Doncaster, Ichthyosaurs, and Dodgy Journalism

I always like writing about things which are close to home, whether it is my family home in Doncaster or down here in Portsmouth where I study. I've known about this particular piece of news for quite some time now and had a look at the published paper a couple of weeks ago. Finally the press release has been printed, so I can hop on that wagon and follow suit (erk, mixed metaphor). Up in the Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery is a beautiful ichthyosaur specimen known as Fizzy (chosen by a young girl in a competition) which is near complete and contains gastric contents - the last meal of the hapless marine reptile.

Aside from the specimen being beautifully preserved, it is also important for another reason. It extends the temporal range of Ichthyosaurus by 3 million years into the Pliensbachian (Early Jurassic). This incredible specimen had been in the museum collections for a few decades before my friend and colleague (can volunteers be colleagues?) Dean Lomax recognised its scientific worth.

Dean Lomax in Whitby, in front of a huge dislodged rock.

If I had the time I could flesh this out into an intriguing and insightful story about palaeontology, twisting and turning like a Thalassinoides trace fossil. We'd be able to look into the history of ichthyosaur discoveries, with such luminaries as Mary Anning making an appearance. We'd learn about the frivolity with which museum specimens used to change location, often with no information, rendering them almost useless to science. We'd hear all about how the specimen was misplaced, misidentified and misunderstood for many years, before it became pride of place on display in the museum. Major finds are usually thought to be done in the field, yet we would find that this one occurred in a small museum storage room. We could look at the preservation of the fossil and get insights into the life and death of old Fizzy. We could even take a look at Dean's career thus far and how he is taking what I call the "autodidact palaeontologist" route, now able to call himself a research palaeontologist with a peer reviewed publication under his belt (to see some of his other publications, check out Deposits magazine). We could also peer into the world of biostratigraphy, with the use of the belemnite to identify the age and location of Fizzy - information which was previously lost.

Instead, we can take a look at an area which some palaeontologists fear, one which can become hilarious and cringe-worthy - the press! Our local newspaper, The Star, mentioned the discovery on the front page and dedicated the whole of page 3 to it (imagine if The Sun did it, as if they were declaring fossils to be better than boobies!). I was once told that if you want to get quoted in a newspaper about palaeontology, or if you want an article published, then it is more likely if dinosaurs are mentioned. In an article on an ichthyosaur there is no reason to mention dinosaurs really, sure they were contemporaries and are not too distantly related, but their interactions would have been rare. In the article in question they are mentioned twice within the first two paragraphs, whilst also referring to Dean as Dino Dean. The article even contradicts itself by calling it a "sea dwelling dinosaur" but later mentioning that they are "often mistaken for swimming dinosaurs". They even get the news about the extra 3 million years wrong!

The Star press release.

So if you read the article you might wonder why a dinosaur expert is discussing a dinosaur which is not really a dinosaur and may get a little confused. Although the article is a tad ridiculous, it does bring publicity to our beloved museum and will hopefully cause people to come see Fizzy and the rest of the display collection.

Dean's article was published in Paludicola, a New York based journal. The press release can be seen here. Also check out Dean's site Palaeocritti for more details.

Fishing - Jason Style

I waded out into the lake, determined to find the perfect spot to make the catch of a lifetime. My ageing rod was not the most hi-tech and flashy, but it was trustworthy and could take a battering. The cold winds were getting stronger, lashing at my face, as the rain began to pound against me like bullets against a brick wall. I persisted, my determination dragging me through the downpour as lightning pierced the sky and thunder proclaimed the fury of nature through the heavens. The black waters of the lake threatened to knock me down if I did not leave but I stood my ground, focussed on the movement beneath the surface. The dark shapes swam teasingly around the bait, nudging it tentatively as though they knew it was a trap, a sumptuous but deadly trap. My heart hammered the inside of my chest harder and faster than the rain as I watched a curious shape lunge at the bait. Instinct kicked in. I pulled back. The fish flew out of the water, struggling to get free. The ensuing wrestling match stretched into eternity before I got my prize catch safely back to shore and left the cacophonous storm. When I returned to the safety of having a roof over my head I was able to admire my catch and compare it to my previous trophies.

This is Diplomystus dentatus, an Eocene fish from the Green River formation in Wyoming, part of the Dean Lomax collection.

In this picture, where I look like a criminal having my prison photo taken, I am holding Lycoptera; Jurassic fish from the Liaoning Province in China, also from the Dean Lomax collection.

Finally, this is Thaumaturus intermedius, also Eocene, this time from the famous Messel Darmstadt, Germany and found in Dean's collection.

I'll never forget that day's fishing experience, it is the sort which can change one's life forever. Fishing is one of the oldest trades, allowing us to eat our distant cousins which stayed in the waters for thousands of years, thriving off of their flesh and eating it with chips. I wonder what these fish taste like.....

Did you know that I know Dean Lomax?

I've mentioned Dean a couple of times, the first time back in April when I mentioned the Palaeocritti site for the first time. For a bit more on Dean see here. I mention him here now as he was recently on the radio, which you can listen to here, his part being around the 35th minute onward.

In the interview you will hear him talk about what it is like to try to make your way in the world as an autodidactic palaeontologist who has not taken the academic route. You'll also hear him mention Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery, which allows me to segue into my next point.

So how do I know Dean? Well, I actually came to know him because of the blog I did mentioning Palaeocritti. Dean found it and contacted me, so we got chatting about palaeontology and I mentioned wanting to volunteer at Donny museum. Thanks to Dean I am now doing that and work alongside him, drooling over fossils, helping out where we can (which will be the subject of my next post). The eagle eyed readers among you will have noticed that I mentioned both Dean and the museum in a previous post recently.

After he had done the interview the feedback seemed to be very positive and one lady even called in to say that the BBC should give him his own show. Check it out here, 22 minutes in. It is quite tempting to phone in and proclaim "I second that" though I would add that I want to see him in a dinosaur costume. If he gets famous just remember, you heard about him here first (unless you are actually Dean reading this, as I know he does, in which case, hi Dean).