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Oldest
fossil primate from North America discovered in Mississippi
The 55.8
million year–old fossils, excavated at a site near Meridian,
Mississippi, are from a previously unknown species of extinct
primate named Teilhardina
magnoliana. Because different species of
Teilhardina once inhabited all three northern continents
at roughly the same time, it has been difficult to reconstruct
how these tiny primates dispersed over much of the globe at
a time when global climate was changing rapidly while sea levels
were also fluctuating. The
discovery sheds new light on how the earliest primates migrated
to North America during a major global warming event 55.8 million
years ago. Click
here for the CMNH Press Release.
Illustration: Mark
A. Klingler/CMNH |
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The mission of the Section of Vertebrate Paleontology at Carnegie
Museum of Natural History is to expand the scientific understanding
of fossil vertebrates through original research, to collect and
preserve vertebrate fossils through field exploration and curation
of our fossil collection, and to participate in science education
through museum exhibitions, public education, and scientific lectures.
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New
family of mammal really a living fossil
Laonastes
aenigmamus, a rodent first described in 2005, made international
headlines as the sole member of a new family of mammals.
But according
to a paper published by a team of international researchers led
by Carnegie Museum of Natural History paleontologist Mary
Dawson,
the animal is actually a surviving member of the rodent family
Diatomyidae, thought to be extinct for 11 million years. Click
here for the CMNH Press Release. Illustration:
Mark A. Klingler/CMNH
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New
Fossil of the Earliest Swimming Mammal Discovered
CMNH scientists
Zhe-Xi Luo and Alan Tabrum were on the research team that discovered
a brand new species of swimming mammal, Castorocauda lutrasimilis,
from the Jurassic lakebeds of China. The description appeared
in the February 24, 2006 issue of Science, with cover art
(at right) by CMNH Scientific Illustrator Mark A. Klingler. Click
here for the CMNH Press Release.
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Dinosaurs
in Their Time
In the century since the discovery of Diplodocus carnegii,
scientific interpretations of dinosaurs and their lives have changed
remarkably. In Spring 2005, we began the process of transforming
Dinosaur Hall into Dinosaurs in Their Time, a dramatic exhibit
arena that reflects current scientific evidence of these colossal
creatures
and their environments.
The
exhibit opened in November 2007 - click here to learn more about Dinosaurs
in Their Time.
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Fur,
Feathers and Fossils: The Art of Mark A. Klingler
through Summer 2008 at Powdermill Nature Reserve
Award-winning
Scientific Illustrator Mark
A. Klingler from the Section of Vertebrate Paleontology reconstructs
fossil organisms, a painstaking process in which Klingler must
rely on
clues which
scientists deduce
both
from the fossils themselves and from modern relatives and plants
living today.
One of Klingler's
recent projects was the reconstruction of a new, unnamed species
of oviraptorosaur (at right), one of the "feathered dinosaurs."
This image headlines the exhibit.
Fur, Feathers
and Fossils was first exhibited in the Gallery of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington
D.C. from
November 2005 through March 2006, and at Carnegie Museum of Natural
History from June-October 2006.
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