The lengths (and depths) one goes to find fossils
There’s nothing better than finding fossils, right?! Just knowing that your eyes are the first to see… [more]
Saving the Tasmanian Devil
The potential of reintroducing locally extinct species back into their former ranges has garnered increased… [more]
That time I wrote a song
Many years ago, I was invited to the South Australian Museum’s Palaeo Week. I’m not sure if the museum… [more]
Revealing the life and times of an Ice Age giant
My team and I have just had a new study published that that looked at the question of migration in a… [more]
Is the Tasmanian Tiger really extinct?
There’s been a flurry of media reports out this year that have asked the question: Is the Tasmanian… [more]
Featured Posts
The lengths (and depths) one goes to find fossils
There’s nothing better than finding fossils, right?! Just knowing that your eyes are the first to see something in hundreds, thousands, or millions of years is quite a thrill in itself. But how far, or more specifically, how deep would YOU go to find fossils? I’m just back from a quick fieldtrip to the caves of the Manning River Karst Area of eastern New South Wales. The work is in partnership with new colleagues from the Newcastle & Hunter Valley Speleological Society, plus some old … [Read More...]
Saving the Tasmanian Devil
The potential of reintroducing locally extinct species back into their former ranges has garnered increased interest amongst ecologists and conservationists in recent years. The idea is that if you are lucky enough to have a ‘healthy’ population of a given organism, individuals of that species may be reintroduced back into their former home range presuming that it had at some time in the recent past become extirpated from that area. The hope is that it may be an effective way of staving off … [Read More...]
That time I wrote a song
Many years ago, I was invited to the South Australian Museum’s Palaeo Week. I’m not sure if the museum still runs it, but it was amazing: a week-long celebration of all things palaeontology. South Australia has some most brilliant and world-class palaeontological resources, from the incredible Ediacaran biota through to the World Heritage Naracoorte Caves. My job at Palaeo Week was simply to talk to members of the public about how wonderful fossils are. An easy job, right! When I arrived … [Read More...]
Revealing the life and times of an Ice Age giant
My team and I have just had a new study published that that looked at the question of migration in a species of giant, now-extinct, Ice Age megafauna of Australia. The beast under the ‘microscope’ is Diprotodon optatum, famous for being the largest marsupial that ever existed. It stood 1.8 metres tall at the shoulder and weighed in at around 3,000 kg. Diprotodon was one of the very first fossil animals ever described from Australia. Subsequent fossil records show that it had a near … [Read More...]
Is the Tasmanian Tiger really extinct?
There’s been a flurry of media reports out this year that have asked the question: Is the Tasmanian Tiger really extinct? Many of the stories are based off a media release put out by James Cook University where a couple of their researchers have plans to set-up a camera trap survey in north Queensland in search of this enigmatic marsupial. Tasmanian Tigers, otherwise known as ‘Thylacines’ or ‘Marsupial wolves’, are thought to have suffered extinction on the 7th of September, 1936. That might … [Read More...]
What happened to Australia’s Ice Age megafauna: The public perception
Huge land turtles, 8-foot tall kangaroos, massive cold-blooded killer goannas… these are but a few of the giant animals that once roamed Australia during the Quaternary: the period of geological time that we often refer to as the ‘Ice Ages’. But what happened to these megafauna? When did they go extinct and why? It’s a research area that I am most fascinated by. And talking to others, it’s definitely something that inspires a lot of discussion and debate. I mean, who doesn’t love a good … [Read More...]
The Ice Age Lizards of Oz
There’s an old joke in reference to the wildlife in Australia that “everything is trying to kill you”. While that might be a fun way to scare tourists, there is no joking about the murderous killer lizards of the last Ice Age. In fact, we have just uncovered the first fossils to show that those huge lizards were still stalking the bush when the indigenous people migrated from South-East Asia to the Australian continent. Imagine being one of those first human inhabitants of Australia. It’s … [Read More...]
The hammer that shaped a university
Nearly every profession has its own iconic piece of equipment. Doctors check vital signs with stethoscopes; photographers capture images with cameras; and chefs dice ingredients with knives. But if you’re an earth scientist, that critical go-to piece of gear is almost always the trusty rock hammer. Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption sought solace in his hammer. Not just as a means of breaking out of jail, but to keep him sane, especially as he spent his days shaping and carving lumps … [Read More...]
How to explain everything
When I’m not doing research, I coordinate a second year Science course at uni, ERTH2002 Palaeobiology. It’s essentially a course where we take the students on a journey through the 4.6 billion year history of life on Planet Earth. One of the things that I’m really keen on is making the class really engaging and hands-on. After all, life is pretty amazing as it is, but throwing a bunch of fossils into the mix can really spice things up. Each of the prac classes are taught with real fossils and … [Read More...]
