PopPalaeo Online Session - Mark Witton, "The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs"

The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs are widely celebrated icons of Victorian palaeontology and palaeoartistry. Despite their familiarity, many details about these famous sculptures remain enigmatic or poorly communicated to the public, including their historic contextualisation in a wider 'Geological Court', the reality of Richard Owen's involvement, details of their construction, and their sophistication as works of palaeoart. In this session, we will introduce a new project to modernise interpretations of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs and discuss the new light being thrown on them by new research, and also provide insights and updates on their conservation plight. Mark P. Witton is a palaeontologist, author and artist based at the University of Portsmouth, with research expertise including pterosaurs and the reconstruction of animal life appearance from fossil remains. He is a project partner with the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs.