Through the eyes of a geologist

Jurassic Park 4, now released as Jurassic World first made New Scientist headlines in April 2013 as the director stated that all dinosaurs present in the movie would be featherless like the previous releases. We now know that this wasn't always the case, Velociraptors are one of the species we now know to have had feathers. As a geologist with a keen interest in palaeobiology, the viewing of the film was a necessity! Although it may be a movie, it essentially gives the majority of the audience an insight into how far research has come by studying and interpreting fossils. It’s important for others to learn about the past in order to understand the concepts of the future. One of my favourite lines of the movie was when the owner Simon Masrani states, “Jurassic World exists to remind us how very small we are.” I completely agree with this, in fact it made me pause for a few minutes. As humans, we tend to be very self-centred. We have no predators and we control the food...

Today was my first practical as a second year undergraduate for the module of Major Events in the History of Life. It was called 'To see a world in a grain of sand...' and has completely opened my eyes. Using sand from Dogs Bay, Galaway, and a stereomicroscope, I observed the skeltal remains of micro-organisms and matched them up in order to name and identify what exact microfossil was. I was able to distinguished sponge spicules, gastropods, sea urchin spines, foraminifera in the form of Textulaira, Gaudryina, Cibicides and Elphidium, and ostracods too - all of which were below 1mm in size, so very challenging when 'picking' individual specimens from the Dogs Bay sand slide. Grace enjoying a challenge Luke concentrating Myself in utter awe Dogs Bay sand I think I have found my niche!