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Newsletter of the University of California Museum of Paleontology UCMP NEWS JAN 2013

New species from the drawers of UCMP

A frequent question we get at the museum is whether all our fossils are described. We can assure you there are many, many left to be described, and every year many scientists de- scribe new species and do new research based on fossils they find in our drawers. In 2012, UCMP vertebrate fossils were used in 81 published studies by scientists from around

Courtesy of Erica Clites Courtesy of Jason Carr the world, and 13 new taxa were named Erica working on 550-million-year-old fossils Jason sits beside a jacket containing the jaw- from previously undescribed specimens. in the Ediacaran Hills of South Australia bone of a Miocene amphicyonid representing Here’s the new taxa roundup for 2012. while a master’s student in Mary Droser’s lab the largest and most complete fossil carnivoran January—UC alum Samantha Hopkins at UC Riverside. yet recovered in Panama. and her student Jonathan Calede1 described Hesperogaulus shotwelli, a new species of New Museum Scientist Meet Jason Carr, the new horned rodent from Nevada in the Zoologi- Erica Clites to manage fossil preparation lab cal Journal of the Linnean Society. USGS fossil collection manager March—Recent UC graduate Brian 2 Growing up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Erica Jason Carr grew up along the Central Coast Swartz named Tinirau clackae, a stem tet- Clites says her early training as a scien- of California, in Santa Maria, surrounded rapod from Nevada Devonian in PLoS One. 3 tist benefitted from a Girl Scout summer by Miocene geology. Stephen Chester and Chris Beard named program led by graduate students at the While attending Santa Barbara City Col- two tiny new primates from the late Paleo- University of Nebraska. Visiting Ashfall Fos- lege, Jason had the good fortune to take cene of Wyoming, Dryomomys dulcifer and sil Beds as well as other parks of geological courses with geology instructor, Robert Gray, Tinimomys tribos, in the Annals of the Carn- significance as a high school student exposed whose field courses resonated with Jason’s egie Museum. her to the excitement of geology and pale- growing interest in geology and paleontol- August—Hans-Peter Schultz and UC 4 ontology in the field. ogy. Jason then transferred to the South Da- alum John W. Reed described the sarcop- Erica attended the College of Wooster in kota School of Mines (SDSM), where he was terygian fishBruehnopteron murphyi from Ohio, majoring in geology and minoring exposed to courses in fossil preparation and the middle Devonian, from the Northern in German. After graduation she received museum curation and an opportunity to in- see SPECIES on page 5 a Fulbright Scholarship to teach English to tern at Ashfall Fossil Beds in Nebraska. With 5th–13th grade students in northeast Ger- field and research opportunities in paleontol- many. Erica returned to continue her studies ogy around every corner, Jason entered the IN THIS ISSUE and a master’s thesis on Ediacaran faunal master’s program in geology at SDSM and systematics at UC Riverside in the Mary later applied for a position with the Panama UCMP publications...... p. 2 Droser lab. Canal Project affiliated with the University Excited about opportunities to promote of Florida. He spent seven months recover- Tidbits & Web notes...... p. 3 research in geology and paleontology to the ing new and important fossils uncovered The Engdahl family...... p. 4 public, Erica spent time in Washington, during excavations as part of the ongoing DC, pursuing internships at the National expansion of the Panama Canal. Friends of UCMP...... p. 6 Academy of Sciences and the National Park Jason could not pass up an opportunity Director’s letter...... p. 7 Service. She was instrumental in launching to return to California to accept a position The oldest dinosaur?..... p. 7 see ERICA on page 4 see JASON on page 4 2012 UCMP publications Communicating science to both col- 10.1073/pnas.1212381109 Finnegan, S., N.A. Heim, S.E. Peters, leagues and the general public is an es- and W.W. Fischer. 