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Andrew Benjamin Smith
Andrew Benjamin Smith (born 6 February 1954 in Dunoon, Argyll, Scotland) is a British palaeontologist, known for his research on the palaeontology of echinoderms. His cladistic classification of the phylum Echinodermata has become standard. Education and career Growing up in Stonehaven on the eastern coast of Scotland, Andrew B. Smith at age 13 was inspired to collect fossils after watching an episode on fossil collection aired on the television programme ''Blue Peter''. On holiday in 1967 he first collected fossils from the Rhaetian age Penarth Group at Watchet, Somerset. In 1968 on holiday in Shetland, he collected a complete fossil of a Devonian fish ('' Dipterus valenciennesi'') — the specimen was put on display at the Shetland Museum in Lerwick. From 1973 to 1976 Smith studied geology at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated with first class honours. For the summer of 1976 he received, on the recommendation of Euan Clarkson, a Carnegie Award to study echinoid f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural History Museum, London
The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (London), Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Natural History Museum's main frontage, however, is on Cromwell Road. The museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 80 million items within five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, palaeontology and zoology. The museum is a centre of research specialising in Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, identification and conservation. Given the age of the institution, many of the collections have great historical as well as scientific value, such as specimens collected by Charles Darwin. The museum is particularly famous for its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons and ornate architecture—sometimes dubbed a ''cathedral of nature''—both exemplified by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aalenian
The Aalenian () is a subdivision of the Middle Jurassic Epoch/Series of the geologic timescale that extends from about 174.7 ±0.8 Ma to about 170.9 ±0.8 Ma (million years ago). It was preceded by the Toarcian and succeeded by the Bajocian. Stratigraphic definitions The Aalenian takes its name from the town of Aalen, some 70 km east of Stuttgart in Germany. The town lies at the northeastern end of the Swabian Jura. The name Aalenian was introduced in scientific literature by Swiss geologist Karl Mayer-Eymar in 1864. The base of the Aalenian is defined as the place in the stratigraphic column where the ammonite genus '' Leioceras'' first appears. The global reference profile (GSSP) is located 500 meters north of the village of Fuentelsaz in the Spanish province of Guadalajara.Cresta ''et al.'' (2001) The top of the Aalenian (the base of the Bajocian) is at the first appearance of ammonite genus '' Hyperlioceras''. In the Tethys domain, the Aalenian contains four ammonit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linnean Society Of London
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collections, and publishes academic journals and books on plant and animal biology. The society also awards a number of prestigious medals and prizes. A product of the Age of Enlightenment, 18th-century enlightenment, the society is the oldest extant biological society in the world and is historically important as the venue for the first public presentation of the theory of evolution by natural selection on 1 July 1858. The patron of the society is Anne, Princess Royal. Honorary members include: King Charles III of the United Kingdom, Emeritus Emperor Akihito of Japan, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden (both of the latter have active interests in natural history), and the eminent naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenboroug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient DNA
Ancient DNA (aDNA) is DNA isolated from ancient sources (typically Biological specimen, specimens, but also environmental DNA). Due to degradation processes (including Crosslinking of DNA, cross-linking, deamination and DNA fragmentation, fragmentation) ancient DNA is more degraded in comparison with present-day genetic material. Genetic material has been recovered from paleo/archaeological and historical skeletal material, Mummy, mummified tissues, archival collections of non-frozen medical specimens, preserved plant remains, ice and from permafrost cores, marine and lake sediments and Excavation (archaeology), excavation dirt. Even under the best preservation conditions, there is an upper boundary of 0.4–1.5 million years for a sample to contain sufficient DNA for sequencing technologies. The oldest DNA sequenced from physical specimens are from mammoth molars in Siberia over 1 million years old. In 2022, two-million-year-old genetic material was recovered from sediments in G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molecular Biology
Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. Though cells and other microscopic structures had been observed in living organisms as early as the 18th century, a detailed understanding of the mechanisms and interactions governing their behavior did not emerge until the 20th century, when technologies used in physics and chemistry had advanced sufficiently to permit their application in the biological sciences. The term 'molecular biology' was first used in 1945 by the English physicist William Astbury, who described it as an approach focused on discerning the underpinnings of biological phenomena—i.e. uncovering the physical and chemical structures and properties of biological molecules, as well as their interactions with other molecules and how these interactions explain observ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mass Extinctions
