THE UNIVERSITY

• Maps and travel information
• Tours and visits
• Open days

• Introducing the University
• History of the University
• Governance: how the University is run
• Faculties and departments
• University vision and strategy

• The Chancellor
• The Vice-Chancellor
• Senior executive team
• Nobel Prizes and Fellowships
• Alumni and friends

• Useful contacts
• Key dates
• Key dates on Google Calendar
• Facts and figures
• Publications
• Internationalisation

The Bristol dinosaur

This mosaic-style picture, entitled 'Bristol Dinosaur', is the work of local artist Andrew Council. After purchasing a copy of the picture to brighten up the Department of Earth Sciences' Common Room, Professor Mike Benton invited Andrew to meet the real Bristol dinosaur, Thecodontosaurus.(See high-resolution version of dinosaur - 641Kb)

Andrew's dinosaur, made up of a mosaic of tiny drawings of buildings and landmarks in the Bristol and Bath area, strides along eating everything in its path. In contrast, the bones of Thecodontosaurus, which preparator Remmert Schouten is painstakingly freeing from large blocks of rock, belonged to a dog-sized vegetarian – one of the earliest plant-eating dinosaurs.

First described in 1834, from bones found in a quarry near the Downs, Thecodontosaurus is being re-examined by Professor Benton and colleagues who regard it as close to the ancestor of huge plant-eaters like Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus, and hope that the new material will shed more light on the origin of dinosaurs.

You can find out more about Mike Benton's Bristol dinosaur and Andrew Council's site, where you can see his animated version.