Palaeo Jam

The Naracoorte Caves in South Australia are a World Heritage fossil site whose stories are many and varied. Part of the story of the Caves is the story of the people who work there, do their research there, or in the case of Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills, occasionally record podcasts and sing songs there. In another fascinating episode, recorded as part of National Science Week, we explore the connection of several different people to the Naracoorte Caves, and how what the Caves has to offer has been central to their developing careers.

You can find host Michael Mills on Twitter at @heapsgood https://twitter.com/Heapsgood. You can find his alter ego, Professor Flint, along with songs inspired by the creatures of the Naracoorte Caves at... https://linktr.ee/ProfessorFlint

For information on visiting the Naracoorte Caves in South Australia, head to... https://www.naracoortecaves.sa.gov.au/

Nicola Bail is a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide studying the population dynamics of Southern Bent-wing Bats) in order to understand the subspecies’ decline, population structure and overall state of the South Australian population.

You can find on on Twitter at https://twitter.com/NicolaBail

Follow this link for a Cosmos article about her research

https://cosmosmagazine.com/nature/pregnant-pause-researcher-ultrasounds-tiny-bats-in-amazing-breeding-study/

Nerita Turner is also a PhD Candidate at the University of Adelaide. Her research focuses on the modes of accumulation of large animal remains in caves, with a particular focus on fossil sites within the Naracoorte Caves region.

You can find Nerita on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nerita_turner

Check out the following article, by Nerita and Dr Elizabeth Reed...

“Using historical research to constrain the provenance and age of the first recorded collection of extinct Pleistocene large mammal fossils from the Naracoorte Caves, South Australia.”

https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/M7JARRBWBXBWDCFDGIIY/full?target=10.1080/03721426.2023.2188442

Georgia Blows is Site Interpreter at the Naracoorte Caves, and is passionate about all things wildlife and natural history. Georgia is one of the youngest staff at the Naracoorte Caves, and got the position fresh from Naracoorte High School, after a work a work experience placement convinced both her, and most likely Caves management, that Georgia and the Caves were a perfect fit.

Being able to access field trips to dig up fossils has long been a central feature of studying palaeontology, and being a palaeontologist. But what if you have been born with a rare and severe genetic condition, such as Spinal Muscular Atrophy type 1 like Eleanor Beidatsch? As a nine year old, Eleanor dreamed of being a palaeontologist, but always presumed her advanced physical disability, and use of a wheelchair would make “digging about in the dirt for fossils” impossible.

But Eleanor Beidatsch is many things, and being passionate and determined, is just a part of of it. In this episode of Palaeo Jam, recorded as part of our National Science Week tour, host Michael Mills chats with Eleanor about the challenges faced by students with disabilities in accessing opportunities to study, her own amazing journey to studying palaeontology at the University of New England, about her fascinating research into velvet worms, and about what comes next.

Check out this video from Eleanor’s YouTube channel of her remarkable adventure in 2016, to a paleontological dig in the opal rich desert town of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTGxIR_yaNo

Stay up top date with a documentary project involving Eleanor, her family, and colleagues during their time at the 2023 Palaeo Down Under conference and the Kalbarri field-trip...

https://www.australasianpalaeontologists.org/documentary

Here’s a story about Eleanor’s journey on the University of New England’s website...

https://www.une.edu.au/connect/news/2022/09/unearthing-discrimination-in-science

Along with studying palaeontology, Eleanor is a disability rights journalist, and writes for the ABC...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/eleanor-beidatsch/101651018

You can find Eleanor on Instagram at...

https://www.instagram.com/eleanor.beidatsch/

And on Twitter at...

https://twitter.com/EBeidatsch

Here’s a link to Eleanor’s blog Accessible 4 Me...

https://accessible4me.wordpress.com/

For more information on the research being undertaken by the team at University of New England’s Palaeoscience Research Centre, head to

https://www.une.edu.au/research/research-centres-institutes/palaeoscience-research-centre

Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills is on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Heapsgood

For more info on his work as Creative Director, HeapsGood Productions, head to... https://linktr.ee/HeapsGoodProductions

Eight million years ago, in what is now Alcoota, in central Australia, it is thought that a catastrophic event occurred leading to the death of hundreds of individual animals. While devastating for the individuals, it’s also an event that was followed by a process of fossilisation that has ensured we have a remarkable record of who lived in that place at the time, and who died in those moments.

In this episode of Palaeo Jam, recorded in the very place of its discovery, in the very week that its discovery was published, aside from getting a sense of what it was like in Alcoota eight million years ago, we get to learn about Baru iylwenpen, the single most complete known mekosuchine crocodile in Australia, if not the world.

The species name was taken from the Anmetyerre language, meaning excellent and skilled hunter. The fossils suggest Baru iylwenpen had the strength to prey on other megafauna such as the giant flightless bird Dromornis stirtini, also known as the Thunder Bird! Indeed, Baru iylwenpen was the largest and most dangerous predator that's found at the Alcoota fossil bed, and would have pretty much munched on whatever it wanted!

Here’s a link to the original paper on Baru iylwenpen...

