LGP is on Facebook!!!
To find out more about possible fossil hunting excursions, competitions or just which prehistoric creatures are particularly awesome this week, check it out.
https://www.facebook.com/letsgetprehistoric
:)
Monday, 29 July 2013
Thursday, 25 July 2013
The Monkey Puzzle Puzzle
I work at Bristol Zoo's DinoZoo2 as Lead Dino Ranger. I love my job. It requires me to be happy and enthusiastic about prehistory on a daily basis, which is pretty much my general state of being anyway, so it doesn't require a huge amount of effort.
One of my roles is to provide talks and information about the different prehistoric creatures and fossils that we've got at the zoo at the moment. I've recently expanded my remit to include some of the prehistoric plants or Living Fossils that we have on site.
The one I've focused most time and energy on was the one that started it all for me: the Monkey Puzzle tree.
Last year, for DinoZoo, I led evening tours around the zoo, talking about each dinosaur in turn. I'd always stop at the Monkey Puzzle and talk about that. Somewhere in the dim recesses of my mind, I'd stowed the idea that the Monkey Puzzle was around at the time of the dinosaurs, and that its impressive armour was the result of evolutionary pressure to protect itself from browsing dinosaurs.
This year I double checked the fact. I found it almost impossible to track down any information about how old the Arucaria genus (the genus to which Monkey Puzzle belongs) actually is. Various sites attest to its great age, but none gave a definitive age or evidence for it. I was beginning to think I'd gone mad.
This Daily Mail article states that Monkey Puzzle fossils are known from the Mesozoic, but as this is from the Permo-Triassic boundary (250mya) to the start of the Caenozoic (66mya), and spans the entire age of the dinosaurs, it wasn't a huge amount of help to me.
What I did find, however, was information about Arucaria mirabilis - it's not hugely closely related to the Monkey Puzzle, though it is in the same genus (it is more closely related to an Australian evergreen called a Bunya Pine). Its fossils date back to the right time: the Jurassic. Its cones are broadly similar to those of the Monkey Puzzle tree. It is, at least, a start.
More on other ancient plants later in the week, I hope - if you know anything else about the age of the Monkey Puzzle, let me know!
One of my roles is to provide talks and information about the different prehistoric creatures and fossils that we've got at the zoo at the moment. I've recently expanded my remit to include some of the prehistoric plants or Living Fossils that we have on site.
The one I've focused most time and energy on was the one that started it all for me: the Monkey Puzzle tree.
Last year, for DinoZoo, I led evening tours around the zoo, talking about each dinosaur in turn. I'd always stop at the Monkey Puzzle and talk about that. Somewhere in the dim recesses of my mind, I'd stowed the idea that the Monkey Puzzle was around at the time of the dinosaurs, and that its impressive armour was the result of evolutionary pressure to protect itself from browsing dinosaurs.
This year I double checked the fact. I found it almost impossible to track down any information about how old the Arucaria genus (the genus to which Monkey Puzzle belongs) actually is. Various sites attest to its great age, but none gave a definitive age or evidence for it. I was beginning to think I'd gone mad.
This Daily Mail article states that Monkey Puzzle fossils are known from the Mesozoic, but as this is from the Permo-Triassic boundary (250mya) to the start of the Caenozoic (66mya), and spans the entire age of the dinosaurs, it wasn't a huge amount of help to me.
What I did find, however, was information about Arucaria mirabilis - it's not hugely closely related to the Monkey Puzzle, though it is in the same genus (it is more closely related to an Australian evergreen called a Bunya Pine). Its fossils date back to the right time: the Jurassic. Its cones are broadly similar to those of the Monkey Puzzle tree. It is, at least, a start.
More on other ancient plants later in the week, I hope - if you know anything else about the age of the Monkey Puzzle, let me know!
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
The living ancient
It's very easy to forget how old things are in the world.
We live in a culture in which the speed of change is breakneck. Evolution of technology happens frighteningly fast. In 2010, Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google) stated that "every two days we create as much data as we did up to 2003". Given that was 2010, I wonder how that statistic has changed since then.
Some things, change far slower - classic style, the foundations of religion and of music - all of these things change slowly enough to be tracked back for hundreds of years. They may feel quick at the time, but when you look at them from a distance, it's easy to see the commonality; strip away the new veneers and you're left with the same 4 chords.
The things I'm thinking about today, though, change at a mind-blowingly slow pace. I'm talking about the things that have been around, virtually as they are, for millions of years. There are heaps of examples, my absolute favourite being sharks, but those are well-known (though I will be dedicating a post to their exceptional awesomeness later this week). What I want to talk about are plants. Specific ones. The kind that we (either respectfully or uncharitably, depending on your point of view) call Living Fossils.
Posts upcoming about some of the best and most exciting prehistoric plants around today!
We live in a culture in which the speed of change is breakneck. Evolution of technology happens frighteningly fast. In 2010, Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google) stated that "every two days we create as much data as we did up to 2003". Given that was 2010, I wonder how that statistic has changed since then.
Some things, change far slower - classic style, the foundations of religion and of music - all of these things change slowly enough to be tracked back for hundreds of years. They may feel quick at the time, but when you look at them from a distance, it's easy to see the commonality; strip away the new veneers and you're left with the same 4 chords.
The things I'm thinking about today, though, change at a mind-blowingly slow pace. I'm talking about the things that have been around, virtually as they are, for millions of years. There are heaps of examples, my absolute favourite being sharks, but those are well-known (though I will be dedicating a post to their exceptional awesomeness later this week). What I want to talk about are plants. Specific ones. The kind that we (either respectfully or uncharitably, depending on your point of view) call Living Fossils.
