Number 194 - Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Transcription

Number 194 • Spring 2008
— TABLE OF CONTENTS —
Official Business ............................................................................ 2
2008 Presidential Address..................................................... 2
Annual Meeting Minutes ........................................................ 3
Treasurer’s Report................................................................. 4
Executive Committee Motions ............................................... 5
Election Results ..................................................................... 6
Other SVP News............................................................................ 9
COPUS .................................................................................. 9
Business Office Move ............................................................ 9
Committee Reports ........................................................................ 9
Committee Listings Link...............................................................21
Award Winners.............................................................................21
Call for Nominations ....................................................................34
New Members..............................................................................34
News from Members....................................................................47
Bulletin Board...............................................................................59
Publications..................................................................................59
Obituaries.....................................................................................59
Statement of Ethics Link ..............................................................62
SVP Membership Application Form Link .....................................62
Sponsorship Application Form Link .............................................62
SVP Sponsors..............................................................................62
Contributions................................................................................63
SVP News Bulletin No. 194
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— OFFICIAL BUSINESS —
2008 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
Greetings to all in the New Year!
Three things have impressed me about our society during my first year as President of SVP. The
first is the dedication and energy of the members who staff the standing committees and cause
most of the activities of our society happen. In particular, I’d like to recognize the achievements of
the 2007 Host Committee, the Program Committee, the Publications Committee, and the
Information Management Committee. It is an honor to work with such committed people. Second,
the Development Committee has stimulated fund-raising efforts particularly for two strategic
goals—student travel grants and SVP-sponsored field conferences. Both of these goals saw
tremendous advances during 2007, owing to the planning of the Development Committee, the
generosity of SVP members, and a substantial gift from our 2007 meeting host institution, the
Jackson School of Geosciences. Third, there is a groundswell of urgency for our profession to
display its relevance to society and to other sciences. Just how to do this, given our subject and
our resources, will require many ideas as well as some trial balloons in the form of new kinds of
events at our annual meetings and new ways of communicating with the public. Several such
innovations are under discussion or in planning.
The last year has seen an array of accomplishments. SVP is doing well scientifically,
operationally, and financially. Membership is at an all-time high, and the Austin meeting was the
largest in the Society’s history. The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology has featured articles and
a new cover design. A newly designed SVP Web site was launched in mid 2007, representing the
culmination of months of diligent work from the Information Management Committee and
members of the Business Office. The new Web site does credit to our Society and our profession.
Also, we’ve developed new ways to publicize research and relevant events. The Business Office
now sends out regular press releases about articles in the JVP and the annual meeting. Media
workshops at the Austin meeting provided training and advice for communicating with members
of diverse media. We initiated a filming project at the Austin meeting to capture the activities and
characters of SVP on film; this project will result in short films for fund-raising or educational
purposes as well as archival material.
New efforts are underway for 2008 and beyond. Early in 2008, the Business Office is relocating to
a new address. Please note the change in address for any correspondence by mail: 111 Deer
Lake Road, Suite 100, Deerfield, IL 60015 (the phone and fax numbers remain the same). The
Executive Committee has approved a change in the SVP fiscal year to the calendar schedule,
with the transition beginning this year. Planning is underway to develop more ambitious fundraising strategies, so as to generate resources for research, collections, and outreach activities.
The first SVP-sponsored field conference will occur in August, with Jay Lillegraven and
colleagues leading the charge to the Hannah Basin, Wyoming. For the Cleveland meeting, we are
planning a new kind of event—a two-hour forum about climate change and the fossil record, as
one manifestation of the relevance of paleontology to broader societal issues. This forum will
feature speakers from within and outside SVP; we hope that this event will interest the media as
well as SVP members. The Cleveland meeting promises to be stimulating and innovative, and
beyond lies Bristol in 2009 and the Darwin bicentennial.
Best wishes to you and your fossils for 2008! (Catherine Badgley, President)
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MINUTES OF THE 67TH ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING, 18 OCTOBER 2007,
AUSTIN, TEXAS
At 5:30 PM, Catherine Badgley, President of SVP, welcomed everyone and highlighted how the
Executive Committee thought the Society was doing from their vantage point:
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The Society is doing extremely well scientifically, financially and operationally.
This annual meeting has the largest annual meeting attendance in SVP history
SVP is enjoying its highest membership level ever, with members from over 50 countries.
SVP is using several media tools to publicize paleontological discoveries and to raise the
visibility of paleontology in general. To this end, there will be a, “Communicating with the
Media” workshop held at the meeting in Austin.
New opportunities to attend SVP meeting or events are being afforded through:
• an increased number of Student Travel Grants.
• the first-ever SVP-sponsored Field Conference, to be held in August of 2008.
Challenges for the Society:
• Maintaining communication with committees and coordinating overlapping issues between
committees.
• Dealing with a number of reports being directed to SVP regarding various ethics charges.
The Society is on its way to accomplishing its strategic plans including:
• The development of a Rapid Response Team of six SVP members from different fields and
countries. The team members have been trained and are ready to respond to all media
inquiries regarding paleontology.
• A filming project is underway (at the Austin meeting) to develop a DVD to be used for
educational and fund-raising purposes. The footage will be added to the SVP archives and
some segments of the film will be available on the SVP Web site in the future. Catherine
thanked Shade Tree Studios for volunteering their time, equipment, and staff to this effort;
and Louis Jacobs, Lou Taylor, and Steven Cohen for their intense efforts in bringing this
project to fruition.
• The development of a program, proposed by the Membership Committee, of sponsoring
institutional SVP membership to institutions in developing countries. This category of
membership will be given electronic access to the JVP.
• The development of the first SVP-sponsored Field Conference to be held in 2008.
Other SVP news of note:
• SVP has a new Web site thanks to Jessica Theodor, Dave Smith, John Alroy, Jason
Anderson, Darin Croft, Andrew Farke, David Polly, Eric Scott, Akiko Shinya, Mark Uhen,
Brooke Wilborn; and Meagan Comerford and Michael Patti at the SVP business office.
• Committee charters are being updated by all committee chairs.
• Award amounts will be incrementally increased starting in 2008.
• The 2007 auction will feature part of Joseph Gregory’s library, which he generously donated
to the auction. We’re sorry to report that Joe is not well and will likely not be able to attend
the Awards Banquet. The proceeds from the sale of his library will go towards student travel
grants.
• The NAP Convention will be held in Cincinnati in 2009. Several SVP members are
participating in this meeting and we hope you’ll all come.
Catherine and the Executive Committee welcomed Jack Wilson who was in attendance at the
meeting and turned the podium over to the Treasurer, Louis Taylor.
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TREASURER’S REPORT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2006–2007
Treasurer Louis Taylor started his presentation by sharing that, through the prudent activities of
this year’s Executive Committee, SVP came in $25,400 under budget for the 2006–2007 fiscal
year. Taylor also noted that SVP’s financial health has increased considerably over the last
decade He reviewed the following slides with those in attendance:
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SECRETARY’S REPORT
Christopher Brochu, SVP Secretary, provided the following information:
Executive Committee Motions
Motions Passed at the Executive Committee Mid Year Meeting on 1–2 June 2007:
• Approve October 2006 Executive Committee minutes.
• Approve list of motions passed by e-mails by Executive Committee meeting.
• Approve raising membership dues $10/member type starting with the 2007–2008
membership year.
• Approve raising registration and exhibitor costs for the 2007 annual meeting in Austin.
• Approve the 2007–2008 budget.
• Move that the page charge policy be amended to allow members the first 20 pages of
their article in the JVP be published at no cost.
• Approve proposed awardees presented by the award chairs thus far.
Motions Passed via E-Mail
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To allocate all of the auction proceedings for the 2007 SVP meeting to the Student Travel
Fund.
To allocate $15,000 for student travel awards to the annual meeting in Austin, Texas.
That the SVP Executive Committee set up a student member travel grant boarddesignated account, to be named The Jackson School of Geosciences Student Member
Travel Grant Board-Designated Account.
That the unrestricted donation received from the Jackson School of Geosciences of the
University of Texas at Austin be placed into The Jackson School of Geosciences Student
Member Travel Grant Board-Designated Account.
That the $15,000 in individual student member travel grant donations received by the
SVP Austin Host Committee, and the $15,000 in matching funds from the Jackson
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School of Geosciences of the University of Texas at Austin be placed into the SVP
Student Member Travel Grant Temporarily Restricted Fund.
That no more than 5% of the amount contained in The Jackson School of Geosciences
Student Member Travel Grant Board-Designated Account and the SVP Student Member
Travel Grant Board Temporarily Restricted Fund be removed to fund student member
travel grants in any calendar year. This motion supercedes all previous motions to move
SVP funds into a student member travel grant fund.
To amend the motion of 29 January 2007 that read: “To move $50,000 to the Student
Member Travel Permanently Restricted Fund, and to move an additional $50,000 to the
same fund to be matched by member donations” to read: “To move $50,000 to the
Jackson School of Geosciences Board-Designated Student Member Travel Fund, and to
move up to an additional $50,000 to the same fund to be matched by member
donations.”
2007 Election Results
The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology election was held, for a third year in a row, by electronic
ballot. The positions of Treasurer and Member-at-Large were open, due to term expiration. One
candidate was slated for the position of Treasurer and two candidates were slated for the position
of Member-at-Large.
The election period was held from 5 June 2007 (12:01 AM CT) through 6 September 2007 (11:59
PM CT). Paper ballots were sent out to all members without e-mail addresses and to members
who had indicated to us that they would be without Internet access during the election. Ten
completed paper ballots were cast and returned to the SVP office.
In total, voter participation was 26% of all eligible SVP members.
The positions being vacated, candidates for those positions, and election results are:
New Executive Committee Member:
Retiring Executive Committee Member:
New Executive Committee Member:
Retiring Executive Committee Member:
Ted J. Vlamis, Treasurer
Louis H. Taylor, Treasurer
Ana Baez, Member-at-Large
Jaelyn J. Eberle, Member-at-Large
2008 Host Committee Chair Report
The 2008 Host Chair Darin Croft gave a presentation about the upcoming meeting in Cleveland in
October of 2008. Darin outlined the attractions in Cleveland as follows:
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Cleveland’s rapid transit conveniently runs from the airport to the downtown area
where the host hotel is located.
Michael Ryan is the field trip organizer and there is already a field trip planned to
the Cleveland Shales.
Neil Shubin will be giving a free talk Tuesday night at the Cleveland Museum of
Natural History (CMNH).
The welcome reception will be held at the CMNH and there are numerous fossils
there for the SVP meeting attendees to enjoy.
Frans Lanting, a noted nature photographer, will give a presentation at the meeting
about life through time, and the relationship between art and science.
There are many places for attendees and their families to enjoy outside of the
vertebrate paleontology arena. These attractions will be listed in the SVP meeting
circulars.
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2009 Host Committee Chair Report
The 2009 Host Chair, Michael Benton was introduced to talk about the 2009 meeting that will be
held in Bristol, England. Some highlights about the meeting in Bristol thus far are:
• Bristol is a maritime city that is close to Bath and Stonehenge.
• There is a train that runs between London and Bristol.
• 2009 is the university’s 100th year anniversary as well as 2009 being Darwin’s
200th birthday (and the 150th anniversary of the publication of “Origin of Species”).
As a result, there will be plenty of exciting events that will be going on in Bristol
when SVP is there.
• -There will be several field trips organized, as Bristol is surrounded by interesting
and notable places of interest.
Reports were also given by the chairs from the Development, Membership, Publications/JVP,
Program, 2007 Host, Information Management, Education and Outreach, Student Liaison, and
Ethics committees. Their reports follow these minutes.
New Business
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Did SVP plan on joining the Coalition for the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS)? Catherine
answered this question by saying that the Executive Committee had approved joining COPUS this
past summer. Catherine also indicated that she would hope that SVP will be prominently
displayed in a lot of the activities that will be going on at the upcoming COPUS event.
Does the author of an abstract have to be an SVP member in order to present at the SVP Annual
Meeting? Catherine answered by saying that the primary author of a submitted abstract must be
a member of the Society in order for the abstract to be presented at the Annual Meeting.
Why aren’t some presentations at the annual meeting videotaped? Jason Head spoke to that
question by indicating that most presenters do not want that to happen. However, Catherine
indicated that this is being considered for the future.
Greg McDonald was introduced by Catherine to give a Motion of Thanks as follows:
Whereas
(by Greg McDonald)
Whereas the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology has deemed it appropriate to hold its 67th
Annual Meeting deep in the heart of Texas, a state famous for vertebrate localities such as the
Permian Redbeds, Triassic and Cretaceous dinosaurs, and the type areas for North American
Land Mammal Ages such as the Clarendonian, Hemphillian, and Blancan;
And whereas our hosts have provided us the opportunity to explore some of these classic
localities in the lower Permian of North Texas, Quaternary localities in central Texas, and the
Cretaceous of Big Bend in south Texas;
And whereas the State of Texas has demonstrated an interest in vertebrate paleontology by
designating a state dinosaur Pleurocoelus;
And whereas Texas is known for famous paleontological sayings such as “Remember the
Alamosaurus” and “Don’t mess with Taxidea taxus”;
And whereas in the area of taxonomy we know the real difference between a Yankee Zoo and a
Texas Zoo is that on the cage, a Yankee Zoo will have the name of the animal and then the
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scientific name in Latin, while at a Texas Zoo they will have the name of the animal and the
recipe...;
And whereas a paleontologist working in Texas must learn that “Texas has four seasons:
Drought, Flood, Blizzard and Twister,” and is often So dry the trees are bribing the dogs and So
dusty they have to be careful not to be like the rabbits and dig holes six feet in the air while
looking for fossils;
And whereas in Texas a seven-course meal is possum and a six-pack, but most of us at the
meetings have forgone the possum and focused on the latter;
And whereas the State of Texas has shown its good taste by recognizing the importance of the
order Xenarthra and has designated the armadillo as the state small mammal;
And whereas it is appropriate that since Texas has more species of bats than in any other part of
the United States and Austin has the nation’s largest urban colony of bats, our Society has taken
wing with a symposium on the evolutionary history or bats;
And whereas we have chewed the fat on the phylogeny, form, and function of carnivores,
radiated knowledge on early amphibians, and been dynamic in our exploration of faunas and
extinctions in the Quaternary, as well as confer and confab on many other aspects of the science
of paleontology;
And whereas we have been provided with the opportunity to once again come together and hold
the Fifth SVP Town Meeting on Evolution which once again demonstrates to the creationists that
old Texas saying, “You can put your boots in the oven, but that don't make ‘em biscuits,” which
for those of you who don’t speak Texan means, “You can say whatever you want about
something, but that doesn't change what it is”;
And whereas the name Texas comes from Tejas, an Indian word meaning friendly, and our hosts
at the University of Texas, Austin, have demonstrated the true meaning of this word during this
meeting, providing many amenities but they have not been Austin-tatious in doing so;
And whereas our hosts have endeavored at these meetings to make us happier than a rooster in
a hen house or as happy as gopher in soft dirt;
Therefore let it be resolved that the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology appropriately
acknowledge the hospitality of our hosts and demonstrate our appreciation by standing
acclamation.
Catherine reminded everyone that the Open Executive Committee Meeting is being held on
Saturday, 20 October at 12:15 PM and encouraged everyone to attend and bring any questions
that they may have.
Catherine thanked departing Executive Committee members Lou Taylor and Jaelyn Eberle for
their service to SVP and thanked everyone at the business office for their efforts.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:57pm by Catherine.
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— OTHER SVP NEWS —
SVP JOINS THE COALITION ON THE PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF
SCIENCE
SVP has joined the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science, or COPUS
(www.copusproject.org). This national organization represents a grassroots effort that has
emerged from the scientific research community. One of SVP’s most distinguished outreach
advocates, Judy Scotchmoor, is one of the COPUS organizers.
Formulation of wise public policy depends on evaluation of the state of scientific research in the
relevant areas for many problems facing contemporary societies—problems including the impacts
of climate change, coastal degradation, development of alternative energy sources, diseases and
pandemics, and national security. In a democratic society, public input to policy decisions on key
issues affecting the general welfare requires a public that understands the scientific research
process, values the contribution of science to society, and has a working knowledge of what
science can and cannot yet say about specific topics. Yet many Americans are confused about
science, its methods, and findings. Because too few of our citizens grasp that science is a
process through which we gain a reliable understanding of the physical world and is not merely a
set of “facts” or a collection of technologies, the public becomes vulnerable to misinformation and
the substantial benefits of science become obscured.
COPUS links universities, scientific societies, science centers and museums, advocacy groups,
media, educators, businesses, and industry in a peer network having as its goal to advance a
greater public understanding of the nature of science and its value to society. One of the major
projects of COPUS is a year-long celebration of science—the Year of Science 2009.
THE SVP BUSINESS OFFICE HAS MOVED!
Effective 1 March 2008, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Business Office will have a new
address as follows:
111 Deer Lake Road, Suite 100
Deerfield IL 60015 USA
The phone and fax numbers, and the e-mail address will remain the same as follows:
Phone: +1(847) 480-9095
Fax:
+1(847) 480-9282
E-mail: [email protected]
— COMMITTEE REPORTS —
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
The Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas, made a very generous gift to support
student member travel to our annual meetings. Also the School offered a $15,000 challenge grant
to provide funds to help students attend the Austin meeting. A number of members rose to the
meet the challenge and made special donations insuring greater support for students attending
the meeting. We thank our colleagues Dean Eric Barron of the Jackson School of Geosciences,
Tim Rowe, and Chris Bell for making this significant gift possible.
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During the year many members made gifts to the travel grant program to match the $50,000
challenge grant established by the Executive Committee. Raffles organized by the student
members of our committee (Kerin Claeson, Andy Farke, and Andres Giallombardo) and held at
the last two annual meetings also resulted in significant contributions. Finally, this year’s auction
was a resounding success. In part this resulted from the generous donation by Joe Gregory of
over 300 books and other publications from his library. (A few weeks before his death Joe learned
that sale of his books had raised over $9,000. He was pleased to know that the proceeds would
provide significant additional support for the travel grant program, and that his books had new
homes in the libraries of members of the SVP.) Another factor contributing the auction’s success
was time and “showpersonship” of Brent Breithaupt and his committee. Thanks to you all! The
funds supporting what is now named the Jackson School of Geosciences Student Member Travel
Grants program amount to approximately $400,000. The income from these funds and future
contributions will provide travel grants to annual meetings for many years to come.
Two other initiatives were set in place during the fall. One, led by Steven Cohen, Louis Jacobs,
Louis Taylor, and David Warren, will focus on seeking financial support from corporations,
granting agencies, and other sources outside the membership of the SVP. To set the stage for
this project interviews with many members were taped at the Austin meeting and are now being
edited for producing a DVD that can be used in fund raising efforts. This project was made
possible by the donation of the time and talents of professional video technicians by Ray Marr
and Marilyn Klepak of Shade Tree Studios.
