor #Beelzebufo is now up at the TetZooTowers_collection TikTok, check it out! Yup, #PrehistoricPlanet similarities might be apparent... vm.tiktok.com/ZNRmvW6K7/

Cradle stand in cabinet, surrounded by animal figures.

What's this -- another free tall cradle stand on the top shelf of cabinet 2?? Whatever could happen next...

oh that's another one for the "actually not an obligate herbivore" list huh

An SVPCA graphic, featuring Megalosaurus dentary, SVPCA logo, and text which reads 'SVPCA is not extinct. After a year off in 2025 and a period of silence, organisers of recent SVPCA have met with other interested parties to discuss future symposia, including provisional plans for a meeting in late August or early September 2026. More details to follow very soon.'

Ever since 1953, the UK (sometimes France) has hosted the Symposium on Vertebrate Palaeontology & Comparative Anatomy, aka #SVPCA, a brilliant meeting that aims to bring together people working across vertebrate studies. And...

I’m glad NPR included skeptical voices - because de-extinction is a dangerous fantasy - but we’ve seen this before. Colossal dangles a story/access, journalists take it and say other researchers have criticisms, and nothing changes save for an update to the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Mammoth! timeline

A Look Back at Dorling Kindersley’s 2001 Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Life — Tetrapod Zoology Do you know this book? If the answer is yes, you might enjoy the following…

I just did some editorial tidying on the 2022 Tet Zoo article on what it was like to work on this book, we all have fond memories (tagging my boy @gswrites.bsky.social)... check it out tetzoo.com/blog/2022/1/... #books #dinosaurs #fossils #DorlingKindersley

Lambert et al. (2001) appears in season 6, ep 4 (‘The Fleshy Part of the Thigh’) of The Sopranos, broadcast in April 2006.

Spreads from inside the book, one at left on fossil rodents, one at right on phorusrhacids and horses.

cover of UK edition, showing green theropod model on black background.

Remember when that Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life book I (co)wrote appeared on The Sopranos? Yeah, me too. My 2001 Dorling Kindersley book, co-authored with David Lambert and Liz Wyse, might be the most influential book I've ever been involved in. And...

I'm very fond of duikers and had the privilege of seeing quite a few in the forests of central Africa

I dunno, did Matilda say it was ok?

DinoCon

Behind the scenes... things are really coming along for #DinoConUK 2026, we have an incredible schedule and it's going to be something else in terms of events, vendors and more. Tickets are on sale now .... www.dinocon.co.uk ... do NOT delay. And be sure to follow @dinoconuk.bsky.social

If you're doomscrolling, guess what? So far there are 51 kākāpō chicks hatched and thriving this season, the same number of birds as we had in TOTAL in the 90s! Only one chick has died and there are still fertile eggs waiting to hatch!

Cover of Mesozoic Art II, with portraits of authors.

Montage of images and text within.

Image and text from pages showing stegosaur art.

Mesozoic Art II events are happening this year, the first in Oxford later this month. Thanks to those who've bought this book already :) #books

Small tadpoles on degraded spawn.

Free-swimming, gilled tadpoles.

#Spawnwatch -- many clutches still not hatched, but others fully are, with the degraded spawn now decomposing and numerous free-swimming tadpoles in their early, gilled phase.

Darren wearing Prehistoric Planet Ice Age hat.

Some of us now own a very exclusive hat...

Books, models, papers arranged on a desk.

Some of you will know exactly what I'm working on right now...

Not a dumb question, a very good one. There is evidence for metamorphosis of a sort in ancient amphibians (namely, certain temnospondyls) but tadpoles are highly specialised and unique to anurans, no other group has larvae this profoundly unusual.

Small tadpoles on degraded spawn.

Free-swimming, gilled tadpoles.

#Spawnwatch -- many clutches still not hatched, but others fully are, with the degraded spawn now decomposing and numerous free-swimming tadpoles in their early, gilled phase.

Royal Antelope (Neotragus pygmaeus) Royal Antelope from Takoradi-Elubo Highway, Ahanta West Municipal, Western, GH on February 18, 2024 at 01:32 PM by Adam Welz. For sale by roadside. Bushmeat. Might have been hunted some distance away...

BTW I just realised that I have made the only iNat obs of this not-quite-a-duiker species www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Darren wearing Prehistoric Planet Ice Age hat.

Some of us now own a very exclusive hat...

It's on my list to buy as soon as I am able to! 💜

I'm not doubting you, I'm saying that other people have given me different claimed efforts on how to say it! I will likely change the text in view of your advice :)

Line graph showing number of spawn clutches that appeared 2006 to 2026 at Tet Zoo Towers ponds.

Graph showing number of spawn clutches as they appeared over 2026, showing steep increase in early Feb followed by plateau with shallow incline.

#Spawnwatch -- we had a 43rd clutch of spawn appear on Feb 27th, so new graphs had to be generated. The plateau on the 2026 cumulative graph has a shallow incline but things are surely finished by now...

Suddenly -- Duikers! — Tetrapod Zoology It’s time to look at duikers. Again.

The 2022 Tetrapod Zoology review of duikers has been revamped, one of many articles I've published on bovids familiar and not... tetzoo.com/blog/2022/4/... #mammals #bovids #artiodactyls #zoology

a black and white edit that reads "the future includes trans people". around the text is a floral pattern. the image is grainy

the future is for trans people

Cover of Mesozoic Art II, with portraits of authors.

Montage of images and text within.

Image and text from pages showing stegosaur art.

Mesozoic Art II events are happening this year, the first in Oxford later this month. Thanks to those who've bought this book already :) #books

At this point I've had people give me multiple different pronunciations. I think it partly depends on your accent.

Line graph showing number of spawn clutches that appeared 2006 to 2026 at Tet Zoo Towers ponds.

Graph showing number of spawn clutches as they appeared over 2026, showing steep increase in early Feb followed by plateau with shallow incline.

#Spawnwatch -- we had a 43rd clutch of spawn appear on Feb 27th, so new graphs had to be generated. The plateau on the 2026 cumulative graph has a shallow incline but things are surely finished by now...

Suddenly -- Duikers! — Tetrapod Zoology It’s time to look at duikers. Again.

The 2022 Tetrapod Zoology review of duikers has been revamped, one of many articles I've published on bovids familiar and not... tetzoo.com/blog/2022/4/... #mammals #bovids #artiodactyls #zoology