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Re-imagining prehistoric life is not something you would encounter on your day to day. However the best way to look ahead is often to look behind. In this way, looking back at the dinosaurs and everything in between might help us uncover more of what may lie ahead. Tonight we will hear from two top scientists who will discuss dinosaurs and a chapter in Earth's history known as the Cambrian Period where equally fantastic creatures swarmed the oceans. Prepare for some extremely interesting discussion. During the event there will be games and special Pint of Science goodies to be won!
La Planète Cambrian Sauvage
Richard Howard
(NERC GW4+ Doctoral Student)
Surreal worlds brimming with impossible alien creatures feature throughout our most imaginative works of fantasy and animation, but during a chapter in Earth’s history known as the Cambrian Period, equally fantastic creatures swarmed the oceans. Animals at this time were of considerable psychedelic pedigree by our modern standards, but through the endeavour of palaeobiologists, we have begun to understand their evolutionary relationship to the biodiversity we see around us today. My research aims to elucidate the nature and origin of animal biodiversity on Planet Earth.
The evolution of parental care in birds and dinosaurs
Rebecca Larkin
(PhD Student)
Modern reptiles have very different ways of raising their babies. Turtles, for example, will lay hundreds of eggs buried in the sand and then abandon them. On the other hand, perching birds only lay a handful of eggs, but the parents spend months feeding, protecting and keeping their babies warm. Between these extremes is a huge assortment of everything in between. This begs the questions - when did reptiles shift from one type of parental care to another? When did the important landmarks happen? And how did the dinosaurs raise their babies?
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