Browsing the "Jurassic" Category

The Jurassic period is a division of earth’s history spanning from around 201 to 145 million years ago, and during which dinosaurs became the dominant land vertebrates. By the Early Jurassic, the supercontinent of Pangaea had split into Laurasia, in the north, and Gondwana, in the south. Separating them was the Tethys Ocean. Sea levels in the Jurassic were high and the climate was warm and humid, leading to the growth of vast forests of conifers and ferns. In the oceans, marine reptiles continued to diversify, as did ammonites. During the Jurassic, reef-building rudist bivalves and belemnite cephalopods appeared. On land, dinosaurs flourished; among the most successful were the giant long-necked sauropods. Bird-like dinosaurs such as Archaeopteryx began to appear. In the skies, pterosaurs were common.

Blog

Walking in the Footsteps of Dinosaurs

Published on September 22nd, 2019 | by Guest Blogger

The recent discovery of a dinosaur trackway site on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, provides insight into “a day in the life of a bunch of dinosaurs just loitering about, 170 million years ago” according to [&hellip... Read More


Cretaceous

Episode 101: Organic Preservation of Dinosaur Bone

Published on July 1st, 2019 | by David Marshall

Fossilisation of organic material was long thought to result in the complete loss of original content. However in the last 20 years, several high-profile publications reported the discovery of proteins, blood vessels, blood cells and even [&hellip... Read More


Blog

A Look at Prosauropods: The Forgotten Dinosaurs

Published on May 28th, 2019 | by Guest Blogger

As with most children who are fascinated by dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, and Stegosaurus were amongst the first dinosaurs I learnt of. But as I grew older, another group of dinosaurs began to pique my interest, a [&hellip... Read More


Jurassic

Episode 87: Archaeopteryx

Published on March 17th, 2018 | by David Marshall

Archaeopteryx is perhaps one of the most iconic taxa in the fossil record. Exclusively found in the Late Jurassic Solnhofen Lagerstätte in Bavaria, Germany, it is a crucial taxon for understanding the relationship between dinosaurs and [&hellip... Read More


Cretaceous

Episode 85: Ichthyosaurs

Published on January 7th, 2018 | by David Marshall

Ichthyosaurs are large marine reptiles that existed for most of the Mesozoic Era. The most familiar forms superficially represent dolphins, but some earlier ichthyosaurs were more eel like. They could attain huge proportions, with some genera [&hellip... Read More


Cretaceous

Episode 82: Dinosaurs of China

Published on October 17th, 2017 | by David Marshall

‘Dinosaurs of China’ at Wollaton Hall, Nottingham, UK,  is a one-time only world exclusive exhibition of dinosaurs. Featuring fossils and specimens never before seen outside of Asia, the collection brings to life the story of how [&hellip... Read More


Cretaceous

SeAVP Conference 2016

Published on June 2nd, 2016 | by Caitlin Colleary

The Southeastern Association of Vertebrate Paleontology (SeAVP) conference took place on May 16 at the Virginia Museum of Natural History (VMNH) in Martinsville, VA. The conference included students and faculty from nearly a dozen institutions from [&hellip... Read More


Jurassic

Episode 60: Determining Diet

Published on March 4th, 2016 | by Joe Keating

Diet is perhaps the most important aspect of ecology. As such, understanding the diet of extinct animals is crucial if we wish to reconstruct the ecosystems of the past. However, determining what was on the menu [&hellip... Read More


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