for those interested in palaeontology Well i just realised that i have learned an awful lot these last two years at uni and that very soon i will be able to be called an actual palaeontologist well i supose i'm one now but i can but BSC next to my name which is awesome................ anyway onto stuff that may actually interest you, i love all life on the planet, it all interests me well apart from zooplnakton, bored the hell out of me but everything else. The history of our planet and the changing inhabitants is pact full of interesting beasties. anywhoo i'll possibly be posting a few articles on bits and bobs but more importantly ask! if something or some creature has confused you for years just ask,.... now i don't pretend to know anything i have barely tickled the surface and what i write on here is in no way a scientific text just me trying to be interesting. Oh P.S. I will be doing my dissertation field excursion this summer so if your lucky you'll be able to see me scouring the beaches of charmouth and lyme regis and other less known locations near by, don't be scared just say hi and although i'll be busy my ego normally gets the best of me and no doubt i'll help you dig out a little treasure. P.S.S if you are goin to charmouth please for the love of god do not hire a hammer you'll destroy more than you'll find with out knowing what your doing i swear a little bit of me dies when i see some people hacking at rocks. i'll be putting up some of my drawings soon as well. From the topic: Comments Post a comment in this discussion: 27 Apr 2008 09:31 Member Removed Good luck with your career , after uni, Matt it sounds very interesting .We get dragonflies in the garden, not very big ones but beautiful , all the same. Unfortunately my cats tend to try and catch them and I have rescued quite a few. 26 Apr 2008 22:27  Dont feel silly Patricia..... there are some quite big ones out there & they do make a buzz as they whizz past you. Enough to give anyone the heebie jeebies!! But just to watch them hunting midges is amazing. The aerial acrobatics can match any airplane..... Some are elusive, some inquisitive but they're all lovely to me. Next time you're near water on a warm day, find a stick or a piece of reed & sit down holding the stick like a fishing rod. I guarantee, within 5 - 10 mins, you'll have a dragonfly perching on your stick. If ever you hear of a dragonfly fossil Matt, please give me a shout 26 Apr 2008 21:21  oh i meant to say well done matt and the best of luck in any career you choose,all these years i have been running from dragonflys and they dont even have a sting. feel a bit silly now 26 Apr 2008 18:29  You clever boy! We are revamping PetStreet (12may latest estimate!) and hopefully you can do some articles for us on pet-related subjects. Do you know what you want to be when your leave uni? 26 Apr 2008 18:28 Thanks for that dragonfly info Matt. Oh to have been around with a camera at that time..!!! 26 Apr 2008 18:27 No they dont sting Patricia. They dont have a sting, but you wouldnt want to be fly 'cos they are one of the best insect predators around. Some eat on the wing but others land to munch their meal. Last year, having spent many hours surveying & photographing them, they seemed to accept my presence. One of the darters landed on my arm & we were eyeball to eyeball with each other for ages. Then it flew off, caught a fly & landed back on my arm to eat it! it left the wings & legs for me!! Luckily, I was able to catch the whole thing on a series of photos. One of the loveliest sights is when the damsels are mating. They make the shape of a heart. So beautiful 26 Apr 2008 14:06 i love to see the dragon flies but is it true they can sting you,i always leg it when they come by me,if they dont sting i can stay and admire them. 25 Apr 2008 23:26 Indeed you were not being joked with dragonflys are truly remarkable and are even older than the dinosaurs in fact the They reaced a wingspan of over 50cm now thats big, they were probably zooming around when only the basic of reptiles were crawling onto land. We find the earliest specimens in the carboniferous, 305 milion years ago thats about 100 million before the earliest dinosaurs and that gives them a fair bit of time on the planet and probably earnt them some respect. i haven't seen any this year yet but i'm not to near any ponds. 25 Apr 2008 23:04 Well done Matt. Just reward for all your hard work Know what you mean about folk with hammers - dont do it PLEASE I'm a dragonfly nut & I just cant get my head round the fact that they were about with the dinosaurs & have hardly changed since that time. I was told once that they used to be HUGE but dont know whether or not it was a wind up. Is it true? Were they huge beasts flying around the prehistoric landscape? Would love to find a fossil of one but that's not even remotely likely I am told. Only yesterday, my day was complete when I spotted, and luckily photographed, the first large red damselfly emergence of the year. Waiting for the downy emeralds now. I'm involved in the BDS Dragonfly project. Species are being recorded at various sites over the next 4 years to compile a dragonfly atlas which will show how climate change is affecting the native dragon & damselfly species. I have 4 tetrads in the Cotswold Water Park to cover so will be lurking in the undergrowth for the next 7 months. Cant wait!! |
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