Fossils and Fiction

It's time for a nostalgia kick. Travis and Alyssa discuss James Gurney's Dinotopia: an idealised vision of a world where humans and dinosaurs peacefully co-exist and everyone has their place. We explore the storytelling approaches, links to other media and what Dinotopia could look life if it were written today.

Alyssa interviews Dr. Phoebe McInerney about her research on Genyornis, a giant flightless bird from Australia. The conversation explores Phoebe's journey into palaeontology, her research, and the significance of outreach and education in the field. We also touch on the brilliant new research on Australian theropods published by Jake Kotevski and friends and play a little game of 'Who Am I? Extinct Edition'.

More: McInerney, P., Blokland, J., & Worthy, T. (2024, June 3). New fossils show what Australia’s giant prehistoric ‘thunder birds’ looked like – and offer clues about how they died out. The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/new-fossils-show-what-australias-giant-prehistoric-thunder-birds-looked-like-and-offer-clues-about-how-they-died-out-221599Kotevski, J., Duncan, R. J., Ziegler, T., Bevitt, J. J., Vickers-Rich, P., Rich, T. H., Evans, A. R., & Poropat, S. F. (n.d.). Evolutionary and paleobiogeographic implications of new carcharodontosaurian, megaraptorid, and unenlagiine theropod remains from the upper Lower Cretaceous of Victoria, southeast Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 0(0), e2441903. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2024.2441903

Geo.Sassie joins Travis to talk about the Jurassic Coast UNESCO World Heritage Site. Meanwhile, Alyssa designs a prehistoric four course feast, prepares for a dig, and shows off some palaeoart. Also, we finally name our mascots.

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More:

Virtual paleoart exhibitionhttps://extinctfineart.com/virtual-paleoart-gallery/

Ammonite moviehttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt7983894/

Lovelace, D. M., Kufner, A. M., Fitch, A. J., Curry Rogers, K., Schmitz, M., Schwartz, D. M., LeClair-Diaz, A., St.Clair, L., Mann, J., & Teran, R. (2025). Rethinking dinosaur origins: Oldest known equatorial dinosaur-bearing assemblage (mid-late Carnian Popo Agie FM, Wyoming, USA).Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society,203(1), zlae153.https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae153

Join hosts Alyssa and Travis as they welcome palaeontologist Colin Boisvert for a chat about Allosaur diversity, sauropod niche partitioning and more. Colin offers an insider's look at the challenges and excitement of studying dinosaurs, from complex taxonomies to ecological mysteries. The episode takes a fun turn with a special segment where listeners help name the show's mascots, and the hosts figure out how to (hypothetically) fight prehistoric animals.

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Colin Boisvert X/Twitter: https://x.com/colin_boisvert

Colin Boisvert Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colinboisvert1/

Barker, C. T., Handford, L., Naish, D., Wills, S., Hendrickx, C., Hadland, P., Brockhurst, D., & Gostling, N. J. (2024). Theropod dinosaur diversity of the lower English Wealden: Analysis of a tooth-based fauna from the Wadhurst Clay Formation (Lower Cretaceous: Valanginian) via phylogenetic, discriminant and machine learning methods. Papers in Palaeontology, 10(6), e1604. https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1604

Zev Landes https://www.zevlandes.com/

Hosts Alyssa and Travis discuss the mummified homotherium, play a game of 'fossil fact or fiction', and learn all about the Emu Bay Shale with special guest Steph Richter-Stretton.

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Follow Steph-Richter-Stretton on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/biostephigraphy/

Lopatin, A. V., Sotnikova, M. V., Klimovsky, A. I., Lavrov, A. V., Protopopov, A. V., Gimranov, D. O., & Parkhomchuk, E. V. (2024). Mummy of a juvenile sabre-toothed cat Homotherium latidens from the Upper Pleistocene of Siberia. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 28016. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-79546-1

Some exciting news about the future of Fossils and Fiction followed by an episode of the Common Descent Podcast 'spotlighting' our show.

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Links:

Pterosaur expert and PhD student Adele Pentland discusses the discovery and description of the newest and most complete Australian pterosaur, Haliskia peterseni. The fossil was found in Australia and is 100 million years old. Adele explains the unique features of Haliskia, including its large wingspan, interlocking teeth, and long throat bones.

The conversation places Haliskia in context with other Aussie pterosaurs and pterosaur families from around the world.

She also discusses the importance of museums like Kronosaurus Korner and the Australian Age of Dinosaurs in promoting paleotourism and supporting local communities. Adele shares her optimism for future discoveries of pterosaurs in Australia and highlights the significance of these findings for scientific research and public interest.

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More info:

Adele's podcast Pals in Palaeo https://palsinpalaeo.com/

Kronosaurus Korner https://www.kronosauruskorner.com.au/

The Conversation article on Haliskia https://theconversation.com/100-million-year-old-fossil-find-reveals-huge-flying-reptile-that-patrolled-australias-inland-sea-231393

Scientific Reports paper describing Haliskia https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-60889-8

Scientific Reports paper describing Ferrodraco lentoni https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-49789-4

Children's author Sandra Bennett discusses the importance of literacy and her journey as an author, including the Adamson Adventure series, a number of which feature prehistoric animals. Sandra shares how she started writing stories for her students, which sparked their interest in reading. She also talks about her book series, which combines adventure, history, and extinct Australian wildlife. In Fossil Frenzy, the Adamson children discover prehistoric Queensland while Tracks in the Mist, releasing June 2024, features a family trip to Tasmania and the elusive Thylacine. Sandra hopes her books inspire a passion for reading, science, and environmental conservation.

Check out https://sandrabennettauthor.com/

Friend of the podcast Tom Jurassic previews season 2 of his audio fan production 'Tales from a Jurassic World'. Check out the full series on YouTube or via the Jurassic Park Podcast.

Amanda Perry, science communicator and palaeoartist, discusses her love for bugs and extinct animals. Amanda believes it is important to show vibrancy in representing animals, including extinct ones, through her artwork. She shares her journey into becoming a palaeoartist and science communicator, which involved working at science center cafeteria. Amanda's career now involves science communication through social media and creating art commissions. Amanda also expresses her passion for dinosaurs and how her grandfather's encouragement fueled her love for them. She discusses the influence of Jurassic Park and the artwork associated with the film.

Check out Amanda's Instagram @perryology101