2012. Climate change Brinkman, D.B., P.A. Holroyd, and J.D. sential ingredient of the UCMP mission. and the selective signature of the Late Gardner (eds.). 2012. Morphology and Through journals, presentations at pro- Ordovician mass extinction. Proceed- Evolution of Turtles. Springer Nether- fessional meetings, articles in the popular ings of the National Academy of Sci- lands, Dordrecht. 596 pp. press, interviews, workshops, lectures, ences 109(18):6829-6834. doi: 10.1073/ and even science cafés, members of the Brook, B.W., and A.D. Barnosky. 2012. pnas.1117039109 UCMP community share their research Quaternary extinctions and their link Gong, Z., N.J. Matzke, B. Ermentrout, that ultimately contributes to a greater to climate change. Pp. 179–198 in L. D. Song, J.E. Vendetti,* M. Slatkin, and understanding of the history of life. This Hannah (ed.), Saving a Million Species: G. Oster. 2012. Evolution of patterns on list of 2012 peer-reviewed articles rep- Extinction Risk from Climate Change. Conus shells. Proceedings of the National resents a portion of that effort. UCMP Island Press, Washington, D.C. Academy of Sciences 109(5):E234–E241. alums are indicated by asterisks. Campos, E.O., D. Vihena, and R.L. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1119859109 Andrews, T.M., R.M. Price, L.S. Mead, Caldwell. 2012. Pleopod rowing is used Harnik, P.G., H.K. Lotze, S.C. Ander- T.L. McElhinny, A. Thanukos, K.E. to achieve high forward swimming son, Z.V. Finkel, S. Finnegan, D.R. Perez, C.F. Herreid, D.R. Terry, and P.P. speeds during the escape response of Lindberg, L.H. Liow, R. Lockwood, Lemmons. 2012. Biology undergradu- Odontodactylus havanensis (Stomatopo- C.R. McClain, J.L. McGuire, A. O’Dea, ates’ misconceptions about genetic drift. da). Journal of Crustacean Biology J.M. Pandolfi, C. Simpson, and D.P. CBE Life Sciences Education 11(3):248– 32(2):171–179. doi: 10.1163/ Tittensor. 2012. Extinctions in ancient 259. doi: 10.1187/cbe.11-12-0107 193724011X615596 and modern seas. Trends in Ecology and Barnosky, A.D., E.A. Hadly, J. Bas- Chiou, T.-H., A.R. Place, R.L. Caldwell, Evolution 27(11):608-17. doi: 10.1016/j. compte, E.L. Berlow, J.H. Brown, M. J. Marshall, and T.W. Cronin. 2012. A tree.2012.07.010 Fortelius, W.M. Getz, J. Harte, A. Hast- novel function for a carotenoid: Astax- Hickman, C.S. 2012. A new genus and ings, P.A. Marquet, N.D. Martinez, A. anthin used as a polarizer for visual two new species of deep-sea gastropods Mooers, P. Roopnarine, G. Vermeij, J.W. signaling in a mantis shrimp. Journal of (Gastropoda: Vetigastropoda: Gazidae). Williams, R. Gillespie, J. Kitzes, C. Mar- Experimental Biology 215:584–589. doi: The Nautilus 126(2):57–67. shall, N. Matzke, D.P. Mindell, E. Revil- 10.1242/jeb.066019 la, and A.B. Smith. 2012. Approaching Lipps, J.H., M. Dunthorn, and T. deVries, M.S., E.A.K. Murphy, and a state-shift in the biosphere. Nature Stoeck. Fossil tintinnids. Pp. 186–197 in S.N. Patek. 2012. Strike mechanics 486:52–58. doi: 10.1038/nature11018 J.R. Dolan, D.S. Montagnes, S. Agatha, of an ambush predator: The spearing D.W. Coats, and D. Stoecker (eds.), The Batavia, M., G. Nguyen, and I. Zucker. mantis shrimp. Journal of Experimental Biology and Ecology of Tintinnid Cili- 2012. The effects of day length, hiberna- Biology 215:4374–4384. doi: 10.1242/ ates: Models for Marine Plankton. Wi- tion, and ambient temperature on incisor jeb.075317 ley/Blackwell, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. dentin in the Turkish hamster (Mesocri- Encinas, A., K.L. Finger, L.A. Buatois, doi: 10.1002/9781118358092.ch8 cetus brandti). Journal of Comparative and D.E. Peterson.