The second new project centers on the goal of developing a continuing program of SVPsponsored field and topical conferences. A particular focus of this project is developing funding
for scholarships to help students, postdocs, and young faculty members participate in these
conferences. This coming summer (5–7 August) Jay Lillegraven, Jaelyn Eberle, Pennilyn Higgins,
and Mark Clementz will be organizing and leading our first North American Summer Field
Conference, which will be cosponsored by the University of Wyoming, Department of Geology
and Geophysics. The general theme of the conference will be “The Importance of Field-based
Geological Documentation to Paleobiological Research.” More information about the field
conference will appear in the first circular for the 2008 Annual Meeting and on the SVP Web site.
Overall, the past year was marked by many successes in developing financial support for the
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology and the programs it sponsors. We thank all the members of
the Society and our friends for their active support and significant contributions. (Bill Clemens,
Chair)
EDUCATION & OUTREACH COMMITTEE
Evolution Town Halls
The SVP Education/Outreach Committee held its fifth annual Evolution Town Hall during the
Austin meetings. Presentations and discussions at these town halls continue to be well received,
so we have proposed a sixth annual Evolution Town Hall for the upcoming Cleveland meetings.
PaleoProfiles
Via a link on the SVP Web site, biographical sketches and “Q & As” on various paleontologists
are featured. Members of the Education/Outreach Committee choose (through a random
selection program) and edit each profile. They work with the site’s Webmaster to periodically
change the profiles. Past profiles are archived. We have now linked most of the existing
PaleoProfiles to the PaleoPortal, where there are appropriate geographic and time-period cross
references. In the coming months we expect also to be able to cross reference to a new feature in
the Understanding Evolution Web site, PaleoPeople. The Committee will increase the pace of
PaleoProfile development in the coming year.
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Educators’ Workshop: “Evolution: Investigating the Evidence”
A successful workshop was held on the Saturday of the Austin meetings. Some excellent
teaching strategies were shared, along with an update on the post-Kitzmiller (Dover School
District) trial tactics of the most active anti-evolution groups. Though the workshop was a success
for all who attended, it missed its target audience of local teachers and other local educators.
Virtually all attendees were SVP members, already registered at the conference. So the novel
provision of time to visit ongoing talks was left untried, since attendees had been attending talks
for days. The convenience of holding the workshop at the conference hotel was greatly
appreciated by all, presenters and attendees alike. A similar workshop is proposed for the
Cleveland meetings, with extra effort in advance to try to ensure participation by local teachers
who are not members of SVP.
Evolution Education Workshop
Originally intended, and briefly scheduled and advertised, for 2007 (Austin), this best-practices
workshop for SVP members has been proposed again for 2008 (Cleveland). The workshop
format is intended to promote discussion and even some hands-on experience with teaching
materials and strategies.
Evolution Education Poster Session
We have proposed a mini poster session to accompany the Evolution Education Workshop.
Workshop participation will be in the 20–30 range, with a small group of presenter/leaders. The
mini poster session is intended to allow more SVP members who have developed innovative
evolution education approaches to share those with each other and with the full membership.
PaleoPortal
Twelve partners are now represented in the collections database, including MioMap and
MorphoBank. PaleoPortal invites submissions for additional Famous Fossil Flora and Fauna
sites; SVP members need to be encouraged to contribute sites. John Flynn presented additional
information on PaleoPortal at the Executive Committee meeting in Austin.
Customer Inquiries
For the last year or so Lisa Babilonia and Mark Terry have been replying to “customer inquiries”
that come in to the SVP Web site from members of the general public. These range from career
inquiries by young people who want to know how to become paleontologists to highly specific
inquiries by people who believe they have found fossils. This responsibility has been taken on by
new E&O Committee member Briana Pobiner, who will in turn direct these inquiries to appropriate
SVP members for responses.
Committee Leadership and Member Participation
Though the E&O Committee has accomplished a lot in the last few years, and though SVP
members seem very receptive to and interested in the E&O Committee’s initiatives, actual
attendance at the annual committee meetings has been low. We have initiated a transfer of
leadership of the committee, and intend to make serious efforts to help committee members
participate more actively. Many thanks to Lisa Babilonia, who has left her half of the committee
chairship. Mark Terry will stay on for one to two years to provide continuity. Meanwhile, we
welcome Robin Whatley as a new co-chair. (Mark Terry, Co-chair)
RICHARD ESTES MEMORIAL GRANT COMMITTEE
Ana Baez retired as the Chair of this committee in early 2007, but remains a committee member
for the coming year to ensure a smooth transition. Many thanks to Ana for her work in this role
over the past few years. Two other committee members also decided to retire at this time, Gene
Gaffney and Maureen Kearney, and we also extend our appreciation to them for their service.
Ana’s replacement as the new Chair is Paul Barrett (Natural History Museum, London) and two
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new committee members were also appointed at this time: Susan Evans (University College
London) and Francisco Poyato-Arizo (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid).
The committee received a total of seven applications, with all applicants hailing from institutions in
the USA. Although there were relatively few applicants, they covered a wide range of taxa,
including chondrichthyans, basal tetrapods, squamates, marine reptiles, crocodilians, and birds.
Quality of the applications was high and the winner was determined on a cumulative pointsscoring system.
This year’s awardee is Jennifer Olori, of the University of Texas at Austin, for her proposed
project on “Ontogeny of Microsaurs and Implications for Microsaur Intra-relationships and
Lissamphibian Origins.” We extend our congratulations to Jennifer and thank the other applicants
for submitting their interesting and innovative proposals. (Paul Barrett, Chair)
HOST COMMITTEE
We are now finalizing the information to be included in the first circular, which will be mailed in
early February. We will have three field trips associated with the meeting: Cleveland Shale,
Cleveland Museum of Natural History Anthropology Collections, and Rocks & Fossils in
Downtown Cleveland. We have received a variety of proposals for workshops and, in conjunction
with the Program Committee and the Executive Committee, will soon decide which of these we
can accommodate. The Welcome Reception on Wednesday, 15 October, will likely be held at the
CMNH. A special event is scheduled for the evening of Thursday, 16 October: a talk by the nature
photographer Frans Lanting focusing on his recent project, “Life: A Journey through Time.” More
details will follow as we finalize the various events. We look forward to seeing everyone in
Cleveland! (Darin A. Croft)
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
New Publications Web Editor
Brooke Wilborn volunteered to become the new Publications Associate Web Editor. She posts all
the Web information for JVP and the Memoirs series.
So far the Web site has been working well, with no complaints to the IMC Chair or the
VRTPALEO list. One area of the Web site remains to be updated: the awards section needs
updating with Web submission forms and file upload for all awards. Jaelyn Eberle has been
coordinating needs from award committee chairs to streamline our requirements for the Web
forms. The online award submission is planned to be used for the 2008 awards.
New Chair
Jessica Theodor completed her third term as IMC Chair and stepped down at the end of this
term. At her request, Eric Scott agreed to take over as IMC Chair. Jessica plans to continue doing
the work securing and mailing out JVP PDFs as part of her status as a continuing member of the
Publications Committee (also, she has everything scripted and it would take far longer to train
someone else than to continue to do it). (Eric Scott, Chair)
JOHN J. LANZENDORF PALEOART PRIZE COMMITTEE
There were 23 submissions to the Lanzendorf Paleoart competition, nine in the Scientific
Illustration category, ten in the 2-Dimensional art, and four in 3-Dimensional art.
Prizes were awarded to Bonnie Miljour for her elegant illustration of Eotheroides sandersi sp.
nov., to Bob Walters and Tess Kissinger for their monumental mural depicting a Morrison scene
in the Carnegie Museum, and to Gary Staab for his handsome rendering of Diatryma gigantea.
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The submission process for materials to be considered in the 2008 judging will be substantially
altered from that used in 2007. Details will be available on the Lanzendorf Paleoart Prize/SVP
Web site.
The Committee is currently deliberating ways and means to increase to amount of the prizes, and
the possibility of opening new categories that might include computer generated art and
computer-based animation. (Farish A. Jenkins, Jr., Chair)
MEDIA LIAISON COMMITTEE
Year-End Summary, New Role, New Members
The Media Liaison Committee includes Co-chairs Kristi Curry Rogers and Lars Werdelin, along
with members Jon Bloch, Darin Croft, Nick Fraser, Mike Gottfried, Jason Head, John Long, ZheXi Luo, and Claudia Marsicano. We are excited about the MLC’s new roles within the SVP, and
look forward to the role that we will play in engaging the media in our science. With the expanding
role of the MLC in mind, committee membership has expanded to include several members with
other committee appointments, as well as a larger international representation (the committee
includes members from Africa, Europe, North America, and South America). These appointments
have made a huge difference in sustaining a flow of information between those committees that
have a natural public interface.
The Media Liaison Committee has worked with the Publications Committee and JVP authors to
write press releases associated with a single-feature article in each issue of the Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology. We’ve also worked with other committees (including the ExComm) in
crafting other press releases related to the annual meeting, the teacher’s workshop and evolution
town meeting, the Creation Museum, etc. The Business Office is working with us to develop a
means of tracking media hits on these press releases, as well as smoothing the process for
writing, editing, and releasing press releases.
The MLC abstract review for the press conference was streamlined with the help of the Program
Committee this year, and we are working out the kinks of the new system. The 2007 annual SVP
meeting press conference was well attended by media representatives who were at the meeting,
and included four presentations: How Vertebrate Paleontologists Can Change the Public
Understanding of Evolution (Kevin Padian); Are Digits Neomorphic Structures? New Data From
Fin Development in Neoceratodus (Per Ahlberg et al.); Does Extinction Resistance Explain
Changes in Trophic Network Structures in Terrestrial Vertebrate Communities? (Kenneth
Angielczyk et al.); "Teenage Pregnancy" in Non-avian Dinosaurs and Its Relevance to Growth
(Sarah Werning and Andrew Lee)
Media Training Workshops
The MLC proposed a workshop in media training at the 2007 annual meeting in Austin. Robin
Gerrow, the director of public relations at UT graciously volunteered her media training services,
allowing the cost of the workshop to have a minimal impact on the SVP budget. We had ca. 20
attendees and two members of the media helped to facilitate the event. We received a great deal
of positive feedback from attending SVP members, and plan to host another media training event
at the 2008 SVP meeting in Cleveland.
The SVP Rapid Response Team underwent a more-intensive premeeting public relations training
event, and are now actively engaged in media relations on the behalf of the SVP.
We continue to have discussions with the Business Office about maintaining a list of press
contacts, and are working with the Program Committee to streamline the selection of press
conference presentations. For future SVP meetings, we plan to offer an abbreviated plan for
press conference presenters to allow them to best connect their research to the public.
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JVP Press Releases
In line with the expanded duties of the MLC, we worked with the editorial staff of the JVP to write
a press release for several featured article this year’s JVP. The process is now streamlined as
follows: the editors chose an article and Nick Fraser (co-appointed on MLC and Publications
Committee) writes a draft, one-page press release. The MLC chairs provide commentary and
edit, and authors provide quotations. Nick or the MLC chair sends the final draft of the release to
the Business Office, and they widely distribute the release to media outlets. (Kristi Curry Rogers
and Lars Werdelin, Co-chairs)
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
The annual gathering of the Membership Committee, in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of
SVP, took place on 18 October 2007 at the Austin Hilton. All members were present: Larry Flynn
(Chair), Thomas Adams, Allison Beck, David Fox, Pat Holroyd, Dany Kalthoff, Lorin King, Margaret
Lewis, Julia Sankey. Jaelyn Eberle has served effectively as liaison to the Executive Committee; we
shall miss her as her term on that committee ends, and we look forward to working with a new
liaison.
For the annual meeting, we nominated two long-time SVPers as Honorary Members: Professors
Christopher McGowan and Wighart von Koenigswald were present for the banquet and provided
brief remarks in keeping with the pleasant evening.
Much of the Membership Committee discussion focused on Jackson School of Geosciences
Student Member Travel Grants. For the 2007 Annual Meeting, we were able to make 40 awards
based on merit as perceived through the application, and we hope to make a similar number of
awards in 2008. Our discussions benefited from member feedback, especially from student
members. We support whole heartedly the efforts of Kate VanZanten and her Sherwood team in
changing the Web site and consequent application process. There will be substantive changes to
the Web site, with instructions clearly posted, and application processing will be centralized at the
Business Office. In brief, applicants for travel grants must (of course!) be current students, and
this is demonstrated by 2008 membership (at the time of application—which means get your
membership current now). Successful candidates have to have their talk or poster accepted for
presentation (they will have to apply for the travel grant before knowing if the talk/poster abstract
is accepted). Finally, because the Membership Committee does not see abstracts, our decision of
merit is based on information present on the single page application for a Jackson School of
Geosciences Student Member Travel Grant. Therefore, students should prepare their
applications accordingly. These points are being transmitted separately to the Student Member
Committee by Thomas Adams. Other Web site recommendations, some originating as requests
from members at large, were transmitted to the Executive Committee.
President Catherine Badgley announced at the annual banquet that our Society is promoting a
new Institutional Member category designed to bring activities of SVP to scientists at institutions
in countries with developing economies, at no cost to them. Up to five institutions would be
promoted (this year, five more each successive year) for membership with benefits limited to
electronic products: JVP, BFV, News Bulletin, listserve, other announcements. As currently
conceived, SVP members would promote institutions for this category by an on-line application
process. Such memberships would have to be reviewed after a period of five years. This is a step
toward making our Society more truly global.
This initiative is also a step toward sponsoring trips by scientists from such institutions to the
annual meeting. Clearly, such trips would benefit members with common interests of the invitees.
To achieve this goal, SVP will have to build a fund to support international travel by colleagues
from countries with developing economies. Also, individual SVP members will have to step
forward as hosts of such visitors. The Membership Committee looks forward to facilitating this
process. (Lawrence J. Flynn, Chair)
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NOMINATING COMMITTEE
The Nominating Committee conducted its deliberations between the time of the 2007 SVP Annual
Meeting and January 2008.
The proposed slate for Vice President and Member at Large has been submitted to the Executive
Committee for later presentation to the SVP membership, and the election. (Mary Dawson, Chair)
BRYAN PATTERSON AWARD COMMITTEE
Following a new submission date of 15 January 2007, the Patterson Award Committee reviewed
a number of impressive and innovative proposals based on student directed field research. The
new January deadline was instituted so that the award winning applicant(s) could utilize the
funding for field research during the upcoming summer.
Committee members for the 2007 award cycle included Patrick O’Connor (incoming chair), Susan
Evans, Gregg Gunnell, Ryosuke Motani, and Mark Uhen (outgoing chair).
The Patterson Committee received 27 applications for the 2007 award cycle. This represents a
significant increase from previous competitions. In addition to numerous applications from the
United States and Canada, the Committee also received applications from several (ca. six)
European institutions. The majority of proposed project locations included North American
locales; however, other proposals developed projects to be conducted in Europe (France,
Hungary, Portugal, Spain, UK), South America (Peru), Asia (China, Mongolia), and greater AfroArabia (Madagascar, UAE). The lengthy review process of the 27 applications by all five
members of the Committee resulted in a tie between two applications, leading the Committee to
propose that the 2007 award be split between the top two projects. The two projects were
"Encircling the Madygen (Kyrgyzstan) Chondrichthyan Fauna—Sharks in an Isolated Upland
Basin?” (Jan Fischer, Freiberg University of Mining and Technology, Germany), and “Vertebrate
Paleontological Exploration in the Upper Cretaceous of the Ambilobe (Diego) Basin, Northern
Madagascar” (Andrew Farke, Stony Brook University, New York).
The Patterson Award Committee was extremely encouraged by the quantity and quality of the
submitted proposals. Keep the proposals coming in! (Patrick O’Connor, Chair)
PREDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP GRANT COMMITTEE
The 2007–08 Committee consists of Christian Sidor (Chair), Julia Clarke, Rick Blob, Natalia
Rybczynski, and Mark Uhen. From an excellent pool of seven candidates from five countries, the
2007 committee selected Vera Weisbacher (University of New South Wales) to be the award
recipient. We look forward to seeing more students apply for the $2,750 award, which is one of
the largest given by the society. (Christian Sidor, Chair)
PREPARATORS GRANT COMMITTEE
A co-chairmanship was established this year in the Preparators Grant Committee. Joseph
Groenke and Carrie Herbel are now acting Co-chairs.
The 2007 Preparators Grant recipient is Mohamed Sameh of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs
Agency. He is the Senior Geologist at Wadi El-Hitan (Valley of the Whales) World Heritage Site
and supervises the conservation and research of what the IUCN (the World Conservation Union)
deems the most significant site in the world to demonstrate the evolution of whales. Mohamed will
receive advanced training in fossil preparation, molding, and casting with William Sanders at the
University of Michigan over the course of four weeks; this is training he will subsequently impart
to Wadi El-Hitan staff. The 2007 Preparators Grant supplements funding promised by the
Egyptian government for the construction of a permanent fossil conservation facility at the site,
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and promises to improve preparation and conservation standards in Egyptian paleontology.
(Joseph Groenke, Co-chair)
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
The Program Committee of the 67th Annual Meeting of the SVP reviewed 753 submitted
abstracts. 10.7% of submitted abstracts were rejected. Submission statistics are:
Trends in meeting submissions, 2001–2007
Total
Submissions
Total
symposia
Total
symposia
presentations
Regular
presentations
2007-Austin
753
4
63
592
309
346
2006-Ottawa
631
4
66
515
285
296
2005 -Mesa
610
4
71
486
297
260
2004-Denver
599
3
58
494
314
238
2003-St. Paul
543
4
59
462
263
257
2002 -Norman
580
6
128
452
268
312
2001-Bozeman
525
6
121
395
235
281
Meeting
# of
talks
# of
posters
Presentations at 2007 annual meeting in Austin by topical category:
Fishes:
45
Amphibians:
31
Reptilia (non-Dinosauria): 111
Dinosauria (paraphyletic): 103
Birds (Dinosauria interesting): 12
Mammals:
247
Theor./geol.:
43
Hist. of Paleo.:
5
Preparators:
27
Four members of the Committee rotated off in 2007: J. David Archibald, Gregory Buckley, Eric
Dewar, and David Froehlich.
The Committee added five new members for greater taxonomic representation and
communication with other committees. New members in 2007 are: David Fox, Nadia Fröbisch,
Anjali Goswami, William Sanders, and Jessica Theodor.
