It’s not like anything seen alive on Earth today: it’s the size of
large turkey, but with a face like a Jim Henson puppet. The head is a
shoe-box with eyes, the Frankensteinian flatness on top accentuated by
horns sticking out horizontally from each cheek. A parrot-like beak juts
out at the front. One researcher reaches out and dares to touch the
broom-like bristles that erupt from its tail. Another leans over and
studiously peers up at the animal’s bottom.
This was the scene at the unveiling of paleoartist Bob Nicholls’ new reconstruction of Psittacosaurus. Hailed as the most accurate dinosaur reconstruction ever, it is based on studies of a spectacular fossil from China, carried out by a team led by Dr Jakob Vinther of the UK’s University of Bristol…
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