Charles Helm

2 weeks ago | theconversation.com | Charles Helm |Clive Thompson

A team of scientists who study vertebrate fossil tracks and traces on South Africa’s southern Cape coast have identified the world’s first fossil pangolin trackway, with the help of Indigenous Master Trackers from Namibia. Ichnologists Charles Helm, Clive Thompson and Jan De Vynck tell the story. What did you find? A fossil trackway east of Still Bay in South Africa’s Western Cape province was found in 2018 by a colleague and was brought to our attention.

1 month ago | theconversation.com | Charles Helm |Clive Thompson

“The art of tracking may well be the origin of science.” This is the departure point for a 2013 book by Louis Liebenberg, co-founder of an organisation devoted to environmental monitoring. The connection between tracking in nature, as people have done since prehistory, and “western” science is of special interest to us as ichnologists. (Ichnology is the study of tracks and traces.) We learned our skills relatively late in life.

Jan 10, 2025 | tumblerridgelines.com | Charles Helm

Charles HelmOn January 5, eleven Tumbler Ridge birders set off to count birds and species for the Christmas Bird Count. This count is now in its 125 year across North America and is the longest-standing event of its kind, helping to establish trends in bird numbers across the continent. The participants enjoyed moderately cold (19 below) conditions, but thankfully without much wind.

Dec 24, 2024 | theconversation.com | Charles Helm |Nelson Mandela

I am standing on a dune looking out to sea. It’s 2024, but I’m thinking about a very different time. Hundreds of thousands of years ago this 350km stretch of southern African coast looked very different. It was home to giant zebra, bird species that are now extinct, giant tortoises and crocodiles. Our hominin ancestors roamed the area. We know some of these facts because of body fossils.

Dec 5, 2024 | theconversation.com | Natasha Joseph |Alan Whitfield |Charles Helm |Hayley Cawthra

Fossils may look to the untrained eye like an unremarkable set of sandy bones. But those bones can deepen or even rewrite our understanding of ancient history – and South Africa is a fossil treasure trove. Some of the country’s “treasures” have changed our own species’ family tree.