The Program Committee received six symposium proposals for the 68th annual meeting. Four
were chosen: “The Cleveland Shale and Beyond: Early Vertebrate Form, Function, and
Phylogeny,” “Fossils and the Evolutionary Patterns of Ostariophysans, One of the Largest
Vertebrate Clades,” “Early Hominid Evolutionary Tempo and Mode between 3 Ma and 4.5 Ma,”
“New Directions in the Study of Fossil Endocasts.”
Improvements to both the abstracts submission and review processes allow for a faster review
process and the Committee will extend the abstract submission deadline from 15 May to 21 May.
(Jason J. Head, Chair)
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PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
JVP Statistical Information
Initial Submission in Calendar Year 2005
358 drafts / 187 distinct manuscripts
Decisions:
74 Format Inappropriate (returned for corrections without review)
89 Rejected
9 Immediate Reject
30 Reject (after review)
50 Major Revision (‘Reject with Hope’)
81 Minor Revision (some multiple times)
81 Accepted (some after Major Revision and re-review)
48% Rejection Rate (89 of the 187 distinct manuscripts)
Initial Submission in Calendar Year 2006
446 drafts / 190 distinct manuscripts from at least 23 countries
Decisions:
63 Format Inappropriate (returned for corrections without review)
99 Rejected
5 Immediate Reject
27 Reject (after review)
67 Major Revision (‘Reject with Hope’)
135 Minor Revision (some multiple times)
114 Accepted (some after Major Revision) from 19 countries
80 Articles / Regular Articles / Rapid Communications
34 Short Communications / Notes
52% Rejection Rate (99 of the 190 distinct manuscripts)
New Color Cover
JVP, along with associated publications that are published as supplements to the journal (SVP
Memoirs, Annual Meeting Supplement), has switched to a full-color cover design for 2007. The
first issue of 2007 used the new cover design, which was prepared by graphic designer Rob Furr
at no charge to the Society. For continuity with the history of JVP, the cover features an orange
border and the SVP logo. New are a background image of rock strata and a full-color graphic
from each issue’s Featured Article. Text elements have been updated with a more-modern
typeface. The Memoirs feature a similar cover design but in a blue color (two Memoirs were
published this year). The annual abstracts supplement features a green version with a similar
style and the meeting logo on the front.
New Article Types
With the publishing backlog having largely been eliminated, and time to publication significantly
reduced for all articles, the Publications Committee decided to abandon its Rapid
Communications designation in favor of a Featured Article. Each issue will have at least one
Featured Article for which a color image will be presented on the issue’s cover, along with the
article’s title. The editorial team, led by the Senior Editor, will select one article of outstanding
interest from each issue of the journal for this treatment. Authors of chosen articles must provide
a suitable graphic image for the cover, and text and graphic suitable for a press release. The
submission system now also includes a file-type designation for suggested cover images, which
authors can submit with their manuscript.
New article types have also been created. The term Article replaces the former Regular Article.
The term Short Communication replaces the former Note. In addition to these we have the
possibility of Invited Articles, although implementation of this will take more time, and we continue
to publish a small number of Book Reviews.
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Press Releases
The change to a color cover and to a Featured Article raised again the issue of publicity for the
most interesting papers in JVP. Working with the Media Relations Committee through Nick
Fraser, who is a member of both committees, and with the help of the Business Office, we now
issue a press release about the Featured Article in each issue.
New Version of ManuscriptCentral
As an early adopter of electronic submission and review systems, JVP had been using an older
version of the ManuscriptCentral software, version 1.7. In April, after months of preparation, we
migrated our system to the latest version of the software, ManuscriptCentral version 3 (currently
3.6), with which members might be familiar since it is used by a number of other journals.
This change gives many more capabilities for the editorial team, but at the cost of a steep
learning curve. It should provide a more user-friendly environment for authors and reviewers. The
upgrade caused significant headaches to the editorial team but most users are feeling more
comfortable with it.
Printing Quality Issues
A few years ago, JVP changed from Allen Press to Sheridan Press as its printer. Sheridan Press
is a large U.S.-based printer of scientific journals (including many that are ‘published’ by major
houses such as Blackwell Publishing). At the time, the Publications Committee received
proposals from quite a few potential printers and publishers, and settled on Sheridan as the most
cost effective and reliable solution available.
The changeover to a new printer (and the coincident changeover to electronic submission and
review at ManuscriptCentral) raised numerous issues. Among these were significant concerns
about figure quality and the quality of the printed page. The Committee obtained samples of such
things as cover and paper stock, and arranged to see the same graphics-intensive article printed
on different grades and weights of paper. The current choice of 70 lb glossy paper for the journal
was arrived at as the “sweet spot” of acceptable quality at acceptable cost. Lesser weight of
paper, although cheaper, caused excessive “show through” of images and text on the opposite
side of the page.
We also had numerous issues to address with regard to the reproduction of figures and the
quality of authors’ figure submissions. We are still working on these issues, but significant
progress has been made.
Overall, the goals of the Publications Committee and Editorial Board have been to place a high
priority on the quality of the work and of the reproduction on the journal page, in order to enhance
the reputation of JVP, and we believe we have made strides in that direction.
New Page Charge Policy
JVP now has a new policy on mandatory page charges. The new policy is presented to authors
when they submit a manuscript. Authors must agree to pay applicable page charges or else their
manuscript is returned (i.e., unsubmitted) without review.
Basically, the policy requires that page charges for every journal page be paid for articles in which
none of the authors is a member in good standing of the Society. However, if at least one author
is a member, page charges for the first 20 (formerly 15) published pages are waived. Authors are
given the opportunity to join the Society for the current year at the full member, student member,
or associate member rate, and thus to avoid page charges on the first 20 pages. Thus an author
in a developing country (for example) who is not a member is now required to pay at least US$40
(the associate member rate) to publish one or more articles per year in JVP. The goal of the
policy is to foster Society membership among authors of JVP papers.
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Increase in “Free” Pages from 15 to 20
At the request of the Publications Committee, the Executive Committee approved a change to the
limit of “free” published pages from 15 to 20 per article. We hope that this will avoid discouraging
authors of limited means from publishing in JVP or dividing their work artificially into smaller
publishable units. We also hope to attract some longer papers of high significance that might
formerly have been submitted to lesser journals.
Having reduced our backlog of unpublished but accepted manuscripts to the point where a
manuscript is published within six months of acceptance, we believe we can manage any slight
increase in pages per article that the new policy might encourage.
Issue Size Now at Maximum
Each issue of JVP is rather thick and we have probably reached the upper limit of pages per
issue. Publishing six issues per year would help to decrease our time to publication and thus
raise the immediacy of the research that is being published, as each article would be available
sooner for citations and for influencing the work of colleagues. The Publications Committee
believes this would tend to increase JVP’s citation index and would also contribute to a more
dynamic research environment for our discipline.
Such a move would have financial implications, since the cost of publishing six issues of JVP
would be significantly more than the present four issues, but it is one that may be inevitable as
the Society and the discipline continue to grow. (Mark Wilson, Chair)
ALFRED S. ROMER PRIZE COMMITTEE
The Romer Prize Committee met during the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate
Paleontology in Austin, Texas, to decide on a recipient of the Romer Prize from among the
students that presented and to discuss changes to the terms of the charter for the Romer Prize.
Committee members in attendance were: David Fox (Chair), Per Ahlberg, Paul Barrett, Jaelyn
Eberle, Stephen Gatesy, Katrina Gobetz, Hans Larson, Peter Mackovicky, Judy Massare, Ray
Rogers, and Christian Sidor.
Thirty abstracts were submitted for the Romer Prize session at the 2007 Annual Meeting, but the
Romer Prize Committee decided in 2006 to have only a single half-day session for the Romer
Prize competition. Moreover, the program only permitted one full-morning session for the Romer
Prize session. Seventeen presentations were made from the podium for the Romer Prize. The
Committee awarded the 2007 Romer Prize to Rebecca Terry from the University of Chicago for
her paper titled “Holocene small mammals of the Great Basin: Recent richness declines and livedead analysis of ecological fidelity.”
The Committee discussed changes to the charter of the Romer Prize Committee concerning the
fate of abstracts submitted for the Romer Prize that the Committee rejects, the review procedure
for submitted abstracts, and eligibility for the competition. Although these changes are not yet
reflected in the language of the charter for the Committee, they will be changed officially during
2008. First, all abstracts rejected by the Romer Prize Committee will be sent to the Program
Committee for evaluation without prejudice for inclusion in the technical sessions. Possible
outcomes after rejection by the Romer Prize Committee are the thus the same as for regular
submissions for technical sessions: acceptance as an oral presentation, acceptance as a poster
presentation, or rejection from the program. Review procedures for abstracts were changed so
that in case of more abstract submissions than available platform presentations in the schedule
for the Romer Prize, all Committee members will have to reject explicitly a number of abstracts
equal to the difference between the number of submissions and the available presentations in the
half-day scheduled for the Romer Session. The Committee agreed to change eligibility for the
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Romer Prize beginning in 2009 to a single submission for each student independent of degree
program with eligibility extending to one year after completion of a PhD.
The only other business addressed by the Romer Prize Committee was a discussion of possible
new Committee members for the next year. The new Chair will act on some of the names
discussed in time to establish a new Committee list prior to reporting the complete Committee
membership for the coming year to the President during Winter 2008. (David Fox, Chair)
MORRIS SKINNER AWARD
For 2007, there are six valid nominations for the Morris Skinner Award. Candidates are from
Argentina, United Kingdom, and United States. David J. Ward was voted the award winner by the
Committee members.
Two new Committee members were recruited in 2007: Paul Barrett from the Natural History
Museum (London) and Brian Kraatz from University of California (now in American Museum of
Natural History). Effective immediately, a new Committee Chair, Nancy J. Stevens of Ohio
University, has just been approved by the SVP president. As a result, current Chair Xiaoming
Wang will become a regular member of the Committee and assist the new chair during her
transition.
Two Committee members have new contact information:
Brian P. Kraatz, Ph.D., Lincoln Ellsworth Postdoctoral Fellow
Division of Paleontology
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
New York NY 10024
e-mail: [email protected]
Office: 212.769.5830
Kristina Curry-Rogers, Assistant Professor
Biology and Geology
Macalester College
1600 Grand Avenue
Saint Paul MN 55105
e-mail: [email protected]
(Xiaoming Wang, Chair)
STUDENT LIAISON COMMITTEE
The Committee consists of four students. Andrew Farke stepped down at the Austin meeting and
Julia Heathcote has joined the Committee.
The 2007 Meeting in Austin included the reprint exchange and student forum. Our stock of
reprints was at an all-time high and we hope that next year members show as much support of
this event. We continue to encourage more student authors to contribute to the exchange in
Cleveland. At the Austin meeting, recently admitted graduate students sat as panel members in
addition to faculty members involved with the admissions process. This was one of the most
crowded tables and in Cleveland it will be split into two tables; “Applying to Master’s Programs”
and “Applying to PhD Programs.” Editors from JVP sat as panel members in the round table and
discussed peer review. This was a first step towards creating a workshop aimed at mentoring
graduate students in the journal’s review process. Instructions on how to register with the
ManuscriptCentral system were provided in order to facilitate recognition of recently published
students. Student presentation evaluations were not conducted this year due to a lack of interest.
We would like to inform students about this program earlier this year, when the first abstract
reminders are sent.
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Six hundred student raffle tickets were sold this year, three times as many as in 2006. The
winners of the free student membership raffle were Rachel Dunn and Dave Defeau. We thank the
following contributors for making considerable donations to the student raffle; David Polly, Ted
Vlamis, Lou Taylor, Louis Jacobs, Bill Clemens, Chris Bell, Newt Gingrich, Eric Scott, Chris
Brochu, Mike Gottfried, Catherine Badgley, Annalisa Berta, Ana Baez, and Kate Van Zanten.
(Kerin M. Claeson, Chair)
STUDENT POSTER PRIZE COMMITTEE
The Student Poster Prize Committee selected Magdalena Muchlinski (University of Texas) as the
winner of the 2007 SVP Student Poster Prize for her outstanding poster presentation, “Ecological
Correlates of Infraorbital Foramen Size: Exploring Dietary Diversity among European
Adapiformes.” A photograph of Magdalena with her poster was available for viewing at the SVP
banquet and has been posted on the Web site along with a short biography.
The Committee is extremely pleased that the Society has renamed the Student Poster Prize the
“Edwin H. and Margaret M. Colbert Award.” The Committee also finds it appropriate that all
competitors in future will be required to be members of the Society. (Laura MacLatchy, Chair)
— COMMITTEE LISTINGS —
Click here to search for committee information:
http://www.vertpaleo.org/society/committees.cfm
— AWARD WINNERS —
RICHARD ESTES MEMORIAL GRANT—Jennifer Olori
I grew up in Rockland County, New York, just 30 miles from New York City and the American
Museum of Natural History. I visited the museum (and the Bronx Zoo!) so frequently as a child
that I could give guided tours before I started the first grade. My passion for zoology, evolution,
and the history of life began then and grew through
high school. In 2000 I began my undergraduate
degree at Cornell University with the original intent
of specializing in science education. I enrolled in the
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program and after
taking Dr. Kelly Zamudio’s class on vertebrate
zoology I decided that what I really wanted to do
was research. I spent two summers participating in
undergraduate research on insect and plant
interactions and during a third I traveled to
Pittsburgh for an internship at the Carnegie
Museum of Natural History. I worked with Dr.
Timothy Pearce in the Section of Molluscs and
volunteered in the Vertebrate Paleontology Prep Lab. My experiences at the Carnegie renewed
my childhood interest in paleontology and cemented my future in vertebrate research.
After earning my bachelors degree in 2004, I spent a year working in the University of Texas
Computed Tomography Lab where I learned the finer points of incorporating CT technology into
paleontological research. In 2005 I began my PhD studies at the University of Texas at Austin
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under the supervision of Dr. Christopher Bell. While there I have undertaken a number of small
studies on uropeltid snakes and fossil salamanders. I am primarily interested in the evolution of
limblessness and the origins of modern amphibians. Together these topics have pointed me in
the direction of my current doctoral research, which focuses on development in the group
Microsauria. I am extremely grateful to the Society for choosing me as the recipient of the Richard
Estes Memorial Grant. The support given through the award provides me with the opportunity to
incorporate rare, eastern European microsaur specimens into my dissertation project.
JOSEPH T. GREGORY AWARD—John J. Flynn
John Flynn received his BA in Geology and Geophysics from Yale University (1977), and his MA
(1979) and PhD (1983) in Geological Sciences from Columbia
University. He joined the American Museum of Natural History as
Frick Curator of Fossil Mammals in the autumn of 2004, was
appointed Chairman of the Division of Paleontology in November
2005, and was selected as the first Dean of the new Richard
Gilder Graduate School in January 2007. Prior to joining the
American Museum he was John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Curator of Fossil Mammals at the Field Museum in Chicago,
where he also served as Chair of the Department of Geology for
eight years (1992–2000), scientific coordinator of the museum’s
SUE (the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex) project, and curator for many permanent
and temporary exhibits. Flynn was Assistant Professor at Rutgers University before joining the Field
Museum staff, and holds or has held faculty appointments at Columbia University, the City University
of New York, the New York Consortium for Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), the University of
Chicago (where he was Associate Chair of the Committee on Evolutionary Biology PhD program
from 1995–2004), and the University of Illinois, Chicago. Supported by a John S. Guggenheim
Fellowship, John spent 2001–2002 in Chile, together with his wife Alison and children Rachel and
Peter.
Author of more than 100 scientific publications, Flynn’s research focuses on the evolution of
mammals and dinosaurs, geological dating, plate tectonics (continental drift), and biogeography. He
also has contributed articles to Scientific American, Natural History, and National Geographic,
provided scientific expertise for several popular science books, and been featured in numerous
television and radio shows (A&E, National Geographic Explorer, Today Show, Early Show, CNN,
20/20, NPR, etc.), newspapers, and magazines. Achieving a boyhood goal, John was thrilled to
show fossils to a clown, appearing twice on the Bozo Show. Also fulfilling his Yale yearbook career
objective (“bone hunter”), John has led more than three dozen paleontological expeditions to Chile,
Peru, Colombia, Madagascar, India, and the Rocky Mountains, supported by the US National
Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, NASA, and other organizations. Flynn now
serves on the Advisory Board of the Peabody Museum at Yale University and was President (1999–
2001) and member of the Board/Executive Committee (1993–2002) of the Society of Vertebrate
Paleontology.
HONORARY MEMBERSHIP RECIPIENTS
Wighart v. Koenigswald
Wighart started to collect fossils as a schoolboy, inspired by his uncle G. H. R. v. Koenigswald.
He studied geology and paleontology at the universities at Bonn and Munich and in Munich he
received his PhD for a thesis on European marsupial teeth. While appointed to a postdoc position
at the University of Tübingen he changed his field to Pleistocene mammalian faunas. He
participated in two expeditions into the Canadian High Arctic in cooperation with archaeologists,
in order to experience the extant arctic fauna. Working in the department of A. Seilacher in
Tübingen, Wighart was deeply involved in questions concerning constructional morphology.
There he discovered the beauty of tooth enamel microstructure in vole teeth.
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In 1977 Wighart moved to the Museum in Darmstadt where he became the curator for the
collection and for excavations in the Eocene oil shale of Messel. At that
time Messel was planned to be (mis)used as Europe’s biggest landfill.
However, intensive excavations produced several mammalian skeletons
that were studied and described. Among them were the famous
apatemyids with their elongated fingers. In addition, Wighart continued
studies on Pleistocene faunas and especially those on enamel. He
received his “Habilitation” at University of Frankfurt for a monograph of the
enamel of arvicolids, and after continuous teaching there received the title
of an honorary professor.
Wighart toured several museums in America and Australia to get a decent
overview of mammalian enamel, where he collected wonderful material by
the help of many colleagues.
In 1987 Wighart assumed the chair of palaeontology at the University of Bonn. Vertebrate
paleontology has been marginally significant in Bonn, but with several excellent students working
on mammalian and saurian tooth enamel, and other aspects of vertebrate paleontology, Bonn
became active and attracted several awardees of the Alexander von Humboldt foundation.
Wighart led his students on excursions to India and to Wyoming, where he cooperated in the field
with Ken D. Rose. He retired in 2006 (at the age of 65, as mandatory in Germany) but he
continues with intensive research, especially on the evolution of mastication.
Wighart is member of the Crakow Academy of Sciences. Larry Martin invited him to join the SVP
1977. He has participated in many annual meetings and often with several of his students.
Wighart was active as a foreign officer in the SVP. He served as Associate Editor of the JVP from
1991–1993.
Chris McGowan
I was born in Kent, England, toward the end of the war, and grew up during the days of ration
books and coal fires. Not the most brilliant pupil at junior school, I failed my 11-plus exam, freeing
a place at the local grammar school for a worthier pupil. But the schools I attended had good
teachers, and I became completely turned on to science. For amusement, I built things and
conducted experiments. My interests included
chemistry, model aircraft, building rockets (which
more often exploded than flew), boiling up bones to
study osteology, and natural history.
