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LEPTOMERYX DURING THE EOCENE-OLIGOCENE TRANSITION AND THE INTERNET AGE: STUDIES ON ENAMEL MORPHOLOGY CHANGE AND LEARNING VIA SOCIAL MEDIA By JULIE E. MATHIS A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2010 1 © 2010 Julie E. Mathis 2 To my family 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my chair, Bruce J. MacFadden, for his support and mentoring in completing my research, his many helpful comments during discussions and reviews of various drafts of my work, and for encouraging my interest in public outreach. I thank my supervisory committee, Jonathan Bloch, Mark Brenner, Ellen Martin, and Rose Pringle, for their aid in completing my research and for their helpful comments during discussions and while reviewing the thesis. Many people were helpful in the development and implementation of the Leptomeryx project. Special thanks to Barbara Toomey, Barbara Beasley, and Hannon LaGarry for help in collection efforts for FLMNH, and Ross Secord and George Corner for specimens borrowed from UNSM. I also thank the USDA Forest Service for the Challenge Cost Share Grant that helped make this research possible. I thank Betty Dunkel and Linda Cronin Jones for their aid in developing the Badlands Fossil Blog survey instrument, and George Casella for discussing statistical tests to aid in my analysis. I also thank the members of the Southwest Florida Fossil Club and students of Evolution of Earth and Life (GLY 3105) for participating in the Badlands Fossil Blog study. Thanks are also due to Richard MacKenzie, Jane Mason, and Elvis Nunez for help during the initial stages of the Leptomeryx project, Jason Grindstaff for helpful discussions regarding the Badlands Fossil Blog project, and Alex Hastings and Gifford Waters for their helpful comments while reviewing various parts of the thesis. I would especially like to thank my family, Randall, Roxann, April, Nikki, and the BonnaCrϋe, for all their support, love, and encouragement during my graduate studies. John and Beverly Thompson deserve special thanks for the Thompson Fellowship that provided support during my time as a graduate student. I would also like to thank my 4 friends, especially Jason Bourque, Brittany Davis, Larisa DeSantis, Dana Ehret, Kelly Knapp, Marie Kurz, Carly Manz, Catalina Pimiento, and Aldo Rincón, for their valuable input and support during the completion of my graduate career. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 8 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 9 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: INTEGRATING RESEARCH AND EDUCATION....................... 13 2 QUANTIFYING LEPTOMERYX (MAMMALIA, ARTIODACTYLA) ENAMEL SURFACE AREA ACROSS THE EOCENE-OLIGOCENE TRANSITION IN NEBRASKA ............................................................................................................ 19 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 19 Materials and Methods............................................................................................ 23 Results .................................................................................................................... 25 Discussion .............................................................................................................. 26 3 TEACHING VIA SOCIAL MEDIA: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING A BLOG AS AN INSTRUCTIONAL TOOL IN SCIENCE EDUCATION ................................. 35 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 35 Background ............................................................................................................. 39 History of Weblogs ........................................................................................... 39 Blogs Use in Education .................................................................................... 40 Benefits ...................................................................................................... 40 Previous usage .......................................................................................... 42 Participant Information ............................................................................................ 45 Methods .................................................................................................................. 45 Results .................................................................................................................... 48 Discussion .............................................................................................................. 49 Post 1: Geology and the Badlands ................................................................... 52 Post 2: A Brief Look at Badlands Fossils .......................................................... 53 Post 3: The Eocene-Oligocene Transition ........................................................ 54 Post 4: Proxies ................................................................................................. 55 Post 5: My Love, the Leptomeryx ..................................................................... 56 Post 6: Fossil Teeth and Diet ........................................................................... 57 Post 7: What is a Species? ............................................................................... 58 Post 8: Evolution .............................................................................................. 59 Limitations ............................................................................................................... 60 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 62 6 4 SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................ 66 APPENDIX A IRB APPROVAL ..................................................................................................... 71 B SURVEY INSTRUMENT AND INFORMED CONSENT DOCUMENTS .................. 72 C BADLANDS FOSSIL BLOG ENTRIES ................................................................... 79 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 98 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 103 7 LIST OF TABLES Table page 2-1 Areas for occlusal surface enamel of Chadronian and Orellan Leptomeryx specimens .......................................................................................................... 31 2-2 Summary of statistical tests ................................................................................... 32 3-1 Results of statistical analysis ................................................................................. 63 3-2 Summary of blog content ....................................................................................... 63 3-3 Percent of participants choosing correct answer to multiple choice questions (MC) pre- and post-blog survey .......................................................................... 64 8 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 2-1 Qualitative occlusal surface observations.. ............................................................ 32 2-2 Areas where specimens were recovered. .............................................................. 33 2-3 Isolated occlusal surface enamel.. ......................................................................... 33 2-4 Box and Whisker Plot for average occlusal surface enamel. ................................. 34 3-1 Comparison between actual and perceived knowledge in the post-blog survey. ... 65 3-2 Participants interest levels (pre-blog survey) versus perceived and actual knowledge (post-blog survey). ............................................................................ 65 9 Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Science LEPTOMERYX DURING THE EOCENE-OLIGOCENE TRANSITION AND THE INTERNET AGE: STUDIES ON ENAMEL MORPHOLOGY CHANGE AND LEARNING VIA SOCIAL MEDIA By Julie E. Mathis May 2010 Chair: Bruce J. MacFadden Major: Geology Scientists historically have had trouble communicating their research to the general public. Incorporating broader impacts projects into graduate research provides invaluable training as both scientists and educators, thus bridging the gap between scientists and the public. The scientific research presented here examines enamel morphology changes to the genus Leptomeryx occurring during the same interval as a dramatic climate change. The Eocene-Oligocene transition (~33 Ma) is associated with one of the most pronounced climate changes of the Cenozoic, with continental mean annual temperature dropping ~8ºC. Leptomeryx is a small, ruminant artiodactyl that spans the transition, known from the late Eocene (Chadronian North American Land Mammal Age, or NALMA) through the early Oligocene
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