How is paleozoology important or useful?

Biology student here. Is it worth it to pursue a career in paleozoology? It seems very attractive to me, but I can't find any uses to it. I know that you can get certain jobs that aren't exclusive to the paleozoology field.

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  1. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    It informs me of how to design the creatures I'm replacing you with. Spoilers: humans are going bye-bye and dinosaurs are coming back.

  2. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    dino dunghole
    reptilian rear
    prehistoric posterior
    triASSic
    cretaceous cheeks
    fossilised fanny
    historic hams

  3. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    feathers

  4. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    I made dino 3D models for a video game, and all the new papers that come out let me make my work more accurate and sell better. I’m not sure what other use palentology has other than fulfilling man’s curiosity and desire to understand the unknown. It’s cool for sure, but as a career path i’m not sure where the money comes from unless you’re profiting off the results of the studies like I am.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >i’m not sure where the money comes from
      museums and universities

      sometimes professional fossil dealers

      books if you're really good at art

      also books if you happen to be a professor or museum curator

      aside from that it's like any purely academic field. Not much pay, very little recognition. You better love doing it for free.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Yeah, for sure. the pay is hopefully enough to exist on, but at some point you’d probably hit a ceiling and have a hard time reaching the hundreds of thousands a year like people in the private sector do. Also might have a hard time amassing savings.
        For me, Its all about injecting accurate paleomedia into the public spotlight as much as you can to show how cool they are, and keep people interested in dinosaurs. I’ve already seen my game be referenced in scientific papers a few times too. To me, it’s making a bigger collective impact than discovering turtle plastron #3762. I think it really depends on what OPs trying to do.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          >it’s making a bigger collective impact than discovering turtle plastron #3762
          yeah, that's another important point

          the public cares about dinosaurs
          98% of paleozoologists don't study dinosaurs. So the truth is nobody here has heard of almost every paleontologist alive, and nobody cares about their work.
          People think paleontology and automatically think dinosaurs. Very very few paleontologists work on dinosaurs.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            >Very very few paleontologists work on dinosaurs.
            of those that do, only a handful at any time will make an impact. Meaning there's hundreds of postdocs and grad students working in complete obscurity for decades and maybe lifetimes waiting for someone to die so they can get tenure or move up the ladder, only to be faced with every other nameless worker bee competing for the same couple dozen positions.

            this alone is reason enough for many to just switch to turtles. At least there you've got a much better shot at moving up. Less competition.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          >I’ve already seen my game be referenced in scientific papers a few times too.
          you've almost certainly referenced my scientific papers in making your game.

          but I don't know your name and you don't know mine. I am almost as anonymous in science as I am here on Wauf.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            That’s very cool. Thanks for the work you do. By the way, in your experience, do you have any idea how much it would cost to fund some kind of paleo research team? Either in description papers, dig expeditions, analysis, or anything like that? I had ideas of funding something like that in the future.

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              millions.

              most of that work is done on government grants in the US. Which is really cool, but you're competing with basically every university and museum in the country for the money.

              digging in the US at least requires having an accredited museum to hold fossils and data. So you could dig and then give the fossils to a museum, but it doesn't ever work that way.

              you can dig on private land, but unless you're starting a new BHI or something the work you do won't be available to science.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                Damn, I was expecting something along the lines of 100-200k. Why does something like that cost so much? Is there some governmental regulation or administrative work bloating it?
                I'm clearly underestimating it, but getting a license to dig, having a couple blokes go out there to pull them out, having someone clean up the matrix (admittedly that part takes ages), etc. I know people need to get paid fairly for their time, but why does something like that end up in the millions? I'll do more research for sure.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                >Is there some governmental regulation or administrative work bloating it?
                Yep, as mentioned you have to deposit all vertebrate fossils from public land in a public museum. So you can't dig on federal land without either working for a museum or university or owning one.

                also NEPA paperwork and getting permits, but that's probably going to be around a million or so for big digs and a lot less for smaller projects.