An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp fall in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It occurs when the rate of extinction increases with respect to the background extinction rate and the rate of speciation. Estimates of the number of major mass extinctions in the last 540 million years range from as few as five to more than twenty. These differences stem from disagreement as to what constitutes a "major" extinction event, and the data chosen to measure past diversity. The "Big Five" mass extinctions In a landmark paper published in 1982, Jack Sepkoski and David M. Raup identified five particular geological intervals with excessive diversity loss. They were originally identified as outliers on a general trend of decreasing extinction rates during the Phanerozoic, but as more stringent statistical tests have been applie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Patterson (biologist)
Colin Patterson FRS (1933–1998), was a British palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum in London from 1962 to his official retirement in 1993 who specialised in fossil fish and systematics, advocating the transformed cladistics school. Education and early life Colin Patterson was born on 13 October 1933 in Hammersmith, London, the son of Maurice William Patterson (1908–1991) and Norah Joan (née Elliott) (1907–1984). After National Service in the Royal Engineers, Patterson studied zoology at Imperial College, London (1954–57). He undertook postgraduate research into fossil fishes at University College London and obtained a PhD in 1961. Career and research Patterson was one of the architects of the cladistic revolution in the British Museum of Natural History in the 1970s. In addition to his many works on classification of fossil fishes, he authored a general textbook on evolution, ''Evolution'', in 1978 (and a revised 2nd edition in 1999), and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ninth and longest geological period of the entire Phanerozoic. The name is derived from the Latin , 'chalk', which is abundant in the latter half of the period. It is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation . The Cretaceous was a period with a relatively warm climate, resulting in high Sea level#Local and eustatic, eustatic sea levels that created numerous shallow Inland sea (geology), inland seas. These oceans and seas were populated with now-extinct marine reptiles, ammonites, and rudists, while dinosaurs continued to dominate on land. The world was largely ice-free, although there is some evidence of brief periods of glaciation during the cooler first half, and forests extended to the poles. Many of the dominant taxonomic gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claud William Wright
Claud William Wright CB FGS (9 January 1917, Ellenborough, Yorkshire, England – 15 February 2010, Burford, Oxfordshire, England), Aka Willy Wright, was a senior British civil servant who was also an expert in the disciplines of geology, palaeontology, and archaeology. Life He was educated at Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford. At Oxford, he was influenced by the geologist W. J. Arkell, an interest that became a serious hobby. His professional career was in the War Office/Ministry of Defence, where he reached the rank of Deputy Secretary. In 1971, he transferred to the Ministry of Education and there was involved with the establishment of the first Ministry of Arts. In these posts, he worked directly with Margaret Thatcher and Lord Eccles. It was in Wright's hobbies where he made his greatest mark. Whilst working as a civil servant he was, between 1956 and 1958, President of the Geologists' Association, but after he "retired" in 1976 he could devote his time to h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Liverpool
The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Royal Charter by Edward VII, King Edward VII in 1903 attaining the decree to award degrees independently. The university withholds and operates assets on the National Heritage List for England, National Heritage List, such as the Liverpool Royal Infirmary (origins in 1749), the Ness Botanic Gardens, and the Victoria Gallery & Museum. Organised into three faculties divided by 35 schools and departments, the university offers more than 230 first degree courses across 103 subjects. It is a founding member of the Russell Group, and the research intensive association of universities in Northern England, the N8 Group. The phrase ''"redbrick university"'' was inspired by the Victoria Building, University of Liverpool, Victoria Building, thus, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Mines were established in 1838, 1855, 1863, and 1888 respectively. These institutions later formed the University of Exeter after receiving its royal charter in 1955. In Post-nominal letters, post-nominals, the University of Exeter is abbreviated as ''Exon.'' (from the Latin ''Exoniensis''), and is the suffix given to Honorary Degree, honorary and Academic degree, academic degrees from the university. The university has four campuses: Streatham Campus, Streatham and St. Luke's Campus, St Luke's (both of which are in Exeter); and Truro and Penryn Campus, Penryn (both of which are in Cornwall). The university is primarily located in the city of Exeter, where it is the principal higher education institution. Streatham is the largest campus c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
