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We have talked plenty about dinosaurs in pop culture, including in movies, but this is hardly a modern phenomenon. Dinosaurs were getting into the mainstream almost as soon as they appeared on the scientific scene and have a rich history in novels, and short stories. This week we are joined by Richard Fallon, a historian specialising in science in literature and with a particular interest in prehistoric animals in this context. Richard and Dave recently wrote a book chapter on the odds parallels between Jurassic Park and Michael Crichton and the Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle. Having won a prize for this ("Doylean Honors" from the ACD Society!) we though it a great time to sit down with Richard and talk about dinosaurs and other ancient reptiles in fiction and how this has changed over time.

Here's some of Richard's collective works:

Creatures of Another Age: https://www.valancourtbooks.com/creatures-of-another-age.html

Contesting Earth's History in Transatlantic Literary Culture, 1860–1935: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Contesting-History-Transatlantic-Literary-1860-1935/dp/0198926162/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0

Reimagining Dinosaurs in Late Victorian and Edwardian Literature: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reimagining-Dinosaurs-Victorian-Edwardian-Literature/dp/1108984398/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.4n1IVVZf74mbQ0RyFryuMDimH9ZiV04X3glC8p-KfT8.D618IUFHF0G27P0maCF82yXIjgZs_wzvKoA6n0yiz4Y&qid=1770283675&sr=8-1

And you can follow him on Bluesky: @richardfallon.bsky.social

Little Dinosaur bite for you!

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Covering two new papers:

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2026/february/new-sabre-crested-spinosaurus-species-named-from-desert-dinosaur-fossils.html

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2026/january/europes-missing-ceratopsian-dinosaurs-have-finally-been-found.html

Watch on youtube here: https://youtu.be/GoAT-oVtqOc

A new Spinosaurus paper was released, revealing a Spinosaurus with a larger head crest. While the new material is exciting, the larger crest is not surprising given the species' known display features. The new locality in Niger, further inland than previous finds, suggests Spinosaurus may have followed rivers inland, similar to other water-affiliated animals.

A new paper confirms long-held beliefs about spinosaur evolution, including sexual selection, wading behaviour, and multiple evolutionary phases. The discovery of a new rhabdodontid skull, with clear ceratopsian characteristics, suggests that some previously identified rhabdodontids were actually early ceratopsians. This finding supports the idea that ceratopsians were present in Europe during the Cretaceous, filling a gap in the fossil record.

Apologies for audio quality - was a bit rushed!

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In this episode from 2022, we delve into an incident that occurred in a Lower Cretaceous tracksite in Utah. A digger driven by the Bureau of Land Management accidentally drove over dinosaur tracks, causing damage to the site. This incident sparked outrage as the BLM was accused of violating procedures that required the presence of a palaeontologist.

We then discuss pterosaur evolution, exploring the common ancestor of dinosaurs and pterosaurs. We also discuss the remarkable size of Quetzalcoatlus and Azhdarchids, shedding light on the evolutionary journey of these magnificent creatures and why they are so much bigger than birds.

Dinosaur Bites is taken from a live we did back in 2024.

We ask where are the Australian Dinosaurs?

What was the first ever Dinosaur?

Why are only small dinosaurs feathered? (or are they...)

You can watch this as a video here: https://youtu.be/UqUzAgcWMRg

Terrible Lizards is a dinosaur podcast with Dr Dave Hone from Queen Mary University and Iszi Lawrence. To support the podcast and unlock extra content go to www.patreon.com/terriblelizards

You can watch this episode as a video on youtube: https://youtu.be/C2atVWsvkS0

To support the show/get bonus content: www.patreon.com/terriblelizards

We've barely mentioned African dinosaurs (apart from you-know-what) over the years and have repeatedly failed to give much love to the early sauropodomorphs either (the 'prosauropods'). Happily, this month we're getting a great two-for-one deal by speaking to Kimi Chapelle who tells us all about her work on the incredibly well-represented, but not actually that well-studied Massospondylus. This species is known from dozens of complete skeletons but has attracted surprisingly little attention in the scientific literature and Kimi has been working to correct that with a whole series of projects on this animal and its relatives. There's plenty to discuss and more to come on these overlooked dinosaurs, so headphones on and enjoy.

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Kimi's website: Kimberley (Kimi) Chapelle | Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University https://renaissance.stonybrookmedicine.edu/anatomy/people/facultypage/chapelle

A profile of her and her work from the Superscientists website: Dinova - Kimberley Chapelle — SuperScientists https://www.superscientists.org/superscientists/chapelle

Dinosaur Bites 002 Terrible Lizards Podcast returns with a discussion on dinosaur colours, and Compsognathus, from a 2021 live session. We talk about the preservation of dinosaur colours is limited to certain pigments and while some colours may not preserve well, the organisation of melanosomes is a more significant factor. And candidate for the cutest dinosaurs: Compsognathids, a group of small theropod dinosaurs, are often found as juveniles, leading to uncertainty about their phylogenetic placement. We discuss Andrea Cau's hypothesises that they may not be what they seem!

Direct video link: https://youtu.be/5wGuzaJ16M8

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Also apologies for the audio glitches - when we talked over each other it became incomprehensible - so it was shoddily repaired by iszi.

A short extract from a live we did back in 2021 about these two new #spinosaur species: Riparovenator and Ceratosuchops.

If you want to find out more about these animals please listen to the free full episode on youtube: https://youtu.be/jO6gyw-onBY?si=qHQ6oJ0wnqxJAaX- or find 'TLS05E01 Riparovenator and Ceratosuchops' on your podcast feed. https://terriblelizards.libsyn.com/tls05e01-riparovenator-and-ceratosuchops

Terrible Lizards a podcast about #dinosaurs with Dr Dave Hone and Iszi Lawrence. It is released on the last wednesday of the month and there is a large back catalogue.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Ud7Vyrmvx9zUBLcXjiSSl?si=4d37e2a2fe3e4319

We will be releasing Terrible Lizards Dinobites intermittently too: to help promote the show - so if you enjoyed this do like and share and leave a review.

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Thanks to our wonderful Patrons we are planning video as well as audio versions of the podcast from now on! Just as we have for the Bonus Episodes. (N.B. Sometimes video may not be possible but we are hoping it will be! We are still a two-man-with-occasional-help-from-Simon band. )

If you want to watch this podcast rather than just listen head to iszitube: https://youtu.be/5w83FHoFU7Q

We will also be releasing the Bonus Episode on the second Wednesday of the month so that the content is a little more spaced out.

Thank you EVERYONE for your amazing questions. Phil, James, Jay, Paul, Keren, Bethany, M'Challo, Victoria R, Christopher, TriSarahtops, Livefree13, Raptor Josh, Adam, Daniel, Alexander, Marcus, Roy and Summer!

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You can get in touch with us via www.patreon.com/terriblelizards Thank you for supporting science communication and being so friendly and passionate about the podcast. It means a LOT to us.