Chris Manias
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chrismanias.bsky.social
Chris Manias
@chrismanias.bsky.social
3.8K followers 1.3K following 200 posts
Historian of science based at King's College London, working on history of evolutionary & deep-time sciences and environmental history. Runs #PopPalaeo ( www.poppalaeo.com ) and co-leads the King's Environmental Humanities network
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chrismanias.bsky.social
Afternoon trip to the Nairobi Railway Museum - lots of good trains!
An outdoor scene with a steam locomotive in the foreground, and a rusty railway wagon behind it. Blue skys and skyscrapers in the background A front on outdoor image of a steam locomotive A side on outdoor view of a grey train A black railway carriage in a shed, with the Kenya Railway sign on the side
October 27, 2025 at 12:27 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
Impressive guy guarding National Museums Kenya
A large statue of a knobbly bipedal dinosaur, standing in a museum garden, with many trees and bushes around
October 21, 2025 at 1:39 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
The series has been reconstructed here, from catalogues and surviving examples in natural history collections, with the possible sources of artistic inspiration

Lots of mammals, and the reptiles are an interesting mix of Crystal Palace-esque creatures and more typical late-19C reconstructions:
Illustrations of models of - Mammoth, woolly rhino, Megaloceros, Dinoceras, Mastodon, Sivatherium, Dinotherium, Anoplotherium, Ancitherium and Megalosaurus Illustrations of models of : Iguanodon, Hylaeosaurus, Brontosaurus, Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus, Pterodactylus, Rhamphorhynchus, Archaeopteryx, Mastodonsaurus and Nicrosaurus
October 13, 2025 at 4:20 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
Cool new article investigating two paper mâché models from the Pfalzmuseum für Naturkunde, revealing a series of prehistoric animal reconstructions made in the 1890s: www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Just look at the Dinoceras!!!!

(thanks to @hydrarchos.bsky.social for sending this over)
A coloured photograph showing a model Dinoceras from five different angles. The creature is grey and elephant-like in body, but its head is truly extraordinary and almost indescribable. It is a bit like a rhino in form, but has two large down-facing sabre-teeth, four horns on its nose, flappy ears and two giant protuberances on its forehead, looking a bit like Mickey Mouse ears, but more upright. It is standing on a wooden stand, and has quizzical look, as if it querying why it is being observed.
October 13, 2025 at 4:12 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
There is Quenstedt's magnificent desk with ammonite carvings in the Tübingen palaeontological collections:
A photograph of a scene in a library - a wooden desk, with carved ammonites and a very uncomfortable looking wooden chair are in the foreground. A microscope and book are on the desk. In the background is a bookshelf with a large number of old books, a card index cabinet, and a wallchart with a picture of a Pareiasaurus skull. There is also a white plaster bust of Friedrich August von Quenstedt behind the desk.
October 9, 2025 at 10:07 AM
chrismanias.bsky.social
A sadly never-realized Pleistocene animal park in La Plata, Argentina. Article from from Fray Mocho (9 August 1912)

The animals were designed by Josef Pallenberg, who also did the dinosaur sculptures at Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg

(more info in this article: doi.org/10.31048/185... )

#FossilFriday
Double page spread from an Argentinian magazine from 1912. Shows models of prehistoric animals, including a Toxodon, Macrauchenia, Mylodon, Megatherium, Mastodon, Glyptodon and sabre-toothed cap. The central image is an illustration of all the creatures standing in a landscape.
September 26, 2025 at 10:54 AM
chrismanias.bsky.social
For #FossilFriday - advert for Kühnscherf Museum Cabinets, for when you need a display case for your indeterminate fossil reptile in early Weimar Germany

