Unexpected early whales in the North Pacific
Cheng-Hsiu Tsai & James Goedert
What kinds of things were you looking at and documenting with the Burke collections?
On this trip in January, James and I were trying to reassemble a fossil whale (collected by Jim and others from Washington State in 1999). The specimen includes hundreds if not thousands of pieces, and this whale has essentially been sitting in the Burke drawers for more than two decades. Without putting different pieces back together, it is indeed difficult to tell its significance.
What is something fun or unexpected that happened to you during your visit to the Burke?
It is not only fun but extremely rewarding when we are getting to see what and how this whale looks like. The reassembling remains unfinished, and James and I will do a bit more later this year (more likely in August). But, after our initial trials, we were able to see more features of this whale that allowed us to run some analyses. The results are so unexpected and can significantly rewrite our understanding of whale evolution. I guess I should not say too much at this stage, and James and I plan to finalize this project and submit it next year.
The origin of complex, bird-like lungs in archosaurs
Paul Bryne
What kinds of things were you looking at and documenting with the Burke collections?
In the Burke collections, I was looking at the vertebrae of a group of early ancestors to modern crocodilians, the Shuvosauridae. Their vertebrae have many hollowed-out pockets and depressions. My job was to determine if these depressions were associated with soft tissue extending from the pulmonary system. If these depressions were associated with pulmonary tissue, this means that some of the earliest ancestors of crocodilians could have had lungs more similar to those of extant birds than crocodilians.
What is something fun or unexpected that happened to you during your visit to the Burke?
I was really happy to spend some time with my friend and colleague, Elliott Armour Smith. He is an expert on shuvosaurids, and he happened to be working on the vertebrae as I was visiting. We had a few great conversations about how to reconstruct the biology of these unique animals. Afterward, we celebrated by eating as much pasta as we could in one sitting.
Fusion evolution of whale mandibles
Rebecca Strauch
What kinds of things were you looking at and documenting with the Burke collections?
During my visit at the Burke Museum, I looked at both extant and fossil cetacean mandibles. My time spent in the Burke’s Vertebrate Paleontology Collection allowed me to collect data on Oligocene and Miocene whales local to the Pacific Northwest, including the type specimens of Salishicetus meadi and Wimahl chinookensis. I was specifically interested in collecting data on the degree of fusion and elongation of the mandibular symphysis – the place where the left and right mandibles unite. In toothed whales, the symphysis tends to range from sutured to completely fused. In baleen whales, however, the mandibles are completely unfused and kinetic. My research involves documenting the diversity and degree of symphyseal fusion across Cetacea. My hope is that this research will contribute to an understanding of temporal and ecological drivers of fusion in whales. More simply put, I hope my work sheds light on the question "Why do whales fuse or not fuse their jaws?"
What is something fun or unexpected that happened to you during your visit to the Burke?
A highlight of my visit was going to the Burke’s offsite location, where some of the larger whales are stored. At the offsite location, I had to stand on a ladder to snap photos of baleen and sperm whale mandibles. I'll admit - the physical and logistical difficulties of maneuvering a 7–8-foot Bryde’s whale mandible did prompt some reflection on my decision to study such large animals. I am grateful for the help and support of the Burke’s Mammalogy Collection manager Jeff Bradley, whose willingness to help move and lift whale mandibles made my work possible.
Gorgonpsids and growth strategies
What kinds of things were you looking at and documenting with the Burke collections?
I was mainly looking at how bones articulate with each other in three different regions of the skull. The first was the back of the head (occipital region) because figures from papers don’t always highlight the exact area you want to see. The second was the jaw articulation because understanding jaw mechanics is hard when you can’t physically see the parts moving. The third region was the front of the snout. The premaxilla isn’t fully preserved in many gorgonopsids (including my specimen), so it was nice to how this bone articulates with other bones in the area.
What is something fun or unexpected that happened to you during your visit to the Burke?
The weather was surprisingly good during my visit. I was expecting a lot of rain!