                On private land that isn't really a problem, but you will have to pay the landowner something, and your fossils won't be used for science because the location isn't available to scientists.

                feathers

                scales

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                That's such a pain in the ass. No wonder there's not as many funds going into Paleontological fields to get more research done, when most of the funding that does get secured goes towards some bullshit legal paperwork and office workers instead of towards the people actually wanting to discover and learn and progress the science. I absolutely understand the value of the work being done in a place that is publicly accessible, but what happens when you're not allowed to even go back to revisit that public land without an additional million in licenses and permits?

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                >what happens when you're not allowed to even go back to revisit that public land without an additional million in licenses and permits?
                nothing, the feds don't really care if dinosaurs get dug up or not.

                regarding the funding, the feds give you millions to go dig up dinosaurs, then charge you millions back to dig up dinosaurs, then demand the dinosaurs stay in the public domain at a cost of additional millions.

                it's just taxpayer money circulating as it does. From one government project to another.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                I suppose I'm just looking at this all wrong. This seems like a government operation with government regulation and government bloat.
                I've been pretty successful with my private company and wanted to give a bit back, fund a few digs, put the discoveries in my game, donate the discoveries to a local museum, get a bit of good PR and marketing going, draw attention to the science and the field, and maybe even pave the way for more companies doing stuff like that. But, the gigantic scale at which something like that becomes just makes the entire thing not worthwhile doing as a private investor if what you say is accurate. Kind of disappointing, though I'll ask around a bit more to get more of an idea too.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                BHI does pretty much exactly what you're proposing, and makes millions in profit every year on top of it.
                So it can be done, it's just not super cheap.

                You can certainly do it on private land in the US. It'd be a really good tax write off. But yeah, fairly expensive.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                also a lot of dino digging is done by state and federal governments. So if they want they can skip all that and send out their own government paleontologists to do the work.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                Wait, so if a big discovery is made on private lands it can't be used to advance our knowledge?

                Is that just if you dig privately? Couldn't one get into a partnership of some sort with a museum or university so their work is available to science?

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                >Couldn't one get into a partnership of some sort with a museum or university so their work is available to science?
                yep, that's how it usually works if you find something of interest.

                a museum I worked at had on display an Allosaurus skeleton that was discovered on a private ranch and then collected by the museum.
                Museums love that sort of thing. None of the government red tape.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                so couldn't that guy sponsor a museum or get a partnership or something similar to go dig on private land? Surely it would cost less than digging on public land

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                yes, that's what I said at least a dozen times itt. He didn't seem to understand and you don't seem sure either.

                it would cost less but his work probably isn't going to be used for science.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                The other option is to just buy land with dinosaur fossils on it. There's a lot of private property out there with dinos you can dig up.

                but you'd still need to either build a museum to hold the fossils and data for scientist or donate the information and materials to an existing museum if you want to do any science on it.

                even then your work may not be accepted because the location you dug on isn't available to researchers to examine without your permission, and that can be a problem.

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              If you do happen to have millions to throw at the project I'd read up on Black Hills Institute. They pretty much paved the way for private paleontological work. Started as an accidental fossil dealer and worked their way up by necessity into a regular museum and scientific force of its own.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Great deal comes from fossil fuel companies prospecting, which makes virtue signaling climate change alarmist paleontologists extra hypocritical.

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    it's mostly not useful or important.

    though you could argue that adding even one iota of knowledge to the human collective is more important than flipping a billion burgers or repairing a hundred thousand washing machines or even designing the next toaster overn.

    your call.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Do you Black folk not realize how the frick puzzling up the tree of life is important into understanding genes' function? or do you things understanding developmental genetics is useless too?

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        That's a stretch.

        it's mostly not useful or important.

        though you could argue that adding even one iota of knowledge to the human collective is more important than flipping a billion burgers or repairing a hundred thousand washing machines or even designing the next toaster overn.

        your call.

        >adding even one iota of knowledge to the human collective is more important than flipping a billion burgers or repairing a hundred thousand washing machines or even designing the next toaster overn.
        I would rather have a burger and getting my washing machine fixed when it fails than knowing about fossilized dinosaur buttholes.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          >I would rather have a burger and getting my washing machine fixed when it fails than knowing about fossilized dinosaur buttholes.
          true, to you the burger or the washing machine is far more important. But it's not about what you want, it's about what other people want you to have.

