(Image by Ton Rulkens, in public domain)

Good morning all, I’m recently back from volunteering on the Orchid Observers project, working on determining the effect of climate change on the UK’s orchid species. I’m going to talk about that in a bit more detail later but let’s see what’s been happening this week:

In the News

The Natural History Museum, London, will be reprising its Human origins permanent exhibition next month. Anyone who remembers the old exhibition in the upper gallery and then attended the temporary One Million Years exhibition will know that much of the research of the last decade was missing from the old one. This relaunch comes as welcome news to many.

Speaking of Welcome news, the Wellcome Collection will soon be launching its exhibition on Tibet’s Lukhang Palace. One may not ordinarily think of cultural structures as coming under the remit of Natural History but it’s amazing how much geology there is in stone work, not to mention all the nature-inspired tapestries and decorations, andthe animal-skin boats used to reach the palace.

11-year-old nature enthusiast Zach has just finished a year of daily nature blogging. Check out the fruits of his impressive work here.

News from NatSCA

Don’t forget that the final entries for a Bill Pettit Memorial Award grant are due in on the 12th December 2015 – get submitting here.

From the Blogosphere

Oxford’s Mark Carnall has written a must-read piece in the wake of the Museums Association conference on the role of the Subject Specialist. You can find it here.

If your local museum is up to something interesting, do get in touch.

Hello and welcome to an SVP conference-themed edition of the NatSCA blog. Before we get started, I’d like to introduce you to two very special lion cubs: These two are from the species Panthera leo spelaea, the now-extinct cave lion. They are at least 10 000 years old and they look like they died yesterday. Here’s a link to Brian Switek’s story of the find.

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) conference this year was an avalanche of information, not only for those who attended but for those of us following the live tweets too! I won’t be able to recount the entire thing and you’re probably best off taking a look at the Storify but I’ll mention a few of the highlights for me.

There were non-avian dinosaurs with blue eggs, as well as research on the basal condition of archosaur parenting based on extant bird and croc behaviour.

Bob Bakker presented a view of Dimetrodon as a “Permian bear”: an opportunistic feeder, pulling burrowing animals out of their tunnels by the face some days – while shark-wrestling and taking chunks out of other Dimetrodon the next. I look forward to further studies of these claims but it’s great to see pre-mesozoic behaviour getting an airing.

Nanotyrannus lancensis has been sunk by Dr. Thomas Carr as a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex. For many this will not be ground-breaking news and there are still questions surrounding its outsized forelimbs that need addressing. Carr compared it to Jane, the Burpee’s spectacular sub-adult specimen and saw clear transitional features from sleek juvenile to hefty adult. Here’s the press release from the SVP.

Paul Sereno gave a frustrating talk on the poor swimming abilities of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus which, given its recently revised body plan, left people wondering what exactly Spinosaurus did well. This could not have come at a worse time for our dear old sailed theropod, as a recent review – published in the PeerJ – of the material associated with Spinosaurus has reattributed much of it to a separate genus of spinosaurid, Sigilmassasaurus. While we wait for Ibrahim et al’s much-anticipated monograh, here’s a recap of the story so far by Mark Witton.

Traces of weening behaviour may hold clues as to the cause of mammoth extinction. By studying nitrogen isotopes in the tips of mammoth tusks, Michael Cherney of the University of Michigan discovered that calves were coming off their mother’s milk younger and younger leading up to their extinction. Shortened weaning can be caused by the stresses of over-hunting in modern elephants and points to over-hunting by our ancestors as the probably cause of their demise. This, combined with John Alroy’s work on the Australian megafauna extinction – also pointing to the spread of humans as primary cause – made this year’s SVP an awkward time to be an human.

Next year’s SVP will be held in Salt Lake City, I can’t wait to hear what this year’s “zomg $8 beer” brigade make of that one (dry town, folks. Dry. town).

Finally, don’t forget to book your Tetzoocon tickets – it is right around the corner!

Sam Barnett, NatSCA Blog Editor

Conferences and Workshops

Last weekend a number of people attended our workshop. We’re looking forward to hearing from any of those who attended so do please get in touch if you’d like to send us a write-up. On a related subject, there is a very good write-up of the previous NatSCA workshop, on all things osteological, here.

Coming up on the 15th October 2015, we’re really excited about the Identification of Natural Materials workshop – it’s going to be great!

