The BBC had an interesting series on human evolution. The episode on Neanderthals shows what we can learn from growth line research in teeth. And why palaeontologists like to use synchrotrons.
Monthly Archives: October 2012
Wordle
Donax
In July 2007 was the first International Sclerochronology Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was great to meet people who do such similar research, turned out they’re really nice as well. And shell researchers like to eat their subjects, so oyster bars were frequently visited. Even more fun is to put a bunch of these people on a beach. On this specific one (St. Pete’s Beach) there were small coquinas (Donax variabilis), which live in the surf en bury themselves in the sand after each wave. Here’s a video showing some. You can hear some very excited scientists in the background.
Sharks
I was watching a documentary on the effect that the film Jaws had on shark populations. They showed an item on growth ring analysis in vertebrae of sharks to determine their age; a very nice application of sclerochronology. Here some more on how it’s done.