Posts upcoming about some of the best and most exciting prehistoric plants around today!
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Running
Today's the first day I've felt like running in a couple of months, which means that, at last, I'm getting really healthy again! That's really good news, because healthy means fit for dinosaurs!
That's not to say that there haven't been dinosaurs over the winter period. Far from it, in fact.
Since November, I've been participating in a dig local to Bristol, hunting for evidence of Prehistoric life at levels older and younger than the underlying Carboniferous limestone (which in itself, being full of chunks of coral, is pretty awesome).
I've been up to 4m down under street level, and got unbelievably dirty in all the ghastly rain and snow and slush, but have had a fantastic time hunting about. I can't write about what (if anything) I've found yet, but what I can do is promise that at some point I'll post a link to pages in which I can. Here's hoping that'll be soon.
Anyhow, I am still alive, and still full of the joys of prehistory. Maybe this year'll be the year of the prehistoric blog? Hoping for that, too.
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! (I run with my all curled up. Sometimes I make T. rex fingers).
That's not to say that there haven't been dinosaurs over the winter period. Far from it, in fact.
Since November, I've been participating in a dig local to Bristol, hunting for evidence of Prehistoric life at levels older and younger than the underlying Carboniferous limestone (which in itself, being full of chunks of coral, is pretty awesome).
I've been up to 4m down under street level, and got unbelievably dirty in all the ghastly rain and snow and slush, but have had a fantastic time hunting about. I can't write about what (if anything) I've found yet, but what I can do is promise that at some point I'll post a link to pages in which I can. Here's hoping that'll be soon.
Anyhow, I am still alive, and still full of the joys of prehistory. Maybe this year'll be the year of the prehistoric blog? Hoping for that, too.
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! (I run with my all curled up. Sometimes I make T. rex fingers).
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Becoming a Dino Ranger
This year has seen me taking the best job title I've ever had. My name badge read the following: Alex Cocking - Dino Ranger.
How awesome is that?!
Anywho, this post is to tell you a bit about what I was doing when I was Dino Rangering.
Bristol Zoo had a hugely popular city-wide exhibition of gorillas last year to celebrate their 175th anniversary. This year, they wanted to have something to keep the spirit of celebration alive. Given that Bristol has strong palaeontological links of its own (see below), dinosaurs seemed like a good and exciting choice, particularly with the success of Chester Zoo's dinosaur exhibit this and last summer.
One of the tasks for the zoo was deciding how best to make dinosaurs into something informative, engaging and still tied into the messages of conservation and education that underpin the zoo's aims. Making them engaging wasn't difficult - they got the dinosaurs from the incomparable Billings Productions who specialise in animatronic prehistoric creatures. The next thing was to inform. So they began a search for a specialised team of 3 people who would go on to become the Dino Rangers at Bristol Zoo. I heard about the search by chance when a couple of friends sent me this.
I was delighted to be interviewed (more about the process another time), but wasn't hopeful of actually landing a position - the field was incredibly strong. You can imagine the noise I made when they offered me a job, though. Within 2 weeks, I began working as a Dino Ranger, planning and setting up for the grand opening soon after.
I mentioned about Bristol's dinosaur heritage. Bristol is the home of a dinosaur called Thecodontosaurus. It was the fourth dinosaur ever described, and was in fact discovered by two of the men who went on to help found the zoo. I'll be writing a post all about Theco fairly soon, but the best place to go for some really in-depth information is The Bristol Dinosaur Project - a Lottery funded scheme that sends the BDP volunteers out to different schools and events to talk more about the place that Bristol was 210 million years ago.
Right. That will do for now, but there's lots more to come - see you soon!
x
I was delighted to be interviewed (more about the process another time), but wasn't hopeful of actually landing a position - the field was incredibly strong. You can imagine the noise I made when they offered me a job, though. Within 2 weeks, I began working as a Dino Ranger, planning and setting up for the grand opening soon after.
I mentioned about Bristol's dinosaur heritage. Bristol is the home of a dinosaur called Thecodontosaurus. It was the fourth dinosaur ever described, and was in fact discovered by two of the men who went on to help found the zoo. I'll be writing a post all about Theco fairly soon, but the best place to go for some really in-depth information is The Bristol Dinosaur Project - a Lottery funded scheme that sends the BDP volunteers out to different schools and events to talk more about the place that Bristol was 210 million years ago.
Right. That will do for now, but there's lots more to come - see you soon!
x
Sunday, 4 November 2012
A link to my Reddit AMA post - here's me as a Dinosaur Ranger at Bristol Zoo
I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here, but I'm keen to get this up before I forget: for the last 5 and a half months, I've been a Dinosaur Ranger at Bristol Zoo. Yes, really. Below, you'll find a couple of pictures - the next post should explain a bit more!
Pic above: here's me with the Reddit alien, a triceratops and some dinosaur egg pictures (I've been painting dinosaurs over the last couple of weeks to illustrate some of my talks).
This is one of my favourite pictures - I loved working with Toto the Triceratops - he's beautifully made, and incredibly engaging. I've spent such a lot of time imbuing him with a personality all his own that I'm realy going to miss him.
Anyway - more about the whole experience shortly!
xx Alex
Anyway - more about the whole experience shortly!
xx Alex
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Revamping!
I'm in the process of rebranding Let's Get Prehistoric. All the usual services (talks, workshops, birthday parties) are available in the Bristol and Bath area, but I'm also looking at writing a children's book, and producing my first bits of merchandise!
Check in for details!
xx Alex
Check in for details!
xx Alex
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