News
PhD student Robin Cuthbertson picks up the torch of another U of C pioneer, alumna Betsy Nicholls, who changed the face of prehistory by unearthing the largest marine reptile ever found.
Unearthed over three summers between 1999 and 2001 by U of C alumna and renowned paleontologist Elizabeth (Betsy) Nicholls, the 220-million-year-old fossil measures 23 metres long and bears a one-and-a-half-tonne skull. Looking much like a dolphin with an elongated snout, the gigantic reptile, known as an ichthyosaur, transformed scientists' understanding of life in the prehistoric ocean and launched new questions that researchers are pursuing today.
"I always thought that studying marine retiles would be my foot in the door for studying dinosaurs," says the 29-year-old Winnipeg native, who first encountered Nicholls' work as an undergraduate student at the University of Manitoba.
Spring 2007: From Feet to Flippers: Searching for Ancient Roots in Marine Reptiles' Family Tree
The description of an ancient amphibian that millions of years ago swam in quiet pools and caught mayflies on the surrounding land in Texas has set to rest one of the greatest current controversies in vertebrate evolution. The discovery was made by a research team led by scientists at the University of Calgary.
The examination and detailed description of the fossil, Gerobatrachus hottoni (meaning Hotton's elder frog), proves the previously disputed fact that some modern amphibians, frogs and salamanders evolved from one ancient amphibian group called temnospondyls.
May 21, 2008: "Frogamander" helps resolve amphibian evolution debate
August 22, 2008: Jordan Mallon was promoted to the PhD program
Congratulations Jordon!
November 21, 2008: Hillary Maddin successfully completed her PhD candidacy examination!
Congratulations Hillary!
December 5, 2008: Robin Cuthbertson successfully completed his PhD candidacy examination!
Congratulations Robin!
"The Rangifer Anatomy Project began in 2008, building on long-term work with northern hunters and government biologists in the Northwest Territories. The team is integrating scientific information with the traditional knowledge of elders and hunters from northern communities to view caribou anatomy through their eyes. This interaction will enable the scientists to share their unique knowledge, obtain insight into the user needs, and will also provide opportunities to gather information on traditional uses of caribou from participating Dene, Inuit, Cree, and Métis hunters, youth, and elders."
"In the collaborative spirit of the new Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary, the Rangifer Anatomy Project is led by Dr. Susan Kutz and Dr. Ryan Brook in the Department of Ecosystem and Public Health with Dr. Christoph Mülling and Dr. Jason Anderson in the Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine; and Dr. Peter Flood, emeritus professor, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan."
January 2009: Mapping Caribou - The 'Rangifer Anatomy Project'
"A fossil discovery by U of C researchers has set to rest one of the greatest current controversies in vertebrate evolution. It proves that frogs and salamanders are related.
Jason Anderson, an assistant professor at the U of C Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, will speak about this connection and the fossil which sealed the gap.
His hour-long talk is open to the public and will take place on Jan. 22.
DATE: Thursday, Jan. 22
TIME: 12 noon
LOCATION: Biological Sciences Building, Room 211
January 22, 2009: Seminar - "What the 'Frogamander' tells us about amphibian origins"
May 7th, 2009: Congratulations to Hillary Maddin for winning an Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship!
January 28, 2009: Many thanks to Alberta Advanced Education and Technology for awarding the Anderson and Theodor labs an SEGP for their application entitled: High Power Micro-Computed Tomography (CT) at the University of Calgary.
Science News: "Recently, however, Anderson and his colleagues unearthed Gerobatrachus hottoni, a species whose genus name means 'elder frog.' The single specimen unearthed so far is about 11 centimeters long, the size of most modern-day salamanders. It was found in a two-foot-thick knob of 290-million-year-old, fine-grained siltstone in north-central Texas. Even though the fossil was found in rocks deposited just before the start of the lengthy gap in the fossil record, the remains have features characteristic of the frogs and salamanders that presumably descended from it or others like it, Anderson says."
January 31, 2009: Mining the Gaps: Transitional fossils are the hardest to find, but sometimes tell the best stories
Live Science: "Last year, scientists announced the discovery of Gerobatrachus hottorni, aka the frogamander. Technically, it's a toothed amphibian, but it shows the common origins of frogs and salamanders, scientists say, with a wide skull and large ear drum (like frogs) and two fused ankle bones as seen in salamanders."
February 11, 2009: Fossils Reveal Truth About Darwin's Theory
