Terrible Lizards

Recorded live at the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival 2026, Iszi Lawrence and Dr Dave Hone tackle questions from the audience on everything from Spinosaurus salt glands and Jurassic World to feathered pterosaurs, Troodon taxonomy, AI in palaeontology and where the next great dinosaur discovery might be hiding. Questions featured in this episode include: • Could pterosaurs perch, hover or even fly backwards? • Did Spinosaurus have salt glands? • Has the Jurassic World franchise helped or harmed public understanding of dinosaurs? • Should amateur fossil collecting be restricted? • Is Troodon formosus valid again? • Do you need a PhD to work in palaeontology? • How little fossil material is needed to name a new species? • What made Troodon teeth so unusual? • What prehistoric animal would Dave and Iszi dress up as? • Has anyone tried reconstructing pterosaur calls? • Is AI useful in palaeontology? • Are pterosaur pycnofibres really feathers? • Why are Triassic ornithischian fossils so rare? • Where might the next big dinosaur discovery come from? • Have Dave or Iszi found any fossils recently? Support Terrible Lizards on Patreon: https://patreon.com/terriblelizards Iszi Lawrence NEW audiobooks (release date: 25-06-26) https://www.audible.co.uk/author/Iszi-Lawrence/B0865T388B https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/domesday-cows-9781801999274/ Find out more about the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival: https://fossilfestival.com/ Watch this episode on youtube (Search iszitube) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lujwm8nrvRA

Were dinosaur horns brightly coloured? And is there really such a thing as a "top predator"? In this extract of a Terrible Lizards bonus we recorded last year, we tackle two surprisingly big dinosaur questions from our listeners. First: what colour were dinosaur horns and frills? Could horned dinosaurs like Triceratops and other ceratopsians have had vivid displays like modern birds? We explore colourful toucans, puffins, flamingos, and even vultures that deliberately dye themselves red to ask whether dinosaurs may have been much brighter and stranger than we usually imagine. Then an argument with sharp teeth: is T. rex really a "top predator"? If killer whales sometimes hunt great white sharks, are sharks apex predators? Is the whole idea of a "top predator" actually misleading? Support the podcast, ask questions and get all the full bonus episodes here: https://www.patreon.com/terriblelizards You can watch this episode on patreon or on youtube here: https://youtu.be/EVSC9hQckrI

In this short discussion, palaeontologist Dave Hone and Iszi Lawrence chat with podcaster Suzy Buttress about the strangeness of bird eyes... from iris colour and pupil shape, to owls, crocodiles and the frustrating problem of soft tissue in fossils. Could dinosaurs really have had the slit pupils made famous by Jurassic Park? Or have we been picturing dinosaur eyes all wrong? Expect: birds, dinosaurs, crocodiles, giant marine reptile eyeballs, weird owl anatomy, and some surprisingly unsettling turkey dissection stories. This is an extract from Series 5 Episode 4 with Suzy Buttress from the Casual Birder podcast. You can watch the footage of this recording here: https://youtu.be/czcOPj8_jC8 Support the show and grab extra content: https://www.patreon.com/terriblelizards

Did dinosaurs raise each other's young like modern cuckoos do? Dr Dave Hone and Iszi Lawrence discuss how we would know if brood parasitism existed millions of years ago. To get more bonus material and keep the podcast ad free go to: https://www.patreon.com/terriblelizards

Iszi and Dave briefly discuss the new Netflix series "Dinosaurs". Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/ejpMkrDDsWw They analyse the accuracy of the trailer including the opening with Spinosaurus's hunting technique, neck musculature, and nostril placement, comparing it to real-world evidence and previous research. You can watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4ZBSzYUTL0 Keep the podcast ad-free and join in the discussion here: https://www.patreon.com/terriblelizards

This is available to watch on youtube here: https://youtu.be/R-GgkboCjA8 Support the podcast (keep it advert free) and get exclusive content: https://www.patreon.com/terriblelizards We have talked plenty about dinosaurs in pop culture, including in movies, but this is hardly a modern phenomenon. Dinosaurs were getting into the mainstream almost as soon as they appeared on the scientific scene and have a rich history in novels, and short stories. This week we are joined by Richard Fallon, a historian specialising in science in literature and with a particular interest in prehistoric animals in this context. Richard and Dave recently wrote a book chapter on the odds parallels between Jurassic Park and Michael Crichton and the Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle. Having won a prize for this ("Doylean Honors" from the ACD Society!) we though it a great time to sit down with Richard and talk about dinosaurs and other ancient reptiles in fiction and how this has changed over time. Here's some of Richard's collective works: Creatures of Another Age: https://www.valancourtbooks.com/creatures-of-another-age.html Contesting Earth's History in Transatlantic Literary Culture, 1860–1935: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Contesting-History-Transatlantic-Literary-1860-1935/dp/0198926162/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0 Reimagining Dinosaurs in Late Victorian and Edwardian Literature: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reimagining-Dinosaurs-Victorian-Edwardian-Literature/dp/1108984398/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.4n1IVVZf74mbQ0RyFryuMDimH9ZiV04X3glC8p-KfT8.D618IUFHF0G27P0maCF82yXIjgZs_wzvKoA6n0yiz4Y&qid=1770283675&sr=8-1 And you can follow him on Bluesky: @richardfallon.bsky.social

You can watch this episode on youtube here: https://youtu.be/QI_nmQPADcE Support the podcast and get extra content by going to: https://www.patreon.com/terriblelizards In this episode from 2022, we delve into an incident that occurred in a Lower Cretaceous tracksite in Utah. A digger driven by the Bureau of Land Management accidentally drove over dinosaur tracks, causing damage to the site. This incident sparked outrage as the BLM was accused of violating procedures that required the presence of a palaeontologist. We then discuss pterosaur evolution, exploring the common ancestor of dinosaurs and pterosaurs. We also discuss the remarkable size of Quetzalcoatlus and Azhdarchids, shedding light on the evolutionary journey of these magnificent creatures and why they are so much bigger than birds.

