A dinosaur fossil.
UCD palaeontologists took centre stage at the Annual Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy (SVPCA) hosted this month by UCD and the National Museum of Ireland (Natural History). Attended by more than 80 professional palaeontologists from all over the world, this was the first time this symposium has been held in Ireland.
Talks were presented at SVPCA by two academics from the UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science. Dr Emma Teeling discussed the evolution of bat echolocation from the point-of-view of the fossil record. New 50 million-year-old specimens that show that the evolution of flight in bats predated the appearance of their unique sensory adaptations.
Dr Gareth Dyke presented new work which shows that egg mass in birds is strongly correlated with their developmental mode; heavier eggs are laid by birds that have helpless, or atricial, young. Dyke extended these correlations into the dinosaurian fossil record to predict the evolution of helpless as opposed to independent young.
Three ex-PhD students from the UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science also presented results of their work at the SVPCA. Dr Adam Stuart Smith (PhD 2007) argued that many plesiosaurs (extinct 'Loch Ness Monster-like' marine reptiles) would have had a tail fin, like in modern marine mammals. Dr Bent Lindow (PhD 2006) talked about new 60 million-year-old fossil birds that he is researching from Denmark, funded as a postdoc by the Carlsberg Foundation. Dr David Waterhouse (PhD 2005) discussed the early evolutionary history and fossil record of parrots. David's work on fossil parrots from Denmark received widespread media coverage earlier this year.
SVPCA conference organiser, Dr Gareth Dyke commented: "Hosting the SVPCA allowed us to showcase the great research on vertebrates evolution that's being done in Ireland. We also were able to introduce colleagues from around the world to the amazing collections of the National Museum. People don't usually associate Ireland with fossil animals: perhaps they will from now on."
The event was co-hosted by Nigel Monaghan, Keeper of Natural History, at the National Museum of Ireland who welcomed delegates to the Kildare Street Museum's Ceramics Room where the talks took place.
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