In this PalaeoParty! Short, Dr Aubrey Roberts tells us all about his favorite fossil - a plesiosaur called Ophthalmothule cryostea or 'Britney' to it's friends! Found on fieldwork in Svalbard, an island inside the arctic circle, this long necked marine reptile cruised oceans at the end of the Jurassic hunting for fish. What makes Britney so important is that Aubrey and her team found its skull, which is super rare for plesiosaur fossils. Listen in as Aubrey tells us about freezing fieldwork, dangerous polar bears and how 90s bangers gave Britney her nickname. If you want to see a picture of Britney head to our website: https://palaeoparty.weebly.com/

PalaeoParty! Shorts is a new weekly podcast where we ask palaeontologists and allied workers about their favourite fossil. Each episode drops on #FossilFriday and is accompanied by a mini-poster on your website.

Normally we live stream on Twitch so you can chat and ask our guests questions in real time! Find our future schedule at our website: https://palaeoparty.weebly.com/ or at https://twitch.tv/palaeoparty. PalaeoParty! is run by Dr Emma Dunne, Dr Chris Dean and Dr Thomas Clements.

This season is generously funded by the Paleontological Society Outreach and Education Grant.

Our theme music is "Voxel Revolution" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

S3 Ep7. Dr Ellen Coombs' fave fossil - Cynthiacetus (extinct whale)

PalaeoParty!By Thomas Clements, Chris Dean and Emma DunneDec 10, 2021