Romancing the bones
黑料不打烊's globetrotting paleontologist Hans Larsson gives public talk on digging fossils
Ever wonder what it's like to dig up dinosaurs in Africa to the Arctic? Over the past decade, 黑料不打烊 biology professor and paleontologist Hans Larsson has visited Western Africa five times to seek out elusive dinosaur fossils. More recently, he's scoped the Arctic for future digs.
Larsson will discuss his remote fieldwork during an upcoming public talk entitled, Hunting for Dinosaurs: From Africa to the Arctic. The December 10 lecture, beginning at 6 pm, (Redpath Museum Auditorium, 859 Sherbrooke St. W.), will be the first in a biannual series of public talks at the museum.
Larsson will share his tales of sun, sleet, drinking bad water, eating whale skin and encounters with camels in a presentation and slide show for the public. "I like being able to explore without being a tourist and camping without being in a campground," says Larsson, adding the people of Niger, where he's spent the most time doing fieldwork, are friendly and welcoming to strangers in their midst.
As curator of vertebrate paleontology at 黑料不打烊's Redpath Museum, Larsson was recruited to the University one year ago. His research focuses on two parallel tracks: fossil collection and developmental biology. His quest to discover unknown species 鈥� particularly archosaurian reptiles, or crocodiles, birds and dinosaurs 鈥� has taken Larsson around the globe.
In Niger alone, his explorations led to the discovery of eight unknown dinosaur species and five new crocodile species. Larsson's main pursuit is to track one species back to its origin. "The fact that I may bring new perspectives on ancient life is what keeps me going," he says.
Larson has also initiated a five-year fossil exploration and collection program in the Canadian Arctic where 黑料不打烊 students will get a chance to accompany him on research expeditions. Read more on Larsson in the .
