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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Due to the absence of paint sample data, this colour choice ended up being a tribute to the mosasaur in Waterhouse Hawkins’ “Cretaceous Life of New Jersey” painting. (This will be in a pending/overdue thread about the new colours..) artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/collecti...

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Looks like you had a great day Neil! A shame about the rain. Respect to the student that brought binoculars 🙏

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Neil Gostling/EvoPalaeoLab @neilgostling.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

I am really impressed by the accessibility of the @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social of the @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

This was a good listen, but no shout-out to the Crystal Palace Megalosaurus 🙂‍↔️

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Richard Fallon @richardfallon.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

A very roughly remembered but pleasingly early (1854) take on the @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social. Coloured engraving from Maclure, MacDonald & MacGregor, William Tegg & Co. Digital image © London Museum, Object ID: 58.22/49 (www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/...).

A print showing the full span of the Crystal Palace grounds.

A close-up of Waterhouse Hawkins's models, some more accurately drawn than others.

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Although non-paleo, its worth saying that this (seemingly abandoned) Flickr account is *incredible*, containing over 160k random/found holiday snaps and photo albums, largely from the 1950s-80s www.flickr.com/photos/found...

flickr.com

daves_archive _inactive at current time’s albums | Flickr

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

We found this fantastic old colour shot, possibly taken at some point between the end of the 1960s to mid-1970s. Zoom in for the interesting eye paint of the iguanodon, and a pretty mucky megalosaurus - which may have been just about to enter its "red paint" phase.. www.flickr.com/photos/found...

Colour scanned photo. view from the path overlooking the dino end of the Secondary Island

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

He attended a poultry show at the Crystal Palace on 11/08/1857, and “returned rather soured in temper”

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Blake Leyh @earlofedgecombe.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I found a few more pictures from that same day. The pictures were taken for my mom's book "Children Make Sculpture."

Two boys sit with their backs to the camera, looking at a statue of the dinosaur Ichthyosaurus in a stream at Crystal Palace Park in 1972. Photo by Alexandra Blanshard.

A page from "Children Make Sculpture" by Elizabeth Leyh, with three pictures of the dinosaur sculptures in Crystal Palace park. Photos by Alexandra Blanshard.

The cover of the book "Children Make Sculpture" by Elizabeth Leyh, published in 1972. It shows a large classical lion sculpture with a young girl dwarfed sitting in front of it.

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The standing Crystal Palace Iguanodon is comprised of: “4x iron columns, 9 feet long by 7 inches diameter [the legs] 600 bricks 650 5-inch half-round drain-tiles 900 plain tiles 38 casks of cement 90 casks of broken stone 100 feet of iron-hooping 20 feet of cube inch bar”

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

We’ll do an overdue thread on the new pterosaur heads very soon, at the very least..

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

We aim to document the whole of the recent conservation work, with contributions from the key conservators 🙏

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Inside the Megalosaurus! We were recently sent details of a visit done in March (before the recent conservation began) by the Historic England Structural Engineering Team The sheer amount of detail to go into warrants a thread or the dark arts of..*cackles above a cauldron*..a BLOG POST

Colour photo. Inside the beast, looking towards the mouth. A narrow brick-walked space dominated by a thick iron “spine” pipe, supported by iron truss bars.

Colour photo, looking towards the rear. The brickwork tapers, and is complemented by drain tiles, towards the hollow tail

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Earlier today, one of the more rarer birds to be spotted among the Dinos - a (juvenile?) grey heron squaring off with the Dicynodons!

Colour photo zoom-in of a rather hunched up heron face-on with the Dicynodons in the September sunshine

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

This is the stuffed body of Martha, the last known surviving passenger pigeon, on display in the Natural History Building of the Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum circa 1920 Martha, poor lonely Martha, has an interesting connection to the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs... 🧵

black and white photo. Martha, looking to one side towards the camera, on a wooden-looking perch, looking to the camera against a blank background. her appearance is long, slender and upright.