We are just over a month away from the Tetrapod Zoology Conference, held at the London Wetland Centre on the 15th November 2015. There will be numerous NatSCA members there so do come and say hi.

Exhibitions

Glass Delusions at the Grant Museum is the new display by resident artist Eleanor Morgan, which explores the natural world through the medium of glass. There are a lot of associated activities, such as last week’s screening of 20 000 Leagues Under the Sea (which I missed :(). Do check it out.
News from the Journals

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past two months, you’ve probably heard the name Homo naledi before. This is the new and well-represented member of the human genus that was recently found during the Rising Star expedition. A brain about the size of a gorilla’s but who hints at ritual burial, it’s all very cool but it gets better: in a rare departure, the second and third papers on this specimen follow hotly on the heels of the first. There is one specifically focussing on the hand of H. naledi and another dedicated to the foot. Having seen casts of the hands and feet at the Natural History Museum’s Science Uncovered event, there’s certainly plenty to write about.

News from the Blogosphere

It’s Mark week this week it seems. We have two blog posts to share with you: the first is some heartfelt venting by Oxford’s Mark Carnall on his personal blog on the over-use of certain Natural history tropes. Here’s the link.

The second is an artistic representation of a topic that was raised at SVPCA this year: Apatosaurine neck fighting by Mark Witton. Here’s the story.

Conferences and Workshops

It’s conference season folks and I’ve been listening to the live feed of the Michigan State University Digital Archaeology Institute. This week they’re looking at how map-related frameworks can help you explain your data visually. There is a step-by-step guide as well as downloadable resources and great advice available at the #msudai tag.

Next week in Portsmouth we’ll have Flugsaurier 2015, the place to be if you love pterosaurs. I am trying to get there myself but, if you go, it would be great to have a chat with you about it. There’s going to be some great new stuff coming out of it. Watch that space.

Immediately after that we have SVPCA of course – this year in neighbouring Southampton. the two conferences are so close in space and time that they’re sharing a field trip between them! I can’t make it to SVPCA but get in touch if you’d like to write a review for us about it.

News

Good news for the California condor: their mortality rate has fallen from 37% in 2000 to an all-time low of 5.4% thanks to the efforts of conservationists. The main threats to condor survival are power lines and lead content in their diets. Aversion therapy has taught the condor to steer well clear of the power lines. You can read all about it here.

It’s take-over day – when the social media accounts of major institutions are taken over by young people. We’re looking forward to seeing what they do with them, it’s going to be a great learning experience for us all.

News from the Blogosphere

The Geological Society have launched a photography competition that is right up the GCG‘s alley. To enter, send in a picture of one of Britain and Ireland’s top 100 geosites. For the list and how to enter, click here. There’s a lot of beautiful landmarks that didn’t make the cut.

Highlights from the Papers

Dave Hone and colleagues have published on a beautiful specimen of Rhamphorhynchus – complete with soft tissue and possibly-associated coprolite. You can read the paper here.

Conferences and Workshops

Interest in our October Natural materials workshop has boomed and there are only a few places left. If you would like to book a place, do so now before they’re all gone.

We’re also really looking forward to seeing you all at our Osteology workshop in Cambridge in September. It too has received tons of interest and is bound to be excellent.

The subject and speaker’s list for Tetzoocon is coming along nicely – with possible book launch too! All very exciting. Check out the Facebook group for all the latest info.

Former NHM Tring curator and fine artist Katrina Van Grouw will be reprising her avian anatomy art course this year at ZSL London Zoo. I went last year and enjoyed it so much I’m going again. You can find full details and book tickets here.

News from the Blogosphere

The RVC’s John Hutchinson has written a lovely piece on museums from a researcher’s perspective. Delight in the Museum is well worth checking out.

The inimitable Jan Freedman has written a great post on public engagement for Open Quaternary. Read about how an unusual museum enquiry turned into a travel through time and space.

Highlights from the Journals

Poisonous frogs are nothing new. People have been using the toxins in amphibian skin for many purposes. Now though, it appears that at least two species of Brazilian frog need to be classified as venomous. Aparasphenodon brunoi and Corythomantis greeningi both raise interesting questions. Why does A. brunoi need venom 25 times more potent than a pit viper? Why does C. greeningi employ camouflage and venom – an unusual combination? Further research into these species will be most enlightening. You can find the paper here and a very detailed news item here.

It’s a bit of a short one this week as I’m still catching up after the holidays. If you have any items you’d like us to know about, get in touch.