From Natur und Museum (1920)
Page of an advertisement from a German journal from 1920. In the middle is a picture of a portly black-clad man with a large white beard, black hat and walking cane, pointing at a glass case with a fossil reptile skeleton inside, and the words Kühnscherf at the base. The main text reads "Kühnscherf Museums-Schränke, aus Eisen and Glas … Anerkannt die besten Museums-Schränke der Welt" (translation --- "Kühnscherf Museum Cabinets, made from iron and glass … Recognized as the best museum cabinets in the world.")
September 12, 2025 at 8:01 AM
chrismanias.bsky.social
The base of a lectern, in brass. A sculpture of a lion is placed close by.
August 5, 2025 at 5:56 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
Some classic Church decoration commentary at St Giles' Church in Wrexham:
A photograph of part of some Church decoration interpretive text. It reads: "Here rests the Holy Bible on.a brass eagle lectern presented in 1524; notice the feet: the artist had clearly never seen a lion."
August 5, 2025 at 5:54 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
Went to Chester Zoo and saw a sleepy rhino and a magnificent hornbill
A side-on photograph of a black rhino sleeping on a mud floor. It is in a wooden enclosure, with sunlight streaming in (The rhinoceros was also snoring, but this was sadly not captured on the photograph) A photograph of a great hornbill perched on a branch. It has a black body, black and white tail, and a magnificent yellow bill amd basque, which it is showing off in profile
August 4, 2025 at 2:41 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
The ferret at Surrey Docks Farm definitely has the right idea in this weather
A black and white ferret sleeps in a hammock. Various ferrety implements, including straw, coloured balls and a tube, are beneath it
July 12, 2025 at 4:15 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
History of geology archival find this week: an 1856 lyric tribute to William "Strata" Smith, to be sung to the tune of "The girl I left behind me:"
An opened-up page of printed paper in an archival folder. It has the following text in three columns: Father William Addressed to the President, Sir R.M. Air – “The girl I left behind me” In days of old, old William Smith, While making a canal, Sir, Found out how the strata dipped to the east With a very gentle fall, Sir. First New Red Sand and marl a-top With Lias on its border, Then the Oolite and the Chalk so white All stratified in order. Sing, cockle-shells and oyster-banks, Sing, thunder-bolds and screw-stones, To Father Smith, as I’ve heard said, Had a very sharp nose to smell fish, And he very soon saw that every bed Held its own particular shell-fish. The screw-stones grew in the Lias blue Thunderbolts in Oolite, Sir, Shark-teeth a few, and urchins too, Turned out of the Chalk so white, Sir. Sing cockle-shells and oyster-banks, Sing thunderbolts and screw-stones, For to Father Smith we owe our thanks For the story of a few stones. And by degrees getting up to trap A prospectus he sent forth, Sir And produced a geologic map From the south coast to the north, Sir. And at breakfast-time John Phillips has said Strange wisdom would he utter, And shew how the strata all were laid Like slices of bread and butter. Sing, cockle-shells, and oyster-banks, Sing, thunderbolts and screw-stones, For to Father Smith we owe our thanks For the story of a few stones. He talked with wondrous sense and pith And these facts so stoutly held he, That first they christened him Strata Smith, And then made him LL.D. His blue coat was of Cotteswold cloth, Of corduroy his breeches, Of stout drab cloth his gaiters both, And in this costume he preaches, Of cockle-shells and oyster-banks, Of thunderbolts and screw-stones: O, Father Smith, we owe you thanks For the history of a few stones. A.C. Ramsay. Anniversary Dinner, 1856.
June 5, 2025 at 1:59 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
Went to Crocodiles of the Wprld today, and saw a lot of crocodiles 🐊
A building entrance, with signage saying "Crocodiles of the World" A photograph of a caiman in an enclosure. It is floating in the water, with its nostrils and eyes above the waterline A photograph of a large number of Nile Crocodiles lounging in an enclosure under a heat lamp. There is also one swimming in the water A close up photograph of a Nile crocodile, zooming in on its eye
May 6, 2025 at 6:38 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
Event at King's on 18 June! Gary Younge and @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social in conversation, around Sadiah's forthcoming book Vanished.

Very much looking forward to both the event and the book. If you'd like to attend, just sign up on the following form: forms.office.com/e/3ZMBirJjjr
An image of a book cover, featuring the text "Sadiah Qureshi, Vanished: A Natural History of Extinction," published by Allen Lane. The cover features a picture including a large skeleton of a Mastodon, an elephant being ridden by a person, and two people looking on, as well as some plants in the background.
April 15, 2025 at 10:59 AM
chrismanias.bsky.social
Wasn't expecting an analogy like this to appear in Michael Ruse's attempt at an explanation of Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy....

