To explore the impact of continental drift and climate change on Southern Hemisphere dinosaur faunas

Recommendations

My Churchill Fellowship definitely opened the door to more collaboration between Argentinian and Australian palaeontologists and I fully intend to strengthen those relationships.

Many Argentinian palaeontologists were unable to attend the 79th Annual Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Conference in Brisbane in 2019 because of a lack of funding. Similarly, Australian palaeontologists find it difficult to attend overseas conferences. A solution could be to have virtual scientific meetings that enable South American and Australian researchers — and those from other continents or countries that were formerly part of the Gondwanan supercontinent — to overcome the tyranny of distance between these now widely-separated landmasses.

My experience with internet connectivity throughout Argentina gave me the sense that researchers there would have no trouble participating in a video conference. The language of science is English, which is great for Australian palaeontologists but not so for some of our Argentinian colleagues. Virtual conferences would give Argentinian palaeontologists the chance to speak English in a congenial setting, to find like-minded colleagues who could read over manuscripts and improve the quality of their English, and to discuss the current state-of-play in Argentinian palaeontology while learning the same of Australian palaeontology.

The study of past life helps us understand how our planet has changed through time and it places modern floras and faunas (and humanity) in an appropriate context. Critically, palaeontology is often the spark that ignites an interest in science in children. I saw this in every Argentinian museum I visited: schoolchildren of all ages gazed in wonder at skeletons of dinosaurs and fossil mammals, chatting excitedly with their classmates about our planet’s past denizens.

Those Argentinian schoolchildren — and the children of Australia — are the majority of the Southern Hemisphere’s future scientists. By instilling an appreciation for nature, for humanity’s place within the natural world, for the scale and mechanics of past environmental and evolutionary changes, and for the real risk of extinction for all species (including us), we will give them a chance to better look after their home than did previous generations.

It is essential that as much scientific interest as possible is sparked and nurtured in children and adults alike. To this end, palaeontology has a huge part to play.

However, in order to recognise this potential, palaeontology will need more financial support. The employment of more palaeontologists in museums and universities across Australia would go some way to achieving this.

Keywords: Dinosaur, ornithopod, sauropod, theropod, Gondwana, Argentina, Antarctica, Australia