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Pride, Preparation, Principle and Prejudice: The Tenet of Hoyle and Wickramasinghe as Applied to Marine Reptiles
Liston, Jeff; Fischer, Valentin; Naish, Darren et al.
2020Symposium on Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation 2020
 

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Abstract :
[en] The death of Robert Appleby in 2004 brought to light a wealth of unpublished ichthyosaur research. Amongst this body of work was a description of the first ichthyosaur from Iraq, dubbed ‘Iraqisaurus kurdistanensis’. Although the manuscript was sent to Palaeontology in 1979, doubts existed regarding the Jurassic age of the specimen. Archival correspondence was consulted and a fresh sample taken from the block, confirming the pre-Aptian Early Cretaceous results previously obtained by Norman Hughes for the specimen. When publication of the work was attempted, however, these results (indicating the survival of a non-ophthalmosaurid so far beyond the J-K horizon) were regarded as somewhat heretical by one reviewer, who became increasingly hostile as the manuscript progressed. Eventually, the editor and an arbiter overruled him, as it had become obvious that his resistance was fuelled less by flaws in the evidence presented, and more by his inherent belief that such things just ‘could not be’, unfavourably reminiscent of Hoyle and Wickramasinghe’s blind belief that Archaeopteryx was a fake, simply because it did not fit their idiosyncratic views on evolutionary mechanisms. Following publication, the reviewer has repeatedly attempted to dismiss the specimen from consideration by Cretaceous researchers, through casting aspersions on the preparatory and sampling work done on the specimen. Acknowledging that academic prejudice against technical work has been a longstanding problem in palaeontology, it is hoped that more thoroughly documenting the sampling of the specimen here will lay the question of the dating of Malawania anachronus to rest once and for all.
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Liston, Jeff
Fischer, Valentin  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géologie > Evolution and diversity dynamics lab
Naish, Darren
Chapman, Sandra
Brindley, Stephen
Language :
English
Title :
Pride, Preparation, Principle and Prejudice: The Tenet of Hoyle and Wickramasinghe as Applied to Marine Reptiles
Publication date :
2020
Event name :
Symposium on Palaeontological Preparation and Conservation 2020
Event organizer :
Geological Curator Group
Event date :
From 11-10-2020 to 17-10-2020
Audience :
International
Available on ORBi :
since 17 April 2021

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