Crystal Palace plesiosaurs
The first ever life-size models of prehistoric animals were produced in the early 1850s by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins. They were revealed to the world at Crystal Palace in London, 1854, and although now worse for wear, today they grace the grounds at Sydenham Hill, where they are classified as Grade 1 listed buildings. This gallery shows the plesiosaurs restorations in the exhibition as they appear today. The models repreent three different types of plesiosaur: Plesiosaurus macrocephalus , Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus, and 'Plesiosaurus' (=Thalassiodracon) hawkinsi (photos by Chris Crump, used with kind permission).
Plesiosaurus macrocephalus (left) and Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus (right)
Detail of Plesiosaurus macrocephalus
Detail of Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus (ichthyosaur to right)
'Plesiosaurus' (=Thalassiodracon) hawkinsi