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Ruth Siddall @pavementgeology.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Do drop in to @geolsoc.bsky.social for today’s open house! See the Mary Anning portrait, the William Smith map and I’ve put together a tour of the stones used in the interior. The Geol Soc gents toilets are pretty special in the world of #urbangeology! 😉 programme.openhouse.org.uk/listings/4938

A chimney piece made of a red and yellow mottled marble in the library

The portrait of Mary Anning hung on a wall over a fossil ichthyosaur jaw in a glass case standing on a limestone plinth

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

This a fantastic display of these historic models, and we appreciate playing a part in the interpretation information 🙏 The gallery can be found on the Hintze Hall balcony - turn right at the giant sequoia tree slice ➡️

Colour photo of the Iguanodon and Labyrinthodon models, in a glass case on a yellow base with orange background

Close-up of the Labyrinthodon head, much more stretched than its eventual form

The rear of the Labyrinthodon showing its frog legs and famous footprints..

Close-up of an information panel containing a photo of the standing Iguanodon - taken towards the end of the restoration - that we contributed

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Earlier today: a close-up of the @nhm-london.bsky.social bronze Crystal Palace Iguanodon model, on display in the newly-reopened Nature and Us gallery in the museum! ✨

Colour photo. Side view close-up of the standing Iguanodon model against a lovely orange background

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Do they still have the somewhat-calming “The Home of Ladybird Books” signs on the station platform?

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

@jacktindale.bsky.social @coneshotline.bsky.social , we did promise/threaten that we would do an actual Bluesky thread, all those days ago at Pengefest..

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

AN extensive obituary to William Palmer is here, its a fascinating insight into natural history adventures from an earlier age We'll collate this thread, correct brevity/typos, and add extensive references in a future blog post x digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcont...

digitalcommons.usf.edu

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

It doesn't seem that Joseph Palmer and BWH worked together after 1871, but there's another Smithsonian mystery to explore in a future thread In summary: Crystal Palace, Waterhouse Hawkins, Joseph Palmer, New York, sledgehammer goons, Smithsonian, taxidermy, William Palmer, Martha the pigeon (RIP 🙏)

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

So, it turns out that Joseph Palmer assisted Waterhouse Hawkins with the Crystal Palace project! He is the only other named helper we know He would have been about 18 at the time. It is possible that he could have been kept on at the Palace when BWH was released in 1855, before reuniting much later

famous illustration of BWH's Crystal Palace workshed. A few people can be seen working among the standing Iguanodon, Hylaeosaurus, Labyrinthodon, Dicynodon, and Paleotherium models. Perhaps Joseph Palmer is one of them

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Joseph and his family (wife Letitia, son William and daughter Mary) had sailed from England to join Waterhouse Hawkins in New York in 1868, presumably to assist him with the Paleozoic Museum (and start a new life) Records show them on the SS City of Boston. Joseph's occupation was "farmer"?!

illustration of the SS CIty of Boston passenger steamship. now, we are not nautical experts. it resembles a very large looking sleek black sail boat with thre large masts with multiple sails, with a large chimney on deck between the front and centre mast

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Waterhouse Hawkins left New York shortly after the goons with sledgehammers destroyed his (and our) dreams in May 1871 Joseph Palmer stayed on for a while - doing some work for the Zoological Garden in the park, before moving his family (including William) to Washington, and the Smithsonian

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Oh, hello Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins' Paleozoic Museum workshop! Joseph Palmer was BWH's right-hand man in New York, assisting him in this project For those unfamiliar with this adventure, this paper by @vickycoules.bsky.social & Michael Benton is great: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

monotype illustration. Waterhouse Hawkins' New York workshop. We see a copy of the Hadrosaurus skeleton, Irish Elk models very similar to the Crystal Palace ones (hint hint: future thread), a very large resting Hadrosaurus models which BWH may be seated next to, and various smaller maquettes. In he background are a couple of other people

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Joseph Palmer was also an expert in casting and moulding, and did various projects - including this bisected humpback, which was “the first large whale replica displayed at a major museum” shorturl.at/1cEL3 Before the Smithsonian, Palmer was in New York - Central Park, to be exact..

black and white photo. the starboard half of a humpback whale skeleton is mounted within a port half of a hollow humpback whale model, mounted on stands in the centre of a spacious Smithsonian hall containing specimen cabinets. we may return to this place in a subsequent related thread

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

William got his start at the Smithsonian via his father, Joseph Palmer - who was the Institution’s FIRST permanent taxidermist, joining in 1872. Joseph is on the right in this photo from 1904. Note the ladies (“Miss. Malone and Miss. Louise A. Rosenbusch”), who were likely secretaries in this era

black and white photo. well dressed and hatted Department of Anthropology people pose for the camera in front of what is presumably the Department of Anthropology. Joseph Palmer seems 1.5x larger than everyone else. two ladies are seated