(from The Gaia Hypothesis, p. 125)
Quote from a book writing out: THE COSMIC WORLD As we dig further into Steiner’s system, we fi nd that it diverges more radically from conventional thinking. Grabbing ideas from past and present, near and far, Steiner offered up a remarkable gallimaufry of sweeping and fantastical claims, from positing an age when humans all lived in Atlantis, where now we find the Atlantic—an idea, incidentally, to be found in the Timaeus—to his view of the coming of Christ. He affi rms that there were actually two Jesus children who fused together to make the Christ, a bit like the Skeksis and Mystics who come together to make the urSkeks in the movie The Dark Crystal.
March 18, 2025 at 12:33 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
Some historic palaeomodelling from early-20C Sweden: a little Pterosaur made of bath-sponge, wire and wax paper, used to illustrate posture. It's apparently about 20cm from nose to tail, and still in the Museum of Evolution in Uppsala

From Ebbestad 2016 (£): www.lyellcollection.org/doi/abs/10.1...
A photograph of a model pterosaur on a black background. Its body is made out of orange sponge, and its wings are partly folded and made of wax paper. It is next to a museum label, calling it "Pterodactylus westmani"
March 16, 2025 at 9:43 AM
chrismanias.bsky.social
... and here is the finished article, being reported on in the Illustrated London News!
The top half of a page from the magazine, "The Illustrated London News," dated 30 November 1929. It depicts a large reconstructed mammoth sculpture in an exhibition, being admired by visitors. The headline is "The Mammoth of Moravia: A Huge Stone Age Beast Reconstructed, photographs by courtesy of Dr Karl Absolon (copyrighted)"
March 11, 2025 at 2:00 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
Looking into interwar central European prehistoric research today, and completely enamoured of this guy, being built for the "Man and His Ancestry Pavilion" at the 1928 Exhibition of Contemporary Culture in Czechoslovakia

(made out of papier-mâché, clay, 1800kg of plaster & wood and coconut fibre)
A colourized photograph from the 1920s of a large sculpture of a mammoth in profile, under construction (the head still seems to be an illustration, while the body is being made out of clay or plaster). Six workers are around the mammoth, either building it or supervising the construction. There is a caption with Czech text at the top, and the English translation says "Fig. 222, The "Baťa" mammoth at Bauer ramp in Brno-Pisarky being completed. The works on the mammoth reconstruction took three months; a master craftsman with a sculptor, joiner, two journeymen and a locksmith participated in them, 1928. Archive of the Anthropos Institute of the Moravian Museum (MM).'
March 11, 2025 at 1:57 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
Just under two weeks to go until the launch of Palaeontology in Public in London at KCL!

We'll have talks, a pop-up exhibit and panel discussion on the place of palaeontology in public culture. Speakers in the image below

Free event - more info & sign-up link here: forms.office.com/e/dsKYteTD1B
Poster advertising the launch event for Chris Manias (editor), Palaeontology in Public (UCL Press, 2025). It contains the following text: Book Launch & Discussion Event Saturday 22 March, 14:30-19:30, King’s College London Talks by: Richard Fallon, Susannah Lydon, Chris Manis, Ellinor Michel, Ilja Nieuwland, Mark Witton & Charlotte Wood And a panel discussion with: Mike Benton, Natalie Lawrence & Darren Naish Register at: https://forms.office.com/e/dsKYteTD1B There is also an image of the book cover. This features the text "Palaeontology in Public: Popular Science, Lost Creatures and Deep Time. Edited by Chris Manias." The cover image depicts a large long-necked Sauropod dinosaur, modelled after the famous animation "Gertie the Dinosaur" in a park, with a city skyline in the background. A range of humans are standing around Gertie, pointing at and admiring her. There is also a man in a ringmaster outfit standing on Gertie's shoulder.
March 10, 2025 at 11:04 AM
chrismanias.bsky.social
One week to go until the online launch for Palaeontology in Public, which will be on Tuesday 18 February, 18:00-19:30 (UK-time) on Zoom

All welcome! To attend, just sign-up here at least 24 hours before the event start: forms.office.com/e/gpWburvZPk
Poster advertising the launch event for Chris Manias (editor), Palaeontology in Public (UCL Press, 2025). It contains the following text: Online Book Launch Tuesday 18 February, 18:00-19:30 (UK Time) on Zoom Chaired by Adrian Currie Responses from Mike Benton, Riley Black, Natalia Jagielska and Alison Laurence And discussion with some of the chapter authors. Register at: https://forms.office.com/e/gpWburvZPk There is also an image of the book cover. This features the text "Palaeontology in Public: Popular Science, Lost Creatures and Deep Time. Edited by Chris Manias." The cover image depicts a large long-necked Sauropod dinosaur, modelled after the famous animation "Gertie the Dinosaur" in a park, with a city skyline in the background. A range of humans are standing around Gertie, pointing at and admiring her. There is also a man in a ringmaster outfit standing on Gertie's shoulder.
February 11, 2025 at 3:26 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
Happy 200th Birthday Iguanodon!