** 2012. Major Physiology B. doi: 10.1007/s00360-012- Martins, L., C.A. Souto, and C. Mene- forearc subsidence and deep-marine 0729-9 gola. 2012. A new genus and new spe- Miocene sedimentation in the present cies of Sclerodactylidae (Holothuroidea: Batavia, M., G. Nguyen, K. Harman, Coastal Cordillera and Longitudinal De- Dendrochirotida) from the south-west- and I. Zucker. 2012. Hibernation pat- pression of south-central Chile (38°30'S– ern Atlantic coast. Zootaxa 3506:54–62. terns of Turkish hamsters: Influence of 41°45'S). Geological Society of America sex and ambient temperature. Journal of Bulletin 124:1262–1277. doi: 10.1130/ Martins, L., C.A. Souto, and C. Mene- Comparative Physiology B. doi: 10.1007/ B30567.1 gola. 2012. First record of Holothuria s00360-012-0706-3 (Theelothuria) princeps and Thyone paw- Finnegan, S., D.A. Fike, D.S. Jones, soni [Echinodermata: Holothuroidea] Belanger, C.L., E. Jablonski, K. Roy, S. and W.W. Fischer. 2012. A temperature- in the South Atlantic Ocean. Marine Berke, A.Z. Krug, and J.W. Valentine. dependent positive feedback on the Biodiversity Records 5:e98. doi: 10.1017/ 2012. Global environmental predictors magnitude of carbon isotope excur- S1755267212000796 of benthic marine biogeographic struc- sions. Geoscience Canada 39(3):122-131. ture. Proceedings of the National Academy http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/ of Sciences 109(35):14046–14051. doi: GC/article/view/19395 see PUBLICATIONS on page 6 2 Other news table at the North Bay Discovery Day in Sonoma County attended by more than On National Fossil Day (October 17), 7,000 people. UCMP graduate students UCMP launched a new and improved Jenna Judge, Camilla Souto, and Tesla “Fossils in US National Parks” website, Monson (see photo above) participated featuring enhanced “searchability” and in the showcase event at AT&T Park at- better fossil data. tended by more than 30,000 fans of sci- UCMP was invited to develop a Congratulations! ence. The theme of the UCMP displays paleontology course for UC Berkeley’s To Brian Swartz, who heads to New and activities was: Who lived here before Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Our York to work on evolution education the Giants? The UCMP fossil displays six-week course will provide an opportu- projects at the Howard Hughes Medical and activities were a big hit! @ nity to share current research, focusing Institute. on topics such as biostratigraphy, evolu- To Sarah Werning, who received an tion, extinction, and new technologies Web notes Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship that have advanced our understandings. from the National Science Foundation, Posted on the California Speakers for this course include: Mark which she will begin next September at Academy of Science web- Goodwin, Seth Finnegan, Emily Lind- Stony Brook University. site about the Understand- sey, Sarah Werning, Ashley Poust, Pat To UCMP alum, Lorraine Casazza ing Science “How Science Holroyd, and Leslea Hlusko. and her husband Tim on the arrival of Works Flowchart:” Jere Lipps, emeritus professor/curator, their new daughter. This is a fantastic overview of a great and UCMP alum Nick Pyenson, now To UCMP, in partnership with the conceptual flow chart. I really like the at the Smithsonian Institution, have or- explanation with spider discovery. It National Center for Science Education, ganized and will present a symposium at makes me wonder if you (or someone) on receipt of a $954,000 grant from the could do a similar bit albeit a bit longer the upcoming AAAS meeting in Boston, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to with climate change? What I really Feb. 17, on “Evolution of Giants—The develop a new web-based project focus- appreciate about this flow chart and Great Whales.” Six speakers will delve explanation is that it gets to the rigor ing on the causes and consequences of into the evolutionary history of these behind the scientific endeavor which global change. I believe isn’t well understood in the