Episode 41 of the famous Chasmosaurs Podcast is here, and it’s a bittersweet one. Today’s episode is a tribute to the recently departed Czech palaeoartist Jan Sovák (1953 – 2025) and his frankly ginormous body of work. So ginormous in fact, that we just had to dedicate an entire episode to him. But there’s more to talk about. For one thing, there’s the new Walking With Dinosaurs series, which we refuse to review in this episode! Also, there’s a whole bunch of other palaeomedia coming, as well! Why don’t the English know about Jan Sovák? Did the keen olfactory sense of tyrannosaurs evolve to smell the flowers? Will Natee ever live down that time when they started comparing people to Thomas Kinkade? And who will bring the popcorn? Join us as we give you our monthly roundup, and as we dive deep into the life and works of one of Europe’s finest dinosaur artists.
In the News
- Marc wrote a review of one of the Juraparks in Poland!
- David Armsby is working on a new season of the Dinosauria Series on YouTube. Check out his YouTube channel here. We interviewed him in Episode 9.
- Another new YouTube minidoc, Mesozoic Life Stories, is being funded on Kickstarter.
Vintage Dinosaur Art
The Great Dinosaurs from 1994 was written by Phil Currie and Zdenek Spinar, and illustrated by Jan Sovák.
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4 Comments
llewelly
May 31, 2025 at 6:41 amwonderful to listen to a new episode. I am glad this podcast has continued so long. (So many fine podcasts don’t, *sigh*.) I agree the composition and lighting of several pieces are strongly reminiscent of Kish (and more are reminiscent of Burian). Lately I’ve been reading _Dawn of the Dinosaurs_ illustrated by Douglas Henderson and written by Nicholas Fraser, and I can see some similarities to Henderson’s compositions as well. (_Dawn of the Dinosaurs_ is from 2006, you could review it here next year!)
What with all your remarks on the referencing of modern birds in some of the dinosaurs (esp the Corythosaurus, with its Cassowary head and mallard bill), the Quetzalcoatlus, and the birds, I’m a little surprised you didn’t remark on the Virginia opossums in the Albertosaurus piece, and again in the Corythosaurus. A modern mammal that’s not too difficult to see in most cities of the USA and a few bits of southernmost Canada (provided one is outside at night now and then), but often used back then as a stand-in for Mesozoic mammals, thanks to the perception of marsupials as “primitive” (and Didelphimorphs like the Virginia opossum are early branching compared to marsupials generally). But I suppose it’s not so easy to see in Europe.
paleocharley
June 9, 2025 at 4:52 pmRe Daspletosaurus sleeping: “Poppies, Poppies, Poppies!”
WanderingCoelacanth
June 19, 2025 at 11:06 amExcellent episode! RIP Sovák.
I am, of course, familiar with his work through the vintage paleodoc series from the 90s, Jurassica (aka PaleoWorld). It’s also how I got familiar with other classics such as Doug Henderson and Brian Franczak. Do any of you happen to remember that series?
Also, nice to hear a fellow Auralnauts fan. 🙂
Paleona
August 6, 2025 at 11:29 amGreat episode! Sovák’s art is so beautiful, thank you for sharing. I’m super tempted to order myself a copy of this book now! The “volcano in the background” trope gets some groans out of y’all, but it’s honestly one of my favorites in paleoart. It’s just so nostalgic and fully completes that 90’s dinosaur feel to it, I’m not even sure how to describe it, haha. Takes me back to summer days as a kid :]