Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Conversation
The Conversation
Science
Mark P. Witton, Research Fellow in Palaeontology, University of Portsmouth

Crystal Palace dinosaurs: how we rediscovered five missing sculptures from the famous park

The iconic _Iguanodon_ sculptures of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs. Witton and Michel (2022), CC BY-SA

This summer sees our love for dinosaurs manifest in two major releases: the David Attenborough documentary Prehistoric Planet, and Jurassic World: Dominion. Such multi-million dollar projects are a far cry from the first attempts to bring dinosaurs to life in people’s imagination.

Perhaps the most famous of these took place almost 170 years ago at Crystal Palace Park, in south-east London, where over 30 life-sized sculptures of prehistoric animals, including dinosaurs, revealed extinct life to the public for the first time.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.