It may sound absurd but researchers at the University of Birmingham, led by Dr Ivan Sansom, are trying to do just that. In particular it is known that oxygen isotopes which are incorporated into the developing teeth can tell scientists about the temperature of the seawater in which the creature lived. By practising with the thousands of teeth found in Blackpool Sea Life aquarium they will refine the technique to be applied in fossils and therefore register the evolution of the oceans temperature in the past.