Guest Author – James Lomax
Current Palaeontology & Evolution BSc Undergraduate
There’s something magical about Walking with Dinosaurs. The atmosphere of the show – the music, the narration, the ambience of each location – is enthralling, and arguably hasn’t been replicated in a documentary since. What is it about Walking with Dinosaurs that made it so special, that inspired millions of kids to become palaeontologists? I believe that the answer is in its storytelling.
There is a universal truth in the world of horror films: if you make something once on a low budget and it turns out more successful than you’d originally expected, then you have no choice but to rush a sequel out in time for the following Halloween in the hopes of it becoming a cult classic.
Last year I wrote a listicle where I compared figures from horror films to their palaeontological equivalents. And it turned into one of the most read blog posts I’ve ever uploaded on the site. So naturally, a sequel was green-lit.
The only reason we are able to so vividly imagine life on the earth before our own time is thanks to the fossil record. It’s something we are so used to as a reality that it’s easy to forget how miraculous and, frankly, bizarre the process is.
Guest Author – Arthur Owens
Current Palaeobiology MSc Student
When thinking about ancient cats the first animals that jump to mind are often large and impressive species like the fierce Saber-tooths, Jaguars, and other big felids. Sadly, this is a view that is also mirrored in our research of historic cats, and a bias seen across all of science research. This article however is not about scientific bias but the third largest cat of south America, the Ocelot Leopardus pardalis, a species actually found alive today, brought forth by the recent discovery of a skull and part of a jawbone in Uruguay.
This week, in America, they celebrated the annual holiday of Thanksgiving. It’s a day when millions of humans come together to celebrate the defeat of their ancient enemies in the famous battle ‘Dinosaurs vs Space’ (won by space in a TKO). They do this by sacrificing and eating the highly-derived remnants of their former foes (Turkeys).
Here in the UK, we have our own long standing tradition mixing palaeontology and this particular Galliforme. I am of course referring to Turkey Dinosaurs.
Guest Author – Dr Rachel Kruft Welton
Palaeobiology MSc Graduate
It is possible, if you have never lived in Australia, that you have never come across a brush-footed trapdoor spider. These beauties are abundant in Australia and can be found from the tropical rainforests to intertidal coastal regions to the dry interior. They live in shallow burrows, often with a double front door, and some are known to climb trees where they make burrows in suitable cracks and cervices.
The Zombie Apocalypse is a common Halloween trope. It’s a time when the idea of the dead rising from the grave is not only accepted, but actively celebrated. And to the surprise of none, amongst the rotten hoard this year is a familiar face; the BDP Blog.
We’ve done Halloween special posts before, like when we explored the spookiest thing about bats. This year though we’ll be matching icons of horror media with their prehistoric equivalents in a listicle. That’s right, the true horror here is that we’re going full Buzzfeed.
When doing school sessions with the BDP, we always give an opportunity for the kids to ask us any of the burning questions they have about dinosaurs. In a recent session, in this moment, a keen child raised their hand and asked, “What is the longest ever insect?”
This is, of course, a demonstration of a child thoroughly misunderstanding the assignment, but that doesn’t stop it from being a legitimately intriguing question. What is the longest ever insect?
Guest Author: Dr Romain Sabroux
Marie Curie Fellow in Earth Sciences, University of Bristol
I have to make a confession. I am not much of a diver.
As a marine biologist, this probably sounds odd. But if you make something as demanding as SCUBA diving, especially when you are on an actual scientific expedition and that you need to sample several times per day for a whole month, you need a good reason. My reason would be the animals I have been studying for eight years now: the pycnogonids, also known as sea spiders.
Guest Author: James Ormiston
Palaeontology MSci Graduate / Palaeoartist
‘Herpetón‘ – Noun, from the Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν meaning:
A four-legged animal, or an animal that creeps, e.g. a lizard or snake
Gather ‘round ye rock hounds and I shall tell ye the tale of the slippery serpent of the Severn. ‘tis a tale of obscure mystery, war, obsessive Victorian collectors and a headless reptile over 200 million years old. That reptile is Pachystropheus.
