Lecture on Dinosaur Trace Fossils, Evolution Kicks Off UA’s ALLELE Series

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Anthony Martin, honors program coordinator and professor of practice at Emory College of Arts and Sciences, will present “Dinosaurs Without Bones: What Dinosaur Trace Fossils Tell Us About Evolution,” as part of the 2014-2015 Alabama’s Lecture on Life’s Evolution, or ALLELE, series at The University of Alabama.

The lecture will be held Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Biology Building Auditorium, ­­­­­room 127, on the UA campus. Martin will discuss dinosaur trace fossils, which are mostly footprints, and what we can learn from them.

“He’s a very active researcher and a good speaker,” said David Kopaska-Merkel, chief of the petroleum technology and resources section at the Geological Survey of Alabama.

“I think it’s especially interesting,” Kopaska-Merkel said, “if you don’t know much about trace fossils because we actually see footprints everywhere. We go out in nature, and it’s just one of those things you can apply in your daily life: If you go to the beach or if you go hiking, you can learn more about the world around you.”

Martin has taught at Emory for nearly 25 years. His talk will cover topics from his most recent book, “Dinosaurs Without Bones: Revealing Dinosaurs Lives Through Their Trace Fossils,” published in 2014.

His main research interest is ichnology, the study of plant and animal traces such as tracks, trails, burrows, nests and feces, both modern and ancient. He is widely published and has been recognized by The New York Times, BBC, National Geographic and others.

Trace fossils are used to reconstruct an organism’s behavior. While index fossils may show the anatomy of ancient creatures, trace fossils tell us more about how they moved and lived.

“If students want to know about dinosaurs or Earth’s history, this is a great way to do that,” Kopaska-Merkel said.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

The 2014-2015 ALLELE series is supported by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the Alabama Museum of Natural History and the departments of anthropology, biological sciences, communicative disorders, geological sciences, philosophy, religious studies and others. Learn more about the series at evolution.as.ua.edu.

The ALLELE lecture series is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships and Goldwater Scholarships.