Thursday, 30th January 2025
18:00 - 19:30
Free event. Booking required - please book your tickets here.
About the event
166 million years ago dinosaurs roamed around Oxfordshire. The clues as to what animals were here, and how they behaved, are found in the fossils they left behind. Hear from researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham who recently uncovered over 200 fossil footprints in a quarry in North Oxfordshire, that form the largest known dinosaur trackways site in the UK.
The stunning discovery is featured in the second episode of BBC Two’s Digging for Britain, and this panel session will delve deeper into the science from the researchers that excavated the trackways. Learn more about the 9-metre fearsome predator Megalosaurus, and herbivorous dinosaurs up to twice that size that made these footprints. This event is part of the Breaking Ground exhibition programme which focuses on the lives of William and Mary Buckland and their contributions to major developments in our understanding of the history of life and Earth, including describing the Megalosaurus in 1824, the first scientifically named and described dinosaur in the world.
Click here for more details about the trackways.
About the speakers
Dr Emma Nicholls FGS
Dr Emma Nicholls is responsible for the day-to-day management of the University Museum of Natural History vertebrate palaeontology collections, including its access, care, development, and research. She has worked across a variety of vertebrate groups but her primary research interest lies in sharks, and Mesozoic reptiles. Her PhD involved devising a novel approach to categorising elasmobranchs into eco-groups and then testing for patterns in cohabitation across geological time and geographical space. In 2021, Dr Nicholls was part of the team of specialists that excavated the Rutland ichthyosaur, thought to be the largest, near-complete reptile skeleton found in Britain. In 2024, Dr Nicholls co-led the excavation of the largest dinosaur trackway site in the UK, located in North Oxfordshire.
Dr Duncan Murdock
Dr Murdock is responsible for the day-to-day management of the University Museum of Natural History mineralogy and petrology collections, and parts of the invertebrate palaeontology collections. His research interests are focused on: using the fossil record to understand the early evolution of animals, in particular their skeletons; how decay and preservation bias our understanding of exceptionally preserved fossils; and, the anatomy and evolution of the first vertebrates. In 2024, Dr Murdock co-led the largest dinosaur trackway site in the UK, located in North Oxfordshire.
Further speakers to be announced in due course.
Accessibility information
| Wheelchair accessible? |
Yes |
| Hearing loops? |
Yes |
| Seating? |
Yes |
| Refreshments? |
No |
| Flashing lights? |
No |
| Loud noises? |
No |
For more information, please visit our accessibility webpage.
