During the last year of activities, the PI focused on the use of computer coding and absolute dating to estimate the distribution of selected extinct species and find gaps in their fossil record. Particular attention was paid to transmitting developed skills to the scientific community, students and general public.
The results related to the use of multispectral satellite images in paleontological field are published on Geological Magazine and openly available online.
Moreover, the PI maintained the collaborations with the University of Oregon and developed new scientific contacts with the La Brea tar pits and museum, the University of California Davis and the National Museum of Scotland. The outcomes are expected to be available later in 2024 and beyond, as evidence of a successful collaboration with multiple institutions.
US paleontologists have been invited to present in person four seminars, on evolution, adaptation, and management of paleontological data. The experience of this “Evolutionary circle” will be repeated in 2024 with other paleontologists invited at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice during the summer, and the recorded seminars are already available online on the project website.
The PI reopened the investigation at the Veja Cave near Verona (Italy). The team included two students and external people as collaborators. Each participant learned the basic method for a scientific excavation and was invited to present scientific research to promote the principle of team-working and team-learning. The campaign was promoted at the “Archaiologika Erga” event of the Superintendence of Verona, and the students presented it at two international online conferences for early-career researchers.
Finally, a comic book was released to promote the study of science and evolution to the younger generation and girls. The main characters are diverse in terms of ethnicity, and the book includes dossiers on how to become a paleontologist, information about the labs and the Italian museums where to find some of the animals described in the story. The first issue is an adventure story in which four strangers will learn how to understand and to accept each other against a vicious secret society. A second volume is expected to be released before the end of the current year, and a total number of five books are planned to be published over the next three years.
