Dr Phil Manning
hosted by the Royal Society of New Zealand
Wednesday, 13 May 2015 from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Napier venue: National Aquarium, Marine Parade

In 1999, the mummified remains of a hadrosaur dinosaur were discovered in North Dakota, USA. Skin, muscle, tendons and other soft tissue that rarely survive fossilisation were preserved in this 67-million-year-old dinosaur, allowing scientists to estimate its muscle mass and ability to outrun its predators. Dr Phil Manningand his team obtained scanning equipment normally used on space shuttles at NASA to examine the remarkable fossil and they made some surprising discoveries about these ancient creatures.

This talk will take you on a whistle stop tour of the people, places and science associated with a very special fossil dinosaur called Dakota.

Palaeontologist and writer Dr Phil Manning is Professor of Natural History at the University of Manchester and Director of the Interdisciplinary Centre of Ancient Life. Phil has appeared in and presented many television documentaries for the BBC, Discovery and History Channels, and is currently filming two new documentaries to be released later this year.

Phil plays an active role in Manchester Museum’s public outreach programme and has authored popular science books. He blogs atDinosaur CSI and tweets @DrPhilManning.

More information about Dinosaurs & space-shuttles on the Royal Society of New Zealand website

This tour is a partnership between the Royal Society of New Zealand and Museums Aotearoa.