SCIENCE

Blog Carnival #30: Italian Dinosaurs, Paleoart Controversy, Dino D-Day and More

March 29, 2011

How is a Saurpod Like a Vacuum Cleaner? Find out at Everything Dinosaur.

Renaissance Reptiles: Art Evolved alerts us to the opening of Dinosauri in Carne e Ossa, the first large-scale paleoart exhibition in Italy. The event will be running through May 31 in Piacenza—a city renowned for its historical palaces and renaissance churches. And now, it also has dinosaurs. (Your move, Venice.)

The War of Art: A blogosphere battle royale has erupted in response to comments posted on the Dinosaur Mailing List by pioneering paleoartist Gregory S. Paul. As Asher Elbein writes over at The Faster Times, Paul “made a sweeping statement to the paleoart world: stop using my skeletal reconstructions. This sparked a massive discussion…Did he have the right to prevent artists from making use of his technical and scientific skeletal illustrations for the purposes of their own reconstructions? How far did his copyright claims extend? And most importantly, can you copyright the exact proportions of an animal skeleton?”

Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs has dubbed the debate, the “paleoart-pocalypse,” and is posting regular updates on his blog.

New Blog on the Block: Let’s extend a warm, paleosphere welcome to Skeletal Drawing, a blog that “will deal with the functional anatomy of dinosaurs and other extinct critters…as well as the limits on what can be confidently restored in extinct animals.” Be sure to check out the blog’s three-part series on “A History of Skeletal Drawings.”

Rex Riders: Looking for t-shirts featuring homo sapiens riding on dinosaurs? Dinochick has you covered.

Nazi Dinosaurs: Finally, someone has recognized the one crucial element that’s been missing from World War II strategy games: dinosaurs. Kotaku offers a preview of “Dino D-Day,” which will be released in early April. The premise, according to the game’s manufacturer: “The year is 1942. Adolf Hitler has succeeded in resurrecting dinosaurs. The reptilian horde has trampled Europe and the Mediterranean. Can nothing stop the Nazi’s dinosaur army?”

The Write Stuff: Greg Leitich Smith, author of novels for young adults—including the forthcoming dino-themed time-travel mystery, The Chronal Engine—is starting a blog series called Writers and Dinosaurs. “The idea is to feature children's authors and illustrators in photos with dinosaurs of some kind. These can be realistic dinosaurs or skeletons from natural history museums or theme parks or can be dinosaurs of the more cartoon-y variety. So if you're an author or illustrator and have a picture and want to be included, leave a comment with your email and I'll be in touch!”