You can watch this episode as a video on youtube: https://youtu.be/C2atVWsvkS0 To support the show/get bonus content: www.patreon.com/terriblelizards We've barely mentioned African dinosaurs (apart from you-know-what) over the years and have repeatedly failed to give much love to the early sauropodomorphs either (the 'prosauropods'). Happily, this month we're getting a great two-for-one deal by speaking to Kimi Chapelle who tells us all about her work on the incredibly well-represented, but not actually that well-studied Massospondylus. This species is known from dozens of complete skeletons but has attracted surprisingly little attention in the scientific literature and Kimi has been working to correct that with a whole series of projects on this animal and its relatives. There's plenty to discuss and more to come on these overlooked dinosaurs, so headphones on and enjoy. Please support the podcast and get access to bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/terriblelizards Kimi's website: Kimberley (Kimi) Chapelle | Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University https://renaissance.stonybrookmedicine.edu/anatomy/people/facultypage/chapelle A profile of her and her work from the Superscientists website: Dinova - Kimberley Chapelle — SuperScientists https://www.superscientists.org/superscientists/chapelle

A short extract from a live we did back in 2021 about these two new #spinosaur species: Riparovenator and Ceratosuchops. If you want to find out more about these animals please listen to the free full episode on youtube: https://youtu.be/jO6gyw-onBY?si=qHQ6oJ0wnqxJAaX- or find 'TLS05E01 Riparovenator and Ceratosuchops' on your podcast feed. https://terriblelizards.libsyn.com/tls05e01-riparovenator-and-ceratosuchops Terrible Lizards a podcast about #dinosaurs with Dr Dave Hone and Iszi Lawrence. It is released on the last wednesday of the month and there is a large back catalogue. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Ud7Vyrmvx9zUBLcXjiSSl?si=4d37e2a2fe3e4319 We will be releasing Terrible Lizards Dinobites intermittently too: to help promote the show - so if you enjoyed this do like and share and leave a review. For more info and bonus material and videos go to: www.patreon.com/terriblelizards

The biggest news in palaeontology this year dropped just in time for us to miss it with last month's episode but we're giving it the full hour this time. The idea that there's a miniature tyrannosaur running around in the Late Cretaceous alongside Tyrannosaurus has long been a contentious one, with most palaeontologists favouring the interpretation that the specimens represented juvenile rexes. But a huge new paper presents a brand-new specimen that shows various unique features and importantly, is an adult animal while still small. Join Dave and Iszi into a deep dive on the history of these ideas ad why people are switching sides to support the idea that Nanotyrannus is real. One of the better articles from the media storm: Nanotyrannus isn't a 'mini T. Rex' after all — it's a new species, 'dueling dinosaurs' fossil reveals | Live Science: https://www.livescience.com/animals/dinosaurs/i-was-wrong-dinosaur-scientists-agree-that-small-tyrannosaur-nanotyrannus-was-real-pivotal-new-study-finds Please support the podcast and submit questions for our end of year megasode: https://www.patreon.com/terriblelizards

Long time listener and second time guest Darren Naish joins us to talk about marine reptiles. While Darren is best known for his work on dinosaurs and pterosaurs, he has fingers in a huge number of vertebrate pies, and he has a new edition out of his book on all of the Mesozoic monsters that lived in the sea. So, strap in for an incredibly being tour of mosasaurs, mesosaurs, placodonts, ichthyosaurs, plesionsaurs, thalattosaurs, thalattosuchians and we even manage to sneak in a reference to certain allegedly semi-aquatic large theropods. Support us on www.patreon.com/terriblelizards Check out iszi's NEW podcast about Egyptology www.talklikeanegyptian.com A link to Darren's Home page which combines links to the blog, podcast, con and other resources. https://tetzoo.com/ A link to Darren's post on the launch of the first edition: https://tetzoo.com/blog/2023/2/27/ancient-sea-reptiles-is-out-now A link to the Natural History Museum shop for the book: https://www.nhmshop.co.uk/ancient-sea-reptiles-plesiosaurs-ichthyosaurs-mosasaurs-more.html?srsltid=AfmBOorc2zt792sWSVYdef8-O5zKci9w2Fiu6FhLlpX_lEATiWy1Gsn0

Pterosaur soft tissues It's a double new paper episode this time as thanks to the magic of almost random review and publication times, Dave has two papers out on the same subject in the same month! So strap in for some absolute minutiae on pterosaur hands, feet, scales, and the oddly overlooked wing membrane that sits between their legs. Pterosaurs in general are not very common fossils and so it should be no surprise that we don't have a great many examples of their soft tissues, from skin, to beaks and claws and other bits. So, having new examples, and synthesising the limited information we have, is really important for building an understanding of these incredible animals. It's deep dive time. A link to Dave's blogpost on the new hand and foot scale papers: https://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2025/06/10/new-data-on-pterosaurian-soft-tissues/ A link to a very old blogpost about pterosaur soft tissues generally: https://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/pterosaur-soft-tissues/ Iszi'a new book - featuring a pterosaur and perfect for 6-9 year olds is out on 28th August in the UK: https://amzn.eu/d/9kFiniD (message her on iszi.com if you want international posting).