Soar like a prehistoric eagle!
12/14/23 • 30 min
Australia is currently home to 17 species of hawks and eagles. Tens of thousands of years ago, however, there were more. What were they like? What happened to them? And what can we learn about past ecosystems and the extinction that wiped out the Australian mega-fauna, in studying such prehistoric birds?
In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills chats with Dr Ellen Mather, Adjunct Associate lecturer at Flinders University discuss all of these things and more, as they talk about several extinct species of eagle, including a much somewhat “chunky” eagle that could have plucked koalas from the tree!
You can read more in The Conversation article authored by Ellen, Professor Mike Lee, and Associate Professor Trevor Worthy...
“Giant eagles and scavenging vultures shared the skies of ancient Australia”
Here’s a direct link to the research...
“Pleistocene raptors from cave deposits of South Australia, with a description of a new species of Dynatoaetus (Accipitridae: Aves): morphology, systematics and palaeoecological implications”
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03115518.2023.2268780
A great article examining Ellen’s recent work on the discovery of vultures in Australia can be found here...
Ellen was also co-author for an article on a prehistoric species of eagle... https://theconversation.com/meet-the-prehistoric-eagle-that-ruled-australian-forests-25-million-years-ago-168249
You can find Ellen on Twitter at @Ellenaetus
https://twitter.com/Ellenaetus
Ellen previously spoke to us on Palaeo Jam in the following episode...
Season 1, Episode 5
“Vultures and flamingoes Down Under?
https://palaeojam.podbean.com/e/vultures-and-flamingoes-down-under/
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
On Instagram at @dinosauruniversity
https://www.instagram.com/dinosauruniversity/
And on Twitter at @DinosaurUni
https://twitter.com/DinosaurUni
Palaeo Jam also now has its own Instagram account at @palaeo_jam
Australia is currently home to 17 species of hawks and eagles. Tens of thousands of years ago, however, there were more. What were they like? What happened to them? And what can we learn about past ecosystems and the extinction that wiped out the Australian mega-fauna, in studying such prehistoric birds?
In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills chats with Dr Ellen Mather, Adjunct Associate lecturer at Flinders University discuss all of these things and more, as they talk about several extinct species of eagle, including a much somewhat “chunky” eagle that could have plucked koalas from the tree!
You can read more in The Conversation article authored by Ellen, Professor Mike Lee, and Associate Professor Trevor Worthy...
“Giant eagles and scavenging vultures shared the skies of ancient Australia”
Here’s a direct link to the research...
“Pleistocene raptors from cave deposits of South Australia, with a description of a new species of Dynatoaetus (Accipitridae: Aves): morphology, systematics and palaeoecological implications”
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03115518.2023.2268780
A great article examining Ellen’s recent work on the discovery of vultures in Australia can be found here...
Ellen was also co-author for an article on a prehistoric species of eagle... https://theconversation.com/meet-the-prehistoric-eagle-that-ruled-australian-forests-25-million-years-ago-168249
You can find Ellen on Twitter at @Ellenaetus
https://twitter.com/Ellenaetus
Ellen previously spoke to us on Palaeo Jam in the following episode...
Season 1, Episode 5
“Vultures and flamingoes Down Under?
https://palaeojam.podbean.com/e/vultures-and-flamingoes-down-under/
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
On Instagram at @dinosauruniversity
https://www.instagram.com/dinosauruniversity/
And on Twitter at @DinosaurUni
https://twitter.com/DinosaurUni
Palaeo Jam also now has its own Instagram account at @palaeo_jam
Previous Episode
Theropods Down Under
The fossil record of Theropod dinosaurs in Australia is sparse, and our understanding of them is poor. In a recent publication of the first chapter of his PhD, PhD Candidate Jake Kotevski is on his way to changing that.
In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills chats with Jake about the recent identification of the oldest-known Megaraptorid skull fragment, found on an Eastern Victorian beach in Australia, nearly 20 years ago. What does this unique and important fragment tell us about Australian Theropods and their place in the world? In just one of the concepts they discuss, it supports the theory that Megaraptorids originated in Australia. Tune in for more!
To read the paper, “A megaraptorid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) frontal from the upper Strzelecki Group (Lower Cretaceous) of Victoria, Australia”, head to... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667123002975#sec7
You can find Jake on Twitter at @Dinoman_Jake
https://twitter.com/Dinoman_Jake
And on Instagram at @theropods_down_under
https://www.instagram.com/theropods_down_under/
The Evans EvoMorph Lab where Jake is based for his PhD is on Twitter at @EvansEvoMorph
https://twitter.com/evansevomorph
For information on visiting the Dinosaur Dreaming site mentioned in the podcast, head to...
And also Bunurong Coast Education at http://sgcs.org.au/programs.php
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
On Instagram at @dinosauruniversity
https://www.instagram.com/dinosauruniversity/
And on Twitter at @DinosaurUni
https://twitter.com/DinosaurUni
Palaeo Jam also now has its own Instagram account at @palaeo_jam
Next Episode
Modelling the Dead!
There’s something quite delightful about seeing the skeleton of a prehistoric animal move in a way that it might have moved when the bones were covered in flesh, and the animal was alive. Jack O Conner is a PhD candidate at Monash University, and that’s exactly what he's doing at the Evans EvoMorph Lab.
In this episode of Palaeo Jam, host Michael Mills chats with Jack about how he came to be doing what he does, explores the process of creating the models, and what it’s like to see such creatures brought to life in this way. Such work, of course, fits well into the science communication field for which Michael has built a career, and both Michael and Jack discuss some of the important elements of science communication, and why it matters.
You can find Jack’s models of Thylacoleo carnifex, Zygomaturus trilobus, Siderops kehli, and Perucetus colossus on Sketchfab at...
We think it’s well worth checking out the models before you listen to the podcast if you can, or even while you’re listening to it.
Be sure, too, to check out our episode on the Virtual Australian Museum of Palaeontology (VAMP), at https://palaeojam.podbean.com/e/vamp-it-up/ to hear about where some of the source material come from for Jack’s work. It is an absolutely brilliant resource.
You can follow Jack O’Conner on Instagram at @jackodesign
https://www.instagram.com/jackocdesign/
And follow Monash Science at @monash_science
https://www.instagram.com/monash_science/
The Evans EvoMorph Lab is on Twitter at @EvansEvoMorph
https://twitter.com/evansevomorph
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
On Instagram at @dinosauruniversity
https://www.instagram.com/dinosauruniversity/
And on Twitter at @DinosaurUni
https://twitter.com/DinosaurUni
Palaeo Jam also now has its own Instagram account at @palaeo_jam
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/palaeo-jam-477721/soar-like-a-prehistoric-eagle-64074989"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to soar like a prehistoric eagle! on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy