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!).

AAAS 2013 in Boston...

I was in Boston this past weekend for AAAS 2013, where I co-organized a symposium with Jere Lipps of the Cooper Center about the evolution of the Great Whales. We had a great line-up of speakers, including paleontologists, a biomechanist (Jeremy Goldbogen), a bioacoustician (Megan McKenna), an ecologist (Daniel Palacios) and a historian of science (D. Graham Burnett). (Note, the list was dominated by scientists who are US federal employees or funded by federal projects). The Sunday talks were then bookended by a lively discussion. It was a truly integrative, intellectual feast, with many narrative loops.

Plus, I got to spot some science celebrities: Steven Pinker, OSTP Director John Holdren, among others. (Doug Erwin, I'm lookin' at you).

My talk recapitulated the story of what our team has accomplished at Cerro Ballena, including an update about the latest advances we've made with the 3D datasets from the site. This video, made by Carla Schaffer at AAAS, shares some more:

More news stories to follow, I'm sure.

One year since Cerro Ballena

It was roughly a year ago that our team finished digitizing the fossil marine mammal graveyard at Cerro Ballena, in the Atacama of Chile. (It was some crazy times). In the interim, news of the site reached many different news outlets, and it got covered by a terrific piece in Smithsonian magazine. Next year, we will have much more to say about the site, so stay tuned.

Until then, check out this nice mix of time-lapses from the different days at the site, during our November 2011 work. Tip of the hat to the wonderful laser cowboys.

 

PPC 2012: Return to Santiago

After finishing our work in Caldera, we boarded a flight from Copiapo back to Santiago, where we continued our collaborative work at the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural downtown.

NDP and Jorge stand in front of the MNHN in Santiago next to a statue of Alexander von Humboldt, a hero of the age of discovery who spent a considerable part of his prolific career describing the natural history of Latin America. His name graces, among other things, the ocean current system off the Pacific coast of Chile and Peru. (Photo: C. S. Gutstein and J. Velez-Juarbe)

Humboldt worked throughout large parts of what is now Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Cuba and Mexico, but he never actually set foot in Santiago. Darwin did, though, and spent several months in Chile before heading north to Peru and the Galapagos Islands. (Photo: C. S. Gutstein and J. Velez-Juarbe)

The icon of MNHN is a whale skeleton, likely belonging to a fin whale (Balaneoptera physalus). Note the anatomically incorrect placement of the premaxillae; also, the anterior tip of the jaws should be separated about 20 cm to house this thing. Nonetheless, I can't really argue with the glory of a fin whale skeleton inside a cathedral to natural science. (Photo: J. Velez-Juarbe)

We also scope out the lower jaw of an adult sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). In the foreground stands David Rubilar Rogers, head of paleontology at the museum and longstanding collaborator of our team. His museum has sweet official team gear emblazoned with MNHN's logo. (Photo: J. Velez-Juarbe).

We got lots of great work accomplished at MNHN, which includes an extensive collection of fossils that have historically been collected from the Caldera Basin. I also encourage people to click over to Caribbean Paleobiology, where Jorge has posted some photos from our time in the Stgo.

 

Remington Kellogg Illustration Gallery now online!

 As I mentioned before, a group of us at the Smithsonian are hard at work on creating a new exhibit featuring the art and science of cetaceans -- see teasers here and here. Specifically, this exhibit, through the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, will display the outcomes of artistic and scientific collaborations behind the natural history of cetaceans (both fossil and modern), and the unique legacy of this work at NMNH. Among these interactions, which have been happening since the museum's origin, we focus on the achievements of Sydney Prentice and Remington Kellogg. Who are they, and what did they do?

Click over to the Department of Paleobiology's Kellogg Illustration Gallery to find out more! And watch the exhibit galleries at NMNH in mid 2013...

Many sincere thanks to Paleobiology's Mary Parrish and recent St. John's College graduate Julia Coursey, who were the two primary drivers behind this incredible resource and set of webpages. Click over to Mary Parrish's PaleoArt homepage, hosted by the Department of Paleobiology, to see more!

PPC 2012: More on Jorge's blog

Another post from our fieldwork near Caldera, now up over at Caribbean Paleobiology. Go check it out!

End of the day, driving back from a field locality near Caldera. (Photo: J. Velez-Juarbe)

PPC 2012: Dispatch 3

We're alternating our time out in the field with many hours in the Museo Paleontologico Caldera, housed in the old train station at the harbor of Caldera. Inside, the museum currently holds the entirety of Cerro Ballena fossils that were excavated in 2010 and 2011; we also added a few more on this trip, from some transect surveys we conducted on the west side of the road cut.

David Rubilar Rogers, from the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural in Santiago, excavates a billfish snout from Cerro Ballena that we discovered along our transect. (Photo: Jorge Velez-Juarbe).

A typical afternoon in MPC's collections. MPC curator Mario E. Suarez (in green) laughs as Mario Cozzuol, a professor at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil, shares a funny story. Note students and David Rubilar Rogers preparing fossil material at the bench. (Photo: Jorge Velez-Juarbe)

NDP excavates a mammalian vertebrae discovered along our transect. (Photo: Jorge Velez-Juarbe)

NDP photographing specimens in the MPC collections. (Photo: Jorge Velez-Juarbe)

PPC 2012: Go read Jorge's posts

Over at Caribbean Palaeobiology, NMNH resesarch student and Howard University Ph.D. candidate Jorge Velez-Juarbe is posting about his experiences here on the expedition to Chile.

Go check it out (Post 1, Post 2 and Post 3), and watch for updates. 

PPC 2012: Dispatch 2

We've spent the weekend out and about, revisiting a few localities, finding a new one, and then returning to the cabañas to discuss and write manuscripts. Today was a special blend of fieldwork at Cerro Ballena, twinned with museum work at Museo Paleontologico Caldera, in town. 

Historically, Caldera has staked its claim on being the port of call for major mining operations in the region, especially around the nearby city of Copiapo. Long-distance sea freight has made Caldera even more important, and many companies continue to set up shop in the vincity. Late afternoon, near our beach house, or home base. (Photo NDP)

A freighter anchored in Bahia Caldera, likely from India, loaded in ore, just as it was even 100 years ago in this small desert town. Cerro Ballena is in the center view of the backdrop, cut by the Pan-American Highway now running on strips both north and south. The entire 2011 quarry is now gone, but many questions remain to be answered about the locality. (Photo NDP).

The skeletons of Cerro Ballena, in their current state, at the Museo Paleontologico Caldera. Several dozen jackets -- many the size of a small boat -- along with many more dozen crates. Here, Chilean graduate students help label, triage and examine the material. Hard to believe that all of these fossils once covered the entire 2011 quarry locality, but, thankfully, they're all in a museum now. (Photo NDP)