John Pickrell's Blog, page 3
May 31, 2014
Flying Dinosaurs has landed in Australia!
Flying Dinosaurs went on sale across Australia this weekend! Today (June 1) is the official launch date and it’s now available online too. Find out how to buy it in Australia. If you’re overseas and can’t wait for a print copy to arrive, you can download it right now on Apple’s iBook store. I ... [Read more...]
May 30, 2014
Flying Dinosaurs Sydney launch party
Thanks to all who made it to ‘Flying Dinosaurs: A night at the museum’ on Thursday evening! This glitzy Australian Geographic Society event to launch the book – held at Sydney’s historic Australian Museum – was an enormous success, with all 120 tickets sold out. Flying Dinosaurs author, John Pickrell, gave a 45-minute talk about some of ... [Read more...]
May 21, 2014
VIDEO: What colour was Archaeopteryx?
Archaeopteryx, the ‘first bird’, has fascinated people since the first mostly complete specimen was dug out of a quarry in Bavaria in 1861. Along with a number of other dinosaurs and early birds, researchers have now been able to look at the microstructural features of fossilised feathers of the animal, and determine that its ... [Read more...]
May 20, 2014
Mary Anning: First Lady of Fossils
Happy birthday to Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847) – one of the most important women to influence the history of science. I’m excited to see that Mary Anning – pioneering British female fossil hunter and palaeontologist – is rocking the Google doodle today, on what would have been her 215th birthday. Anning made ... [Read more...]
May 17, 2014
EVENT: Flying Dinosaurs book launch
Flying Dinosaurs: A night at the museum Join us at the Australian Museum for an evening of fascinating new dinosaur revelations! When: Thursday 29 May 2014 Where: Australian Museum, Sydney, enter via William St entrance Time: 6:15pm (for 6:30pm start) – 8:30pm Cost: $20 BOOK TICKETS We have learnt more about dinosaurs in the two ... [Read more...]
VIDEO: Epidexipteryx
Epidexipteryx hui China, Mid- to Late Jurassic (152–168 million years ago), described 2008 This odd pigeon-sized dinosaur found in China’s Inner Mongolia Province had a downy covering of fuzz for insulation and four long, ribbon-like feathers that emerged from its tail and were probably used for display. Weirder still were Epidexipteryx’s incredibly long fingers – ... [Read more...]
VIDEO: Gigantoraptor
Gigantoraptor erlianensis Mongolia, Late Cretaceous (80–95 million years ago), described 2007 This species was discovered accidentally by Xu Xing while he was shooting a TV show in Inner Mongolia in 2005. Filming had to stop because he was so excited. The largest member of the parrot-beaked oviraptorosaur group – at 8 metres long and 4 ... [Read more...]
VIDEO: Microraptor
Microraptor gui China, Early Cretaceous (110–120 million years ago), described 2003 Hundreds of specimens of several similar species of this four-winged flier have been found in Liaoning. Studies revealed these animals had feathers that were blue-black with an iridescent sheen, similar to a crow, and serrations in their teeth suggest that fish were part of ... [Read more...]
