A Dinosaur’s Roar

What is the talk about?

Based on Hollywood movies, many of us imagine that a dinosaur may have roared like a lion or a tiger. But what if instead of roaring, dinosaurs instead cooed? By examining birds as living descendants of dinosaurs, Dr. Julia Clarke shares how ancient dinosaurs may have produced sound and what that tells us about modern-day birds.

About our presenter

Dr. Julia Clarke

Julia Clarke is a paleontologist and evolutionary biologist at UT Austin who studies birds and dinosaurs to better understand major transitions in the history of life. An insatiable curiosity has led Dr. Clarke to far-flung regions of the world, from Peru to New Zealand to Mongolia and Antarctica, and to collaborate with a range of experts outside of paleontology, such as geneticists and engineers. Dr. Clarke’s research focuses on how structures in living animals developed and how novel ways of moving—such as avian flight and wing-propelled diving—evolved.