We’ve been busy! Here’s a roundup of what we’ve been up to over the last little while.
SVP was virtual this year, and Mike, Ben, and Abby gave talks on their research. Mike presented work that he and collaborators have been involved with in his capacity as part of Linda Frey’s thesis committee (University of Zurich)- a new Late Devonian symoriiform chondrichthyan with a strange rolling jaw apparatus. This research was recently published in Communications Biology. Ben’s (“A new reconstruction of Whatcheeria and the ecomorphological disparity of early tetrapods”) talk was, of course, all about Whatcheeria, showing off a new full-body reconstruction and comparing its unusual body proportions to other early tetrapods. Abby’s talk (“Raising endocranial data: a new Carboniferous actinopterygian and revision of Kansasiella eatoni“) featured research on actinopterygian braincases, including a new taxon and an improved diagnosis for the Pennsylvanian fish Kanasiella. Thanks to everybody who watched the talks!
Vish and colleagues in the Prince lab, including recent lab alum Tetsuto, published a review on anteroposterior regionalization of neural crest in Development. Congratulations!
But that’s not all! Ben and Vish were panelists at two of the SVP diversity sessions. Mike gave a talk to a school class in Philidelphia on the wonderful world of salamanders. Over the summer Ben called in to a summer research class at their undergrad alma mater Amherst College, and was a guest speaker for Pomona College’s course “The Cultural Politics of Dinosaurs: Race, Capitalism, and the End of the World”. Thanks to Prof. Dave Jones and Prof. Roberto Cirvent for the invites! Most recently Ben appeared on an episode of the Alf Museum’s Fossil Friday Chats, which you can watch here.
Last but not least, you may have noticed that we have a sharp new logo featuring the iconic African lungfish Protopterus annectens, courtesy of Stephanie’s prodigious art skills!