2024-04-02
28 分钟We are fascinated by dinosaurs. From blockbuster hits to bestselling video games, skeleton exhibitions to cuddly plushies, the creatures that once roamed the planet have fully captured our imagination, giving us a portal to a completely alternative Earth. And it’s likely new species are still out there, waiting to be found... Dr Nick Longrich is a palaeontologist and senior lecturer at the University of Bath, and he studies the dinosaur bones that many have overlooked. By rummaging through the back rooms of museums, he finds traces of never-before-described dinosaurs and goes on the hunt for other specimens to confirm or deny his hunch. Through these adventures, he’s discovered over a dozen new species, painting a more detailed picture of our prehistoric world. Nick is also fascinated by rare ‘one in a million year’ events – like asteroid collisions or mega volcanic eruptions – and investigates how the event that wiped out the dinosaurs created the world we live in today. From an Island off the coast of Alaska, Jim Al-Khalili discovers how Nicks early immersion in nature has trained his brain to spot the subtle differences in the world around us that many would overlook. Produced by Julia Ravey.
BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts hello and.
Welcome to the podcast edition of the Life Scientific.
I'm Jamal Khalili and this is the show where I get to talk with some of the world's leading scientists and you get to find out what drives them.
So sit back, get comfortable and enjoy the episode.
Hello.
Do you think you could spot a dinosaur bone if you found one lying around?
From washed up remains on beach shorelines to eroded cliff faces and even some building sites in the middle of towns and cities, the remains of prehistoric creatures that once roamed the Earth might sometimes be right under our noses.
My guest today has fine tuned his fossil hunting abilities to not only detect prehistoric bones among rocks, but to spot the tiniest anomalies in them, which can indicate that a specimen has come from a never before described dinosaur.
Nick Longridge is able to see the extraordinary in what many perceive as ordinary.
And through these discoveries, he's painting a richer picture of prehistoric Earth.
Growing up on an island off Alaska, Nick was surrounded by nature and describes it as the only authority that's never wrong.
Through this mantra, he's devoted his career to studying the objects that many have overlooked.
Spending years rummaging through forgotten specimens in the backrooms of museums, questioning any unusual or outlying features they possess.
And using his artistic talents, he doodles these newly discovered creatures into existence, giving a once discarded bone a concrete place in the history of our planet.
As well as finding new dinosaurs, Nick focuses on studying how huge one in a million year events like asteroid collisions or mega earthquakes have molded the flora and fauna we see around us today.
He now lives and works in the UK as a senior lecturer at the University of Bath where he teaches palaeontology and evolutionary biology.
I have a feeling I'm going to learn a lot of new words today.
Dr.
Nick Lungridge, welcome to the Life Scientific.
Hi, how's it going?