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/spp2.1523

Dr Adam Yates is the Senior Curator of Earth Sciences at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. He is a palaeontologist with a broad interest in extinct fauna of Australia and South Africa where he spent 8 years prior to joining MAGNT in late 2011.

You can read some of Adam’s research here...

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adam-Yates-3

Megafauna Central can be found at... https://www.magnt.net.au/megafauna-central

You can find Adam on Mastodon at https://sauropods.win/@alcootatooter

You can find Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills on Twitter at @heapsgood https://twitter.com/Heapsgood

To connect with Dinosaur University on Facebook, follow us at https://www.facebook.com/DinosaurUniversity

Following the world premiere of “A Curious Thing- The story of Mary Anning” at the 2023 Adelaide Fringe, Palaeo Jam host, and writer/director of the Mary Anning Fringe show Michael Mills sat down with three brilliant women in science to explore their thoughts on the show, its themes, Mary’s legacy, and their own experiences as women in science.

In a wide ranging discussion, Flinders University space archeologist, Dr Alice Gorman, University of Adelaide Palaeontologist Dr Liz Reed, and University of Adelaide PhD Candidate Tiah Bampton speak about key moments in their lives, role models that have inspired them, and give some important insights into some of the challenges still faced by women in science, 176 years after Mary Anning’s death.

The podcast ends with each guest being asked the one thing they might say to Mary Anning, had they the opportunity to do so.

You can find Dr Alice Gorman on Twitter at @drspacejunk https://twitter.com/drspacejunk

Amongst many things, Alice has written extensively for The Conversation, including a recent article, “Prejudice, poor pay and the ‘urinary leash’: naming and claiming Australia’s forgotten women scientists”.

Read the article here... https://theconversation.com/prejudice-poor-pay-and-the-urinary-leash-naming-and-claiming-australias-forgotten-women-scientists-198407

And if you don’t already have a copy, find yourself a copy of Alice’s book, “Dr Space Junk vs The Universe: Archaeology and the Future.”

You can find Dr Liz Reed on Twitter at... @LizReed_palaeo https://twitter.com/LizReed_palaeo

Liz’s extensive profile, with links to research papers and articles can be found at... https://researchers.adelaide.edu.au/profile/liz.reed

Liz appeared on a previous episode of Palaeo Jam in which she and host Michael Mills chatted about the importance of caves not just as repositories of fossils, but as living ecosystems, while sitting in Blanch Caves in the Naracoorte Caves of South Australia. Check out the episode here... https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-rnthh-1379952

To learn about Tiah Bampton’s journey, and the delightful connection to PhD supervisor Dr Liz Reed, tune in to the podcast! And also check out this story with the ABC... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-03/tiah-bampton-living-dream-at-naracoorte-caves-palaeontology-dig/12209876

You can check out Tiah’s research profile here... https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tiah-Bampton And read the paper referred to in the Research gate link, here... https://helictite.caves.org.au/pdf1/46.Bampton.pdf

Palaeo Jam host Michael Mills can be found on Twitter as @heapsgood https://twitter.com/Heapsgood

For more on the work Michael and HeapsGood Productions have been involved with in exploring the story of Mary Anning, check out the link... https://linktr.ee/TheseCuriousThings

In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills begins the conversation with Dr Natalia Jagielska, Engagement & Collections Curator at the Lyme Regis Museum by chatting about palaeontology pioneer Mary Anning, and what it means to be working in the very space Mary’s home in Lyme Regis once occupied. As the conversation continues, we learn about the first pterosaur ever found in Scotland, Dearc sgiathanach, and what it tells us about pterosaur evolution. In so doing, we reflect on the unique connection between Natalia and Mary, given Mary’s discovery of the first known pterosaur in England, Dimorphodon macronyx. The two also discuss a subject central to both Natalia and Michael’s professional working life, the connection between art and science.

This is the first episode of Palaeo Jam to feature a guest from beyond the shores of Australia. May there be many more!

Head to Natalia’s website to see links to her research, public outreach, and awesome palaeo art...

https://natalia-jagielska.weebly.com/

You can find Natalia on Twitter at... @wrycritic

https://x.com/WryCritic

To access the original paper, authored by Natalia et al on the Scottish pterosaur Dearc sgiathanach, head to...

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098222200135X

For links to the Lyme Regis Museum, check out...

https://linktr.ee/lymemuseum

There’s a song about pterosaurs on the Professor Flint/Gemma Dandie album, “These Curious Things”, and you can watch a video of the song here... https://youtu.be/_ZJzRVO8ZK4?si=w2r39cTFVmiRijTo

You can find links to the album, and more information about Mary Anning, here... https://linktr.ee/thesecuriousthings

Michael occasionally pops in to the strange place that is Twitter at @heapsgood https://twitter.com/Heapsgood

To connect with Dinosaur University on Facebook, follow us at https://www.facebook.com/DinosaurUniversity

At Palaeo Jam, we now have an Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/palaeo_jam

This is the second episode in Season 3 in which pterosaurs feature. Check out Episode 3 in which Michael chats with vertebrate Palaeontologist and expert in Australian pterosaurs Adele Pentland of the “Pals in Palaeo” podcast about Australian pterosaurs, about each of their podcasts, and about science heroes...

https://palaeojam.podbean.com/e/me-and-my-palaeo-pal/