whales, development of migratory pat- And special congratulations to our general public. terns, effects of sonar, and the history of new Ph.D., Dr. Maya deVries! whaling. On Understanding Evolution: Welcome to new UCMP Get them started early I simply want to thank all involved in this Research Associates project—I have used it in introductory on paleontology! college courses in the past, and just Robert Boessenecker, Univ. of Otago, NZ stopped by to take a look again as I Erin Meyer, CA Ocean Science Trust prepare to use it in the next few weeks to help geology students learn about Jack Horner, Museum of the Rockies, evolution. I believe I am seeing some Montana State University new material on cladograms (or I Ralph Molnar, Queensland University didn’t appreciate it before!) and need (retired) to say in particular, that those pages are EXCELLENT, truly the best freely Jim Parham, California State Fullerton available resource out there. Thanks, Greg Wilson, University of Washington thanks, thanks! — Professor, Department of Earth and Welcome to new UCMP Atmospheric Sciences, Central Michigan University Museum Associates Monson Tesla Doug Clarke, Assistant Archivist, volun- Tesla Monson (left) shares a dinosaur bone Want to receive UCMP teer with Zelda and her mom, Sasha, at the News electronically? Chuck Crumly, UC Press 2012 Bay Area Science Festival. If you would like to receive the UCMP Claire Englander, Assistant Archivist, For the second year in a row, UCMP par- News as a color pdf attachment, please let volunteer ticipated in the Bay Area Science Festival us know. Just send your email address to Eugenie Scott, Visiting Scholar, National as one of several Science@Cal exhibitors Chris Mejia at [email protected]. We Center for Science Education during the week-long series of science are trying to go green wherever possible Dave Strauss, Photographer, volunteer activities designed especially for children and reduce costs, but we also understand Lisa Urry, Visiting Scholar, Mills College and their families on October 27–No- if you prefer the usual hard copy. vember 3, 2012. Lisa White staffed a 3 ERICA from page 1 the first National Fossil Day with the properly archived and incorporated into about continuing on in a career that National Park Service and received an the UCMP collection will be a large task works to improve the availability of pa- award for her efforts. Additional experi- and one well suited to Erica’s skills, train- leontology resources in ways benefitting ence with the National Parks was gained ing and interests. Erica is enthusiastic large communities of users. @ as a science technician at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Arizona from page 1 where Erica managed a monitoring pro- JASON gram for fossil sites and fossil collections at the UCMP managing the fossil prep is also reassembling a partial jaw and frill in one of the largest recreation areas in lab. Supervising undergraduate students of a Dilophosaurus dinosaur collected by the system. and other volunteers in the lab, Jason Sam Welles. Having received his training Starting at the UCMP in December, and team are focusing on the Miocene primarily in geology, Jason says working Erica is busy physically organizing the fossils from the CalTrans Caldecott Tun- at the UCMP provides a great opportu- USGS fossil collection from Menlo nel 4th Bore project. Plants, fish scales, nity to interact more regularly with biolo- Park currently at the UCMP Regatta molds and casts of small invertebrates, gists and ecologists, and he looks forward facility in new, museum-grade cabinets. and occasional teeth and bones of large to eventually returning to graduate work As part of a two-year NSF museum mammals such as horse and rhinoceros and to a career that involves teaching as improvement grant, the USGS collec- are among the collection. well as paleontology research. tion that will be rehoused at the UCMP Jason’s balance of duties include re- Jason says the best thing about return- contains over 170,000 invertebrate constructing fossils that are part of the ing to California in October 2012 was fossils from more than 12,000 locali- UCMP collection. He is currently work- the timing—it coincided with the Bay ties. Reorganizing, relabeling, and digi- ing on careful reconstruction of a phyto- Area celebration of the Giants 2012 tally capturing the material so it can be saur jaw bone collected by John Muir and World Series win! @

A salute to the Engdahl family The Morris Skinner Award is the Society of Vertebrate Paleon- tology’s way of honoring those who have added to our knowl- edge through their contributions to collection of scientifically significant fossils. At its annual meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina, the society honored the Engdahl family of Garfield County, Montana, for their long-term, multi-generational support of paleontological research and education. Students, staff, and faculty associated with UCMP have benefited greatly from the Engdahls’ help and hospitality. In the late 1960s, the late Harley Garbani went to the valley of Hell Creek in northeastern Montana with the goal of collecting skeletons of dinosaurs for exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. He was particularly successful Courtesy of Bill Clemens The Engdahl family includes (from left) Robert, Jane, Duane, and in his discoveries on the Engdahl Ranch. In addition to two Cathy (Bras). skeletons of Tyrannosaurus rex, he discovered the remains of other non-avian dinosaurs, which were collected with the help plants and animals from this interval of Earth history. These of Lester Engdahl and his sons, Robert and Larry. continue to be the bases for a wide variety of research projects. On the Engdahl Ranch, Harley also discovered concentra- Through the years until his death in 1995, Lester Engdahl tions of fossils of mammals, lizards, turtles, and other relatively supported UCMP field parties. For example, he helped us re- small vertebrates that lived with the dinosaurs. In 1972, Harley, furbish a homesteader’s cabin and made it available to our field who became a field research associate of UCMP, introduced crews. In the summers the cabin provided a kitchen and shelter Bill Clemens and students from our museum to the Engdahls from the more than occasional thunderstorms. The rest of the and these rich concentrations of small fossils. This was the be- year it served as a secure storage place for field supplies. Lester’s ginning of a continuing project to study the evolution of the son, Robert Engdahl, his wife Jane, and their children, Duane fauna and flora that lived with the last of the dinosaurs and the and Cathy, were particularly supportive and helpful. Jane and survivors of the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. UCMP’s collections now contain extensive samples of fossil see ENGDAHLS on next page 4 SPECIES from page 1 Simpson Park Range in central Nevada in the journal Historical Biology. September—Carl David Frailey and Kenneth E. Campbell, Jr.,5 named Sylvo- choerus woodburnei, a new peccary from the Miocene of the Amazon in the Jour- nal of Paleontology. The specific epithet is for Mike Woodburne, UC alum and UC Riverside emeritus professor. September also saw a slew of new

turtles described by UCMP’s Howard Brian Swartz 6 Hutchison : a new snapping turtle Tullo- Slab containing the skeleton of Tinirau clackae, a sarcopterygian fish, UCMP specimen chelys montanus and a new soft-shelled 118605. See Brian Swartz’s paper in PLoS ONE. turtle Atoposemys entopteros from the Paleocene of Montana; three new Eocene 1 Calede, J.J.M., and S.S.B. Hopkins. nal of Paleobiology 24(4):425–440. doi: turtles from Wyoming—a pond turtle, 2012. Intraspecific versus interspecific 10.1080/08912963.2012.673599 Psilosemys wyomingensis; a “big headed” variation in Miocene Great Basin myl- 5 Frailey, C.D., and K.E. Campbell, turtle Cardichelyon rogerwoodi, and a agaulids: Implications for systematics and Jr. 2012. Two new genera of peccaries relative of soft-shelled turtles so distantly evolutionary history. Zoological Journal of (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Tayassuidae) related that it merits its own new family, the Linnean Society 164(2):427–450. doi: from Upper Miocene deposits of the Planetochelys dithyros, in the family Plan- 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00765.x Amazon Basin. Journal of Paleontology etochelyidae. All these new names appear 2 Swartz, B. 2012. A marine stem- 86(5):852–877. doi: 10.1666/12-012.1 in the edited volume Morphology and tetrapod from the Devonian of Western Evolution of Turtles. 6 Hutchison, J.H. 2012. New turtles North America. PLoS ONE 7(3):e33683. December—Nick Longrich, Bhart- from the Paleogene of North America. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033683 Anjan Bhullar, and UC alum Jacques Pp. 477–497 in D.B. Brinkman, P.A. Gauthier7 end the year with the de- 3 Chester, S.G.B., and K.C. Beard. Holroyd, and J.D. Gardner (eds.), scription of two new Late Cretaceous 2012. New micromomyid plesiadapi- Morphology and Evolution of Turtles. taxa from the Hell Creek Formation in forms (Mammalia, Euarchonta) from Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht. doi: Proceedings of the National Academy of the Late Paleocene of Big Multi Quarry, 10.1007/978-94-007-4309-0_26 Sciences: Cerberophis robustus, a snake, Washakie Basin, Wyoming. Annals of the 7 Longrich, N.R., B.-A.S. Bhullar, and and Obamadon gracilis, a lizard named in Carnegie Museum 80(2):159–172. doi: J.A. Gauthier. 2012. Mass extinction of honor of our president. 10.2992/007.080.0204 lizards and snakes at the Cretaceous-Pa- Who knows what new things will be 4 Schultze, H.-P., and J.W. Reed. 2012. leogene boundary. Proceedings of the Na- described from the drawers of UCMP in A tristichopterid sarcopterygian fish from tional Academy of Sciences. doi: 10.1073/ 2013! the upper Middle Devonian of Nevada. pnas.1211526110 @ — Pat Holroyd Historical Biology: An International Jour-

ENGDAHLS from previous page her children “caught the bug” and became skilled in prospect- the work of field parties from the University of Washington and ing for vertebrate fossils. Many summer field seasons opened the Burke Museum led by UCMP alumnus Greg Wilson. with expeditions to collect fossils or evaluate sites that they had Jane Engdahl and Cathy Engdahl Bras attended the meeting discovered. in Raleigh and received the Skinner Award. We add our thanks Field work in Garfield County continues to be more than for all they and their family have contributed to the success of just collecting old bones, shells, and leaves. Since 1972 over fif- UCMP’s programs of research and education. @ ty undergraduate and graduate students from Berkeley and oth- — Bill Clemens er universities have come to Garfield County in the summer to learn collecting and research techniques. Nine of these students from UCMP completed research for their Ph.D. degrees mak- ing use of information on the geology and fossils collected in the area. This involvement continues as the Engdahls support 5 PUBLICATIONS from page 2 Martins, L., C.A. Souto, W.F. Magal- friendsfriends ofof ucmpucmp haes, O.F.S. Alves, I.L. Rosa, and C. Sampaio. 2012. Echinoderm harvesting We would like to welcome the following new or in Todos-os-Santos Bay, Bahia state, Bra- renewing members to our Friends of UCMP: zil: The aquarium trade. Sitientibus série Benefactor Harlan Spiva Ciências Biológicas 12(1):53–59. Suzanne Berry* Michael Wood Arthur Boucot* Nesbitt, S.J., P.M. Barrett, S. Werning, Sustaining Bill and Dorothy Clemens Mary E. Arbogast C.A. Sidor, and A.J. Charig. 2012. The Thomas Debley oldest dinosaur? A Middle Triassic dino- Helen Cagampang Stephen and Barbara Morris James W. Downs sauriform from Tanzania. Biology Letters Dr. Todd R. Olson 9(1). doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0949 (pub- Noel Engel lished 5 December 2012) Sponsor Louis and Georgette Grivetti Beth Burnside John and June Hopkirk Padian, K. 2012. Evolutionary Marc and Linda Carrasco Gregg Keeling physiology: A bone for all seasons. Stuart Gordon Robert Kirby, Jr. Nature 487:310–311. doi: 10.1038/na- Patron Theophan Lyman ture11382 Nicoline Chambers John Mawby Padian, K., and E.K. Burton. 2012. Doug and Sally Clarke Bruce Townley Dinosaurs and evolutionary theory. Pp. Ladd Coates Kathleen Zoehfeld 1057–1072 in J.O. Farlow and M.K. Claire Englander Donor Brett-Surman (eds.), The Complete Di- David Gan Gigi Babcock and Ralph Miller III nosaur (2nd ed.). University of Indiana Marian González Paul Babwin Press, Bloomington. Sue Hoey Dennis Fenwick and Martha Lewis Randy Irmis Josephine Fong Parham, J.F.,* P.C.J. Donoghue, C.J. Rebecca Jabbour Joseph Huston Bell,* T.D. Calway, J.J. Head, P.A. Sandy and Ron Linder Flory Nye-Clement and Charley Holroyd, J.G. Inoue, R.B. Irmis,* Mehdi Mohtashemi Clement W.G. Joyce, D.T. Ksepka, J.S.L. Pa- Chris Opp Diana Prola tané, N.D. Smith, J.E. Tarver, M. Van Adele Panofsky Jack and Mary Stirton Tuinen, Z. Yang, K.D. Angielczyk,* J. Donald Pecko Diana Thatcher Greenwood, C.A. Hipsley, L. Jacobs, P.J. Richard and Antonia Rodrigues Makovicky, J. Müller, K.T. Smith,* J.M. Barry Roth *Designates a donation to the Theodor,* R.C.M. Warnock, and M.J. James and Jo Sanders William B.N. Berry Memorial Benton. 2012. Best practices for justify- Suzanne Scott Research Fund ing fossil calibrations. Systematic Biology 61(2):346–359. doi: 10.1093/sysbio/ syr107 Valentine, J.W. 2012 (originally pub- Werning, S. 2012. The ontogenetic Rohrssen, M., G.D. Love, W.W. Fischer, lished in 1969). Patterns of taxonomic osteohistology of Tenontosaurus tilletti. S. Finnegan, and D.A. Fike. 2012. Lipid and ecological structure of the shelf PLoS ONE 7(3): e33539. doi: 10.1371/ biomarkers record fundamental changes benthos during Phanerozoic time. Pal- journal.pone.0033539 in the microbial community structure of aeontology 12:684–709. Republished in Williams, B.L., M. Stark, and R.L. tropical seas during the Late Ordovician M.J. Benton, ed., Origins of Biodiversity. Caldwell. 2012. Microdistribution of te- Hirnantian glaciation. Geology. 4 pp. doi: Palaeontology Online, No. 1. trodotoxin in two species of Blue-ringed 10.1130/G33671.1 Valentine, J.W., and D. Jablonski. 2012 Octopuses (Hapalochlaena lunulata Stegner, M.A., and M. Holmes. 2012. (originally published in 2010). Origins and Hapalochlaena fasciata) detected by Using palaeontological data to assess of marine patterns of biodiversity: some fluorescent immunolabeling.Toxicon mammalian community structure: correlates and applications. Palaeontol- 60(7):1307–1313. doi: 10.1016/j.toxi- Potential aid in conservation plan- ogy 53:1203–1210. Republished in con.2012.08.015 @ ning. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatol- M.J. Benton, ed., Origins of Biodiver- ogy, Palaeoecology. doi: 10.1016/j. sity. Palaeontology Online, No. 1. doi: palaeo.2012.04.019 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.01005.x

6 Letter from the Director Reflecting on 2012 This last year has seen exciting growth On top of that we have our award-win- recognitions achieved by members of the in UCMP: four new hires that span the ning websites, 493 elementary students UCMP community. It is very gratifying breadth of the Museum—a new faculty who learned about the history of life to see UCMP firing on all cylinders! member, a new Director of Education thanks to our ongoing graduate student And I would be remiss if I did not and Outreach, and two new staff mem- docent program, record attendance mention all of you who have offered sup- bers that have enabled us to re-open at our 2012 UCMP short course and port to our research and education pro- the fossil preparation lab and to launch Evo Summer Institute for teachers, and grams through donations as Friends of our first NSF-funded collections im- participation in various regional events UCMP. We are extremely grateful to you provement grant in a decade; four new including the Bay Area Science Fair (see all for your commitment to UCMP. I graduate students; three amazing new page 3). And all this activity does not cannot wait to see what unfolds in 2013! volunteers; three new Ph.D.s; five new include the individual awards, grants, Sincerely, grants; and, four new research associates. publications, presentations, and other Charles Marshall

The oldest dinosaur? Paleontologists don’t always have to go were known from the Late Triassic of Ar- showed that, like dinosaurs, Nyasasaurus into the field to make new discoveries. gentina, but the new specimen—Nyasa- bone grew at a rapid, sustained rate. @ Bones found in the collections of The saurus parringtoni—pushes dinosaur 1Nesbitt, S.J., P.M. Barrett, S. Werning, Natural History Museum in London, origins back another 10–15 million years C.A. Sidor, and A.J. Charig. 2012. The collected some 80 years ago in southern to the Middle Triassic. The find lends oldest dinosaur? A Middle Triassic dino- Tanzania, may belong to one of the support to phylogenetic analyses that had sauriform from Tanzania. Biology Letters earliest known dinosaurs. This news predicted Dinosauria had Middle Triassic 9(1). doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0949 was reported online in Biology Letters1 roots. by UCMP alum Sterling Nesbitt and Although the Nyasasaurus material current UCMP grad student Sarah Wer- consisted of just a humerus and six ver- ning in December. tebrae, a morphological study revealed Until this latest discovery, the oldest several shared dinosaurian characters and well-dated and unambiguous dinosaurs Sarah’s histological analysis of the bones

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Please make checks payable to UC Regents. Mail your check and this form to: University of California Berkeley, Museum of Paleontology, 1101 VLSB #4780, Berkeley CA 94720-4780 All membership fees and donations are tax-deductible to the limit allowed by law 7 University of California, Berkeley Museum of Paleontology 1101 Valley Life Sciences Building # 4780 Berkeley, CA 94720-4780

Who is UCMP? Coming Saturday, February 23 … Director: Charles Marshall Assistant Directors: Mark Goodwin Lisa White Judy Scotchmoor Faculty Curators: Anthony Barnosky Jere Lipps* Roy Caldwell Cindy Looy William Clemens* Charles Marshall Seth Finnegan Kevin Padian Carole Hickman* James Valentine* Leslea Hlusko Tim White David Lindberg ** Note the venue change ** 10 Evans Hall, Curatorial Associates: UC Berkeley campus Walter Alvarez Roger Byrne Lynn Ingram 9:00 am to 3:30 pm Admin. Assistant: Chris Mejia Museum Scientists: The genome sequence of an organism includes the collective DNA sequences of each Erica Clites Ken Finger Diane Erwin Patricia Holroyd chromosome in the organism, whether it be a bacterium, a honey bee, or a chimpanzee. Prep Lab Manager: Unraveling and comparing genomes informs our understanding of evolution, biodiversity, Jason Carr conservation, and the very essence of life. From the basics of genome sequencing to hori- Education & Public Outreach: zontal gene transfer and jumping genes, this short course will focus on what we have learned Josh Frankel Anna Thanukos and why it matters. David K. Smith Edited by Judy Scotchmoor and Lisa White; For more information and to register, see: layout & graphics by David K. Smith http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/about/shortcourses/shortcourse13.php For the broader UCMP community, visit the UCMP website: www.ucmp.berkeley.edu; This short course is cosponsored by the Berkeley Natural History Museums (BNHM) and Understanding Evolution: evolution.berkeley. edu; and Understanding Science: www.under- Science@Cal. standingscience.org *emeritus