The trouble was, Hawkins didnt have enough fossil evidence to begin with.
So he did what anybody with a contract and a looming deadline would have done he used his imagination.
A Megalosaurus model at Crystal Palace Park.
He then made small clay models and submitted them to Owen for his approval.
Owen not to take anything away from the man wasnt any wiser than Hawkins.
He liked Hawkinss model of theIguanodonstanding on all fours and having a horn like a rhinoceros’s.
We now know that theIguanodonsstands only on its hind legs and it has no horn.
The famous banquet inside the mould of the Crystal Palace Iguanodon on New Year’s Eve, 1853.
Inaccuracies of that sort were abound in Hawkinss model of the dinosaurs.
It resembles an oversized frog.
But back then, none of this mattered.
The dinosaurs were an instant hit drawing millions of visitors to the park each year.
Gradually, the public lost interest and they were forgotten until the early 2000s when the displays were renovated.
Missing parts were recreated and damaged parts of the surviving models were recast.
The park reopened in 2002.
The models and other elements of Crystal Palace Park were classed as Grade II listed buildings from 1973.
After the renovation, they were upgraded to Grade I.
Photo credit:Ian Wright/Wikimedia
A sign at Crystal Palace Park comparing models of Hawkinss dinosaurs with contemporary models.
Photo credit:Simon Q/Flickr
An Ichthyosaurus at Crystal Palace Park.
