Were Dinosaurs too big? Discussing Dinosaur Evolution

Brian Ford argues that Dinosaurs evolved in a watery habitat; palaeontologist Darren Naish looks at the evidence for this claim.

Dinosaurs are among the most amazing animals that ever lived. Join us to discuss op-posing views on Dinosaur life.
Brian J Ford argues that they evolved in a watery habitat; vertebrate palaeontologist Darren Naish looks at the evidence relevant to this claim.

A great burst of fossil discoveries and of new scientific analyses has shown that non-bird dinosaurs were diverse animals that occupied many niches and occurred in many habitats.

Brian J Ford argues that our accepted view of dinosaurs is misleading – they evolved in a watery habitat and their environment was very different from our current understanding.

Darren Naish asks “were some non-bird dinosaurs swimmers or waders? Sure: anatomical evidence indicates that a few species probably did live this way. But were most or even all non-bird dinosaurs aquatic, as proposed by a lone, controversial author?” In this talk, we look at the evidence relevant to this claim and then open up the discussion to our audience.

Brian J. Ford is a renowned biologist who has published hundreds of scientific articles in journals including Nature, New Scientist, Scientific American and the British Medical Journal. He is a fellow of Cardiff University, former fellow of the Open University, a fellow (and former officer) of both the Linnean Society and of the Institute of Biology. His latest book Too Big to Walk? is published by HarperCollins.

Dr Darren Naish is a vertebrate palaeontologist and author based at the University of Southampton. His technical work mostly focuses on the flying pterosaurs, the evolution and anatomy of predatory dinosaurs, and the biology of the giant, long-necked sauropods. He writes widely on animals of all kinds. His most recent books include Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved (co-authored with Paul Barrett) and Evolution in Minutes.

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