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Wamkelekile, Welkom
Wamkelekile, Welkom
UCT palaeontologists challenge method used to estimate age of crocodiles and dinosaurs
Do the bones of Nile crocodiles have the same number of growth marks as their age? And can such growth rings be counted to accurately gauge the age of these reptiles? Is this also an accurate method to use when trying to “age” dinosaurs and other extinct and extant reptiles? No, not according to a Scientific Reports study by Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan and Dr Maria-Eugenia Pereyra of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
10 Mar 2026
Media release
UCT-led study finds increase in plastic bottle pollution on Marion Island
A long-term study led by researchers from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology found that when litter was first surveyed on Marion Island in 1984, more than half of all items came from the island’s research station. Since then, the amount of beached litter has increased substantially, but litter from the research station has decreased due to improvements in solid waste management, with local land-based litter currently accounting for less than 1% of all litter.
05 Mar 2026
Media release
How care is organised, experienced and governed amid social and economic change – UCT lecture
University of Cape Town (UCT) Professor Elena Moore, professor of Sociology in the Faculty of Humanities , will deliver her inaugural lecture, “Who cares? The directions of state-family relationships in changing times”, on Wednesday, 4 March 2026 at 17:30 SAST at the New Lecture Theatre on upper campus.
03 Mar 2026
Media release