In 1962, I enrolled at one of the lesser seats of
learning in London to read for a BSc degree in
zoology. Becoming interested in vertebrates during
my final year, I purchased a copy of Romer’s
Vertebrate Paleontology. I was hooked. After
graduating in 1965 I married Liz, the most important
person in my life. I was offered a place at University
College London, but we couldn’t afford to live on a
graduate student’s stipend, so I became a full-time high-school teacher instead. I loved teaching,
but didn’t want to stay at school forever.
Birkbeck College (London University) offered part-time places for higher degrees, and I knew that
John Attridge taught there. Fortunately, he was prepared to take me on as a graduate student,
and I enrolled in January 1966. My thesis topic was determined by the availability of suitable
material in the Natural History Museum: the choice between ichthyosaurs and Pleistocene pigs
was an easy one. John was the best supervisor, mentor, and friend I could ever want. I received
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my PhD three years later, while still teaching full time. Jobs for paleontologists were as scarce
then as they are now and, after writing dozens of letters all over the world, I received an offer
from the Royal Ontario Museum. So, in the summer of ’69, Liz and I set sail aboard the Empress
of Canada, accompanied by our two small daughters. With just £300 between us, we never
expected to see England again.
In order to continue teaching, I obtained a cross-appointment to the Department of Zoology at the
University of Toronto. After teaching various introductory courses, I developed a hands-on
functional morphology course. I also taught a marine biology field course in New Brunswick most
summers. Then there were the graduate students. I’ve not had many—largely because of my
concerns for jobs—but they’ve all been outstanding. We enjoyed the same relationship that I had
with John, and one of my greatest joys has been watching their careers, and their lives, unfold.
I took early retirement from the ROM at the end of 2002, and my last student obtained his PhD
two years later. Having enjoyed more than 30 years as a paleontologist—the best job I can
imagine having—I’m happy doing other things. Liz and I delight in our five grandchildren, and
most of my spare time is spent writing. I’ve also been doing some radio broadcasts on various
aspects of the Industrial Revolution. But VP is still on the agenda, and I’ve recently written two
children’s books on dinosaurs.
Attending SVP meetings was always a highlight of my academic years, not only for the
intellectual stimulation, but also for the good chums I’ve made and the great times we’ve had
together. My first meeting was at the AMNH, in 1969, where I met Peter Dodson, a kindred spirit
with whom I became firm friends. Back then, there were precious few dinosaur papers, let alone
anything ichthyosaurian, but times have changed, and for the better. Thanks in large measure to
the younger generation of paleontologists, our discipline, and Society, are in robust health. I am
privileged and deeply touched to be made an Honorary Member of such a vibrant and nurturing
association.
LANZENDORF PALEOART PRIZE WINNERS
Two-Dimensional Art—Bob Walters and Tess Kissinger
Bob Walters and Tess Kissinger are partners in the art and design studio, Walters & Kissinger,
LLC, specializing in natural history illustration for museums, publishing, TV, and film. Their
passion is the interface between art and science. Bob began drawing dinosaurs when he was
four years old and first saw “The Age of
Reptiles” by Rudolph Zallinger on the cover of
Life magazine. He illustrated his first dinosaur
book, “Dinosaurs, the Terrible Lizards,” for E. P.
Dutton in 1979 and, since then, he has
illustrated more than 20 books as well as
innumerable magazine articles and TV shows
for PBS, A&E, and the Discovery Channel. Tess
is the author of “Copyrights, Contracts, Pricing
& Ethical Guidelines for Paleoartists and
Paleontologists” published by the Dinosaur
Society, and currently available on the Walters
& Kissinger Web site, www.dinoart.com.
The couple first collaborated in1995 on the murals and illustration program for the dinosaur hall at
the Creative Discovery Museum in Chattanooga. Since then they have worked together
recreating paleo environments for the NMNH (Smithsonian), the Academy of Natural Sciences,
Taiwan National Museum of Natural History, Delaware Museum of Natural History, Southwest
Florida Historical Museum, Idaho State Museum of Natural History, USGS, Utah Field House of
Natural History, and most recently, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, where they have
been commissioned to paint five murals and more than 200 individual illustrations. Bob and Tess
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are also the curators of a number of museum exhibitions of dinosaur art, including “Designing
Dinosaurs” for the Bruce Museum and Yale Peabody
Museum and the largest dinosaur art exhibition ever
mounted for Dinofest™ 1998 in Philadelphia. Bob is an
alumnus of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, and
Tess from Carnegie-Mellon University where each of
them studied painting. Although they both love working
in traditional media, and often work in acrylics and
watercolors, their collaboration has really blossomed
with the ability to work together on very large paintings
using computer graphic imaging. Bob and Tess work
with a team of sculptors and illustrators in a Victorian-era stable behind their home in
Philadelphia. Currently, the team is continuing with the Carnegie Museum work, while producing
sculptures for the “Dino Path” at the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science and illustrations
for “Survivor,” the exhibit on human evolution at the University of Pennsylvania Museum.
Three-Dimensional Art—Gary T. Staab
Gary Staab produces natural history and prehistoric life
models for museums, publishing, and film. Staab’s work
demonstrates a passion for natural forms both past and
present. His sculptures and models can be seen are
displayed in the halls of the Smithsonian, the Denver
Museum of Nature and Science, the American Museum
of Natural History, and many others.
He began his first museum exhibit experience for the
Hastings Museum of Natural History in Nebraska back in 1986. Since then he has made
hundreds of models, ranging in size from an enlarged flea model to life-sized dinosaurs. Staab
has been a member of SVP since 1995. He is actively engaged in anatomical dissection and
dialog with scientists to aid in the restoration of prehistoric life forms.
Thanks goes to John J. Lanzendorf for sponsoring the paleoart award and my wife Lissi who
supports my obsessive interest in all things prehistoric.
Scientific Illustration—Bonnie J. Miljour
Bonnie Miljour has worked as an artist for the University of Michigan’s Museum of Paleontology
since 1989. She holds a Master of Fine Art degree in watercolor painting, and is largely selftaught as a scientific illustrator. A workshop in biological illustration
first kindled an interest and led her to work for a graduate student
in zoology, drawing the musculature of a large iguana lizard.
Following that she illustrated a series of piglet dissections for a
university course book. Finally came an opportunity to work in
paleontology and she applied for the position, was hired and has
been happy ever since.
Bonnie has been showing and selling her watercolor paintings and
drawings for many years and has won numerous awards,
including that of the Michigan Water Color Society. Her artwork
was featured as a full-color cover painting for the Journal of the
Michigan Bar Association, and she recently has illustrated and
published a children’s book about brown bats.
Bonnie lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with her devoted husband and a sweet little Papillion puppy.
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BRYAN PATTERSON MEMORIAL GRANT RECIPIENTS
Andrew A. Farke
I was raised on a farm about five miles outside of Armour, South Dakota, as the oldest of six
children. As a four-year-old, I visited Dinosaur Park in Rapid City—something about the giant
concrete statues “clicked” with me. My interests in paleontology developed more seriously in high
school, through a series of paleontology-related science fair projects. These projects began my
interests in ceratopsian dinosaurs and also introduced me to many members of the
paleontological community. The kindness and encouragement of those academic, professional,
and avocational paleontologists who had the patience to deal with a 14-year-old kid will never be
forgotten.
After graduating from high school, I enrolled in the geology program at South Dakota School of
Mines and Technology. Collecting trips, museum visits, and some really great social events made
for an enriching experience. I received my BSc in geology in 2003, and then moved out to New
York, to begin my PhD studies in the Department of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook
University. At Stony Brook, my dissertation has focused on the evolution and function of cranial
sinuses in bovids and ceratopsian dinosaurs.
In May 2003, just a month before my wedding
and my move “out East,” Dave Krause called
me up and asked if I would be interested in
joining the Mahajanga Basin Project team in
Madagascar that summer. Shortly after my
wedding, I was on the ground in Madagascar.
That field season, and a subsequent season
in 2005, cemented my interest in this amazing
island. The Mahajanga Basin Project has
unearthed an amazing variety of Late
Cretaceous terrestrial animals, including five
species of nonavian dinosaurs, at least five
species of birds, seven species of crocodilians, turtles, frogs, fish, and mammals. One especially
puzzling aspect of this fauna (richly sampled over nine field seasons) is the relatively low diversity
of nonavian dinosaurs, as compared to some contemporaneous Gondwanan fauna. Is this a
result of local conditions in the Mahajanga Basin during the Late Cretaceous? Does it reflect an
“island effect” limiting the diversity of large terrestrial animals? One way to answer this question is
through sampling of other Cretaceous localities throughout Madagascar.
The support of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology through the Bryan Patterson Award has
been invaluable in turning this idea of a field project into reality. For two weeks in August 2007, I
will be leading a reconnaissance team to the Ambilobe Basin in northernmost Madagascar. The
Ambilobe Basin preserves at least 140 meters of Cretaceous terrestrial sediments, but no
vertebrate fossils have been reported there. Field work will focus on prospecting for and collection
of vertebrate fossils, in Late Cretaceous exposures in the northern part of the basin (near the city
of Diego-Suarez). Due to the paucity of previous work in the Cretaceous of the Ambilobe Basin
and the limited samples from elsewhere on the island, any fossils found will be highly significant
for expanding our knowledge about the Cretaceous of Madagascar. This project is a springboard
toward better understanding of Madagascar’s geological and faunal history in particular and that
of Gondwana in general.
Jan Fischer
I grew up in Saxony, eastern Germany. I first came in contact with paleontology reading the
impressive illustrated book of Z. Spinar and Z. Burian “Life before Man”. After finishing school, I
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pursued my interests in fossils and Earth history and began to study geology and paleontology at
the University of Mining and Technology in Freiberg, Germany.
While participating in the Freiberg workgroup of Jörg Schneider I
gained insight into all fields of paleontological work. During my studies
my interests shifted to Late Paleozoic terrestrial ecosystems, especially
on shark remains from freshwater habitats. I joined several field
projects in Germany and abroad (e.g., Czech Republic, France, Italy)
to study important Permocarboniferous lake deposits. Finally, my
Master’s thesis dealt with the paleontology, paleoecology, and
paleobiogeography of the hybodont freshwater shark Lissodus in
central European continental basins during Late Carboniferous to Early
Permian times. The main results of the thesis are the description of a
new species of Lissodus from Sardinia, Italy, and a proposal of
potential migration patterns of freshwater sharks based on the
distribution of related fossil remains in space and time.
After receiving my MSc in geology/paleontology, I got in contact with the Triassic Madygen fossil
lagerstätte of southwestern Kyrgyzstan, central Asia. Together with Sebastian Voigt, I was
engaged in a study concerning the adjustment of the elongate dorsal appendices of the enigmatic
reptile Longisquama insignis. In autumn 2006 Voigt found Palaeoxyris egg capsules in the
Madygen Formation whose deposits have been assumed so far to represent an internally drained
upland basin. I was fascinated by his findings because of its important implications. Also, a
specific exploration to other shark remains within the Madygen sediments may supply hard facts
for basin configuration, paleoecology, and biostratigraphy.
Funding from the Bryan Patterson Award is supporting my field work on shark fossils in one of the
most interesting Early Mesozoic terrestrial environments represented by the Madygen basin. This
project is a preliminary work of my planned PhD thesis concerning the paleobiogeography and
paleoecology of small hybodont sharks, especially Lissodus, based on stable isotopic analysis of
teeth and spines. A specific interest is focused on the ecological evolution of this group, inasmuch
it is still unknown if there is a true freshwater chondrichthyan fauna or indications of an annual
migration by anadrom marine sharks for spawning.
PREDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP GRANT—Vera Weisbecker
I am delighted to be this year’s recipient of the Predoctoral Award. I would like to very much thank
the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology for giving me this honor and supporting me in the final
investigations of my PhD.
My interest in vertebrate skeletal anatomy goes back to my childhood,
although my passion for vertebrate dissection was rather
underappreciated by classmates and parents at the time. Forays into
the public shale pit of nearby Holzmaden and other publicly accessible
sites in my school years compounded my interest in extinct and extant
vertebrate life.
I commenced study at Tübingen University, Germany, in 1997, and
graduated in late 2003 with the German equivalent of a Master’s
degree. My thesis, supervised by Prof. W. Maier, was on comparative
ontogeny of the neonatal arctoid carnivore otic region. It was probably
the weeks of gluing together styrofoam models of histological sections
for this study that have sparked my current passion for computer tomography.
After some time volunteering at the South Australian Museum, I started my PhD at The University
of New South Wales, Australia, in early 2004. My project involves aspects of the evolution of the
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postcranial skeleton in marsupials, with a emphasis on autopodial anatomy. I focus on questions
of diversity, convergence, locomotor prediction, and ontogeny. Methods include character
mapping, phylogenetically corrected analysis of morphometric datasets, variance/covariance
matrix comparison approaches, clear-staining procedures, CT-scans and 3D volume processing,
event-pair analysis of ossification sequences, and anatomical analysis of fossil species for
paleoecological inference. The last component of my PhD aims to investigate ontogenetic factors
impacting on mammalian postcranial evolution by assessing ossification sequences of several
marsupial species and comparing them to placental data provided by my co-advisor, Marcelo
Sánchez-Villagra.
The Predoctoral Award will allow me to complete the ontogenetic component of my PhD by
conducting an extensive ontogenetic study of a developmental series of monotremes from
museum collections across Australia, using microcomputer tomography. I hope to give the first
detailed account of monotreme ossification sequences and details of growth in skeletal elements.
Because monotremes are an ancient sister lineage to therian mammals, investigation of their
skeletal ontogeny is the only approach to directly test some paradigms regarding the evolution of
mammalian ontogenetic patterns and its influence on mammalian postcranial evolution.
PREPARATORS’ GRANT—Mohamed Sameh Mohamed Anter Abed ElHamid
Mohamed Sameh works for the EEAA (Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency) in Cairo, Egypt.
He is the Senior Geologist and Team Leader at Wadi El-Hitan Valley of the Whales World
Heritage Site, located within Wadi El-Rayan Protected Area, one of Egypt’s 26 national parks. He
has worked in this park since 2000, and has been Team Leader since 2005,
supervising eight on-site staff dedicated to the conservation and research of
the fossil organisms there. He received his MSc from Zagazik University in
Egypt in 2007, on the faunal analysis of the middle Eocene in Wadi Hitan,
and his BSc in geology and chemistry from Mansoura University in Egypt in
1998. His current responsibilities include mapping and documenting skeletal
remains at Wadi Hitan; conservation of these remains, including fossils
excavated for research purposes; developing a laboratory for preparation
and conservation of fossils; development of educational displays for tourists
visiting the area; and development of policies that protect the fossils while
also allowing some research and tourism in the area. He has recently worked closely with
Professor Philip Gingerich’s team (University of Michigan) to better understand the depositional
environments and extent of the marine fauna represented at Wadi Hitan, and has previously
received some training in molding and casting at the preparation facilities in the Museum of
Paleontology at the University of Michigan. He is very personable, dedicated, and an avid field
person. His dedication to the site is important, because increased tourism to the area has
heightened risks to the fossil exposures—for example, a Belgian diplomatic group was recently
cited for reckless driving over the skeletal remains of fossil whales in Wadi Hitan, and awareness
of the uniqueness of this site is key to the continued preservation of its treasures.
Mohammed was awarded this year’s Preparators Grant because the training he will receive in
vertebrate fossil preparation and conservation at the University of Michigan Museum of
Paleontology will be applied to preservation and proper treatment of fossils at an important and
unique World Heritage Site, Wadi Hitan (famous for its hundreds of archaeocete whale
skeletons), because the award is supplemented by a substantial commitment by the Egyptian
Government to build and staff a permanent fossil conservation facility at the site, and because
other preparators working under his direction will directly benefit from the knowledge and skills he
gains from his training—his proposal perfectly matched the spirit and intent of the grant, and has
a potentially large impact on improving standards in Egyptian paleontology.
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ROMER PRIZE—Rebecca Terry
I was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, where I spent my early years tagging along after
my science-teacher-dad as he traveled south to the John Day Fossil Beds each spring with a
crop of high-school students in a rickety old yellow school bus named “Number 11.” I, too, was 11
when, on a chilly eastern Oregon morning, my dad first introduced me to the study of taphonomy
using a long-dead but still quite savory cow carcass scattered
along the grassy margin of our campground. My formal
introduction to paleobiology and taphonomy finally came when I
was old enough to enroll in his class—a primate biology elective
for seniors offered at the Northwest School. After high school I
attended Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where I
completed a degree in geology with a biology minor, under the
mentorship of Ray Rogers. During this time, Ray and Kristi
Curry Rogers gave me the incredible opportunity to accompany
them to Zimbabwe and Madagascar. Harassed by baboons and
bit by a lemur, I loved working alongside them and other
inspiring scientists who taught me how to excavate fossils and how to collect taphonomic and
geologic field data. It was an amazing experience.
Throughout my life I have been surrounded by role models who stressed the importance of being
a responsible citizen and having a positive impact on the world. In the face of unprecedented
levels of anthropogenic alteration of the environment and dramatic rates of biodiversity loss, I
initially struggled after graduating with whether or not I should continue on an academic path or
devote my efforts to a more applied career. During this time I enrolled in a field taphonomy course
offered at the Friday Harbor Marine Labs in the San Juan Islands. Mentored by Michael
LaBarbera and Michal Kowalewski, I realized I could do both—I could become an “applied
paleontologist.” This initial spark grew into my dissertation work at the University of Chicago.
Under the invaluable guidance of Sue Kidwell I have devoted myself to developing ways to unlock
the wealth of presettlement ecological baseline information that is contained in Holocene deposits
of small-mammal skeletal remains. I will complete my dissertation this spring. In the future I plan
to continue combining paleoecological analyses with more traditional neo-ecological approaches
to the study of biotic response to environmental change, thereby incorporating an expanded
temporal depth into modern conservation studies—something that can’t be done without
paleontologists!
I am deeply honored to be chosen as the 2007 Romer Prize winner by the Society of Vertebrate
Paleontology. And I have many people to thank—my amazing family: Mark, Catherine, and Sam
Terry; Mark Novak; my fellow students from second-floor Hinds and the Darwinian Cluster at the
University of Chicago; my advisor Sue Kidwell; my committee members Michael Foote, Michael
LaBarbera, Lawrence Heaney (Field Museum), and Donald Grayson (University of Washington);
Team Utah: Eric Rickart, Rebecca Rowe, and Shannen Robson; Macalester Geology: Ray
Rogers and Kristi Curry Rogers; and the Northwest School community. Thank you!
