Quantitatively uncovering bias in the bird fossil record

29 June – 31 July (six weeks), supervised by Dr Tom Roper-Smith

Project summary

Few groups of organisms receive more attention in studies of evolutionary history than birds. Despite this, the reliability of the bird fossil record is still uncertain. This placement will use two new datasets which catalogue the traits of living and extinct birds offer an opportunity to test this. By expanding these datasets using real museum specimens and analysing them together, the student will ‘de-fossilise’ the bird fossil record to test whether fossilisation has distorted our perceptions of it.

Project details

This is an exciting opportunity for a budding scientist to get firsthand experience working with world-class palaeobiological collections in a research context. The student will work closely with the Museum’s Collections and Research teams to complete a novel piece of scientific research. This project aims to explore potential avenues for future research.

During their placement, the student will:

Join the Museum’s Research team and be introduced to other ongoing projects.
Receive training in how to handle specimens from the Museum’s bird collections and collect data from them.
Receive training in how to conduct contemporary analyses of palaeobiological and neontological data.
Be given the opportunity to present the results of their research to the Museum’s Research team and Oxford Palaeobiology Research Group.
Reflect on their experiences and the results of their work to make recommendations for future research.

Selection criteria

Essential

Excellent attention to detail, with an organised and methodical approach.
Commendable manual dexterity, with ability to reliably manipulate small objects.
Ability to concentrate for long periods on repetitive tasks.
Strong self-motivation and ability to work independently without close supervision, as well as part of a team.
Good communication skills.

Desirable

Knowledge of bird diversity and/or evolutionary history.
Knowledge of bird anatomy.
Interest and/or experience working in museum collections with real specimens.

Outcomes for students

This project provides particularly valuable experience for students with an interest in pursuing an academic career in palaeobiology or evolutionary biology after they complete their undergraduate degrees.

You will gain:

Experience working as part of a scientific research project.
Experience working with palaeobiological collections.
Skills in analysing large palaeontological and neontological datasets, and interpreting results of such analyses.
An understanding of what a day in the life of an academic is like.

Reasonable adjustments

The museum is committed to making reasonable adjustments to its summer placements to make sure that students with disabilities or health conditions are not substantially disadvantaged. If you are concerned about meeting the selection criteria for a project of interest, or completing relevant tasks, please get in touch with Hannah Betts before submitting your application to discuss possible adjustments to the project: summerplacements@oum.ox.ac.uk.