Palaeocast

What are Mass extinctions, how are they quantified, what are the driving forces behind them, how bad were the ones in the past and will we have more in the future?

To answer these questions we are joined by mass extinctions specialist Prof. Paul Wignall of the University of Leeds, UK.

Direct download: Ep23.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:56pm UTC

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology are this year holding their annual conference in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles. The SVP were formed in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators and others interested in vertebrate paleontology. It is organised exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology.

At this event, we’re aiming to continue our daily reports, following on from our coverage of GSA, bringing all those who can't attend a flavour of the conference.

Direct download: SVP4.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:37pm UTC

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology are this year holding their annual conference in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles. The SVP were formed in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators and others interested in vertebrate paleontology. It is organised exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology.

At this event, we’re aiming to continue our daily reports, following on from our coverage of GSA, bringing all those who can't attend a flavour of the conference.

Direct download: SVP3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:26pm UTC

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology are this year holding their annual conference in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles. The SVP were formed in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators and others interested in vertebrate paleontology. It is organised exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology.

At this event, we’re aiming to continue our daily reports, following on from our coverage of GSA, bringing all those who can't attend a flavour of the conference.

Direct download: SVP2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:28pm UTC

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology are this year holding their annual conference in the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Los Angeles. The SVP were formed in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the society now has more than 2,300 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators and others interested in vertebrate paleontology. It is organised exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology.

At this event, we’re aiming to continue our daily reports, following on from our coverage of GSA, bringing all those who can't attend a flavour of the conference.

Direct download: SVP1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:41pm UTC

This year sees the GSA celebrate its 125th anniversary, having formed in  1888. It's a massive event with thousands of attendees. There are literally hundreds of talks to hear and posters to see, so we're hoping to bring just a sample of it to you.

Each day we’ll be posting interviews and pictures from the conference, giving you a flavour of what it’s like to attend.

Direct download: GSA3.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:15pm UTC

This year sees the GSA celebrate its 125th anniversary, having formed in  1888. It's a massive event with thousands of attendees. There are literally hundreds of talks to hear and posters to see, so we're hoping to bring just a sample of it to you.

Each day we’ll be posting interviews and pictures from the conference, giving you a flavour of what it’s like to attend.

Direct download: GSA2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:15pm UTC

This year sees the GSA celebrate its 125th anniversary, having formed in  1888. It's a massive event with thousands of attendees. There are literally hundreds of talks to hear and posters to see, so we're hoping to bring just a sample of it to you.

Each day we’ll be posting interviews and pictures from the conference, giving you a flavour of what it’s like to attend. 

Direct download: GSA1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:57pm UTC

Most people would consider fire to be an entirely destructive process, however given the right circumstances organic materials can be exquisitely preserved by charcoalification. We no doubt all know charcoal from the BBQ, but how many of us stop to consider what it actually is?

Charcoal is formed when organic material is subjected to high temperatures in the absence of oxygen. In this situation oxidation (burning) is not possible, however water and volatiles are driven off leaving behind a carbon-rich residue. This thermochemical alteration not only increases the preservation potential of the material in the fossil record, but can also preserve details down to a cellular level as a 'carbon skeleton'.

In this episode we discuss the importance of this greatly overlooked source of palaeontological information with Professor Andrew C. Scott of the Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London.

Direct download: Ep22.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:21pm UTC

In this episode we talk to Jørn Hurum, Associate Professor of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Natural History Museum Oslo, Norway.  Jørn has varied research interests including dinosaurs and mammals (being one of the team of researchers who described Darwinius masillae, more commonly known as 'Ida'), but perhaps his most productive work has been with the Spitsbergen Jurassic Research Group. The Jurassic sediments of the Svalbard archipelago, north of mainland Norway, are rich in fossils of marine reptiles.

Direct download: Ep21.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am UTC

As Palaeocast celebrates it's 1st Birthday, we take the chance to look back over the past year and review our highlights. We also look towards the future and discuss our plans to attend some upcoming palaeontology conferences. We introduce a new member of the Palaeocast team and hear a little about the scientific work of all our members.

