We’re trying out something new for our first podcast episode of 2026! Marc, Natee and Gemma are joined by returning guest Christopher DiPiazza, teacher, palaeoartist and now budding palaeontologist. Not only does he fill us in about all his adventures working with fossils from the Maryland Dinosaur Park bone beds, he also joins us for our Vintage Dinosaur Art discussion. Chris introduces us to the work of Pam Mara as it appears in several volumes of Rourke dinosaur books. These came out in the 1980s and have been illustrated by a handful of different artists, of which Pam Mara was one that proved particularly formative to Chris’ young mind… Do old, half-remembered books still subliminally influence the artist’s work? Why is Coelophysis purple? How is a tyrannosaur like Mickey Mouse? Why can we imagine the smell of vinyl when looking at these illustrations? And where does Gemma draw the line when it comes to stylization? Join us for the first episode of 2026!
In the News
- There has been some followup in the comment section of last month’s episode, including sources and links. Check them out!
- Marc has reviewed some lovely artwork by Maurice Wilson.
- You can follow our guest Chris DiPiazza on Bluesky, Instagram and his blog!
Chris DiPiazza’s Hadrosaurus mural, Academy of Natural Sciences, Pennsylvania
Chris DiPiazza’s Dryptosaurus mural, New Jersey State Museum
Chris DiPiazza’s artwork of Prognathodon
Chris DiPiazza and a likely Acrocanthosaurus tibia at the Maryland dinosaur lab
Chris holding a Priconodon tooth up to Peloroplites’ jaw. Note the difference in size between the Priconodon and Peloroplites teeth. Peloroplites was about 6 meters long.
Likely Priconodon tail vertebra, hand for size.
Vintage Dinosaur Art
The “Dinosaurs And Other Prehistoric Creatures Stories” series was published by Rourke Enterprises between 1981 and 1989. Each individual volume is short and tells a narrative story about a certain dinosaur. They were written and illustrated by several artists. Some of the artists include Pam Mara, Doreen Edwards, Roger Payne and Andrew Howatt. Today, we are focusing on the work of Pam Mara. The series has its own Wiki.
Pachycephalosaurus
Albertosaurus
Deinonychus and Anatosaurus
Deinonychus and Anatosaurus
Tyrannosaurus and Spinosaurus
Deinosuchus and Corythosaurus
Deinosuchus, Psittacosaurus and flamingos
Parasaurolophus
Euoplocephalus
Brachylophosaurus
Tyrannosaurus and Scolosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Parasaurolophus
Gorgosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Intermezzo: Some artwork by Christopher DiPiazza
Chris DiPiazza’s Gorgosaurus, inspired by the one above
Chris DiPiazza’s Pachycephalosaurus
Chris DiPiazza’s Coelophysis growth series, showing the purple snout
Vintage Dinosaur Art, contiued
Psittacosaurus
Rutiodon
Rutiodon and pterosaur
Mastodonsautus and Henodus
Coelophysis and Ornithosuchus
Coelophysis
Scolosaurus
Herons in the Cretaceous
Struthiomimus
Spinosaurus and others
Spinosaurus skeleton…?
Pachycephalosaurus skeleton
Pachycephalosaurus in the fire
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6 Comments
llewelly
January 29, 2026 at 1:18 pmDid dinosaurs grow grapes for wine?
of course!
who else could survive a Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs drinking game, with a sip of wine required for each mention of Sibbick, Paul, or Jurassic Park?
Gemma Hazeborg
January 30, 2026 at 3:55 amNot me! I have to edit this stuff, I hear everything like five times…
Michel
January 30, 2026 at 1:18 amWhoa whoa whoa. A pile of these are in my Mammoth Book of Dinosaurs (Featuring: Ice Age Creatures)! I had no idea there were more.
I could have sworn Marc had reviewed it at some point, by it can’t find it now. What I can say, from the Mammoth Book, is that several of the stories are indeed different perspectives on the same day (e.g. the Corthyosaurus that gets chopped).
My favourite of the Pam Mara illustrations is probably the resting Albertosaurus, which is a bit Crystal Palace. Generally, though, she’s clearly waaaaaay more interested in non-theropods.
(My favourite from the book, though, has always been Nothosaurus, by Roger Payne. I got the book when I was four, and it has always been my favourite. I just started reading the book to my four year-old, and it appears to be his favourite also, followed by Mara’s Parasaurolophus.)
Gemma Hazeborg
January 30, 2026 at 3:54 amThat Mammoth Book is one of the several compendia of the Rourke books that have come out over the years. David Orr reviewed a few of the Rourke books on the previous version of the website.
Grant Harding
January 30, 2026 at 11:24 amI haven’t listened to this yet, but Coelophysis has always been purple in my mind too. Probably for the same reason!
albertonykus
January 31, 2026 at 7:35 pmThanks for the shout out and I’m glad my previous comment was useful! Ironically, a new study that came out about a week ago has argued that giant extinct kangaroos might have been able to hop after all, even though it probably wasn’t their main style of locomotion.