4 Jul 2025

Fossils and feathers - a visiting US palaeontologist

From Nine To Noon, 9:30 am on 4 July 2025

US palaeontologist Julia Clarke grew up wanting to be like the intrepid explorer, Indiana Jones.

But instead of pursuing lost treasures, she's studied the evolution of birds and dinosaurs.

She has led fossil finding expeditions all over the world including Rēkohu, the Chatham Islands and Antarctica's Vega Island.

The fossils she's discovered contain clues to what birds in the age of the dinosaur sounded like and their feathers.

Julia Clarke, a professor at  the University of Texas at Austin, joins Kathryn to talk about her work on how modern birds evolved.