New Prehistoric Times Magazine Issue 109 Reviewed

By | April 15th, 2014|Magazine Reviews, Prehistoric Times|0 Comments

A Review of Prehistoric Times Magazine (Spring 2014)

Another bursting at the seams edition of Prehistoric Times with its front cover of a Chasmosaurus (model by Shane Foulkes) highlighting the fact that “Chasm Lizard” is one of the prehistoric animals featured in issue 109.  Phil Hore does an excellent job on summarising the rather convoluted history of this genus and his article has some super Chasmosaurus inspired artwork sent in by readers.  Not to be undone, Tracy Lee Ford chips in with a detailed explanation of the various species assigned to Chasmosaurus and does a splendid job in sorting out which of the former members of the Chasmosaurus genus have been reassigned elsewhere and why.

Prehistoric Times

In addition, he even manages to insert a little bit of the work of Charles Dickens and we though Dicken’s only wrote about megalosaurs (Bleak House).

Prehistoric Times (Issue 109)

Beautiful Chasmosaurus on the front cover.

Beautiful Chasmosaurus on the front cover.

Picture credit: Prehistoric Times/Everything Dinosaur

Nanuqsaurus hoglundi

In the news section, there is information on Nanuqsaurus hoglundi, whose fossils were find well inside the Arctic Circle.  It’s name means “polar bear lizard” which is very appropriate.  News stories featured include Anzu wyliei from North Dakota and possibly the largest theropod dinosaur known from our side of the Atlantic, Torvosaurus gurneyi.  T. gurneyi fossils have been found in Portugal, this is a specimen that we at Everything Dinosaur know quite well, what with the amount of new discoveries being reported to us by our friends on the Iberian peninsula.

To read more about Torvosaurus gurneyi: Meet “Savage Lizard” – Europe’s Largest Meat-Eating Dinosaur Described to Date?

Allen Debus takes us back to the 1930s a time when Chicago was host to the Worlds Fair which featured an exhibition of life-size prehistoric animals.  Part two of this highly informative article will be in the next edition.

To read more about Prehistoric Times/subscribe: Prehistoric Times Magazine.

Lots of model news and reviews, plus a super section dedicated to giant prehistoric birds, with a focus on the Ratites.  Once again, the article is accompanied by some excellent reader artwork and imagery.

Sculptor and artist John Gurche is interviewed and there is a special feature on how John was tasked with creating fifteen hominin sculptures for the Smithsonian Institute and its “Hall of Human Origins”.  Some of the models he has produced are simply breathtaking, the Smithsonian will shortly become the  museum for all other palaeoanthropologists to look up to.  John’s book “Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art and Imagination Help Us to Understand Our Origins” is reviewed in the excellent Mesozoic Media section and the book is already on our Christmas shopping list along with ironically, another book reviewed, “At the Top of the Grand Staircase”, which documents the fauna and flora from the Upper Cretaceous deposits to be found in this part of southern Utah.

All in all, an excellent magazine jam packed with lots and lots to keep dinosaur fans entertained and informed.

For dinosaur models and prehistoric animal figures: Prehistoric Animal and Dinosaur Models.