Pyenson Lab

A Panamanian story: Part 3

Picking up where we left off (Part 1 and Part 2), I wanted to finish the set of posts about the fossil dolphin skull from Piña, on the Caribbean side of Panama.

Recently at NMNH, we've been inspired by the hard work of the laser cowboys (check out this month's Smithsonian magazine), and have started a nascent 3D digitization program in the department of Paleobiology. The goal is to generate high-resolution 3D digital datasets of museum specimens by combining laser surface scanning, photogrammetry and CT imaging -- as close as we can get to a full digital avatar of the real thing. 3D printing is just a small end result of what we hope is a much more accessible final set of products that connect everyone to what we do at the Smithsonian. The video below, featuring the laser cowboys (Adam Metallo and Vince Rossi from the Smithsonian Digitization Program Office's 3D Lab), explains this approach a bit better:

 

Back to the skull: as USNM 546125, the Panamanian dolphin skull. As a future holotype, it will become part of the type series of fossil marine mammals here at NMNH, and it is an excellent candidate to receive the full digital treatment. Holly Little, a recent hire and long-standing co-conspirator with the laser cowboys, has been hard at work on digitizing this specimen, and we plan to share more down the road. But for now, here's a preview:

A 3D point cloud of USNM 546125, made from many hundreds of "laser brushes" using the high-resolution laser arm scanner. The more trippy the better the quality of the dataset -- seriously! (h/t Holly Little).

A Panamanian story: Part 2

After a long delay, I can finally circle back to continue an on-going story.

Previously (see Part 1, and links therein), I mentioned the discovery of a strange fossil toothed whale skull on the Caribbean coast of Panama.

The story continues early last year, when the skull and Dioselina, its discoverer, arrived at NMNH. Dioselina had earned a fellowship from STRI with the specific purpose to learn preparation techniques in vertebrate paleontology in the VP Prep Lab at NMNH, and then apply those skills to assist in the preparation of the skull from Piña.

Dioselina and Jorge open field bags and organize fragmentary bones and teeth associated with the skull from Piña. Note the use of fieldnotes! (Photo NDP)

Dioselina tackled the challenges of a new city, a different language, and a learning a new set of scientific tools with aplomb. When she left last summer, she had finished freeing the final elements from the rock that encased them, and we were left with a shoulder blade, a complete jaw (with a full set of teeth), and more than 1/2 of the skull. The specimen is now USNM 546125.

Dioselina begins preparation on the plaster jacket containing the skull in Paleobiology's VP Prep Lab (Photo Dioselina Vigil)

The plaster jacket, prior to preparation, containing what we thought were jaw bones. They contained a shoulder blade. (Photo Dioselina Vigil)

The same plaster jacket from above, several days later into its preparation. We were still unaware that it contained a shoulder blade. (Photo Dioselina Vigil)

The scapula, now revealed. (Photo Dioselina Vigil)

 An interesting fact we discovered along the way: the Piña skull's not a squalodontid. (Not by a taxonomic mile). The teeth that we saw in the field, and from the original field photos, were somewhat similar, overall, to the classic squalodont teeth that have been known for hundreds of years. But many of the details of the skull revealed during preparation -- especially in the bones underlying the blowhole -- lead us to think that this individual was more closely related to Amazon River dolphins. We hope to say more, and with a stronger scientific basis, when we report on the skeletal material in more detail in the future.

The jaws and skull, now with much of the surrounding rock removed. Compare this image with the picture of Dioselina at work, above. It's quite a beautiful specimen! (Photo Dioselina Vigil)

And the skull (seen from the side from which it was originally found) and the jaws (with teeth), awaiting more delicate preparation in temporary jackets. (Photo Dioselina Vigil)

The story doesn't end there. (And Part 3 will come much sooner than Part 2!). But, while you wait, please go check out Jorge's latest adventures...in Panama! After completing and defending his dissertation last year, Dr. Velez-Juarbe is now a PCP-PIRE postdoctoral fellow for the University of Florida. The majority of his focus will be on collecting and describing fossils from Panama while training the next generation of Panamanian paleontologists. (Including a return to the Piña locality!).

A Panamanian story: Part 1

Sometimes, in paleontology, serendipity can take you a long way.

About a year ago, Jorge and I received a call from Aaron O'Dea, a colleague from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. 

(A sequence of our field work, putting a plaster jacket on the fossil, working in the tidally influenced field locality. NDP in the gray ballcap, Jorge in the yellow cap, and Dioselina Vigil, the skull's discoverer, in the background of the top picture. Photo credit: Aaron O'Dea, STRI/Center for Tropical Paleoecology and Archaeology)

Less than a month later, Jorge and I were on a flight to Panama, with the specific purpose to recover the skull of a fossil toothed whale from a late Miocene site along the Caribbean coast. Our friendly hosts and collaborators at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) played an important role, and we were able to prospect the exposed rocks with some extra time and eyes, finding some more surprises.

Read more about the first part of this story, on the Panama side, which was posted on the Smithsonian's Ocean Portal, including:

- Nick's blog posts (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) on the Ocean Portal's new Paleobiology Blog;

- A slideshow featuring photos snapped along the way;

- And a time-lapse video of the excavation site. We had to work fast!

(The skull as it appeared in 2010, under water. The snout extends to the left, and the inside of the braincase is to the right. Photo credit: Dioselina Vigil, STRI/Center for Tropical Paleoecology and Archaeology)

We initially thought that the skull belonged to a squalodontid, an extinct group of toothed whales that are best known from the Miocene of Maryland and Virginia, but we now think otherwise. That story, about how the skull traveled to NMNH, involves its discoverer, Dioselina Vigil, and highlights her internship in the Department of Paleobiology's Vertebrate Paleontology preparation lab. Check back soon for Part 2 of this story.