Welcome to this special series of podcasts relating to a fieldtrip that I have been invited on by Dr Martin Brazeau of Imperial College London. I’m being flown out as the Palaeozoic arthropod “expert” of the team and I’ll be there to deal with all the eurypterids and phyllocaridids we come across, along as documenting the whole process for outreach and hopefully your enjoyment. In all, this trip will last around 6 weeks, during which…

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If you’ve been on twitter these last few months, or follow palaeozoologist Darren Naish on social media, you’ll have surely heard about the new book written by Brian Ford, “Too Big to Walk: The New Science of Dinosaurs”. It’s controversial, to put it politely. Now, apologies to readers who know the back story, but we must set set the scene: Ford isn’t a palaeontologist, for starters, yet somehow he’s managed to wrangle a deal with…

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Welcome to our coverage of Progressive Palaeontology, the Palaeontological Association’s conference for early-career academics. The conference this year is held jointly between the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University, in a Progressive Palaeontology first! Researchers from both institutions are part of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Ancient Life (ICAL), and their research interests span the entire palaeontological spectrum. Research topics include (but are by no means limited to): the origins and early evolution of arthropods;…

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Whenever we think about extinct animals we often imagine them tucking into their favourite meals, whether it be a Tyrannosaurus rex munching on a Triceratops steak, or a woolly mammoth enjoying an Ice Age salad. But how often do we ask whether our ideas are grounded within scientific reasoning, or are actually little more than hunger-based conjecture and speculation? Representatively understanding the diets of extinct animals is therefore important for learning how organisms fitted within…

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Squamates are a group of reptiles that include lizards and snakes, with the earliest fossils occurring in the Jurassic, despite molecular studies dating the group back to the Triassic. The study of their origins has been contentious because of this gap, and the lack of fossils during this time period. However, a new look at a previously-known fossil has changed our view of squamate origins, and discussing this animal and what it means about reptile…

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The Appalachian mountains, span the Eastern margin of the United States of America. They are predominantly composed of Paleozoic rocks, but Mesozoic marine sediments (formed adjacent to the Appalachian continent at the time) can be found along the Eastern coast. It is within these deposits that the remains of a unique dinosaur fauna can be found. Joining us to paint a picture of the vertebrate faunas of Appalachia during the Mesozoic is Chase Brownstein, research associate…

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Since I was child, I wanted to pursue a career in palaeontology.  As I am now starting my career as a postgraduate student in the palaeontological field, I have noticed that it has been filled with quite interesting twists and turns. One thing that I can say about the environment right now is that it is very competitive (particularly in the United States).  I applied to graduate school twice: first when I was near the…

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Bird evolution has long fascinated palaeontologists. Despite crown-group birds (birds giving rise to modern lineages today) evolving during the Cretaceous, there are relatively few fossils from this time, making it difficult to understand this key time period and just exactly how modern birds came to be. Dr. Daniel Field, 50th Anniversary Prize Fellow from the University of Bath, studies bird evolution, particularly how crown-group birds evolved. In this episode, we discuss his recent paper on…

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