The DinoBase Public Forum

Right, straight into part two. The format is as before (here if you are new to this: http://dinobase.gly.bris.ac.uk/forum/vi … hp?id=729, although the series really started here: http://dinobase.gly.bris.ac.uk/forum/vi … php?id=719) and again I have listed the experts at the bottom.


2. What do you think is the most exciting topic / area of research in palaeontology right now?

Work on ancient DNA - AM

Patterns of biotic interactions in a paleobiogeographic context, based on global studies of the fossil record. Of course this only is valid at the species level, and requires a total evidence approach, the way the pbdb can be utilized –RR

I think it all has to do with the application of new technologies to fossils - histological, chemical, CT scanning, FEA and computer modeling, etc. that allow all kinds of new information to be extracted from fossils that previously were analyzed largely just by visual inspection.  Evo-devo is also very cool, though I know little about it - JH

I think I would say convergence: i.e., what Gould called 'formal' intrinsic development  rather than 'functional' exstrinsic explanations. For example how do we better understand what Kemp called 'correlated progression' or what others call iterative and/or parallel evolution. Also other big trend patterns like Cope's rule, - why does it repeat in diverse groups and is it universal? All repeat trends and especially convergence relate or potentially relate to evo-devo of course. - ML

Anything to do with evo-devo that allows researchers to bridge ‘classically’ separate subjects such as biology and palaeontology, and utilise all the data available – A1, A3, JO.

Evo-devo: How were major evolution events controlled by development? – LJ

I love the Evo-Devo revival and Functional Morphology – A2

Not evo-devo, because too many people hear that and immediately think only about patterning genes, but development and ontogeny generally. Van Valen described evolution as the control of development by ecology. There is something to that, as Darwin recognized when he wrote that destruction falls heavily on everything _at some point in its life_. To get to a more complete picture of evolution we have to bridge all of these areas, from genetics to ontogeny and life history to ecology. And I think that development, broadly, will be the keystone of that bridge - MW

Mine – OM

What I find really exciting is finding new fossils and interpreting them, whatever they are. The more theoretical aspects are important, of course, but I don't find them so exciting. - EB

To me (but this is my very personal opinion as you know) among  the most exiting topics are the new discoveries of soft parts in various lagerstätten (e.g. Jehol, Chengjiang, Solnhofen, Karatau etc.) which enable us to reconstruct the appearance (and sometimes the lifestyle) of extinct animals and "bring them to life" again. – HT

The intersection between climate, geological systems, and ecosystems (with evo-devo as a close second). – TH

Human evolution – AO

Study of development of early metazoan life (e.g. Ediacara systems) – AO

Dino-bird transition – AO

Obviously the feathered dinosaurs is a big one, China is producing some of the most incredible fossils, all on a par with Archaeopteryx in terms of impact. I'm sure each and every specimen will be studied in more detail as the years go by and turn up lots of interesting information.  – TF

The diversification of birds – DM

As I'm a biologist I'm interested mostly in the biological aspects of vertebrate palaeontology, such as physiology, behaviour, functional anatomy etc. I've been always fascinated by the astonishing solutions developed by living organisms to stand the trials of life. The origins of man is certainly not my topic... - EP

My personal biases are almost certainly showing here, but I'd have to go with computer modelling of anatomy and function, as a general methodology. Being able to bring an extinct animal to life in a virtual environment, explore alternative functions and behaviours, test its performance under a range of conditions - and test how it WOULD perform if its anatomy were a bit different - represents an incredibly powerful analytical approach that I think the community is just beginning to exploit properly. There's an exciting potential for linking structure and function together with a degree of rigour and insight that simply wasn't possible in the past. With any luck, this will pave the way for a sophisticated understanding of adaptation that might even help us get at the Great Unsolved Mystery I set out above - CS



My comments:
Well evo-devo certainly has the biggest vote here, and while I am interested in it and what it can bring, and I recognise its huge potential, I do wonder if it is just the next piece of ‘sexy science’. Will we all be saying the same thing in 5 years? While obviously this is partly how the question is phrased, I am surprised there are not more votes for other areas. Evo-devo might be the big right this instant, but has it really been around long enough and with enough great results behind it to warrant such positive backing here? If nothing else, most of the work I have seen has had little input from palaeontologists! Obviously the work requires our data and the results affect our research profoundly in cases, but the biologists are doing all of the work. For this to really influence palaeontology, we need to be far more involved in my opinion. This theme will return later so I’ll leave it here.

Olivier’s comment is wry, but actually worth commenting on (‘Mine’). We are all ultimately perhaps most interested in the things we work on, if not we would work on something else. I know there are things that are perhaps more interesting and more important than the work I am doing right now, but I do love what I do and it is important to me. There is more than a little truth in that comment.



Participants:
Anonymous 1, UK – A1
Anonymous 2, USA – A2
Anonymous 3, Austria – A3
Dr Eric Buffetaut, Paris – EB
Simon Clabby, Isle of Wight - SC
Tom Fletcher, Bristol – TF
Dr Jerry Harris, Utah - JH
Thomas Holtz, Maryland - TH
Dr Liu Jun, Beijing – LJ
Martin Lockley, Denver - ML
Dr Alistair McGowan, Aberdeen - AM
Dr Olivier Maridet, (French) Beijing – OM
Prof. David Martill, Portsmouth - DM
Jingmai O’Conner, Beijing (USA) – JO
Dr Attila Osi, Budapest - AO
Edina Prondvai, (Hungarian) Karlsruhe – EP
Prof. Robert Reisz, (Romanian) Canada - RR
Dr Corwin Sullivan, (Canadian) Beijing – CS
Dr Helmut Tischlinger, Eichstaett - HT
Dr Mathew Wedel, California - MW