Direct download: Ep20.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:59am UTC

The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, or 'GOBE', describes one of the most important increases in biodiversity in the history of life on earth. During a relatively short time span of some 25 million years, an explosion of new species, genera and families appeared. This increase in diversity was accompanied by an increase in ecosystem complexity. Plankton and suspension feeding organisms rapidly diversified and became important constituents of the food web. At the same time, large predators, such as the orthoconic nautiloids, evolved to exploit them. This biodiversity 'explosion' coincided with a dynamic period in earth's history during which continents were shifting, mountains were raised and massive volcanism occurred.

Joining us to try and untangle the causes and consequences of this complex and fascinating period is Prof. David Harper of Durham University, UK.

Direct download: Ep19.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:30am UTC

Trilobites are one of the most instantly recognisable groups of fossils. They were present from the very start of the Paleozoic and went on the fill a great number of ecological roles before going extinct at the Permo-Triassic mass extinction event 252 million years ago. They ranged from the very small to the very large, from the most basic appearance to the most elaborately ornamented.

We were lucky enough to get the opportunity to speak to Prof. Richard Fortey of the Natural History Museum, London, all about trilobite morphology and ecology.

Direct download: Ep18.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:00am UTC

Ammonoids are a diverse group of cephalopods, a group of molluscs that include squid, octopuses, cuttlefish and nautiloids. They lived for over 300 million years (from the Early Devonian – the end Cretaceous) and survived multiple mass extinctions. They finally succumbed to the mass extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous, the same event that killed the Dinosaurs. Ammonoid fossils are found abundantly around the world and offer palaeontologists a exceptional opportunity to study the evolution, life history and ecology of these fascinating invertebrates. Today we will be talking to Dr Kenneth De Baets from the Palaeontology Section, GeoZentrum Nordbayern about what we can learn about ammonoid ecology from the study of their fossils, and what this tells us about the evolution of living cephalopods.

Direct download: Ep17.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:00am UTC

One of the most significant events in Earth’s history has been the oxygenation of its atmosphere 2.45–2.32 billion years ago. This accumulation of molecular oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere was so significant that it is now commonly known as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE). The long-reaching effects of the GOE were literally world-changing; the compositions of the atmosphere and hydrosphere were altered, and through various redox reactions (where atoms have their oxidation state changed), the nature of the continents and global climate changed too. However, and perhaps from an anthropocentric viewpoint, the most important effect would be upon the biosphere: the GOE paved the way for the evolution of aerobic (oxygen respiring) organisms, including our earliest ancestors.

It is possible to track the GOE through geochemical traces left in the rock record. However, one thing we're still uncertain about is whether or not this event represents either a sharp increase in oxygen production or a reduction in oxygen sinks - the jury is still out on that one. With this level of ambiguity over the dynamics of the GOE, it may be a little surprising to know that there has been a long-standing consensus on how the oxygen was actually produced: photosynthetic organisms called cyanobacteria (blue-green algae, so named after the pigment they produce).

In this episode we discuss with Dr. Bettina Schirrmeister (University of Bristol) about the evolution of cyanobacteria and the role they played in the GOE.

Direct download: Ep16.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:55am UTC

Perhaps one of the most overlooked areas of palaeontology, within the public eye, is micropalaeontology. Micropalaeontology is an umbrella discipline, covering a diverse range of organisms, with representatives from many of the highest level biological groupings. Although small in size, microfossils prove invaluable for research into palaeoclimatology and are also one of the most commercially applicable groups of fossils.

In this interview we speak to Dr. Giles Miller, Senior Curator of Micropalaeontology at the Natural History Museum (NHM). As each individual group of microfossils could warrant an entire series, this episode serves as an introduction to micropalaeontology. We discuss what it is and some of its applications, all within the context of how the micropalaeontology collection at the NHM is used.

Direct download: Ep_15.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm UTC

Ichnology is the study of trace fossils (also termed ichnofossils). Opposed to body fossils, the physical remains of an organism, trace fossils are the fossilised interactions between an organism and the substrate/sediment and include such things as trackways, excrement, burrows, bite marks and borings. Both body fossils and trace fossils are important when studying an organism and especially so in determining palaeoecology (how an organism interacted with its immediate environment). Body fossils can only inform us of the anatomy of the dead organism and its physical constraints, from which we can infer modes of life. Trace fossils, on the other hand, record the activity of organisms in life; it can be possible to see evidence of how certain communities functioned, or how an organism interacted with its environment. However one drawback is that the producer of a trace fossil is not always known, or we can't be certain that any one organism produced a specific trace.