          If I have the choice between knowing about dinosaur buttholes or YOU having a burger or a washing machine, I guarantee I don't give a frick about you and neither does anyone else.

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            >I guarantee I don't give a frick about you and neither does anyone else.
            Umh. Sweaty. There are whole multimillion dollar industries dedicated to fulfill my needs for food and home appliances.
            COPE and SEETHE

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              funded by you.
              I'm not paying for your burgers

              you are paying for my dinosaur butthole knowledge

              and society agrees with that. You want burgers, buy your own. Your needs are literally less important than dinosaur ass.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                >Hey govermint, I need a cheezeburger and a kenmore front loader
                >Go frick yourself, get a job

                >Hey gomment, I want to know how dinosaurs pooped
                >Great idea anon! Let's spend 10 million dollars and see if we can figure that out!

                literally nobody cares what you want.
                we're going to take money from you and use it to teach you about dinosaur bungs whether you want it or not. Because THAT'S a wise use of your money.

                None of this applies to you because you're mentally disabled. So you get free cheeseburgers, washing machines, toaster ovens, AND dinosaur butt lore.

                but give the choice, even people that think spending millions of dollars to study dinosaur bums is a massive waste of resources all agree that it's better than buying you a cheeseburger.

                In fact dinosaur ass crack education is equally important to society as military protection, roads and bridges, education, medical research, oil and gas production, fire departments, and the courts.

                giving you a cheeseburger doesn't even take last place on the list of things society thinks you need. Nobody cares if you get a cheeseburger or not.

                COPE COPE COPE
                All of that wasted potential. Should have studied something useful.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                I'm laughing

                it's funny

                how many different names for dusty old dinosaur anus can I come up with?

                and all of them are more important than what you want

                that's comedy gold. Only a bot wouldn't smile.

              • 1 year ago
                Anonymous

                I mean think about it

                the government takes money out of your personal cheeseburger budget every month and gives it to scientists to study dinosaur poopholes against your will. Because somebody needs to study how dinosaurs defecated and it sure as frick isn't going to be you if you have any choice in the matter.

                If you refuse to cut your cheeseburger budget to fund dinosaur booty studies they'll literally lock you up in prison and deny you cheeseburgers.

                that's funny stuff right there.

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              >Hey govermint, I need a cheezeburger and a kenmore front loader
              >Go frick yourself, get a job

              >Hey gomment, I want to know how dinosaurs pooped
              >Great idea anon! Let's spend 10 million dollars and see if we can figure that out!

              literally nobody cares what you want.
              we're going to take money from you and use it to teach you about dinosaur bungs whether you want it or not. Because THAT'S a wise use of your money.

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              None of this applies to you because you're mentally disabled. So you get free cheeseburgers, washing machines, toaster ovens, AND dinosaur butt lore.

              but give the choice, even people that think spending millions of dollars to study dinosaur bums is a massive waste of resources all agree that it's better than buying you a cheeseburger.

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              In fact dinosaur ass crack education is equally important to society as military protection, roads and bridges, education, medical research, oil and gas production, fire departments, and the courts.

              giving you a cheeseburger doesn't even take last place on the list of things society thinks you need. Nobody cares if you get a cheeseburger or not.

            • 1 year ago
              Anonymous

              >He replied to you 4 times
              You got him with this one.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      I wish I could get paid for unflipping flipped burgers, trashing washing machines and removing toaster oven patents.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >I wish I could get paid for unflipping flipped burgers, trashing washing machines and removing toaster oven patents.
        study paleozoology then. You'll be constantly comforted by the obvious fact of the fossil record- man is heading for a great unflipping, trashing, and removing of patents event, and it's going down soon.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >

      https://i.imgur.com/6ghrm6O.jpg

      Biology student here. Is it worth it to pursue a career in paleozoology? It seems very attractive to me, but I can't find any uses to it. I know that you can get certain jobs that aren't exclusive to the paleozoology field. (OP) #
      >it's mostly not useful or importa-

      https://www.soundcloud.com/nh-m-tt-783360452/one-piece-ost-im-whitebeard-1

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