ROMER-SIMPSON MEDAL—Wann Langston Jr.
I was born on July 10, 1921, in Oklahoma City. Four years later, I was bitten by the Dinosaur Bug
in the form of a replica of Andrew Carnegie’s Diplodocus in the natural history museum in Vienna,
Austria, and from that moment my over-riding interest in fossils has never waned.
Until my junior high school days I was pretty much on my own when it came to paleontology—I
never heard the word until I was around ten years old. Dinosaurs and such were not the hot
topics in those days that they are today; and there were virtually no “popular” books on the
subject on the market. As a child I dug up anything resembling a bone. I recall my mother driving
me to a local dump near the Oklahoma City zoo and leaving me and a long-suffering friend to
”excavate,” all the time fantasizing about Tyrannosaurus rex and trachodon, as it was called at
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the time. I never learned how these bones got there as taphonomy had not been invented yet. In
the late 1920s my parents took me to New York for two weeks. Every morning to get me out of
the way, I believe, I was delivered to the American Museum with a cigar box full of modeling clay.
I spent each day copying, in miniature, dinosaur skeletons on exhibit in
Dinosaur Hall. I learned a great deal about dinosaurian anatomy in this
exercise. In the evening I was gathered up at the Museum door and returned
to reality. I usually received a dollar and a condescending pat on the head for
my day’s efforts. Then those sculptures were destroyed and the clay made
ready for the next day’s work. Even today I find solace in a wad of modeling
clay and an old bone to be replicated.
In 1930, I had the good fortune to be introduced to a new professor of geology
at the University of Oklahoma, just a short drive from Oklahoma City. Dr. J.
Willis StovalI was a friendly man and an inspiring teacher. He took me under his wing and was
my mentor from then until I graduated from the University in 1943. During my years with Dr.
Stovall I was allowed to “assist” his graduate students in the preparation lab and I learned the art
of fossil preparation from such people as Llewellyn I. Price, C. Stewart Johnston, and William S.
Strain. Some of those specimens formed the nucleus of the spectacular displays that many of us
saw at the SVP meeting in Norman, Oklahoma, in 2002.
In 1938, I was the junior member of a “gang of three” (Noel McAnulty, Donald E. Savage, four
years my senior, and me). The gang spent a couple of months searching for and collecting the
first dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous rocks of the Big Bend region of Texas. It was here that
I discovered my first dinosaur, a fragmentary Chasmosaurus, which in my youthful exuberance I
promptly identified as Triceratops—it did have long straight horns. From there the gang moved
into the Eocene beds in neighboring Presidio County. Here, just like the pioneer collectors, we
prospected from horseback (I rode a burro) and brought back the first serious collections in what
later became a well-known field worked by Stovall and Savage, Brian Patterson, and Jim Quinn
of the Field Museum, and is still yielding excellent material to Jon Kalb, an associate of the Texas
Memorial. Then followed field trips with Stovall and Savage to New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming,
and Montana. This is when I discovered that dropping mammalian fossils into shrinkage cracks
speeded our arrival at more interesting dinosaur sites elsewhere.
Following my return from service in WW II, I earned my MS degree from Oklahoma, describing
Acrocanthasaurus, from the Lower Cretaceous beds of southeastern Oklahoma. In 1946–48 I
was employed at Texas Tech in Lubbock, where in alternating semesters, for an annual salary of
$1,800, I taught three sections of physical and historical geology (including labs), and was
permitted to work with mainly Triassic fossils in the Tech museum in my spare time. The museum
was a basement with a ground-level tar paper roof. There I published my first paper, an account
of a phytosaur skull from Scurry County, Texas. The most enduring consequence of this period in
my life was my marriage to Marietta Evans whom I met at OU where I found her teaching
freshman geology labs.
I entered the PhD program in the Paleontology Department at Berkeley under Professor Charles
Lewis Camp in 1948. My dissertation was a study of a large collection of fish, amphibians, and
reptiles from the Lower Permian of New Mexico. The specimens had been collected in 1934–
1935 by Camp, S. P. Welles, and Vertress VanderHoof and associates near Arroyo del Agua in
Rio Arriba County. At Berkeley I became re-associated with Don Savage who was completing his
PhD. He and I enjoyed dabbling with exhibits and I completed the first iteration of Welles’s
Dilophosaurus wetherilli, which we installed in the great hall of Hearst Mining Building while R. A.
Stirton, the chairman of the department, was in the field in Colombia. This was something of a
coup as the Museum of Paleontology frowned on public displays at that time. Faced with a fait
accompli upon his return, Stirt grudgingly acknowledged that the massive slab mount “was
somewhat attractive.”
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After receiving my degree from the University of California in 1952, I remained there for two more
years waiting for a job to materialize, in what passed for a post doc in those days. During that
time I published the amphibian section of my dissertation and began work on a monograph of the
La Venta crocodilians from Colombia, collected by Stirton, Savage, and Robert W. Fields.
My pursuit of gainful employment was rewarded in 1954 by an invitation from Dr. Loris S. Russell
to come to Ottawa, Canada, to fill the place recently vacated by retiring Charles M. Sternberg, as
curator of fossil vertebrates at the National Museum of Canada (now Canadian Museum of
Nature). Marietta and our baby daughter arrived in Ottawa from sunny California just as the first
snows were beginning to fall. Moreover, the facilities occupied by vertebrate paleontology were
less than inviting (the ceiling of the prep lab fell in just before my arrival and was not repaired for
at least a year, and the windows in my office apparently hadn’t been opened—or washed—since
the Revolutionary War). But, the collection of dinosaurs seemed heaven-sent for me.
I spent the following eight summers collecting in the western Canadian provinces, with a couple
of short stints in the Permian of Prince Edward Island. In fact, I believe I can claim that with the
exception of one pelycosaur jaw described by Joseph Leidy and a few shark teeth collected by E.
C. Case, I collected all the fossil vertebrates found up to that time on the island province. The
entire collection could be held in the palms of two hands! Collecting out west included a tailless
Edmontosaurus now on display at the Natural History Museum in London, a Pachyrhinosaurus/
hadrosaur bonebed from an awfully named place, Scabby Butte, and a new chasmosaur, which
had simply sunk down on all fours and expired, preserving all four limbs in natural articulation.
Except for the scattered skull my field crew and I recovered the specimen in a single block,
reminiscent of the Sternbergs’ practices, so as not to disturb the natural relationships of the
bones. On another occasion we collected an intact Triceratops skeleton, complete except for all
four legs. Taphonomy, anyone? At Ottawa I completed the crocodilian monograph begun at
Berkeley, published a Fieldiana monograph on a new hadrosaur from Alabama (Lophorothon
atopus), and published results of my PEI exploration. I also completed three papers on
Pachyrhinosaurus.
In spite of Canada’s many attractions, the family, now augmented by a young Canadian-born
daughter, left Ottawa for warmer climes in Texas in 1962. John A. (Jack) Wilson and William
Newcomb (Texas Memorial Museum) combined their good offices to create a job for me at the
Museum, for which I am everlastingly grateful. At the University of Texas I have been fortunate to
hold positions as curator at the Texas Memorial Museum and faculty positions in the Department
of Geological Sciences (now Jackson School of Geosciences). I served as Director of the
Vertebrate Paleontology Lab from 1969 to 1986, succeeding Jack Wilson, the Lab’s founder.
Among my most gratifying experiences at Texas have been the associations with an outstanding
faculty and the procession of inspired and inspiring graduate students with whom I have worked
and learned. My research since coming to Texas has focused largely on my first love, the Big
Bend, with its magnificent array of Cretaceous and Tertiary faunas. While here, in addition to the
usual responsibilities of academic faculty I have found time with many able associates to restore
and mount the skeleton of Diplodocus hayi at the Houston Museum of Sciences, a mosasaur
from Austin, later remounted by my former student Kyle Davies, a second mosasaur, and a
Tenontosaurus at the Dallas Museum of Natural History. My research has involved mostly
pterosaurs, dinosaurs, and crocodilians, and this work continues. Sadly, however, field work for
me has essentially ended owing to creeping decrepitude.
This account would not be complete without some recollections about my association with the
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. This association began during WW II. I was stationed at the
US Naval Hospital in San Diego when I earned a 48-hour pass at Captain’s Inspection (by looking
like what the Captain believed a sailor in the US Navy should look like—never mind that almost
none of us ever did). I took a bus to Pasadena and Cal Tech where I accidentally bumped into
Chester Stock. After about an hour Stock asked me if I would like to join SVP (which I had never
heard of). I thought belonging to a bonafied scientific organization might be an interesting
diversion from swabbing decks so when Professor Stock offered to pay my $1.00 annual dues
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while I was in service I jumped at the opportunity and became a member in January 1944. Joining
SVP was one of the better life decisions I have made. Membership has brought me in touch with
a lot of interesting people doing interesting things while traveling to interesting places. I am
grateful for their comradeship and tolerance—you know who I mean!
I had the privilege of being your president in 1975 and editor of the News Bulletin from 1977 to
1979. I was elected an Honorary Life Member in 1988 and received the Joseph T. Gregory award
in 1994.
I believe my most lasting contribution to SVP was obtaining the 501(c) (3) classification from the
Internal Revenue Service granting nontaxable status to the Society, and paving the way for the
Society to raise funds for its several endowments. In the early 1970s I chaired a committee
formed at the suggestion of the National Science Foundation to survey and analyze the state of
vertebrate fossil collections in the United States. The results, published in 1972, though
admittedly incomplete, gave a clearer idea of who had what and how many fossils, and ranked
collections around the country. Although now long out of date, I believe it is still consulted
occasionally. Following up on this report, and again at the instigation of NSF, was a second
committee which produced a report entitled “Fossil Vertebrates in the United States—The Next
Ten Years.” It must be said that the committees’ clairvoyance has been largely blindsided by
history, but like the rest of my career it was at least an interesting experience.
MORRIS F. SKINNER AWARD—David J. Ward
Like the previous recipient of the Morris Skinner award, I was also born on October 10, 1948.
Unlike my worthy predecessor, it was on the other side of the planet, in London, England. I was
educated at Beverley Grammar School in northern England where the juxtaposition of the
Yorkshire Mesozoic coast was a constant attraction.
Despite this, heavily influenced by my parents who thought geology fun but not a serious
occupation for their son, I entered the Royal Veterinary College, London, where, some years
later, I graduated as a veterinarian. My education in London was not completely wasted. Being a
railway hub, it was possible to purchase a student day return ticket to
virtually any fossil locality in England. I did not get much studying done
during the weekends. At this time I fell under the benign influences of Colin
Patterson and Brian Gardiner at what was then called “the British Museum
(Natural History),” who encouraged my developing interest in fossil shark
teeth.
While other students were involving themselves in politics, drama, and the
whole early 70s London scene, I shared my time with members of the
Tertiary Research Group, an assorted bunch of people with a common
interest in the Tertiary; then, an unfashionable time slice. Unlike the Mesozoic, where a hammer
and set of chisels were your main collecting tools, in the English Tertiary you used a screen,
spade, and a lot of large cloth collecting bags. The appeal of bulk sampling was that you could
find almost everything in a volume of sediment rather than just what was, by chance or good
fortune, exposed on the surface. Thus began two further interests: stratigraphy and
microvertebrate extraction.
At university I met my wife, Alison, who was surprisingly tolerant of sacks of clay and collecting
gear in our small apartment. We now have a larger house, more sediment, and only slightly less
tolerance.
As a young small-animal veterinarian, spare time was thin on the ground, but I made full use of it
exploring the classic Tertiary shark localities in Europe and North America. As my interest and
level of skill increased, I was privileged to assist at a number of excavations, most notably
Kenneth Kermack’s Mesozoic mammal sites in Oxfordshire and Richard Estes’s collecting on the
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Isle of Wight. The pay dirt from both these excavations, weighing tens of tons, was processed in
an automated screen-washing machine, plumbed into our garage. This device, which freed up
our bath tub, dramatically reduced specimen damage and back pain from hand sieving, but
generated such enormous volumes of concentrate that it could take decades to sort.
I suppose a major turning point in my life, other than a politically correct mention of my marriage
and the births of our children, occurred in the late 1980s when I was invited, with my wife, to join
the Natural History Museum, London, trans-Sahara expedition to the Niger Republic. This trip led
to several more, and a decision that life was too short to spend it doing anything other than
vertebrate paleontology. I leased my portion of our veterinary practice and started a new life.
Actually, it was exactly the same as the old life, except I did not have the inconvenience of going
to work every morning.
The disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s led to invitations to visit Russia, western
Kazakhstan, and the Ukraine. This was an amazing window of opportunity to visit and legally
collect from sites previously closed to westerners. It was also a unique opportunity to meet and
exchange ideas with paleontologists with whom I had corresponded but never expected to meet.
This led on to a series of expeditions with David Archibald in Uzbekistan. The field site,
Dzherakuduk, in the unforgiving Kyzyl-Kum desert, had previously been collected extensively by
Russian expeditions led by Lev Nessov. Its Cretaceous mammal remains had been surfacecollected, a labor-intensive and self-limiting process. Once the surface had been searched, it
would take several months of wind for it to regenerate. Using essentially the same Russian field
crew, David Archibald used a different approach. Once his sedimentologist had located the level
the fossil material was coming from, he instituted a regime of quarrying and dry and wet
screening. Concentrate produced in the cooler mornings was dried in the sun and sorted in the
shade during the hot afternoons. This was spectacularly successful and resulted in the collection
of many thousands of vertebrate specimens. In all, David spent nine field seasons in Uzbekistan
during which I joined him for six.
Other memorable field campaigns include excavating Cretaceous dinosaurs, or rather sieving for
the associated microvertebrates, with Eric Buffetaut and Jean LeLoeuff at Cruzy a picturesque
little village in southwestern France. I cannot recall much of the geology, but the French country
food and inky black wine gave the whole event an ambience unlike any other.
On return from a field expedition, I have been often asked if I enjoyed my “holiday.” If I
remonstrate that most trips are hot, dusty, lacking basic toilet facilities, with psychopathic insects,
and devoid of most of the essentials for comfortable living, you are immediately asked; “then why
did you go?” This is difficult to explain to someone who has not experienced a geological field trip
in a remote area. I must admit that when the high point of a day is to drink a beer, slightly warmer
than blood temperature, you can question your own motivation.
Although I never met Morris Skinner, I have visited some of his hunting grounds in Nebraska and
can understand why he grew up loving to collect fossils. I am extremely honored to receive the
2007 Morris F. Skinner Award. I must thank my proposers, the SVP committee and those who
helped me indulge my passion in paleontology, for making this possible.
STUDENT POSTER PRIZE—Magdalena Muchlinski
With the exception of the first few months of my life, most of my childhood was spent abroad in
countries such as Poland, the Philippines, and Borneo. At a young age I was exposed to many of
the variations of space, place, and culture. Having a father who worked for an international civil
engineering firm meant that our family traveled to many countries far from home. I believe my
experiences in these countries, particularly the ones that involved orangutans and macaques in
my sandbox, sparked my initial interest in physical anthropology.
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Being raised by an architect and an engineer, the conversation at dinner frequently revolved
around retaining walls and material pliability. I swore that I would not follow in my parents’
footsteps. I love animals and not construction
material and design. My first drawings, or research
notebook entries, as I like to call them, focused on
the anatomy of the domesticated cat. Little did I
know that these drawing indicated that the architect
in me could not be silenced! Upon graduating from
high school I attended the University of California,
Santa Cruz, and become actively involved in
functional morphological research. I became
fascinated by the architecture of nature and the
engineers (ecology) shaping the “bauplaene” of
animals.
I am now a physical anthropology graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, advised
by Drs. Liza Shapiro and Chris Kirk. I am interested in how the selective pressures imposed by
differences in feeding ecology shape the anatomy, physiology, and evolution of early primates.
My current research employs morphometric techniques to better understand how feeding
behavior has influenced the somatosensory system of primates. My dissertation research has
important implications for interpreting the fossil record. I have chosen to focus on early primate
remains, and the debate surrounding the evolutionary divergence of primates from other
mammals (e.g., angiosperm co-evolution and nocturnal visual predation) for my dissertation. I
hope to continue my functional morphological work upon graduating in May 2008.
I was honored to receive the SVP Student Poster Prize. The 2007 meeting was my first
introduction to the Society, and I have to say…I have found my people. Although receiving the
award was a highlight for me, it was the conversations I had with SVP members about current
research that really made my participation this year memorable! Because of the monetary award
associated with the prize, I will now be able to continue these conversations in Cleveland at the
2008 SVP meetings.
I would also like to thank my advisors, my partner Gary, and my six “kids” (George, Ringo, John
Winston, Bolan, Buster, and Beatrice) for believing in me and my work. They really make me a
happy and well balanced.
