What do we currently understand by a ‘species’? Naming species, also known as alpha taxonomy, forms the fundamental basis and core of systematic analysis (e.g., for biodiversity, macroevolutionary and ecological studies). Since the origin of the species concept, there has been heated and continuous debate as to what exactly constitutes a species. The discovery of […]
Diplodocus has always held a significant position in the hearts of dinosaur palaeontologists, as it was one of the very first genera to ever be formally recognised and described. Following, are some images and attempted reconstructions from Hutchinson (1917), and by comparison some excellent recent research by Taylor et al. (2009) on posture in Diplodocus […]
What do fossils tell us? It’s an obvious question, commonly phrased as ‘What is the point in studying fossils?’, but often can be one of the more difficult ones to answer objectively. The most prominent reason, that I’m sure a lot of people will agree with, is that we want to know what ancient and […]
Recently, the UKAFH invited me to write an article for them on fossil preservation. What kind of palaeontologist would possibly decline! [excluding inverts – they don’t count] This is just a nice basic guide to taphonomic processes, designed for people with limited knowledge of geology or palaeontology. Feedback, as always, is welcome! 🙂 […]