University!

I've started at uni! Its fantastic, but pretty damn manic. I have to fit 12 hours of lectures, 12 hours of practicals and 4 hours of supervisions into one week! And on top of that in each 1 hour supervision I'm normally set an essay which will take around 5 hours (if not more) to complete. And then theres practical write ups, revising lecture notes..... AAAAAARRRGGGHHHH IM GOING TO GO INSANE.

So the blog isnt going to be updated anywhere near as often as I'd like! I'm sorry about that!

Heres a bit of an update while I have a few spare minutes (shock horror), just sharing a few things about uni life.

 

 Punting! Its so much fun! If you ever come down by Cambridge, you definitely need to give it a go!

 

This shop offers free samples of fudge, so we had to start a new tradition: matriculation fudge. We also did matriculation McDonalds, which was pretty surreal in gowns.

Plenty of Harry Potter photo opportunities.

General matriculation madness.
(Oh, I probably should have explained sooner. Matriculation is like graduation, but before you start. Its an Oxbridge/Durham thing)

My new mug! Behold its awesomeness!

Using the whole range of opinions in my first Evolution and Behaviour essay.

 

My Dad bought me this! Its a graze box, and you get 4 different types of snacks. In mine I've got salsa mexicanos (little biscuits with salsa), natural vanilla seeds (mixed with sunflower seeds), festival fruits (pear, apple, plums and blackcurrants) and after dinner mint (sultanas, chocolate, almonds). How lovely is that?? They all look so nice, I dont know where to start.... www.graze.com is the website on the box, if you wanted to send your own as a gift.

Aaaand finally, an update on my Genesis Rhapsodos earrings, all of which are now reserved!

Because I wont be able to get any more of the beads, this means this item is now unavailable for the forseeable future. If you still would like one, please do get in contact with me and then if one of the other potential buyers cancels on me I can tell you!

Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return...

Becky x

Velociraptor et al

A fossil of Velociraptor has been found with contents of its last meal in its stomach, a bone from a large pterosaur.

This has sparked a lot of debate among palaeontologists, as it was thought that Velociraptor was a hunter rather than a scavenger (the pterosaur being too large for it to hunt itself).

According to Dr David Hone, University College Dublin:

"Gut contents are pretty rare and pterosaur bones are rather fragile and don't preserve well, so it is an unusual find."

This got me thinking about other unusual finds in fossils, mostly ichthyosaurs... like this fossilised embryo in Bristol museum:

Although fossil embryos such as these are generally rare, in ichthyosaurs they are relatively common. This has enabled palaeontologists to determine that the creature was viviparous - it gave birth to live young.

Here is another pic of an ichthyosaur, this time with the contents of its last meal preserved:

This is a Whitby ichthyosaur, and although you cant see it well from the picture it has several nicely preserved belemnites and pyritised ammonites in amongst the stomach contents.

All the pictures here were taken by moi, mostly as part of my university travels - if you're stuck for time before a train home, checking out the museum is a good idea =D It also helps when trying to figure out which zoo/palaeo departments have the best research projects, as you can compare the quality and range of the specimens on display.