— CALL FOR NOMINATIONS —
Award nomination information is available at the following link:
http://www.vertpaleo.org/meetings/awards.cfm
— NEW MEMBERS —
Abdel-Gaward, Mohammed Korany Ismail
56 Abdel Arr Fahmy St
Special District 6
Giza 6 october
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Salem MA 01970
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Franz-Metzner-Str 3
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Department of Biology
University of Louisiana Lafayette
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Stony Brook University
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Albion College
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NEOUCOM
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Ciencias de la Tierra
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Dip. Scienze della Terra
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Museum für Naturkunde
Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin
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Germany
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Blanco, Rudemar Ernesto
Instiuto Fisica–Facultad de in
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Montevideo 11300
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97 E Lane Ave
Columbus OH 43201
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Dep. de Geologia
Univ de Val
C/Dr Moliner 50
Burjassot
Valencia 46100
Spain
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CICYTTP
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PO Box 29406
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5510 Maddock Dr NE
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Hanover College
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Department of EES
University of Adelaide
Darling Bldg DP418
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Australia
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Department of Biological Sciences
Sam Houston State University
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111 River St 8-037I
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Drexel University
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2715 P St NW, Bsmt
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Wright State University
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Ulica Marasovica 67 Put Mira 4
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5562 Ridgebury Dr
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Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences
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PO Box 8374
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Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of California, Irvine
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Reston VA 20191
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2250 Connie Dr
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Montana State University
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221 Morrill Science Center
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University of Texas at Austin
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7835 S. Rainbow Blvd, Ste. 17-79
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117 Main St
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Yale University
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Natural History Museum
900 Exposition Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90007
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37 Abinger Crescent
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Core Laboratories Lp
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111 College Rd, # 12-0
Selden NY 11784
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Virginia Museum of Natural History
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Martinsville VA 24112
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375 Moriches Rd
St James NY 11780
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School of Earth & Space Science
Peking University
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2704 25th St
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School of Earth and Environment
Queen’s College
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Earth Science Department
University of Alaska Museum of the North
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SbSm Rh 269
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Wyoming Dinosaur Center
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Department of Biological Science
Ohio University
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Athens OH 45701
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School of Biology & Environmental Science
University College Dublin Belfield
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UMAR Campus Puerto Escondido
Carretera Puerto Escondido–Sola de Vega
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Oaxaca M-71980
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School of Geosciences
University of the Witwatersrand
P/Bag
3 Wits 2050
Johannesburg
South Africa
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University of Texas
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Austin TX 78703
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93 Burr St
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Sam Houston State University
12-B Pine Breeze
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602-42 Tsu
Kamakura 248-0032
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Klug, Holly
American Museum of Natural History
79th St at Central Park W
New York NY 10024
(212) 769-5562
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University of California
621 Charles E. Young Dr S
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Skyhills N11-902 4-10 Kita -11
Nishi-2
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Hokkaido
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Augustana College
804 McHugh Rd
Yorkville IL 60560
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Barrio JB Terau Block 12
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Untersbergstraße 78
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804 Union St
Cary NC 27511
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UMR 5125 Peps CNRS
Université Lyon 1
Campus de la Doua Bat Geode
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1300 Clinton St, Apt 426
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147 Davis St
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9 Lamar Dr
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PO Box 23360
San Juan PR 00931-3360
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University of Wyoming
607 S 13th Street
Laramie WY 82070
(307) 399-6213
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1000 Brookside Drive
Raymore MO 64083
(913) 548-8516
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Université Montpellier 2, ISEM
Place Eugene Bataillon
Montpellier F-34095
France
+33-4-67-14-49-17
f/+33-4-67-14-36-10
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1341 Reynolds Dr
Palatine IL 60074
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University of Florida
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Gainesville FL 32601
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Department of Anthroplogy
U-2176, 354 Mansfield Rd
Storrs CT 06269
(860) 486-2857
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215 E Bay St, Ste 500
Charleston SC 29401
(843) 723-4699
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113 Wymount Ter
Provo UT 84604
(801) 378-5188
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Av Uruguay 151 Santa Rosa
la Pampa A-6300
Argentina
+54-2954-436-787
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California State University–Stanislaus
3004 Gibson Way
Modesto CA 95354
(209) 524-0162
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3601 Lake Mary Rd, Apt 204
Flagstaff AZ 86001
(810) 241-9383
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420 E 55 St, Apt 4F
New York NY 10022
(646) 452-1931
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Mirissis, Richard M.
200 Greenleaf Ave, 7B
Staten Island NY 10310
(718) 447-6855
Morrison, Ian
Department of Natural History
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen’s Park
Toronto ON M5S 2C6
Canada
(416) 586-5756
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Mossbrucker, Matthew T.
Morrison Natural History Museum
501 CO Hwy 8
PO Box 564
Morrison CO 80465
(303) 697-1873
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Muchlinski, Magdalena
1309 Ridgemont Dr
Austin TX 78723
(512) 789-5753
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721 Linwod Ave SW
Tumwater WA 98512
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Australian Museum
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New Mexico Museum of Natural History
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— NEWS FROM MEMBERS —
CANADA (Kevin Seymour, Canada Editor, [email protected])
Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario
Both Xiao-chun Wu and Kathlyn Stewart are on sabbatical as we enter 2008. Fortunately a
number of colleagues have come to work in the collections in recent months to keep us from
being too lonely. We’ve enjoyed research visits from Michael Ryan (ceratopsians), Victoria Arbour
(ankylosaurs), Allison Tumarkin-Deratzian (ceratopsians, crocs), Aspen Padilla (sharks), Sanja
Hinic-Frlog (hesperornithiforms), Martina Steffen (Pleistocene bear skulls), and Paul Matheus
(canids).
Xiao-chun Wu is on sabbatical in Taiwan, based at the Taichung Science Museum, where he is
working on a tomistomine crocodylian from the Miocene of Penghu Island, Taiwan, two skids of
Triassic thalattosaurians from southwest China, and egg nests from the Upper Cretaceous of
China. He was also in Taipei, working on thalattosaurians. Xiao-chun will return to Ottawa on 15
March.
Kathlyn Stewart is on sabbatical in British Columbia, based at the University of Victoria. She’s
working on some late Miocene fish from Ethiopia, and zooarchaeological remains from coastal
British Columbia archaeological sites dating to about 4,000 years ago. Kathy will return to the
CMN in August.
Natalia Rybczynski is pleased to announce that in December, Dmitri Ponomarenko (Carleton
University) successfully defended his MSc dissertation entitled “Burrow Morphology, Burrow
Preservation, and Evidence of Digging Behaviour in Ground-dwelling Squirrels (Sciuridae).”
Natalia, adjunct professor in biology and in earth sciences at Carleton, was co-supervisor. Natalia
is getting a new dissection lab up and running at the museum’s research and collections facility.
She and Mary Dawson (Carnegie Museum) have been busy lately working on the description of
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new fossil mammals from last summer’s successful High Arctic field expedition to Devon Island,
Nunavut.
Steve Cumbaa and Richard Day had a brief but successful field trip to Western Interior Seaway
sites in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, primarily to resolve stratigraphic questions. Radiometric
dating of several of their Cenomanian and Lower Turonian localities is underway in partnership
with the Argon Geochronology Laboratory at the USGS in Denver. Steve, also an adjunct
professor at Carleton University, is co-supervising two MSc students: Aaron Phillips, now writing
up his thesis on Cenomanian marine bonebeds from Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and Joseph
Sanchez, who is working on hesperornithiforms from the same bonebeds. Joanna Northover
(also at Carleton University) is working with Steve for her honors thesis on a large Late
Cretaceous bony fish from Devon Island, Nunavut, collected in many fragments on two separate
expeditions by Jaelyn Eberle, John Storer, Karen Chin, John Bloch, and Steve Cumbaa. Steve is
teaching a course in human origins at Carleton in the first months of 2008. (Steve Cumbaa)
Cape Breton University, Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sean Modesto continues his collaborations with Dr. Jennifer Botha-Brink of the National Museum,
Bloemfontein on Early Triassic tetrapods from South Africa. Two collecting trips in 2007 yielded
over a hundred specimens from the Lower Triassic Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone. One of the
highlights of field work in May was the discovery of three burrow casts, one of which was
particularly exciting because it is a relatively large burrow cast, and several bones could be seen
poking out from its surface. Preparation has since revealed the disarticulated, partial skeleton of a
medium-sized therapsid. Cranial remains are scant, but what appears to be a partial snout
suggests assignment to the dicynodont genus Lystrosaurus. The same trip also resulted in the
collection of the anterior half of a therocephalian skeleton with a Moschorhinus-like skull. This
skull has postcanine teeth, however, which indicates that this specimen represents a new
element of the Triassic therapsid fauna. For our second collecting expedition of 2007, we were
joined by Dr. Darla Zelenitsky of the University of Calgary, who demonstrated her skill for
discovering small tetrapods on a daily basis. One such find is the well-preserved skull of a small
owenettid parareptile, which will be the focus of a future collaborative project. (Sean Modesto)
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario
Our new galleries are finally open! These are The James and Louise Temerty Age of Dinosaurs
and The Age of Mammals galleries, roughly representing Mesozoic and Cenozoic time
respectively. The Triassic section is not yet open however, as it is phased with the Paleozoic
gallery (tentatively called “Earth and Early Life”), due to open in several years time, because of its
placement in the historic wing of the ROM and not in the new crystal building. Response has
been overwhelmingly positive, due in particular to the huge increase in the number of specimens
now on display (almost 800 between the two galleries) and the bright, clean look, without
dioramas or plastic plants. Other innovations include combining displays of fossil vertebrates,
invertebrates, and plants throughout the galleries; having all our “best stuff” in the galleries, each
with its own story; having the sauropod Barosaurus on display which is now the largest dinosaur
on display in Canada, and the only Barosaurus mount in the world with real bone in the mount
(and you can see it from the street, through the windows); and having a “real/not real” skeleton
map for every skeletal mount, showing exactly which bones are real and which ones are cast or
sculptures.
We are pleased to announce the launching of a new student research travel grant to visit the
ROM collections. See the announcement elsewhere in the News Bulletin.
New curator David Evans is setting up his dinosaur research program at the ROM. He is currently
supervising three undergraduate thesis projects from the University of Toronto in preparation for
his first graduate students this fall. Ryan Schott, who completed his summer Undergraduate
Research Award on pachycephalosaurids from the Foremost Formation of Alberta, has started
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his undergraduate thesis quantifying growth and variation in extant horned lizard skulls as a
model for variation in dinosaur cranial ornamentation. Angel Ai is looking at the ontogenetic
development of bone histology and vasculature in extant Alligator skulls to assess variation in
bone histology among pachycephalosaurid cranial domes from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta.
Becky Bavington is working on an unusual hadrosaurid dinosaur braincase from the Dinosaur
Park Formation. Nicolas Campione is working on a couple of dinosaur projects with David, as he
works on his Master’s thesis on varanopid synapsids with Robert Reisz.
With the completion of the gallery projects, technician Ian Morrison is looking forward to working
on the preparation of research specimens. He is currently preparing two Hypacrosaurus
specimens from the ROM warehouse: an adult Hypacrosaurus altispinus skull and a nearly
complete juvenile H. altispinus with a femur only 45 cm long! This will be incorporated into a large
manuscript on growth and variation in Hypacrosaurus and other lambeosaurine hadroasurids that
David is excising from his thesis. (David Evans and Kevin Seymour)
Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Regina
It has been some time since the RSM contributed to the News Bulletin, so we thought it best to
refresh peoples’ memories as to the paleontology program here. The program is split between the
main Museum in Regina and our field facility, the RSM Fossil Research Station, which is located
at the T. rex Discovery Centre in Eastend in the southwest corner of the province. In Regina are
Harold Bryant, Curator of Earth Sciences, and Mel Vovchuk, part-time paleo technician whereas
Tim Tokaryk, Paleontologist, and Wes Long, Paleo Technician, man the Field Station in Eastend.
Preparation of our T. rex skeleton, which was recovered from the Frenchman Formation, and
often referred to as Scotty, continues. Wes has completed the preparation of the skull and is now
focusing his attention on the postcranial skeleton. A replica is on display at the T. rex Discovery
Centre, and a second replica is part of a traveling display that as of this writing is at the Western
Development Museum in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Phil Currie, University of Alberta, is
describing the specimen and has been a frequent visitor to Eastend as a result. Portions of the
specimen traveled to Tokyo in 2005 as part of a dinosaur exhibition held there.
A major focus of field work over the past three years has been a marine Cretaceous bonebed in
the Bearpaw Formation located northwest of Rosetown Saskatchewan. Over 1,500 bones have
been recovered thus far and the fauna includes pliosaurids, elasmosaurids, mosasaurs,
ichthyodectid fish, a large Enchodus and at least three species of selachians. Tim is sorting and
preparing the material, and focusing on the sharks with a future publication in mind. Other
projects include the preparation of a nearly complete Borealosuchus skeleton by Wes, and
preparation of a champsosaur by Mel. Both of these specimens are from the Paleocene
Ravenscrag Formation. Tim is also describing a giant trionychid humerus from the Frenchman
Formation.
For the past two years we have hosted visits by Hans Larsson, McGill University, and his
students. The focus has been on the Frenchman Formation, both near Eastend and also in
Grasslands National Park. We expect this collaboration to continue in 2008.
A couple of years ago Harold took on the role of Chief Curator and this has had a major impact
on his ability to make progress on research projects. He continues to be interested in the mid
Tertiary record in the Cypress Hills Formation in Saskatchewan and most of the research of late
has been by students at the University of Saskatchewan whom he has supervised. Recently
completed graduate research includes the description of rodents from the Whitneyan-aged
Rodent Hill Locality (MSc theses by Jennifer Rothecker and Sean Bell) and description of
insectivores from the Chadronian-aged Calf Creek and Horse localities by Taran Meyer.
Undergraduate research included aplodontid and sciurid rodents from the Orellan-aged Fossil
Bush Locality (Taran Meyer), and marsupials from the Horse Locality (Nicole Swann) and Rodent
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Hill Locality (Terri Graham). Some of this research has been reported on at recent SVP meetings,
but none have yet to be published. (Harold Bryant, Tim Tokaryk)
Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Alberta
After seven and three-quarter years in Collections, in December 2007 Jim Gardner transferred
into the Research Program as the Curator of Palaeoherpetology (amphibians and nondinosaurian
reptiles). Now that his new office and lab space are functional, Jim is reconnecting with
colleagues, catching up on the literature, and resurrecting several albanerpetontid and
salamander projects.
Donald Henderson is busy as usual with too many projects. Something different is happening this
winter—he and RTMP technician Darren Tanke will be retrieving a Parasaurolophus skull from
Dinosaur Provincial Park in January. It was found in September 2007 on the north side of the Red
Deer River in the Park. The terrain was too steep to drag the jacket up to prairie level, so it was
decided to take it down to the river and move it by boat. However, no boat was available at that
time of year, so it was decided to wait for the river to freeze, and move the jacket along the river.
The lack of snow on the river makes them think that the original toboggan idea as transport won’t
work, so it may just be simpler to drag it along the fairly smooth ice surface for the 2 km trip back
to the main RTMP camp.
David Eberth is working on a volume (co-edited by Michael Ryan and Brenda Chinnery-Algier) of
collected papers on horned dinosaurs. The volume will present the results of the very successful
Ceratopsian Symposium which was held at the Tyrrell in September of 2007. Another volume on
bonebeds (edited by David Eberth, Ray Rogers, and Tony Fiorillo), was recently published.
Donald Brinkman has been working on a study of fish remains from microvertebrate sites being
undertaken jointly with Michael Newbrey, Andrew Neuman, Allison Murray, and Mark Wilson. Don
is also working on turtles from the Paleocene of western Canada and from the Jurassic of China.
Don and Pat Holroyd have started organizing a symposium on turtles to be held at the Tyrrell
Museum in October of 2009. The symposium will be in honor of Gene Gaffney’s upcoming
retirement.
Michael Newbrey has started a postdoc with the Tyrrell and the University of Alberta. While at the
Tyrrell, his research involves describing an articulated teleost fish from the Horseshoe Canyon
Formation as well as fish remains from vertebrate microfossils in the Late Cretaceous and
Paleocene of Alberta. In addition, he is continuing his study of growth of fish and the relationship
between growth patterns and climate change.
François Therrien is working with Darla Zelenitsky on nests and embryos from the Late
Cretaceous of southern Alberta. As well, he is continuing his studies of biomechanics of jaws and
has undertaken a study of the braincase in theropod dinosaurs. (Don Brinkman)
University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
Darla Zelenitsky is a newly-hired professor in the Department of Geoscience and is currently
setting up her lab and developing new courses in vertebrate paleontology. Darla continues
collaborative work on nest sites from China, Mexico, Montana, and Korea, and did field work in
South Africa and Mongolia in 2007. Chris Matson is a new MSc student who is working on a
paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstruction of the Dinosaur Park Formation based on
paleosols to determine if the reported ornithischian faunal turnover within this formation is
correlated to environmental and/or climatic changes. MSc student Kirstin Brink is conducting a
description of the growth series of Hypacrosaurus stebingeri , and is using thin-plate spline to
look at shape change of the skull in lambeosaurs. Darla plans on recruiting new graduate
students to her program this year. Adjunct Professors François Therrien (Royal Tyrrell Museum)
and Philip Currie (University of Alberta) continue to work collaboratively with Geoscience
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departmental members and to co-supervise graduate students. Patricia Ralrick completed her
MSc entitled “Taphonomic Description and Interpretation of a Multi-taxic Bonebed at Little Fish
Lake, Alberta, Canada” in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program. Patty is now developing a PhD
project with faculty member Dr. Len Hills and Dr. Donald Brinkman (Royal Tyrrell Museum) on
faunal analysis and taphonomic equivalence of microvertebrate sites from the Scollard Formation.
In the Biological Sciences Department, Jessica Theodor is continuing work on the ear region of
Cainotherium, amongst other things. This past summer, Nicole Webster received an NSERC
Undergraduate Research Award and worked with Jessica on deciduous tooth morphology in
artiodactyls. Brendon Seale is working on his MSc project, an analysis of the ear morphology of
Protoceras. Danielle Fraser has just joined the lab, and is beginning work on Miocene ungulate
paleoecology.
In Tony Russell’s lab, Caleb Brown’s centrosaurine bone texture research is culminating in the
preparation of a manuscript to be submitted shortly. Work on the Thescelosaurus thesis
continues. Former student Heather Jamniczky (currently doing a postdoctoral fellowship in
Benedikt Hallgrimsson’s lab) reports that although most of her current work is on extant taxa, she
is working on a comparative study of turtle ear endocasts.
It’s been several years since Jason Anderson’s last update. Since arriving in Calgary in the fall of
2005 he has been busy establishing his lab, attracting a number of outstanding students, writing
grants, and developing the curriculum for a new Faculty of Veterinary Science. Work continues on
descriptions or revisions of a number of dissorophoid temnospondyls and lepospondyls, and he is
looking forward to a number of new field projects to begin in 2008. He is very thankful to Philippe
Janvier and the faculty and staff at le Museum national d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris for their
generous hospitality during his stay this past summer. Finally, he is very happy to see his edited
volume, with Hans-Dieter Sues of the Smithsonian Institute, “Major Transitions in Vertebrate
Evolution,” released by IU Press and (hopefully) selling well. It was a lot of work, and he is very
grateful for the effort of his colleagues and the fine folks at IU Press who made the volume
possible.
Within Jason’s lab, Robin Cuthbertson is investigating the phylogenetic implications of an
assemblage of Early Triassic ichthyopterygians from British Columbia. He will be leading a small
team into the alpine regions of BC this August in pursuit of his research. Hillary Maddin is
studying the origin of caecilians using a variety of techniques such as high resolution µCT
combined with neontological (“evo-devo”) and classical paleontological methods. Jordan Mallon is
examining the evolutionary paleoecology of the herbivorous dinosaurs of Alberta, using dental
microwear texture analysis as a proxy for inferring diet. Taran Meyer is studying the functional
morphology and phylogeny of some poorly understood fossil taxa from Europe in order to shed
some light on the evolution of the Eureptilia. The Anderson lab is also welcoming a French
Master’s student, Helene Bourget, on a one-year research exchange from France. She is
studying amphibamid systematics. (Darla Zelenitsky, Jessica Theodor, and Jason Anderson)
Yukon Palaeonotology Program, Whitehorse, Yukon
Dr. Grant Zazula started in December 2006 and participated in several summer field projects in
2007. Work in the Old Crow Basin of northern Yukon in collaboration with Dr. Duane Froese of
the University of Alberta focused on Pliocene-Pleistocene small mammals. These and supporting
geochronological data (distal tephra, paleomagnetics) are being compared with those from
Alaska and Siberia to help resolve some of the outstanding biostratigraphic problems for the
Holarctic region.
