CyberWorld

Some were interested in the latest discoveries regarding fossilised giraffes, while others were eager to find out what more could be learned of the biting behaviour of Tyrannosaurus rex from their remains.

There was a flutter of excitement over the news that somebody was going to say something very exciting about feathered dinosaurs – and, it must be said, no little interest in the location of the nearest "proper British pub" .

What may be the largest gathering of fossil hunters to ever convene in one place arrived in Bristol at the 69th annual meeting of the august body known as the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP).

More than 1,000 scientists who are making a life's work out of the study of fossils of creatures with backbones – from the most impressive of dinosaurs to the tiniest of fish – were meeting, greeting and talking about their finds.

It is a significant moment for the SVP, which was founded in 1940 by a group of 34 palaeontologists and now has more than 2,000 members across the globe. Until now, the organisation has always met in the US but fossil hunting has become a global game, especially since China began to take an interest in the secrets hidden in its rocks.

To reflect this change – and to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species – the SVP decided to hold its annual bash in Darwin's homeland.

Professor Mike Benton, chair of the host committee and himself a palaeontologist, called the gathering a "momentous meeting". "This is the first time it has ever met in the old world. There are people from every corner of the world - north America, south America, China, Japan, Europe."

Benton was keen to emphasise that it was not just about people showing off their new amazing finds of spectacular fossils. It was more about trying to find out more about how evolution happens.

Another theme that was emerging as the three-day conference got into full swing was an interest in using fossils to find out how climate change had affected the world over time.

Benton said he was impressed by the variety of people who had turned up. Undoubtedly, as you walked around the precincts of Bristol University, there were some who looked as if they had been chipping away at rocks in some remote desert for half a century and still had dust in their beards and sandals. A delegate from Texas wore the almost obligatory cowboy hat.

But there were also many younger people, among them 17-year-old Emma Hoffmann from New York who will be presenting her research on the teeth of dromaeosaurid, a bird-like dinosaur.

"I have had a passion for palaeontology ever since I took a trip to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City when I was four," she said.

One of the most eagerly awaited talks is being given by Xu Xing, a Chinese palaeontologist, who is said to have found out something particularly fascinating in north-eastern China. None of the officials are saying just what ahead of his presentation tomorrow.

He said: "I'm really happy that this meeting has become more international, a meeting for palaeontologists all over the world. For scientists like myself, it's important to come. You have a chance to talk to colleagues about your work, to share your discoveries and knowledge. It's about contributing to the theory of evolution."

China is a particularly mouth-watering country for palaeontologists as it is largely uncharted. When new mines and quarries are opened, more fossils drop out of the rocks.

As at any conference, the fringe events can be as interesting, at least to the outsider, as the main agenda. Today, for example, a lunch meeting will discuss "women in palaeontology – different countries, different glass ceilings".

There is a charity auction in which delegates can bid for such delights as a cast of the skull of an early crocodile or the partial skeleton cast of "Lucy" – the fossil of a human-like creature found in Ethiopia in the 1970s.

In the corridors and coffee areas, some students were angling for jobs – the recession hits fossil hunting too – while others were hijacking experts to help them with their work. Such as Bristol student, Brian Machin, whose thesis is on the theory that a type of monkey found in South America got there by floating from Africa on a raft. "It's nonsense of course," he said, "But it's hard to prove it's nonsense."

And at the end of the day it was on to one of those typically British pubs to carry on talking about fossilised giraffes and dinosaurs with feathers and monkeys sailing on rafts.
© Guardian News & Media 2008
Published: 9/23/2009