Bones of the Earth

The bone wars (not a Palaeontology-based rip-off of a well-known sci-fi film series) is one of my personal favourite stories in the history of science. Not only does it highlight how far we have come in recognising such malpractice in the field, but also shows how some early professionals allowed their egos to get the better of them, rather than the purpose of discovery.  The story starts in the 1870s and involves two American naturalists; Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. Like most scientists of the time, both men were able to pursue an education and career thanks to a wealthy inheritance, which allowed them to carry out their expeditions and research.  The relationship between the two actually started off as a rather positive one. They would collaborate in research together during the early ages of Palaeontology, and bringing discoveries from North America to Europe, which was revolutionary at the time. They even named discoveries after each other, Colosteus mar...

This time last year I was studying for my final year as an undergraduate Zoology student. The vast majority of that year was spent in a lab trying to figure out how to use various computer software for my dissertation on theropod locomotion. Amongst other topics, one of the new areas of Zoology that I studied was Venomics, the study of venom. At first, I was slightly intimidated by this topic, mainly due to the wide use of chemistry to analyse venom properties, however, as I looked deeper into it, I found that venomics can be used to study evolution and phylogenetics, which as a natural history nerd, made me suddenly much more invested. So what did I find? Snake venom, as an example, can contain over 200 proteins and peptides, and is known to show rapid rates of evolution. This makes it an excellent tool for phylogenetic studies, and gives insights into their genotypes, allowing us to look at the evolution of venom, thus the animals themselves. Venom properties have been seen to differ...

 *This blog was originally posted on 13.04.2021 on the Palaeomanchester blog * Fossilised footprints may be the most overlooked types of fossil. Everyone knows about fossilised bones, teeth, eggs and even skin, however its as if the fascination with footprints just doesn’t exist. Fossil footprints, scientifically known as ichnites, are a type of trace fossil. This makes it different to a true fossil, as it shows the indentation of a specimen, rather than the actual specimen itself. Ichnites form when an individual leaves a footprint in soft sediment such wet mud, which leaves a large impression on the surface. The impression is then covered quickly by dry sediment, which would have stopped the imprint being damaged by erosion or abrasion. The sediment would have then been buried and became compacted and cemented enough to form rock which would have taken the shape of the impression left by the animal. To the untrained eye, ichnites may only show the presence of whatever animal left...

 *This blog was originally posted on 12.03.2021 on the Palaeomanchester blog * Like most topics in natural science, DNA extraction was first bought to my attention as a young child watching in awe at the Jurassic Park film series. It is common knowledge that despite the valid DNA extraction techniques in the film, it wouldn’t be possible to use this to bring back animals that went extinct millions of years ago. This is due to the decomposition rate of DNA, as it has a half life of 521 years, which means its properties will only last for a maximum of 6.8 million years, even when preserved inside an insect in amber. Even if in theory, we were to try and “bring back” an animal from 6.8 million years ago, it would be virtually impossible as the vast majority of base pairs and genetic information will be gone. With this information, it is clear that we shouldn’t think about bringing back dinosaurs anytime soon, however could we use similar techniques to try and save species that critica...

 *This blog was originally posted on 19.02.2021 on the Palaeomanchester blog * On one of my regular walks at Whitworth park a couple of weeks ago I noticed a type of bird in the trees that looked a lot different to the Pigeons that you might expect to see. I thought it was strange to see a bird with bright green feathers in the middle of cold rainy Manchester so I knew I had to look into it further. My first thought was that the Parakeet I saw must be someone’s pet that had escaped and that it shouldn’t be there at all. Ring-necked Parakeet  (Psittacula krameri)  at Whitworth Park, Manchester, February 2020. My curiosity lead me to find out that they were in fact wild and that they had been living and breeding in the UK for quite some time. There are over 100 species of Parakeets in the world, mostly native to tropical regions of the world in Africa, Asia, Australasia and South America, so what exactly is a whole family of them doing in a park in Manchester in mid-Februar...