The program also conducted several trips to collect Late Pleistocene mammal fossils from the
Klondike placer gold mines. Over 1,800 specimens were recovered in 2007, mostly consisting of
typical Pleistocene megafauna; woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), steppe bison (Bison
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priscus), and horse (Equus lambei) with a few rare finds of short-faced bear (Arctodus simus) and
scimitar cat (Homotherium serum).
In September 2007, Zazula worked with archaeologist Glen Mackay from the Prince of Wales
Heritage Centre in the recovery of a fossil bison found melting out of the permafrost in
Tsiigehtchic, Northwest Territories. The specimen represents a nearly complete skeleton with
several bones containing preserved soft tissues, including muscle and hide. Zazula is working
with Dr. Fiona Brock of the Oxford Radiocarbon Lab to determine the bison’s age. Dr. Beth
Shapiro of Pennsylvania State University is analyzing DNA from the specimen to further
understand the phylogenetics of Pleistocene bison. The specimen represents the most complete
bison (probably Bison priscus) specimen recovered from Northwest Territories and is the first to
be radiocarbon dated.
In summer of 2008, Zazula is planning to work with Dr. David Evans of the Royal Ontario
Museum on the Late Cretaceous vertebrate fauna of the Bonnet Plume Formation. In the late
1960s geologists collected three hadrosaurid dinosaur bones from the Bonnet Plume Formation
at a locality on the Peel River, northeastern Yukon. We plan to follow up on this work by
conducting a paleontological survey of this and other Late Cretaceous outcrops in the area.
(Grant Zazula)
FRANCE (Xiaobo Yu, International Editor, [email protected])
Université de Lille, Sciences de la Terre, Laboratoire de Paléontologie
Alain Blieck’s present research deals mostly with Devonian vertebrates, with some studies of
Ordovician and Silurian ichthyofaunas.
Several papers are in press or in progress on the following topics: A new ctenaspid (Agnatha,
Heterostraci) from the Early Devonian of Nevada, with comments on taxonomy, paleobiology and
paleobiogeography, by Elliott D.K. and Blieck A.R.M., in Yu Xiaobo, Maisey J. and Miao Desui
(eds.), Fossil Fishes and Related Biota: Morphology, Phylogeny and Paleobiogeography—In
Honor of Meemann Chang, Verlag Dr. F. Pfeil, München [in press]; A revised biostratigraphy of
the Wood Bay Formation (Lower Devonian, Spitsbergen), and correlation with Russian Arctic
archipelagos, by Pernègre V. and Blieck A., Norwegian Journal of Geology [submitted]; Les
restes de Vertébrés et d’Arthropodes des Formations de Marteau et du Bois d’Ausse (Dévonien
inférieur) des coupes de Tihange et de Huy (Belgique), by Thirion F. and Blieck A., in Goemaere
E., Geeninckx S., Vanbrabant Y., Thirion F. and Blieck A., Les Formations de Marteau et du Bois
d’Ausse (Dévonien inférieur) au bord nord du Synclinorium de Dinant: Les coupes de Huy, de
Tihange et de Fond d’Oxhe. Mem. Geol. Surv. Belgium [in press; in French]; New data on
Tesseraspis mosaica Karatajute-Talimaa 1983, and other tesseraspid material from the
Lochkovian (Lower Devonian) of Severnaya Zemlya, Russia (Vertebrata: Pteraspidomorphi:
Heterostraci), by Blieck A. and Karatajute-Talimaa V.N. [to be submitted]; The LochkovianPragian boundary of Podolia (Lower Devonian, Ukraine) based upon placoderm vertebrates, by
Dupret V. and Blieck A. [to be submitted]; Early Devonian vertebrate biodiversity in Paliseul and
Wihéries, Belgium, by Pille L. and Blieck A. [to be submitted]; Vertebrate microremains from the
Devonian of the Asturo-Leonese facies, Cantabrian Mountains (northern Spain), by Randon C.,
Blieck A., Derycke C. and Garcia-Lopez S. [to be submitted].
Work in progress concentrates on (1) Early Palaeozoic vertebrates: A synthetic paper on the
Cambrian-Ordovician vert database, with S. Turner, Queensland, Australia; (2) early verts in
general: Handbook of Paleoichthyology volume 1 on “agnathans,” with D.K. Elliott (Verlag Dr. F.
Pfeil, München); (3) heterostracans: Oral communication given by D.K. Elliott at the 11th
International Symposium on Early Vertebrates, Uppsala, August 2007, followed by a field trip on
the Silurian of Gotland; (4) collaboration with V.N. Karatajute-Talimaa and Z. Zigaite, Vilnius,
Lithuania in the course of a French-Lithuanian cooperative project on the Middle Palaeozoic
vertebrates of Eurasia, including the Early Devonian agnathans of Severnaya Zemlya, the late
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Ordovician and Silurian vertebrates of Lithuania, Siberia, and central Asia; (5) prospecting the
Famennian of the Ardenne massif, Belgium, for fishes and tetrapods, organized by G. Clément
(MNHN, Paris); and (6) a review paper on the relationships of conodonts and vertebrates, in
collaboration with a group of vertebrate and conodont experts coordinated by S. Turner.
Last published papers include: Blieck A. and eight other authors 2006, La Vie en Ardenne
occidentale au Paléozoïque supérieur (Dévonien-Carbonifère, -416 à –299 Ma):
paléobiodiversité, événements paléobiologiques, paléoenvironnements, paléobiogéographie,
Géologie de la France, 2006 (1–2): 21–27 [in French]; Dumbrava M. and Blieck A. 2006, Review
of the pteraspidiform heterostracans (Vertebrata, Agnatha) from the Devonian of Podolia,
Ukraine, in the Theodor Vascautanu collection, Bucharest, Romania, Acta Palaeontologica
Romaniae, 5 [2005]: 163–171; Zigaite Z. and Blieck A. 2006, Palaeobiogeographic significance of
Early Silurian thelodonts from central Asia and southern Siberia, GFF (Geologiska Föreningens i
Stockholm Förhandlingar), 128(2): 203–206; Blieck A., Clément G., and six other authors. 2007,
The biostratigraphical and palaeogeographical framework of the earliest diversification of
tetrapods (Late Devonian), in Becker R.T. and Kirchgasser W.T. (eds.), Devonian Events and
Correlations (SDS volume in honour of M. R. House), Geol. Soc., London, Spec. Publ. 278: 219–
235 [doi: 10.1144/SP278.10]; Randon C., Derycke C., Blieck A., Perri M.C. and Spalletta C. in
press, 2007, Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous vertebrate microremains from the Carnic Alps,
northern Italy, Geobios [doi: 10.1016/j.geobios.2007.02.004].
Claire Derycke’s recent work was concerned with Late Paleozoic ichthyofauna, with a review
paper on the Paleozoic diversity in the Ardenne massif, including a section on chondrichthyans
(Blieck et al. 2006, see ref. here above with A. Blieck’s refs.); and an abstract on Famennian
microremains (mainly of acanthodians and sarcopterygians) from Durnal, Belgium, near the
tetrapod locality of Strud (Derycke C. and Clément G. 2006, Vertebrate microremains from
Famennian (Upper Devonian) siliciclastic deposits of Belgium, palaeobiogeographical and
palaeoenvironmental implications, in Qun Yang, Yongdong Wang, and Weldom, E.A. (eds.),
Ancient Life and Modern Approaches, the Second International Palaeontological Congress (June
17–21, 2006, Beijing, China). Abstract: 328–329). In October 2006 and June 2007, Claire went for
field work to Strud where a new tetrapodlike mandible was found (CNRS-Eclipse terrestrialization
programme). A project concerning the paleontological collection of the Maredsous Abbey,
Belgium, started aiming at the publication of a book on the fossils from the Viséan FossilLagerstätte of the Denée limestone. Preliminary results on this fossil locality were published in
2005 (Ivanov A. and Derycke C. 2005, Viséan elasmobranchs of Belgium, in A. Ivanov and G.
Young (eds.), Middle Palaeozoic Vertebrates of Laurussia: Relationships with Siberia,
Kazakhstan, Asia and Gondwana (St. Petersbourg, Russia, August 22–25, 2005). Ichthyolith
Issues Special Publication 9: 13–17; Derycke C., Ivanov A. and Weber H.M. 2005, A Late Viséan
vertebrate assemblage from Belgium, in Hairapetian, V. and Ginter, M. (eds.), Devonian
vertebrates of the continental margins (Yerevan, Armenia, May 22–27, 2005). Ichthyoliths) Issues
Special Publication 8: 7–8). A paper on Famennian microremains from the Carnic Alps has
recently been published (Randon C. et al., see ref. here above with A. Blieck’s refs.). With almost
the same authors, a paper on Moroccan material and on the first Sardinian Paleozoic
ichthyofauna should be soon published in the Journal of Paleontology. One of the oldest
holocephalian tooth from the Givetian of Boulonnais, northern France, has been discovered by
one of our Master’s students, L. Darras, and is compared with Thoralodus from the Famennian of
Montagne Noire, southern France; it will be submitted by Darras L., Derycke C., Blieck A. and
Vachard D. to C. R. Palevol. Its mechanical wear compared with the rhythm of shedding will be
estimated. Finally, material of Omalodus and Siberiodus from the Devonian of Boulonnais,
comparable to Mauritanian material, has been presented in Uppsala for the 40th Anniversary
Symposium on Early Vertebrates/Lower Vertebrates (13–16 August 2007), and new material from
Algeria will be part of a future project in the frame of an Algerian-French cooperative program.
(Alain Blieck)
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Northeast Region (Margaret Lewis, Regional Editor, [email protected])
Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
The evolutionary and paleontology group at Dartmouth College is growing! This year, Dartmouth
was excited to welcome two new faculty members. In July, Kathleen Muldoon joined the
departments of Anatomy (Dartmouth Medical School), and Anthropology (Dartmouth College) as
Assistant Professor. She is continuing her work on the subfossil microfauna of Madagascar,
including a new study of raptor and carnivore predation on small mammals in Ranomafana
National Park (with Sarah Karpanty, Virginia Tech University) and Patricia Wright (Stony Brook
University). She is also continuing her collaboration with Laurie Godfrey (University of
Massachusetts, Amherst) and Steve King (Stony Brook University) on the comparative analysis of
Hadropithecus, a mysterious extinct giant lemur from Madagascar. Also in July, Seth Dobson
joined the Dartmouth College faculty as Assistant Professor (Department of Anthropology). On
top of setting up the new biological anthropology lab, Seth’s research on the evolution and social
function of facial expression in primates will take him to the Simien Mountains of Ethiopia this
spring. In addition, Seth is continuing his research in functional anatomy and paleoanthropology,
and recently published on the degree and pattern of phylogenetic signal in primate long-bone
structure. Zaneta Thayer (class of 2008) is completing her senior honors thesis on the functional
anatomy of the human chin, supervised by Seth. The future of vertebrate paleontology at
Dartmouth is looking bright! (Kathleen Muldoon)
New Jersey State Museum, Trenton
We welcome Jason Schein, who has joined us as Assistant Curator of Natural History Education.
He has already set much of our new agenda in school programs and all-age presentations,
anticipating the re-opening of our renovated main building. We expect that he will make many
presentations himself. His ongoing participation in Drexel’s Patagonian dinosaur expeditions has
attracted considerable public interest, but he also has plenty of New Jersey field experience to
reveal. His thesis work on Gulf Coast Enchodus has plenty of relevance to New Jersey as well.
Rod Pellegrini has efficiently taken over collections management for us, reviewing old loans and
eliminating a backlog of other matters. We particularly appreciate the patience of those of you
who have had to wait for our collections to again become available, and we are trying to respond
to your needs as soon as we can. Rod is also taking much responsibility for an inventory of our
collections, a task made somewhat less onerous by the possibility of finding teratological
specimens of interest to him in both the fossil and recent collections. His research interests in
mosasaur skeletochronology are much appreciated by our New Jersey constituency, too.
Bill Gallagher continues to contribute greatly to both collection interests and exhibition planning,
while still finding time for field projects. He joined in a Triceratops excavation in Garfield County,
Montana, last summer; a paper about it is in press. He is also working on an upcoming exhibition
with Guest Curator Dr. Karen Reeds celebrating the work of Linnaeus and the work of the great
taxonomist’s students in New Sweden, better known nowadays as “South Jersey.” (Our Curator
of Archaeology/Ethnology, Dr. Lorraine Williams, also is an authority on this subject.) An
additional accomplishment for Bill is the success of his “Rising Tide” exhibition concept, an
exposition of sea level changes (including those by global warming) as seen in the New Jersey
geological record. This now seems assured of funding by Public Service Electric and Gas
Company for both a major exhibition and for elements to be included in the renovated Natural
History Hall.
Dave Parris continues to view the renovation of the Museum’s Natural History Hall as his major
concern; envisioning the placement of the New Jersey geological and paleontological record in a
world context (as Bill does). The five weeks that Dave spent in China with Wang Xuri (supported
by International Partnerships among Museums) enabled him to begin planning a future exhibition
(Dinosaurs of Two Continents) to further realize that goal. Meanwhile, it has been a great
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satisfaction to at last see the publication of GSA Special Paper 427, culmination of 20 years of
joint research of the New Jersey State Museum with the South Dakota School of Mines and
Technology, a collection of papers that should benefit our entire hemisphere, all the way to
Antarctica. (Dave Parris)
New York College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYCOM), Old Westbury, NY
Nikos Solounias is working on the paleoecology of the Samos ungulates and the description of
the Samos giraffids. He is also describing the bovids from the Siwaliks of Pakistan with John
Barry, Alan Gentry, and Mahmood Raza.
Matthew Mihlbachler has been preparing final edits for his revision of the Brontotheriidae which
will come out the AMNH Bulletin series later this year. He is also planning field work in Mongolia
for this summer.
Brian Beatty is working on dental microwear, variation, and pathology in sirenians, desmostylians,
odontocetes, and otters. He is also working on describing the Miocene faunas of the Gainesville
Creeks, Florida, and terrestrial mammals of the Calvert Cliffs, Maryland (with Ralph Eshelman).
Brian is currently working on studies of various North American artiodactyls, including
merycodontine antilocaprids, protoceratids, and camelids. (Brian Beatty)
Penn State University, State College, PA
Russ Graham continues his research work on two caves in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Both
caves, Don’s Gooseberry Pit and Parkers Pit, contain diverse and rich microvertebrate faunas.
Don’s Gooseberry Pit may have a continuous Holocene and late Pleistocene record as
exemplified by the boreal taxa (Dicrostonyx, Ochotona, Mictomys, Phenacomys, etc.) that have
been recovered from levels between 160–210 cm. There are at least another two to three meters
of sediment to excavate in this cave (perhaps the previous interglacial). We are excavating three
sites within Parker's Pit. Two of them appear to be of unknown Pleistocene age (we will attempt
radiocarbon dates later this spring) and the other site is a large debris cone that may also have a
continuous Holocene-Pleistocene sequence. But to date, we have only excavated in the late and
middle Holocene strata. Work will continue this summer.
Russ is also exploring the use of CT scans of cave sediment cores in interpreting the taphonomy
of microvertebrate remains. With luck, it may be possible to map the three-dimensional
coordinates, orientation, and plunge of individual microvertebrate bones and teeth in situ. This
data would be analogous to data that paleontologists already collect for the macrovertebrate
specimens. Russ is also beginning to work with colleagues from Penn State and the University of
Miami on the Little Salt Spring site in Florida. With the assistance of specially certified divers, it
may be possible to make new collections on the 27-meter ledge that previously produced a
Geochelone carapace and plastron with a potential wooden spear within it.
Russ is working with Eric Grimm (Illinois State Museum) and others to develop a new database,
that integrates vertebrate, pollen, plant macrofossil, and beetle databases. This
database will allow for the reconstruction and analysis of late Neogene North American
Ecosystems. However, it will still be possible to extract disciplinary data (e.g., FAUNMAP-type,
pollen, plant macrofossils) from it. NEOTOMA will replace FAUNMAP. We hope to test drive a beta
version this spring and make the data available on the Web by the spring of 2009, at the latest.
NEOTOMA,
Melissa Pardi has returned to Penn State after completing her senior thesis on the taphonomy of
selected levels from Don’s Gooseberry Pit. For her Master’s degree she will tackle the
paleoecology of the mammal fauna from this cave. Alex Bryck and Laurie Eccles, both
undergraduates, are working with sloth teeth. Laurie is examining the structure of the various
types of dentine of Megalonyx teeth for her senior thesis and Alex is working on the isotopic
history of a sloth tooth from Iowa that was excavated by Holmes Semken. Steve Jasinski is
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studying the functional morphology of the skull and jaws of Coelophysis as it relates to predatory
behavior for his senior thesis. (Russ Graham)
The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
The past year has been a whirlwind of activity here at Stockton. Mike Lague recently received an
NSF grant with Michael Plavcan (PI), Jackson Cothren (both University of Arkansas at
Fayetteville), and Adam Gordon (George Washington University). Using state-of-the-art
technology for quantifying bone shape, this study will evaluate patterns of postcranial dimorphism
in primates, with a special emphasis on improving understanding of sexual dimorphism in the
hominin and primate fossil record. Mike has also been working with Bernard Wood, Brian
Richmond (both George Washington University), and Nicole Collard (Sources Archaeological and
Heritage Consultants, Vancouver) on the ability of hominin mandibular morphology to
discriminate among extant hominoid taxa and support species designations among fossil
specimens assigned to the genus Homo. Mike continues his work with John Polk and other
researchers at the University of Illinois on the development of novel analytical techniques for
comparative analysis of human motion patterns.
Margaret Lewis has been working on a summary of African creodont evolution with Michael Morlo
(Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg) and is continuing to describe the carnivores from Koobi Fora,
Kenya, with Lars Werdelin (Swedish Museum of Natural History). She and Lars have also just
completed work not only on a new species of hyena from Africa, but also a preliminary paper on
the relationship between African and Eurasian species of Megantereon. Margaret will be
collecting data on North American carnivorans (finally!) during her upcoming sabbatical (2008–
2009 school year).
Mike and Margaret have finally gotten around to collaborating on a project. They are investigating
size-related shape variation in the order Carnivora and its implications for interpreting behavior in
machairodont felids. Preliminary results were presented in the “Carnivora: Phylogeny, Form and
Function Symposium” at SVP this year and will be included in a volume edited by Tony Friscia
(UCLA) and Anjali Goswami (University of Cambridge).
Monica Pineda (former undergraduate and now DPT graduate student) recently completed her
research with Mike on size/shape differences between modern human males and females in the
hip joint. Tony Fuda, Yaimi Lima, and Kevin O’Connor (undergraduates) have just begun a
project with Margaret on the functional morphology of the felid pes.
