RECENT POSTS 
Palaeontologists aim to extract the maximum amount of information about extinct animals from the remains they leave behind. However, one type of information that is more difficult to obtain is their behaviour. Did T-rex hunt in packs? Did the Neanderthals use language? Questions regarding behaviour are often difficult to answer as there is little or no trace of it left behind. One of the best sources of behavioural information on extinct creatures comes from their trackways; the footprints that the... Read more
Last week I did a short video interview for Science Matters, the weekly science column of The Age newspaper. I'm talking about a newly described species of feathered dinosaur from China. Having only found out about the interview about 30 minutes beforehand and having to run through the city to get there, I look even scruffier than usual! But hey, I got to talk about fossils! Enjoy! http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/feathered-dinosaur-changyuraptor-yangi-sheds-new-light-on-flight-20140731-zytdr.html ... Read more
In honour of the fact that I recently attended the Australian Mammal Society 2014 Conference, I thought it would be appropriate to continue my A-Z of Australian Megafauna series. We’ve reached the letter E (at this rate I’ll finish in 2042) and this time, we’re looking at a remarkable extinct kangaroo known as Ekaltadeta. Kangaroos are fascinating animals already, they have a remarkably efficient hopping method of locomotion, (they use their tail as a fifth leg) and females have three... Read more
Pelagornithids are awesome. Back in 2012, I was fortunate enough to publish my first scientific paper. Myself, along with Erich Fitzgerald of Museum Victoria and Trevor Worthy of Flinders University reported the first occurrence in Australia on these bizarre birds known as the pelagornithids. These avians aren’t your normal seabirds, with wingspans reaching lengths of over six metres and a beak lined with menacing tooth-like projections, they would look more likely to take your arm instead of your chips at... Read more
Since the 7th Triennial Meeting on the Secondary Adaptations of Tetrapods to Life in Water (or SecAd, as it’s somewhat more compactly known) was held in Washington D.C. last week, I thought that this would be an opportune time to continue my Rise of the Cetacea series. This time the spotlight is on the Protocetidae. The protocetids consist of 16 genera split into 3 subfamilies. The increased aquatic capabilities of the protocetids becomes apparent when their distribution is analysed, this... Read more
Whilst my PhD research has been keeping me very busy this year, I've managed to dedicate a little bit of time (weeknights and weekends) to continuing my research on Australian fossil penguins. At the end of last week I was very pleased to see that one of those research projects published, making it paper number four for me. The paper is entitled “Redescription of the Miocene penguin Pseudaptenodytes macraei Simpson (Aves: Sphenisciformes) and redefinition of the taxonomic status of ?Pseudaptenodytes... Read more
A few weeks ago I managed to escape out to the field for a couple of days. It was very welcome as I had missed out on my regular field trip due to my wife planning our wedding and honeymoon smack bang in the middle of the field season (the cheek of it)! So when the chance came for a quick trip along the Victorian coast I grabbed it and thought I’d post a few pics of the trip. Where... Read more
Ever ran out of puff applying that last layer of plaster jacketing to a fossil? Ever wanted to keep prepping out a bone but just didn't have the juice? Lacking the stamina to finish that character matrix? Fear no more! Henry Fairfield Osborn had the answers way back in 1922 and you can have these nine tips for success too. Before you know it you'll be leaping like a raptor in the long grass and figuring out relationships quicker than... Read more
This instalment in my A-Z of Australian megafauna series has been long overdue (the last one was written way back in October 2013) so, without further ado, we’ll get straight into talking about it! This time, it’s one of the most, if not the iconic Australian megafauna taxon, Diprotodon. Read on, for a brief introduction to the quintessential extinct Aussie. The name Diprotodon means “two front teeth” and refers to the enlarged, constantly growing first incisors of the animal. It... Read more
I seem to be writing about fossil cetaceans an awful lot recently; you would almost think I’m doing a PhD on them! Just to be different then, here’s a blog post about… fossil cetaceans. This post makes it three in a row on these magnificent marine mammals. This time however the focus is on the odontocetes (the toothed whales) rather than the archaeocetes or mysticetes that I’ve been talking about a bit more recently. Odontocetes differ from modern mysticetes by... Read more
