The shells of abundant, tiny, marine organisms known as foraminifera deform when exposed to environmental pollutants. When foraminifera die they leave behind these shells as a record of the conditions through which they lived. A team of researchers, including professor emeritus/UCMP curator Jere Lipps, reported on the usefulness of forams as environmental indicators after studying the impact of the 1978 Amoco Cadiz oil spill on the Brittany Coast. This work was presented on September 7 by … [Read more...] about Using foraminifera as environmental indicators after an oil spill
Latest News
Museum nomads
For many paleobiologists summer is that part of the year during which data is gathered in its purest form: fossils. Such summers may take you in diametrically opposite directions, though. Some bring broadly boasted outdoor adventures of fieldwork. Others, however, take you deeper and deeper into the collection labyrinths in the dark bowls of natural history museums around the globe. Despite what others may let you believe - and don’t tell anyone we told you - fieldwork is often boring, tedious … [Read more...] about Museum nomads
Hiring for a faculty position in invertebrate paleobiology
The Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, is soliciting applications for a tenure track position (Assistant Professor) in Paleobiology. The successful candidate will also serve as a curator in the University of California Museum of Paleontology. If you're interested, please read the complete job listing. … [Read more...] about Hiring for a faculty position in invertebrate paleobiology
$25,000 gift to support COPUS
We are pleased to announce the receipt of an unrestricted gift in the amount of $25,000 from The Whitman Institute to support the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) project. Being involved in COPUS has been an extraordinary experience, but it is not all that easy to explain – probably because it is so simple. It is all about connecting people and ideas and the common thread is sharing science. The idea for COPUS began in 2006 at UCMP with an NSF-funded meeting of a small … [Read more...] about $25,000 gift to support COPUS
Quental and Marshall Feature Article
Congratulations to Tiago Quental and Charles Marshall whose paper, Diversity dynamics: molecular phylogenies need the fossil record, was designated as the featured article in the June 21, 2010 issue of Trends in Ecology and Evolution. When asked to reflect on the importance of the fossil record in our understanding of today’s biodiversity, Tiago responded: Biologists, typically overlook the fossil record when trying to explain how we got to our current biodiversity, in part because for many … [Read more...] about Quental and Marshall Feature Article
Fossils in our own backyard
Museum visitors often ask if our fossils come in from expeditions to remote places. I tell them that some do, but many are found right here in California by local people or via construction projects. For example, our most recent addition to the collections is part of a mammoth along with some other Pleistocene-aged mammals. They were uncovered during the excavation of a storm water retention basin on the campus of Los Positas College in Livermore. Our collection’s next addition of Bay Area … [Read more...] about Fossils in our own backyard
Paleo Video: Snail shell mystery
If you study snails, you’ve got to be patient. But two UCMP graduate students, Jann Vendetti and Scott Fay, used time-lapse photography to kick slow snails into high gear. They discovered some surprising behavior in snails living today—and in snails that lived millions of years in the past. The video features snails of two species: Kelletia kelletii, and Busycotypus canaliculatus (also known as Busycon canaliculatum). This group of animals is so numerous and diverse—in lifestyle, natural … [Read more...] about Paleo Video: Snail shell mystery
A tribute to Dawn E. Peterson
It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Dawn E. Peterson, who succumbed to brain cancer on June 29 at the age of 61. They were truly an extraordinary one-of-a-kind character - a bipolar, transgender, self-taught ostracodologist! As a young person at the University of Minnesota, Don's mental disability surfaced and abruptly ended their first semester. The disorder led them to spiral downward into the darkest realms of life before settling down as a sculptor and marrying. Their … [Read more...] about A tribute to Dawn E. Peterson
Even a mantis shrimp is what it eats
Ask most anyone what butterflies use their wings for or what fish do with their fins and you will undoubtedly hear an answer like, "Wings are used for flying and fins are used for swimming!" Some body parts just seem so well-adapted to perform certain functions; this is why there is a paradigm in biology that "specialized" body parts correspond to specific ways in which animals go about their daily business. In other words, specialization in morphology corresponds to specialization in ecology. … [Read more...] about Even a mantis shrimp is what it eats
The latest UCMP newsletter is now online
Find out even more about what's happening at UCMP by reading the latest online edition of our newsletter. Read about how we've secured important fossil collections by moving them from run-down off-site storage to an immaculate new facility. Find out how UCMP fared at the latest Cal Day. Get an update on the field work of paleobotanist Cindy Looy in Caprock Canyon State Park. Plus a letter from the director, awards, accolades, and more! And if you'd like to receive the UCMP newsletter by … [Read more...] about The latest UCMP newsletter is now online
Global warming and declining mammal diversity: new research in Nature