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

As well as being chief taxidermist, William Palmer was a veteran field naturalist at the Smithsonian. He travelled widely on collecting trips, and would make molds of larger skeletons, even a meteorite Also a fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union, and a private collector of birds and ferns

black and white photo. an older-looking William Palmer in smart field naturalist attire and, of course, a flat cap. moustache

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

upon arrival in Washington, Martha was thawed and then skinned by the Smithsonian's chief taxidermist, William Palmer. Some photos in the link below rather than in this post, for those that may currently be eating.. Oh, William Palmer was born in South East London... birdaz.com/blog/2014/09...

birdaz.com

An Extinct Individual – Birding New Jersey

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Once sky-darkingly abundant, the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) became extinct, *somewhat* due to human involvement, at 1pm on 1st Sept 1914, in Cincinnati Zoo Martha was believed to be 29yrs old, and died of old age She was put in a block of ice, and sent by train to the Smithsonian...

black and white photo. what looks to be the dark shape of Martha in a block of ice. it's difficult to find the source/credit for this photo, but its likely from the photo archives of the Cincinnati Zoo, as it appears in a youtube video of theirs

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

very much looking forward to this (obvs)

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

they have been embodied with Victorian manners

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Coming up later: a thread about a pigeon..

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Hi Robert. We’ve been revisiting his US activities, and have been going through the Central Park annual reports, along with other recorded activity in NYC There are a couple of things that we’ll be doing threads about in the coming weeks, including a model that may have escaped the goon’s hammers!

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

There are some great photos of the Princeton Hadrosaurus, evocatively set among Waterhouse Hawkins’ paintings, in the Princeton University Library digital archive: (apparently damaged beyond repair when trying to move it to a new building in 1909) dpul.princeton.edu/catalog/r494...

dpul.princeton.edu

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

New paper out today! Led by Daniel Schwarz, we retrodeformed the skull and reconstructed the cranio-mandibular musculature of the giant stem-amphibian Mastodonsaurus giganteus. Our results show that Mastodonsaurus had a powerful bite and a crocodile- like bite-and-hold feeding style.

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Bromley Council recently shared with us an unearthed archived letter from 1859: Waterhouse Hawkins offering to “rebuild” the mammoth for £400! He suggested that lectures and a fête could help return costs, and wanted his old superintendent role and responsibilities for the duration of the works

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Incredible that this is the same statue!

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Maybe a zoomed-out shot would improooooov-aaaawhoah!

Colour photo. The full view of the dino. Surrounded by a small metal fence. Chunky hips and swollen-looking forelimbs. A quick Google Maps check confirms this is in Ledford Park, next to a Conoco gas station and convenience store - the type of place that the assassin from No Country for Old Men would visit

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

An extremely good day to you all from this Pachycephalosaurus statue - which was located in a park in an actual town called Dinosaur, in Colorado (Pop. 243) (Photo from 1991, part of the John Margolies Roadside America photo archive, www.loc.gov/pictures/ite...)

colour photo. close-up of the head of the dino statue. it has the domed head, and some lumps of armour, but "lumpy" would be a good word to summarise this very rough messily-sculpted affair, which is dark brown with a "normal" white and black eye

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Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The reconstructed skull from Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins' mount of Hadrosaurus (1868), formerly displayed at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Photo from my last visit to ANSP in 2021. #FossilFriday

Large plaster skull with a vaguely iguana-like appearance. The jaw is placed separately on a shelf with the rest of the cranium. They are both painted a shade of greenish-gray.

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

We have enjoyed the Richard Holmes books we have read - THE AGE OF WONDER and FALLING UPWARDS spring to mind - but he can be the first recipient of our new Megalosaurus Side-eye™ award..

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Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

An incredible photo from a great vantage point! Shots from the 1970s are fairly rare 🏆

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Dr Alex Fitzpatrick @animalarchaeology.com · 19/08/2026

And finally, my first ever episode for Eons, which was about my beloved Irish elk: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZEY...

youtube.com

When Giant Deer Roamed Eurasia

YouTube video by PBS Eons

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