The ocean had apex predators long before sharks — and this week, we're diving into the extraordinary world of ichthyosaurs with one of the world's leading experts on them.

Alyssa sat down with Dr Dean Lomax — palaeontologist, author, broadcaster, and all-round ichthyosaur evangelist — ahead of his first-ever visit to Australia for Queensland Dinosaur Week (4–10 May 2026). It's a conversation about science, storytelling, and what it really takes to build a career in palaeontology when nobody in your family has ever been to university.

Plus: Travis is flying up to Brisbane for Dino Week himself, we make some big announcements about the future of the show, and we reveal what kookaburras have in common with Jurassic Park.

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• Dr Dean Lomax's website: deanrlomax.co.uk
• Locked in Time — Dean Lomax and Bob Nicholls
• The Secret Lives of Dinosaurs — Dean Lomax and Bob Nicholls
• Why Dinosaurs documentary — [available free on YouTube]
• Queensland Dinosaur Week
• Fossils and Fiction membership and merch

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We're road tripping across Queensland for Queensland Dinosaur Week.

Featuring interviews with experts from the Queensland Museum, Eromanga Natural History Museum, Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum (Winton), and Kronosaurus Korner (Richmond), we find out what's happening across the state from May 4-10, 2026.

For more info, check out https://dinosaurexperiences.com/queensland-dinosaur-week-2026/

Travis just spent three weeks galavanting around the museums of Europe, and he's here to tell you all about it. From Naturalis in Leiden, to Oslo, Oxford, London and Lyme Regis, you'll get the low down on the visitor experience at museums across the continent.

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More info:

• Australia Post's 'creatures of the palaeozoic' https://collectables.auspost.com.au/stamp-issues/view-all-stamp-issues/creatures-of-the-palaeozoic
• ABC Coverage of Dinosaur Dreaming https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-11/dinosaur-dig-at-inverloch-finds-bones-and-fossils/105904132