Envisioning the past through living fossils: from dinosaurs to birds today

Talk by Professor Julia Clarke

This is your chance to hear from a palaeontologist who is world-famous for her discoveries about dinosaurs, ancient species of birds, and how our modern birds evolved.  She has also made breakthroughs in our understanding of how dinosaurs looked and how they sounded. This includes proving that some dinosaurs had brightly coloured feathers, and finding the first fossil of a voice box from a dinosaur and using it to work out what noises they made.

Professor Julia Clarke is a North American paleontologist who works at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research stems from her fascination with how life evolves new structures like feathers or wings, and new functions like flying or diving under water. Her results have helped us to understand why some species became extinct and others survived.  Professor Clarke has led expeditions all over the world to study fossils and birds, including Rēkohu the Chatham Islands and Antarctica. She has learned a lot about penguins and their ancestors, including discovering a species of giant penguins that are now extinct.

The United States Mission in New Zealand has brought Professor Clarke to Aotearoa New Zealand to share her stories about how a curious student became an expert and finally a world-famous scientist. 

The Royal Society Te Apārangi welcomes Professor Clarke to Whanganui-a-Tara. We invite you to come with questions. What would you like to know about birds, or dinosaurs, or about Professor Clarke’s discoveries or expeditions around the world?

For more information about Professor Clarke, visit: https://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/2017/11/fossil-feathers-winging-singing-the-breakthrough-bird-research-of-julia-clarke/