 *This blog was originally posted on 03.02.2021 on the Palaeomanchester blog * Africa is the second largest continent on earth and has incredibly diverse natural landscapes. It is therefore no surprise that fossils have been discovered in all corners of the great continent and have made large contributions to Palaeontology in the process. Prehistoric wildlife from Spinosaurus to Australopithecus are a couple of examples of fossils that were discovered on European expeditions to Africa, but have had the accomplishments of the local people that were also involved, seamlessly disassociated with them. For many, these European-led explorations in the 19th and 20th centuries can’t be separated from African fossil discovery, however it is known that native people in Africa were involved in Palaeontology before any European contact. One of the earliest known cases of fossil collecting dates back to 300,000 years. Early  Homo sapiens  were found to have collected fossil seashells ...

 *This blog was originally posted on 18.12.2020 on the Palaeomanchester blog * Whilst doing research for the museum on indigenous cultures and their relationship with fossils and minerals I came across a certain story which grabbed my attention. William Davis (better known as Pluto) was an indigenous Australian man born in Charters Towers in 1869. After having spent time in jail between 1890 and 1892, he was next seen in 1895 where he was travelling from Laura to Coen in the company of Basalt Earl, a mining entrepreneur. He left Earl’s party to try his luck on the Coen goldfield. It was however a problem for him to be in the north, as this meant he would have come under the jurisdiction of the norther Protectors of Aborigines. This would have meant that he had to be employed by someone in order to work, he couldn’t be self-employed or hire other people. Despite this, Pluto went on to be become a successful mining entrepreneur. He eventually founded the town of Plutoville, Queenslan...

 *This blog was originally posted on 04.12.2020 on the Palaeomanchester blog * Madagascar is an island nation off the east coast of Africa, roughly 250 miles from the mainland at the nearest point. If you were to think of African wildlife, you’d probably think of animals such as lions, elephants, giraffes and many more of some of the worlds largest terrestrial mammals. Madagascar however, has native species very different to the rest of the continent. Geologists estimate that Madagascar separated from Gondwana (which included parts of what is now Africa, Asia, South America, Antarctica and Australia) roughly 150 millions years ago and that the flora and fauna has evolved in isolation ever since then. This has caused unique species to evolve on the island. Today, it is thought that 90% of extant species on Madagascar is endemic, meaning they are not native to anywhere else in the world. It is thought that these species are descendants of individuals that migrated here either by raft...

 *This blog was originally posted on 26.11.2020 on the Palaeomanchester blog * Extant Crocodilia consists of 24 recognised species of Crocodylidae (Crocodiles), Alligatoridae (Alligators and Caimans) and Gavialidae (Gharials and Tomistoma). Crocodilia first appeared in the late Cretaceous period, roughly 95 million years ago. Members of the Pseudosuchia clade, which all recorded Crocodilia are classed under, first appeared in the Early Triassic period, 250 million years ago. Pseudosuchia is part of the Archosauria clade, which is the same clade that contains Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs and Birds. This means that the closest living relative to crocodiles are in fact birds. Simplified Phylogenetic tree of Archosauria, Steven M. Carr, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2002. The evolution of crocodilians within the Mesozoic era saw very noticeable changes. To get an idea of this, let’s look at Postosuchus, from the Late Triassic and compare it with the features of Deinosuchus, from the La...

 *This blog was originally posted on 18.11.2020 on the Palaeomanchester blog * 1993 saw the release of Jurassic Park, a pioneer for dinosaurs being present in the mainstream media. Although film and television had starred dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals before, this was the first time that a “Dinosaur film” had become as iconic as it is. At the time of release it was the highest-grossing film of all time and has grossed over $1 billion USD up to today, along with 4 sequels and a 5th due to be released in 2022. It is no doubt that this is what kickstarted worldwide public interest in dinosaurs and natural history. For many people, myself included, seeing dinosaurs in film and media fuelled a passion for natural history and science, and has raised a generation of young people wanting to be involved in the world of natural science. The main issue is that dinosaurs in popular culture are, more often than not, made to look like killer monsters, rather than animals; these oversiz...