Oxford University Museum of Natural History: on-line lectures (update 6 Oct)

[ceratopsian]

The Museum of Natural History in Oxford is currently closed.  They are, however, hosting a free series of on-line palaeontology lectures.  The next takes place on 1 July at 19.00 BST: "The Why, What, When and How of the first animal skeletons" by Dr Duncan Murdock.

It's free, but you need to register in advance if you want to attend in real time (so you can ask questions!):

https://www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk/event/the-first-animal-skeletons

The one after that is by the Director, Paul Smith: "The Cambrian Explosion and the evolutionary origin of animals – insights from the far north​​​​​​​":

https://www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk/event/the-cambrian-explosion-and-the-evolutionary-origin-of-animals

I believe that the series is also being put up on YouTube, so you can catch up on previous ones.  I attended the last one, given by Dr Frankie Dunn: "The Chronicles of Charnia", on Rangeomorpha.  It was extremely interesting.

[ceratopsian]

The latest in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History free lectures takes place on 29th July at 19.00 (GMT+1).  You need to register on their website if you plan to watch live.

Here's the resume:

"Rotten Fish and Fossils"

Professor Sarah Gabbott is palaeobiologist from the University of Leicester. Her research focuses on exceptional preservation, and the use of a variety of analytical techniques and novel laboratory decay experiments to understand the transformation of animal remains during fossilization.

Without fossils we would know little about the amazing journey that life on our planet has taken, evolving from oceans full of green slime through to the myriad of animals and plants we share our existence with today. Fossils are mainly familiar to us as bones, teeth and shells - the durable mineralised parts of animals. But happily for palaeontologists, and for our understanding of evolution, rare and remarkable fossils preserve the parts of animals that usually decay away after death. Guts, eyes, livers, brains, skin and other decay-prone anatomy all occur in the fossil record making up 'soft-bodied' exceptionally-preserved fossils.

But there's a problem – when they are preserved in rock such fossils often look nothing like they did when the animal was alive. This makes it difficult to interpret these fossils in terms of their anatomy and crucially where they should sit on the evolutionary tree. Getting this right is important so such fossils can play their part in revealing the story of evolution on Earth.

Soft-bodied fossils appear different to the once-living animals because during fossilisation two-processes - decay and preservation - result in the loss or modification of anatomical features. How do we see through this filter to read fossils correctly?

In this lecture Professor Gabbott will explain why rotting animals in the laboratory is one very useful way forward, helping us to interpret the anatomy of animals from their fossil counterparts. She will also show how analysing the chemistry of exceptionally-preserved fossils helps us to understand their journey from flesh to fossil!

Our online lecture series features researchers presenting a range of topics in natural history. Beginners and experts are welcome, and while the talks may not be suitable for young children, they are appropriate for adults and young people. Our online lectures are presented live, and you will have opportunities to interact with other attendees and ask questions to our expert speakers."

The one last week on Sirius Passet was excellent!  Well worth tracking down on YouTube if you missed it.

[Crackington]

A lecture about rotten fish sounds like it might be better to have online!

Seriously, thanks for posting, looks very interesting 🙂

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for sharing these! That line of research sounded familiar, so I looked up Dr. Gabbott and found that she used to work with Rob Sansom, who gave a seminar on similar lines when he interviewed for a job at my old university. It's a really fascinating question: how rotten an animal is when it preserves can strongly affect the conclusions you draw about its phylogeny.

[ceratopsian]

Thanks for sharing these! That line of research sounded familiar, so I looked up Dr. Gabbott and found that she used to work with Rob Sansom, who gave a seminar on similar lines when he interviewed for a job at my old university. It's a really fascinating question: how rotten an animal is when it preserves can strongly affect the conclusions you draw about its phylogeny.

I was certainly aware that decay could lead one to draw wildly wrong conclusions about life appearance.  But it's not something I've considered deeply and I want to know more.  It rather reminds me of forensic experimentation in human pathology, where researchers investigate the effects of decay on corpses.

[ceratopsian]

The series of lectures based around the Precambrian/Cambrian exhibition is now finished.  But the museum is continuing to broadcast free lectures.  Next one is tomorrow, Wednesday 7th October, at 7 pm BST.  As always you need to register (or watch later on the museum's Youtube channel.  Here's the museum's blurb.

"OXFORD UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
FREE ONLINE EVENING LECTURE

Fossil Insect Wonders

Insects can be considered the predominant type of animal life on Earth at present. This is based on their number of species, diversity of form and adaptations, abundance, ubiquity, and relationships with other organisms. How the insect pre-eminence unfolded through their evolutionary history is one of the major interests of palaeoentomology - the study of fossil insects. In this talk, we will discover some of the most peculiar extinct insects and explore what kind of palaeobiological information can be obtained from their fossils. We will travel in time from the origins of the group sometime in the Devonian, around 400 million years ago, through their incredible diversity at the end of the Palaeozoic, to the establishment of modern insect faunas during the Cretaceous, around 100 million years ago.

Dr Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente is a palaeobiologist and Museum Research Fellow at Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Ricardo is interested in shedding light on past ecosystems and the evolution of life on the continents through the study of fossil arthropods, namely insects and arachnids. His works are focussed on the Cretaceous and the study of amber, particularly that from Spain. The Cretaceous is a key period to understand the origin of modern terrestrial ecosystems, as during that time flowering plants greatly diversified and eusocial insects such as ants and bees appeared."

If you want to attend, here's the link to register:
https://event.webinarjam.com/register/96/0vvkmf0l

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for the update! I missed this at the time (not that I'd have been able to watch live with my work schedule), but I found the YouTube video and added it to my queue.