Dr Colin McHenry
Dr McHenry has had an extensive association with Kronosaurus Korner especially during the production of his PhD thesis on biomechanics and body size comparison within the extensive family of Pliosaurs.
The realisation that finite element analysis could be used to learn more about the mechanical behaviour of animals – living and extinct – came about through McHenry’s research interest on the behaviour of the pliosaur Kronosaurus queenslandicus, a large predatory marine reptile that lived in Australian waters during the Age of Dinosaurs.
McHenry said capturing a true picture of the ancient lives of the fossil super predators was a tricky problem. “We cannot watch them hunt and so whether something like a Tyrannosaurus rex actually preyed upon well-defended herbivores such as Triceratops is open to question,” he said. “Even if the fossil record does not often catch predators in the act of attacking their favourite prey, all animals are subject to the law of physics and if T. rex is going to feed on a five-tonne horned dinosaur, then it needs a skull strong enough for the job.
During his PhD research, McHenry built digital models of his ancient aquatic predators using finite element analysis and compared their behaviour to that of the modern crocodile, which led to his continuing analysis of skull biomechanics in crocodiles
Michelle Johnston
Following multiple visits to Kronosaurus Korner since 2009, Michelle is currently working with Dr Colin McHenry looking at the Kronosaurus Skulls held within the Queensland Museum collections. They are using 3D imaging to retrodeform (recreate what it looked like before fossilisation) the skulls, which will assist in the refining of the skull reconstruction. Michelle will be commencing a postgraduate program in 2011, involving further research into Kronosaurus.
Dr Mikael Siversson
Dr Mikael Siversson Curator of Palaeontology, Earth and Planetary Sciences Western Australia Museum. Dr Siversson is currently looking at fossil Lamnid sharks and other species of sharks from the Richmond area to make comparisons with the later Cenomanian deposits of Western Australia and to shed light on the lineage of this group of sharks.
Many fine examples of shark fossils are in the Kronosaurus Korner collection. For 140 million years, ichthyosaurs and pliosaurs ruled the oceans as supreme top predators. Their reign came to an abrupt end shortly after the rise of giant lamniform sharks, 100 million years ago.