In the second part of this two-part episode, we speak to Prof. Anthony Martin from Emory Euniversity, USA, archosaur burrows, the feasibility of dinosaurs over-wintering on the South Pole and Paleo-Barbie.

Direct download: Ep14b.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am UTC

Ichnology is the study of trace fossils (also termed ichnofossils). Opposed to body fossils, the physical remains of an organism, trace fossils are the fossilised interactions between an organism and the substrate/sediment and include such things as trackways, excrement, burrows, bite marks and borings. Both body fossils and trace fossils are important when studying an organism and especially so in determining palaeoecology (how an organism interacted with its immediate environment). Body fossils can only inform us of the anatomy of the dead organism and its physical constraints, from which we can infer modes of life. Trace fossils, on the other hand, record the activity of organisms in life; it can be possible to see evidence of how certain communities functioned, or how an organism interacted with its environment. However one draw back is that the producer of a trace fossil is not always known, or we can't be certain that any one organism produced a specific trace.

In this first of a two-part episode, we speak to Prof. Anthony Martin from Emory Euniversity, USA, all about trace fossils, why they are important and how they can be used.

Direct download: Ep14.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm UTC

Every palaeontologist needs to put their feet up once in a while, and what better place to do so that the Best Western Denver Southwest? This hotel is located just a stone's-throw away from Dinosaur Ridge, one of the world's most famous fossil sites. It was here that many of the house-hold dinosaur names such as Apatosaurus (formerly Brontosaurus) and Stegosaurus were first discovered during the 'Bone Wars' between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh in the late 19th century. The hotel is currently being re-branded, by science-advocate owners Greg and Meredith Tally, as a celebration of the rich paleontological history of the local area, both recent and ancient. Museum displays, fossil replicas and even a swimming pool shaped like the Western Interior Seaway are all planned, not only to excite the inner-child in each of us, but also to educate. We managed to catch up with Greg and Meredith, on a break from the construction, to talk all about their designs and the inspiration behind their re-branding, a story that strangely begins with Physicist Nicolai Tesla and a cartoon on theoatmeal.com.

Direct download: Ep13.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:13am UTC

Fossils, at the best of times, are difficult to interpret. Palaeontologists attempt to reconstruct organisms from what little remains are left. This can be relatively simple for groups that we are familiar with today; you can easily make comparisons between a fossil lobster and a living one. But how do you interpret a fossil that has no modern counterpart and is not clearly related to any other organism?  We speak to Dr Jakob Vinther of the University of Bristol about his experience of interpreting some of the oldest and most cryptic specimens in the fossil record.  We look at molluscs, worms, worm-like molluscs and mollusc-like worms.

Direct download: Ep12.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm UTC

Sexual selection is responsible for much of the astounding diversity in morphology and behaviour that we can see in animals and plants today, but how can we reliably recognise it in the fossil record? We speak to Dr. Rob Knell of Queen Mary University of London.

Direct download: Ep11.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am UTC

The first animals came onto land sometime before 425 Ma. These early colonizers were members of a group called the arthropods - probably early relatives of the millipedes first. However, early land animals - especially those from the Palaeozoic era (542 - 252 Ma) - are relatively rarely preserved as fossils. The Carboniferous period (350-299 Ma) is an exception to this rule. During the Late Carboniferous, there is a window in which land animals are found preserved within the iron carbonate mineral siderite. This kind of preservation allows palaeontologists to use 3D reconstruction techniques - such as high resolution CT scanning - to investigate this unique insight into early land-based ecosystems. We talk to Dr. Russell Garwood - an 1851 research fellow at the University of Manchester - about the Carboniferous, the land animals which were around at the time, and the techniques he uses to study these.

Direct download: Ep10.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:30am UTC

The 16th to the 18th December 2012 saw University College Dublin host  The Palaeontological Association (PalAss) 56th annual general meetingPalaeocast were present at the conference for quite a few reasons: firstly, it's always good to try and keep on top of the latest research in the field and conferences are the places to be for hearing a lot of ideas, covering a diverse array of topics, in a short period of time; secondly, we wanted to promote ourselves to the delegate in the hope of securing further interviews for the coming year; and thirdly, we wanted to drum up support for our 'Palaeo101' initiative which should finally be taking off this year.

Direct download: Ep9.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:38pm UTC

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