Yorkshire Philosophical Society

This event is organised by the York Museums Trust as part of Yornight  –  coordinated by York University, this comprises dozens of events at many different venues around York –   www.yornight.com.Yornight is part of European Researchers’ Night project is funded by the European Commission under the Marie Sk?odowska-Curie actions

The three lectures at the Yorkshire Museum will be chaired by the YPS. Details are

5.30pm – 6.15pm Ichthyosaur Colour 
Lecture by Johan Gren
For centuries we have been fascinated by large, extinct animals – such as dinosaurs and marine reptiles – and the way we look at these animals has repeatedly changed as we have learned more about their lifestyles. One question has, however, always been left to the artists’ impressions: What colour did they have? Only a few years ago we thought we would never see an answer to this question, but thanks to recent advances in a new field called ‘Molecular Palaeontology’, we have been provided with the tools to reconstruct a truly colourful past
6.30pm – 7.30pm When huge hyaenas hunted big game across Yorkshire
Lecture by Professor Patrick Boylan
The 1821 recognition by Professor William Buckland of the world’s first fossil hyaena den in Kirkdale Cave, near Kirby Moorside, was a scientific sensation around the scientific world. Since then very many others have been identified in many other parts of the world, as well as others elsewhere in Yorkshire, all directly comparable with what Professor Adam Sedgwick named “our Yorkshire Hyaenopolis”. Professor Patrick Boylan of City University London, is President of the Yorkshire Geological Society, and Kirkdale Cave and similar Pleistocene sites elsewhere have been one of his major research interests for over 40 years.

7.45pm – 8.45pm New light on an ancient city: the archaeology of Roman York
Lecture by Patrick Ottaway
A very special lecture exploring new archaeological research and what it can reveal about Eboracum, by Archaeologist and Author of Roman York Patrick Ottaway.