Presented By: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
EEB Tuesday Seminar Series: 1) Uncovering the Early Evolution of Canids from an Exceptional Skeleton of Mesocyon// 2) Reducing Plastic Waste in the Lab (Pt. 1!)
Speakers: Dr. Anne Kort, Michigan Society of Fellows Postdoctoral Scholar// Dr. Jill Myers, EEB Biodiversity Lab Manager
This week, we have two speakers for our Tuesday seminar!
Please read details below:
1) Dr. Anne Kort, Michigan Society of Fellows Postdoctoral Scholar
Title: Uncovering the Early Evolution of Canids from an Exceptional Skeleton of Mesocyon
Description: Living members of the dog family, including wolves, foxes, and our own household pets, are well-adapted for running fast and far, with long legs and stabilized joints. These skeletal adaptations appear in many fossil relatives of dogs, especially in the last 15 million years when grasslands became more dominant on the landscape. But what did the earliest members of the dog family look like? Mesocyon coryphaeus is an early relative of modern dogs that lived in the Pacific Northwest of North America approximately 30 million years ago. Although this species has been known from skulls and teeth for over a century, the skeleton of Mesocyon has been essentially unknown through this time. A spectacular fossil of Mesocyon was discovered by John Day Fossil Beds National Monument staff in the late 1980s. After over 500 hours of preparation work on and off throughout the following decades, the near-complete skeleton of this animal was fully uncovered in 2022. This skeleton is close to a coyote in size but has short, robust limbs and relatively flexible joints, suggesting that Mesocyon was an ambush predator, unlike most modern canids.
2) Dr. Jill Myers, biodiversity lab manager
Title: Reducing Plastic Waste in the Lab (Pt. 1!)
Description: Globally, research labs generate more than 12 billion pounds of plastic waste per year. Single-use plastic pipette tips are one major source of this waste. In this short talk, I will introduce our new pipette tip washing machine and share plans for its current and future use in EEB and the anticipated impacts.
Please read details below:
1) Dr. Anne Kort, Michigan Society of Fellows Postdoctoral Scholar
Title: Uncovering the Early Evolution of Canids from an Exceptional Skeleton of Mesocyon
Description: Living members of the dog family, including wolves, foxes, and our own household pets, are well-adapted for running fast and far, with long legs and stabilized joints. These skeletal adaptations appear in many fossil relatives of dogs, especially in the last 15 million years when grasslands became more dominant on the landscape. But what did the earliest members of the dog family look like? Mesocyon coryphaeus is an early relative of modern dogs that lived in the Pacific Northwest of North America approximately 30 million years ago. Although this species has been known from skulls and teeth for over a century, the skeleton of Mesocyon has been essentially unknown through this time. A spectacular fossil of Mesocyon was discovered by John Day Fossil Beds National Monument staff in the late 1980s. After over 500 hours of preparation work on and off throughout the following decades, the near-complete skeleton of this animal was fully uncovered in 2022. This skeleton is close to a coyote in size but has short, robust limbs and relatively flexible joints, suggesting that Mesocyon was an ambush predator, unlike most modern canids.
2) Dr. Jill Myers, biodiversity lab manager
Title: Reducing Plastic Waste in the Lab (Pt. 1!)
Description: Globally, research labs generate more than 12 billion pounds of plastic waste per year. Single-use plastic pipette tips are one major source of this waste. In this short talk, I will introduce our new pipette tip washing machine and share plans for its current and future use in EEB and the anticipated impacts.
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