Can you make a prehistoric documentary without relying on T. rex? We chat to Tim Haines, the man behind Walking with Dinosaurs and the new series Surviving Earth about mammal-like reptiles, giant extinctions, documentary trickery, CGI dinosaurs, weird prehistoric noises and how you make audiences emotionally invest in creatures that may or may not have peed. From gorgonopsians to giant climate shifts, this is a deep dive into both prehistory and documentary filmmaking.

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Watch the series in USA THURS 6/11 NBC and peacock.

#Dinosaurs #Paleontology #Documentary #WalkingWithDinosaurs #SurvivingEarth

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

Could a dinosaur hear you whistle? Did giant dinosaurs have gigantic feathers? And would a head-butting dinosaur really scrape the ground like a bull before charging?

In this Dinosaur Bite episode, palaeontologist Dr Dave Hone and Iszi Lawrence tackle your brilliantly weird dinosaur questions—exploring how dinosaurs heard the world around them, what their feathers were really like, and whether famous scenes in Prehistoric Planet are grounded in science or artistic licence.

From tiny, high-pitched dinosaurs to booming giants, from Velociraptor quill knobs to the mystery of feather size in creatures like Gigantoraptor, this episode dives into what we really know—and what we're still figuring out—about dinosaur biology and behaviour.

Support the show and get extra content for as little as $1 dollar! https://www.patreon.com/terriblelizards

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Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/giB-id1iEZE

When people think of dinosaurs, it's usually the giants that come to mind—but most dinosaur groups began with much smaller, often overlooked species.

Among them are the small ornithopods: fragmentary, tricky to classify, and frequently lost in a tangle of confusing names and incomplete fossils. Yet these modest dinosaurs are hugely important. They paved the way for the later success of major groups like iguanodontids and hadrosaurs, shaping the evolutionary story of herbivorous dinosaurs.

In this episode, Paul Barrett from the Natural History Museum joins hosts Dave Hone and Iszi Lawrence to explore these fascinating underdogs—focusing on Enigmacursor, a recently named species that helps shed light on this often-neglected corner of dinosaur history. Settle in for an hour of small dinosaurs, big questions, and the challenges of working with fossils that are incomplete, confusing—and surprisingly revealing.

Prof Paul Barrett | Natural History Museum: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/people/paul-barrett.html

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Dr Dave Hone and Iszi react to an old dinosaur movie from the seventees.

We recommend watching this as a video, available on our patreon (as well as on Spotify) so you can see what we are reacting to.

https://www.patreon.com/terriblelizards

This dinosaur bite is taken from an old bonus episode for our patrons back in 2021 where we watched the full movie (it was free on YouTube back then) and did a commentary.

You can still watch the whole thing here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/60258810

Becoming a patron allows us to keep the podcast advert free and you get access to bonus content. You can join for as little as $1 but we would ask you donate whatever you can afford: 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

Please support the show, grab extra content and keep the podcast ad free: https://www.patreon.com/terriblelizards

You can watch this as a video on youtube here: https://youtu.be/z0y9N1bPmGY

Having recently caught up with the much-overlooked prosauropods (or at least, overlooked by us), and after many requests from our patrons on patreon, this month we turn our attention to the crocodiles!

Much like birds, major parts of the biology of these animals (living and extinct) are critical for understanding dinosaur biology, evolution and behaviour, so we shouldn't avoid them as much as we have on here. Happily, this month we are joined by croc-supremo Chris Brochu to talk about his career in crocodilian biology and his work on these animals.

On the way, we get into a deep discussion on identifying species and what this means for taxonomy and evolutionary studies. But we start with some work Chris did as a postdoc on a certain fossil that everyone listening will have heard of: Sue the T. rex!

Chris' University webpage:

https://sees.uiowa.edu/people/christopher-brochu

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