Paleoartist C.M. Kosemen addresses the way we picture dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, since most of his predecessors depicted them as bare-skinned, ultraviolent monsters, instead of as living, breathing, “regular” organisms related to present-day birds. That helps him reflect on how imagination and guessing is a necessary part of the scientific method, in what he calls "intelligent speculation". Thanks to the influence of this vision in his field, we can finally get a more realistic yet whimsical image of the lost creatures from our remote past.

C. M. Kosemen is an artist and independent researcher born in Ankara, Turkey in 1984. He studied at Cornell University, Istanbul’s Sabancı University and holds a Masters’ degree from London’s Goldsmiths College. Kosemen’s areas of interest include surreal art, Mediterranean history, paleontology, evolution, zoology and visual culture. As a researcher, Kosemen’s book credits include "All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals", and the "Cryptozoologicon, the Biology, Evolution and Mythology of Hidden Animals" (2012). Kosemen was also an editor for Benetton’s Colors magazine and worked in various advertising agencies.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx