The fourth installation of the Jurassic Park movie series, Jurassic World, is being filmed in Hawaii and New Orleans right now, and is due to hit cinemas in June 2015. But the film has courted controversy for a number of reasons, not least for the suggestion that its representations of dinosaurs are inaccurate and … [Read more…]
Source: Information from M Benton (2014), Vertebrate Palaentology, 4th edn, Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell; and personal communication with Professor Mike Benton.
The earliest specimen of Archaeopteryx – the ‘first bird’ – was discovered in 1861 and was recognised as a missing link between reptiles and birds. Though they are incredibly important fossils, Archaeopteryx specimens have been very hard to come by. Since 1861 only 11 full body specimens (most missing their skulls), and one lone … [Read more…]
Happy birthday to Mary Anning (21 May 1799 – 9 March 1847) – one of the most important women to influence the history of science. I’m excited to see that Mary Anning – pioneering British female fossil hunter and palaeontologist – is rocking the Google doodle today, on what would have been her 215th birthday. Anning made … [Read more…]