A Short Short

Thecodontosaurus is not very famous in terms of on film presence (for many dinosaurs this translates simply into "not very famous" at all). However, the University of Bristol started a program in 2000 to engage and educate the public using the research and expertise of university faculty in conjunction with local (and global) fossils and the research that has gone into them. Thecodontosaurus is a dinosaur that was featured heavily in the Bristol Dinosaur Project because it was a very local (read found near, around, and in Bristol) dinosaur that made for an engaging animal in the initial stages of the growth of the Bristol Dinosaur Project; the project originally centered around the recovery and preparation of Thecodontosaurus specimens in addition to the outreach components conducted by the faculty. In fact, the mission statement is still mostly concerned with laboratory work on Thecodontosaurus specimens, but the outreach component appears to continue to be a very valuable portion of the work. The website is a little outdated and other news sources only cover up to the funding cycle for 2013, though the Bristol Zoo (which partnered with the university for some time) last mentions their dinosaur exhibit during the summer of 2017, so there is hope. Anyone that knows more about the project's current state is encouraged to share more with us, but we can only hope that a wide-reaching scientific and educational project like this is still in effect.