Ep 77. Craft beers, trilobites and Lagerstätten with John Paterson

John Paterson is a professor of paleontology and earth sciences at the University of New England. He studies the evolution of life during the Cambrian explosion. Some of his recent research has shown that during this time some of the largest predators around, Anomalocaris, had wonderfully complex eyes and they were likely to be incredible visual predators of their time. In this interview we also … Continue reading Ep 77. Craft beers, trilobites and Lagerstätten with John Paterson

Ep 75. Small shelly fossils and paleo tattoos with Marissa Betts

Palaeontology isn’t just about Dinosaurs! Marissa Betts is a researcher at the University of New England that studies the evolution of miniscule animals that existed during the Cambrian explosion. During this era animals evolved hard shelled bodies that made them much more likely to fossilise. By looking at these tiny fossils Marissa can investigate how lifeforms on earth have changed over millions of years and … Continue reading Ep 75. Small shelly fossils and paleo tattoos with Marissa Betts

Ep 69. Horseshoe crabs and hot pink theses with Russell Bicknell

Horseshoe crabs, firstly, are not crabs, nor do they make effective horseshoes. They are a unique animal more closely related to spiders and scorpions than crustaceans. They are highly valued due to the coagulant properties of their blood, which is harvested as a pharmaceutical product to identify impurities in medicinal products. This sadly also places them under threat as their populations are routinely harvested and … Continue reading Ep 69. Horseshoe crabs and hot pink theses with Russell Bicknell

Ep 36. Lumping dinosaurs and paleo name-dropping with Nic Campione

Reconstructing the Earth’s history from fragments of information is an epic task requiring a variety of approaches. Paleontologists combine technological approaches, quantitative methods and artistic visualisations to reconstruct what dinosaur bodies would have looked like using fossil remains. Nicolás Campione is a quantitative paleontologist at the University of New England in Australia that undergoes this detective work to understand how animals have changed over time. … Continue reading Ep 36. Lumping dinosaurs and paleo name-dropping with Nic Campione