Roger Wood is continuing his research on how to prevent the creation of new turtle fossils (i.e.,
turtle conservation) in addition to his research into chelonian evolution. The fruits of his labors can
be found at www.wetlandsinstitute.org. Roger continues to be involved with the Coastal
Conservation Research Project. Students interested in the CCRP research internship should be
completing their sophomore, junior, or senior year and be interested in biological research as a
career. Recent graduates may also apply. More information is available at
http://intraweb.stockton.edu/ccrp/index.html. (Margaret Lewis)
Rowan University
Luke Holbrook is in his ninth year at Rowan and recently became chair of the Department of
Biological Sciences. He is still working on early perissodactyl phylogeny and related issues and is
working on a number of papers resulting from some visits to museums in Europe and China. He
and Margery Coombs (UMass, Amherst) recently went to Basel and Vienna to study
chalicotheriine material for a couple of projects on chalicothere evolution.
Luke is also very happy that the department hired a couple of vertebrate morphologists as
temporary faculty to help with teaching the new evolution course that serves as the entry point for
our new four-course introductory sequence for biology majors. Matt Travis comes to us from Mike
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Bell’s lab at Stony Brook, where he recently received his doctorate. His work focuses on
ontogeny and evolution in three-spined stickleback. Although Matt mostly works on living fish, he
has interests in VP stemming from some of Mike’s work. Frank Varriale joined us from Johns
Hopkins where he is finishing his dissertation on ceratopsian feeding. (Luke Holbrook)
www.dinoart.com
Bruce Mohn has added a new skeleton to his catalog of extremely detailed skeleton models, this
time of Pterodactylus sp., scaled after the larger specimens. Virtually every bone present in the
actual fossils or inferred from relatives has been modeled. Skeletons are available mounted in
any position that the real animal could have taken. The first mount (flying) has been delivered to
the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the second mount (quadrupedal) will shortly be
hopping off to Texas Tech. Next up is Rhamphorhynchus gemmingi. Contact Bruce at
[email protected] for details or see samples of his work at www.dinoart.com. (Bruce Mohn)
Southeast Region (Richard C. Hulbert, Regional Editor, [email protected])
No news received.
Midwest Region (Joshua Smith, Regional Editor, [email protected])
No news received.
Southwest Region (Chris Jass, Regional Editor, [email protected])
The dust has finally cleared from the SVP meeting held in Austin this past October. We hope that
everyone who attended found the meeting to be productive and enjoyable. UT welcomed three
new graduate students this fall (Heather Ahrens, Sebastian Egberts, and Nick Smith). Several
other students have recently graduated or are near completion of their thesis/dissertation
projects. Chris Jass and Nina Triche completed their dissertations and both officially graduated in
December. Anjan Bhullar, Eric Ekdale, Murat Maga, Lyn Murray, and Jon Wagner are anticipating
completion of their respective projects this spring. In addition to his dissertation work on the
phylogeography of caimans, Jon Wagner is continuing his work on hadrosaurian dinosaurs of Big
Bend National Park. (Chris Jass)
University of Texas at El Paso
Angela Chavez has begun her dissertation research on Pleistocene fossils from a cave site in
Hudspeth County in Trans-Pecos Texas. Preliminary work on disturbed matrix has revealed
presence of Desmodus stocki and Aztlanolagus agilis, along with the usual extinct horses and
pronghorns. The site, south of the plentiful Pleistocene record from the Guadalupe Mountains of
southeastern New Mexico and adjacent Texas should clarify environmental conditions within an
area with few data currently available. (Arthur H. Harris)
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION (Brent Breithaupt, Regional Editor, [email protected])
No news received.
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PACIFIC COAST REGION (John M. Harris, Regional Editor, [email protected])
Colorado Desert District Stout Research Center
Eight new students enrolled this November in the latest Paleontology Certification Training
program for our volunteers.
Paleontology field surveys continue in the southern and eastern Borrego Badlands focused on
the interface between the lacustrine Borrego Formation and the overlying fluvial Ocotillo
Formation, spanning the mid-Pleistocene from about 1.1 to 1.0 Ma. Similarly aged sediments on
lands recently added to Salton Sea Sector parklands in the Indio Hills, southeast of Palm Springs,
are also subject of survey and fossil recovery efforts.
We received three years’ funding for an intensive survey and study of parklands along the
southern flank of the Santa Rosa Mountains in the northern part of Anza-Borrego Desert State
Park in an area called the Truckhaven Rocks. This work follows a geologic mapping and a
reconnaissance survey by UC Riverside staff of this largely unexplored area which is underlain by
the early Pleistocene Arroyo Diablo and Olla formations.
Senior park aide paleontology staff, including Jeannie Johnstone and Scott Musick, were joined
this season by Arnie Mroz. Arnie’s experience in geology and mapping has been put to work
documenting a partially articulated Camelops skeleton and a scattered array of Equus ribs and
vertebrae in the Ocotillo Formation. Arnie will also head the Truckhaven Rocks project.
George Jefferson has set his retirement date at 1 July 2009. A search committee has been
formed and State Parks intends to fill the position with an experienced vertebrate paleontologist.
(G.T. Jefferson)
Occidental College, Los Angeles
Don Prothero has been on sabbatical since May, and finished and submitted a bunch of research
projects that were sitting on the back burner. He also completed a new book for Columbia
University Press entitled “Greenhouse of the Dinosaurs,” which should go to production soon.
Don’s two newest books both made their debut at SVP in Austin in October and did well.
“Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters,” (Columbia University Press) sold over 200
copies in two days at SVP, and is still on the amazon.com paleontology best-seller list. They're
already distributing the second printing, and now preparing the third. Don did a lot of traveling and
book promotion, including numerous radio interviews and book signings, in support of the book.
He also spoke on “The Breathtaking Inanity of Flood Geology” to the Skeptics Society in
November, and did a book signing for them as well.
Don’s volume (co-edited with Scott Foss) “The Evolution of Artiodactyls” (Johns Hopkins
University Press) sold out in less than an hour at SVP, and still continues to sell well for such a
highly technical volume. It is discounted 22% on amazon.com, for those who want to get a good
deal on a copy.
In the summer, Don and his student Geoff Cromwell did paleomagnetic sampling on the Miocene
Troublesome Formation near Kremmling, Colorado, and the results are excellent. We will be back
up there next July to finish the sampling. We also spent time in the University of Colorado and
USGS collections looking at Troublesome fossils, and Geoff has tackled some rodent jaws for a
student project.
Don continues to work with a bunch of Oxy and Caltech students on projects from Rancho La
Brea. Oxy senior Kristina Raymond has finished and published her study on sloth sexual
dimorphism, and presented her results at WAVP in February, the Southern California Academy of
Sciences in May, and SVP in October. She is doing her senior comps project on the relative
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variability of dermal/sesamoid bones vs. endochondral bones, using the large samples from the
Page Museum. She is also shopping around for grad programs for next year. Oxy seniors
Anastasiya Sutyagina and Sarah Molina are looking at the response of Rancho La Brea felids
and golden eagles (respectively) to the climatic changes of the past 40,000 years. So far, all they
find is stasis despite the large climatic changes of the last glacial-interglacial cycle.
CalTech senior Valerie Syverson finished a project with Don on the condors from Rancho La
Brea. They are indeed distinct from the modern California condor, and probably can be referred
to the Samwel Cave taxon Gymnogyps amplus. Valerie and Don are writing up their results for
publication in (where else?) Condor. She, too, is looking at grad schools for next year. (Don
Prothero)
University of Bridgeport at Rio Vista
Peter was a minor author of a paper describing a 12-print trackway from the Lower Cretaceous of
La Rioja, Spain, in Geology (35: 507–510, June 2007) with Ruben Ezquerra and Felix PerezLorente (Encisco, La Rioja) plus Stefan Doublet (Marseille) and Loic Costeur (Nantes) from
France. This trackway is of especial interest as it shows a large nonavian theropod “swimming”
by pushing asymmetrically against the bottom with the right hind leg in three-meter-deep water
against a crosswise current flowing at about 20° from its left.
A new basal Sauropodomorpha (Pradhania gracilis) and an almost complete skeleton of a large
basal Sauropoda (Lamplughsaura dharmaramensis) were described from the Lower Jurassic of
India by K. S. Kutty (Calcutta, India), Sankar Chatterjee (Lubbock), PMG, and Paul Upchurch
(London) in Journal of Paleontology (81: 1218–1240, November 2007).
The full description of the 1834 Bristol fissure-fill material was published by Peter in Revue de
Paleobiologie, Geneva (26: 501–591, December 2007). Many of the important specimens were
destroyed in 1940 so most of the illustrations published from 1840 to 1908 are reproduced, along
with photos of the more significant extant specimens. Thecodontosaurus antiquus Riley &
Stutchbury vide Owen, 1842, a nomen dubium, is restricted to the type dentaries and, tentatively,
the slender morph humeri—with diagnosis awaiting description of the referred material from the
nearby quarry in Tytherington, Avon, by Michael Banton (Bristol) and Adam Yates
(Johannesburg, South Africa). The associated pectoral girdle and forelimb (YPM 2195), that O. C.
Marsh received as a gift when he visited the Bristol City Museum in 1888, is made the holotype of
Asylosaurus yalensis. The other slender morph bones are referred to very basal
Sauropodomorpha indet., the robust morph bones to Prosauropoda/Anchisauria indet., and most
of the bones are basal Sauropodomorpha indet. A few bones and teeth are basal Theropoda
indet., Phytosauria indet. (Rileyasuchus platyodon), a pisciferous Archosauria indet.
(Palaeosauriscus cylindrodon), and a few bones are Reptilia indet. and are figured in the hope
that someone may recognize them. (Peter M. Galton)
— BULLETIN BOARD —
NEW TRAVEL GRANT FOR COLLECTIONS RESEARCH AT ROM
We are pleased to announce the launch of the M. A. Fritz Travel Grant here at the Royal Ontario
Museum. These grants are funded through the endowment created by Madeleine A. Fritz, former
curator at the ROM, for the advancement of the study of paleontology at the ROM. This award will
be given annually to help offset costs of visiting and studying the ROM vertebrate paleontology
collections. These awards are intended for students working towards a Master’s or PhD degree in
paleontology. The monetary value will be a maximum of $750 Canadian, normally granted for
travel and lodging expenses only. Deadline for receipt of proposals for 2008 is 15 March 2008.
Applicants should send their CV, plus a proposal of no more than two pages, consisting of an
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outline of the proposed research and how a visit to the ROM’s collections will be
beneficial/necessary for the completion of the thesis, plus a short budget. It is encouraged that
while visiting us, the successful applicant will give a 30-minute brownbag lunch talk on their
research. Mailed or e-mailed proposals are acceptable; we will acknowledge receipt of all
proposals, as well as inform all applicants of the successful proposal. Send your applications to:
Kevin Seymour, Section of Palaeobiology, Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum,
100 Queen’s Park, Toronto ON M5S 2C6, Canada, or [email protected].
— PUBLICATIONS —
GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY OF THE LEE CREEK MINE
Just published: Geology and Paleontology of the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina, IV, 2008.
Clayton E. Ray, David J. Bohaska, Irina A. Koretsky, Lauck W. Ward, and Lawrence G. Barnes
(eds.), Virginia Museum of Natural History Special Publication 14, pp. 1–515. $75.00.
This volume is the concluding part of a series under the same title, commenced in 1983 in the
Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology series, and is produced in a matching format and
appearance similar to the first three parts. Five chapters are devoted to papers on upper Tertiary
marine mammals, one treats remains of terrestrial mammals, another provides a stratigraphic
summary for the site and complete list of all species of organisms recovered there, and the
volume concludes with an indexed list of all publications of Remington Kellogg, to whom the book
is dedicated.
Please address electronic inquiries about purchase to [email protected]; telephone
inquiries to (276) 634-4147.
— OBITUARIES —
RENÉ LAVOCAT (1910–2007)
When René Lavocat died on 9 August at his seaside residence in the small town of Le Grau du
Roi, he was 97 years old. He was a member of our Society since 1945. He became an Honorary
Member in 1978. His long life was very productive and during all these years he enthusiastically
shared ideas concerning fossils, obviously, but also evolution,
Darwinism, religion, and philosophy with his visitors and guests, young
and older. Coming from all countries, many visited him in his lab in Paris,
then Montpellier, or in his home at Choisy-le-Roi, then Teyran. All rapidly
became his friends.
René Lavocat began his career in vertebrate paleontology just after the
defeat of the French Army, in the summer of 1940, by studying
Oligocene mammals from the Auvergne Basin in the Université
Clermont-Ferrand. Subsequently, when he came in Paris in October of
the same year, his friend and his first scientific mentor, A.-F. de
Lapparent, introduced him to Professeur Jean Piveteau, who was
teaching paleontology in the Université La Sorbonne. Professeur
Piveteau suggested that he visit the Galerie de Paléontologie of the Muséum National d’Histoire
naturelle de Paris, where he met Professeur Camille Arambourg, who was in charge of the
collections. At the museum, was able to examine collections from the same localities as those he
studied at Clermont. His first publication is the description of the skeleton of a fossil rodent! He
obtained his first position as préparateur licencié in the École Pratique des Hautes Études
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(EPHE) in 1941, where he was able to complete his thesis on the mammal faunas from Auvergne
and Velay.
After the end of the war, he participated in many geological expeditions in conjunction with
geological surveys of various countries. He was supposed to find fossils while mapping the areas
he was visiting, so while he discovered fossils, he had the opportunity to collect few. These
expeditions were carried out under very spartan conditions, in the company of a few camels and
with good shoes on his feet. Nevertheless his pioneering work resulted in the discovery of
dinosaurs and mammals in Morocco (Kem-Kem, Beni Mellal) where he made expeditions from
1947 to 1951. He walked the Sahara from Tilemsi to Niger during five months in 1952 and 1953.
In 1955, he visited the Majunga area in Malagasy where he made promising discoveries of
dinosaurs.
At the same time he was finishing his thesis (Révision de la faune des Mammifères oligocènes
d’Auvergne et du Velay, 1951), he wrote important contributions for two editorial projects: the
Traité de Zoologie directed by P.P. Grassé and the Traité de Paléontologie directed by J.
Piveteau. Because of these accomplishments, in 1952 he obtained a definitive position in the
EPHE as Directeur d'Études and was allowed to initiate the Laboratoire de Paléontologie des
Vertébrés of the EPHE, first located in the Museum of Paris. However, in 1960, he decided to
follow Louis Thaler, his only student at this time, who had obtained a position in the Université
Montpellier. From that time on his studies focused on fossil rodents. During this period, he wrote
three classic monographs, stepping stones in the modern understanding of rodent evolution, the
Miocene rodents of Beni Mellal (1961), the Oligocene rodents of Bolivia (1970), and the
monumental review of the Miocene rodents of East Africa (1973). All these works are illustrated
with excellent stereophotography.
Following these studies, his focus turned to the great controversy concerning the possible
relationships of the South American caviomorph rodents: Did they have an African or a North
American origin? His friend Albert Elmer Wood was his main opponent. Rapidly the discussion
between the two friends became the topic of many congresses fostering multidisciplinary
approaches. The subject was of broad interest because rodents were not the only group involved.
Notably, the discussions concerned possible relationships of platyrrhine primates of the New
World with Old World catarrhines. R. Lavocat defended his point of view with his very
authoritative and oratorical talent. When he retired, he carried on with paleontology. He was 80
when he gave his last analytical paper: The anatomy of the skull of a bathyergid rodent from Fort
Ternan. He computerized, and so made available for all, his bibliography of fossil rodents. He
gave many papers (translated into different languages) about the relationships between science
and religion.
A special mention must be added concerning his friendly hospitality. With the help of his wife
Marie-Jeanne, their home and garden at Teyran were always opened for good meals and long
scientific or philosophical discussion. But the group must not drink wine while eating green salad,
only water! And heaven forbid that wine should be poured in the water glass!
R. Lavocat was deeply religious, but he had a view of life in which there was no conflict between
science and religion, and particularly he never considered that Darwinian evolution could be an
obstacle to his religious beliefs. Both his faith in God and in science explain his joie de vivre. Until
a few weeks ago, young paleontologists from our lab were direct witnesses of his enthusiasm
when they visited him to show some new specimens they found at an Algerian locality he visited
50 years ago.
René Lavocat was one of the most influential French vertebrate paleontologists, and he leaves a
great memory to all who knew him and all those who benefited, and will benefit, from his
experience.
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THE SOCIETY OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY
BY-LAW ON ETHICS
http://www.vertpaleo.org/society/memberethics.cfm
SOCIETY OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Please use the following link to access the membership application form:
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Due to security restrictions inherent in MS Word 2003 and XP, if using this software, you will need
to cut and paste the above address into your Web browser to access the page, or use the
following address to access the pdf:
http://www.vertpaleo.org/membership/documents/NewMemberApplication2007-2008.pdf
SVP SPONSORS
AS OF 15 JANUARY 2008
The following individuals sponsor one or more SVP members by generously paying for their
annual dues. If you are interested in becoming an SVP sponsor, please copy and paste the
following address into your Web browser to access the SVP (printable) membership sponsor
form:
https://www.vertpaleo.org/membership/documents/SponsorshipMemberApplication07_08.pdf
For a direct hyperlink to the Web page where this form is located, click on:
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Larry Agenbroad
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David Elliott
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Michael Wayne Caldwell
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David D. Gillette
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Michal S. Ginter
Everett Lindsay
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Zhe-Xi Luo
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John M. Harris
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Mark C. Terry
Robert S. Hoffman
Jin Meng
Yukimitsu Tomida
Axel Hungerbuehler
Ellen Miller
Patricia Vickers-Rich
David B. Jones
Robert J. Rushforth
David J. Ward
Patrick Leiggi
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Judith A. Schiebout
SOCIETY OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY
DONATIONS TO THE GENERAL CONTRIBUTION FUND AND
DEDICATED FUNDS
AS OF 15 JANUARY 2008
In 1986, the Society established a General Donation Fund to meet the urgent needs of the
science as determined annually by the Executive Committee. Initially, the income was applied
largely to support the Bibliography of Fossil Vertebrates. In recent years, General Donation funds
have also been used to support many other strategic initiatives of the Society. In addition to the
General Donation Fund, there are now other Society funds that donations can be made to.
Information regarding all of the SVP funds, and how to donate to them, can be found at:
http://www.vertpaleo.org/support/index.cfm
The following individuals have made substantial donations to SVP funding intitiaives during the
2007–2008 membership year (as of 15 January 2008). SVP thanks them for their generous
support.
PATRON MEMBERS ($1,095 or more)
Christopher J. Bell
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Number 194 - Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Transcription

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