Popular images of Ice Age California tend to feature enormous, extinct mammals like mammoths and saber-toothed cats. By contrast, new research published in Nature examines populations of small mammals that survived through the end of the Ice Age and how they were affected by the climate change. The research team of Jessica Blois (formerly at Stanford, now at University of Wisconsin, Madison), Elizabeth Hadly (formerly of UCMP, now at Stanford) and Jenny McGuire (UCMP) studied fossilized … [Read more...] about Global warming and declining mammal diversity: new research in Nature
Marine vertebrate paleontology in Half Moon Bay
This week, we welcome guest blogger Robert Boessenecker. Bobby has been interested in paleontology since he was a kid. He grew up in the Bay Area; when he found Miocene shark teeth in the Santa Cruz Mountains, he was hooked. He first got involved with the UCMP when he was a high school freshman — he visited the museum with his dad, to interview UCMP Assistant Director Mark Goodwin for a school project. Bobby is now getting a Masters' degree at Montana State University. He studies the taphonomy … [Read more...] about Marine vertebrate paleontology in Half Moon Bay
Think Evolution II: a summer institute for science educators
Join us at the UCMP for a fun-filled five days of evolutionary explorations with biologists and educators from the University of California. On August 2-6, UCMP and the National Center for Science Education will host a workshop for middle school, high school, and community college biology teachers and science educators. Scientists will discuss their research, covering topics like molecular evolution, developmental biology, and human evolution. Learn how you can integrate cutting-edge … [Read more...] about Think Evolution II: a summer institute for science educators
Special exhibit: Fossil eggshell
This week, we've launched a new online special exhibit — Fossil eggshell: Fragments from the past. This is the best online source of information about fossil eggshell — you can't find this info anywhere else! This special exhibit was created in collaboration with Laura E. Wilson, Karen Chin and Emily S. Bray, from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Frankie D. Jackson from Montana State University. We can learn a lot from fossil eggshell. Using scanning electron microscopy, we can examine … [Read more...] about Special exhibit: Fossil eggshell
UCMP’s Tony Barnosky on Science Friday
Mounting evidence suggests we may be on the cusp of a major extinction event. Last week, UCMP Faculty Curator Tony Barnosky talked about modern extinctions on Science Friday, a weekly science talk show on NPR. Tony was joined by Barry Sinervo, Professor at UC Santa Cruz, George Amato, of the Sackler Institute and the American Museum of Natural History, and Vance Vredenburg, Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University. In a lively conversation, Tony and the guests discussed many … [Read more...] about UCMP’s Tony Barnosky on Science Friday
Evo in the news: Making sense of ancient homonin DNA
When archaeologists discovered a 40,000 year old pinky bone in a Siberian cave, everyone wondered who the bone belonged to. Researchers extracted DNA from the fossil and used it to construct an evolutionary tree to see how the pinky bone's owner was related to modern day humans and Neanderthals. Scientists were surprised by what they found — read more about it in this month's Evo in the news: Making sense of ancient homonin DNA. Each month, the UCMP's Understanding Evolution website features an … [Read more...] about Evo in the news: Making sense of ancient homonin DNA
Congratulations Tim White!
Congratulations are due to Tim White, Director of the Human Evolution Research Center and Faculty Curator at the UCMP! Tim was selected by Time Magazine as one of The 100 Most Influential People in the World. Tim receives this recognition for his work on human evolution. This past fall, Tim and his colleagues published numerous papers on Ardipithecus ramidus, the oldest and most complete skeleton of a human ancestor. Congratulations, Tim! … [Read more...] about Congratulations Tim White!
The game of prehistoric life
Evolve or Perish is a new board game – not from the makers of Monopoly, but from ETE, the Evolution of the Terrestrial Ecosystems Program, at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. UCMP Faculty Curators Cindy Looy and Ivo Duijnstee designed the game in collaboration with illustrator Hannah Bonner. Hannah is well-known for her cartoon paleobooks When Bugs Were Big and When Fish Got Feet. The three enjoy collaborating -- Hannah created the logo for Cindy's lab's web site, and she is … [Read more...] about The game of prehistoric life
Cal Day at the UCMP
Thanks for joining us on Cal Day! Here are some photos from a few of the UCMP's Cal Day events. At Fun with Fossils, visitors used microscopes to look for fossils. They picked through matrix collected at the Bug Creek Anthills in Montana. People found reptile vertebrae, fish scales… and one little girl found a dinosaur tooth! The courtyard of VLSB was buzzing as hundreds of visitors perused the Biodiversity Roadshow. This exhibit included specimens from many of the Berkeley Natural History … [Read more...] about Cal Day at the UCMP
Visit the UCMP on Cal Day!
Join us at the UCMP on Cal Day, Saturday April 17! Events run from 9am to 4pm; check the schedule for a full listing of activities. Here are just a few of the Cal Day events at the UCMP: ~ Take a tour of the collections with a museum scientist. The collections are open to the public just one day a year, so this is your chance! Tours are held throughout the day, but tickets are first-come, first- served, and they go fast — come early to pick up your free tickets in advance. ~ Visit the special … [Read more...] about Visit the UCMP on Cal Day!