Very much a fan of your early-20th century look depicted by Gerhard Heilmann, with prehensile tongue and power-walk
A coloured painting, depicting two Iguanodon in a forested environment. The Iguanodon are bipdel and very scaly, with iguana-like crested heads. One is walking in the foreground in a determined manner, with thumb-spikes outstretched, and in the background one is stretching up to eat leaves from a tree, with a prehensile tongue gripping the branches.
February 10, 2025 at 9:07 AM
chrismanias.bsky.social
Met a very good ram this afternoon
A photograph of a large fluffy ram standing behind a wooden fence in a barn. The ram is looking directly at the camera, and has large curly horns and a blue mark on his forehead. In the background is a large amount of straw
February 8, 2025 at 4:29 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
We'll have talks from some of the chapter authors, including Richard Fallon, Ilja Nieuwland and Mark Witton. and also from Susannah Lydon, Ellinor Michel and Charlotte Wood.

There will also be a display of things connected with the book, and some screening of historical palaeontological films
A still from the silent film version of The Lost World (1925), depicting 1920s London street scene, in a district with large neoclassical buildings. A Brontosaurus is marching down the road into a large crowd. The image is tinted in blue, giving a night-time effect.
February 7, 2025 at 3:12 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
Full details are now up for the in-person launch event for the book Palaeontology in Public -

This will be at the KCL Strand campus in central London on Saturday 22 March, 14:30-19:30

More info and a sign-up form is here, if you would like to attend: forms.office.com/e/dsKYteTD1B
Poster advertising the launch event for Chris Manias (editor), Palaeontology in Public (UCL Press, 2025). It contains the following text: Book Launch & Discussion Event Saturday 22 March, 14:30-19:30, King’s College London Talks by: Richard Fallon, Susannah Lydon, Chris Manis, Ellinor Michel, Ilja Nieuwland, Mark Witton & Charlotte Wood And a panel discussion with: Mike Benton, Natalie Lawrence & Darren Naish Register at: https://forms.office.com/e/dsKYteTD1B There is also an image of the book cover. This features the text "Palaeontology in Public: Popular Science, Lost Creatures and Deep Time. Edited by Chris Manias." The cover image depicts a large long-necked Sauropod dinosaur, modelled after the famous animation "Gertie the Dinosaur" in a park, with a city skyline in the background. A range of humans are standing around Gertie, pointing at and admiring her. There is also a man in a ringmaster outfit standing on Gertie's shoulder.
February 7, 2025 at 3:08 PM
chrismanias.bsky.social
We'll be having the online launch for Palaeontology in Public on Tue 18 Feb 18:00-19:30 UK-time

It will feature comments from Mike Benton, Riley Black, Natalia Jagielska and Alison Laurence, & discussion with some of the chapter authors

More info & signup link here: forms.office.com/e/gpWburvZPk
Poster advertising the launch event for Chris Manias (editor), Palaeontology in Public (UCL Press, 2025). It contains the following text: Online Book Launch Tuesday 18 February, 18:00-19:30 (UK Time) on Zoom Chaired by Adrian Currie Responses from Mike Benton, Riley Black, Natalia Jagielska and Alison Laurence And discussion with some of the chapter authors. Register at: https://forms.office.com/e/gpWburvZPk There is also an image of the book cover. This features the text "Palaeontology in Public: Popular Science, Lost Creatures and Deep Time. Edited by Chris Manias." The cover image depicts a large long-necked Sauropod dinosaur, modelled after the famous animation "Gertie the Dinosaur" in a park, with a city skyline in the background. A range of humans are standing around Gertie, pointing at and admiring her. There is also a man in a ringmaster outfit standing on Gertie's shoulder.
January 28, 2025 at 4:16 PM