Mesozoic Mind

 Hello, and welcome back to Mesozoic Mind. Today, let's try something new and delve into the work of a particular palaeoartist. Specifically, one who you may not know by name but may know his artstyle.  Joe Tucciarone is not exactly well known as his contemporaries from the tail end of the Dinosaur Renaissance, but if you see his art anywhere, chances are you'll know it. I sure do, as my family used to have a placemat just like the one pictured above. Whether it was on other merchendise, books, or online in edgy tribute AMVs, Joe's dinosaurs were everywhere. Look at them on his (now-archived) website  and see how many you recognise. The man himself Joe himself (at least according to his website) is an Ohio resident born in 1953 (and likely Italian-American) who specialises in space art as much as palaeoart (he loves both), getting his start at the Memphis Museum's (presumably the Pink Palace Museum and Planetarium - is that right Memphians?) planeterium in 1978, and wh...

Happy halloween season, reader! Say, remember these books? It's easier if you were born and/or raised in the 90's or early 2000's, but to those born later then that, allow me to introduce them to you. These are the Looking At... Dinosaurs books . They are all illustrated by Tony Gibbons, and written by a body that included authors Heather Amery, Tamara Green, Frances Freedman, Mike Brown, and Jenny Vaughn. Finally, Cambridge's David Norman was the consultant for the book series, while Gareth Stevens Publishing published the books; they also did other series like it, covering topics like animal victims of the Anthropocene Extinction and arthropods. Each of the books follows a typical formula. There are a few deviations in order from book to book, but they mostly go: The introduction to the genus A size comparison spread A spread with the skeleton of the subject. An illustration of the dinosaur in its time. Two or three freespace pages that vary by subject, often seeming ...

Hello and welcome back to Mesozoic Mind. I've decided I'm going back to doing what I do best: obscure documentaries few have heard of. In this case, we once again return to the early 2000's with another Discovery Channel doc, titled  Mega Predators *.  * Just note I'm not sure if its 2001 (which I've seen given elsewhere) or 2004, which I've seen elsewhere, hence why no date is given here. If anyone could clarify which is which, that would be great. This documentary produced by one Rubin-Tarrat Productions focuses on predators of the Cenozoic and what made them deadly hunters. In many ways,  Mega Predators  feels like a predecessor to the much-reviled awesombro Discovery series  Monsters Resurrected . The focus on carnivores and how they hunt and kill prey. The random scenes of them in the present killing people. The hyperbolic treatment of them as monstrous killers and how they would hurt us: you will find them all there in Mega Predators , hell even a few spec...