Dinosaur Lab

Postgraduate projects

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Dinosaurs

Anthony Romilio, Dr Steve Salisbury and Jay Nair (from left to right) examine newly discovered theropodan tracks in the 130 million year old coastally exposed rocks of the Broome Sandstone on the Dampier Peninsula in the west Kimberely Region of WA. Photo: Damian Kelly Photography.

Dinosaur tracks of the Broome Sandstone, Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia. 

  • Detailed analysis and interpretation of new dinosaur tracksites using 3D laser scanning and digital photogrammetry;
  • Ichnotaxonomic, behavioural or biomechanical analysis of various types of dinosaur tracks (sauropods, thyreophorans, ornithopods, theropods);
  • Palaeoenvironmental analysis and palaeoecology of the Broome Sandstone and its biota (facies analysis, stratigraphy and palaeobiodiversity).

Sauropod fossils from the Winton Formation of central-western Queensland

  • Description and interpretation of new sauropod fossils from the Upper Cretaceous portion of the Winton Formation of central-western Queensland
  • Taphonomic analysis of a new sauropod bone bed from the upper Cretaceous portion of the Winton Formation of central-western Queensland

Crocodilians

Evolution of Australian Mesozoic crocodilians

  • Description and interpretation of new crocodilian fossils from the Winton Formation of central-western Queensland

Evolution of Australasian Cenozoic crocodilians

  • The demise of mekosuchines and the rise of Crocodylus during the Plio-Pleistocene
  • Evolution and extinction of mekosuchines in the South West Pacific

Bone growth in Crocodylus

  • Bone growth in wild versus captive specimen of Crocodylus porosus
  • How do osteoderms change during early ontogeny in crocodilians, and how do these changes relate to shifts in locomotor behaviour and body size?

 

Good spoken and written English is desirable. Applicants should ideally have a background in either palaeontology, ichnology, comparative anatomy, biomechanics, sedimentary geology, or digital 3D visualisation Please send expressions of interest, along with a CV and academic transcript, to Dr Steve Salisbury.

Honours program

Find out about Honours in the School of the Environment.

PhD program

Acceptance into UQ's PhD program is contingent on a meeting the UQ entry requirements. Overseas applications are encouraged, as the School of the Environment has made available a number of competitive international PhD scholarships. Find out about: