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.