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Paleontology Is Far More Than New Fossil Discoveries

Paleontology Is Far More Than New Fossil Discoveries: Understanding the ancient past is critical to responding to challenges we face in the future

Roy E. Plotnick, Brendan M. Anderson, Sandra J. Carlson, Advait M. Jukar, Julien Kimmig and Elizabeth Petsios

A giant eurypterid from the Silurian of Estonia


Frozen in time, a 125-million-year-old mammal attacking a dinosaur. A 39-million-year-old whale, the heaviest animal that ever lived. The oldest known jellyfish, from 505 million years ago. Paleontology produces newsworthy discoveries.

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2023 GSA Sessions Endorsed by Paleo Society

There are abundant and diverse Topical & Discipline Sessions at GSA Connects 2023 that are endorsed by the Paleo Society!

 

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Book Review: The Story of the Dinosaurs in 25 Discoveries

Reviewed by Blandine Hautier (Bonn, Germany)

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Books available for review

Books available for review announcement - updated!

The following volumes are available to Paleontological Society members in exchange for writing a review in Priscum. Reviews should be informative, engaging, and 400–800 words long. The tone can be informal and casual, appropriate to recommending a book to colleagues. Reviews are expected to be returned within six months after receipt. Past book reviews can be found in past issues of Priscum at https://www.paleosoc.org/priscum-newsletter and https://www.paleosoc.org/blogReviewers must be a current member of the Paleontological Society before beginning review. If you are interested in reviewing one of these texts, please contact Book Reviews Editor Phil Novack-Gottshall ([email protected])

Book publishers: Please contact Book Reviews Editor Phil Novack-Gottshall ([email protected]) if you are interested in providing review copies for inclusion in Priscum, which has a readership of more than 1,100 professional and avocational paleontologists, and with reviews that are published with open access.

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A Paleontologist's Field Guide for Funding from the National Science Foundation

The 2022 Summer Policy Interns, supported by the Paleontological Society and the American Geosciences Institute, produced this handbook as a foundation for identifying and exploring funding areas within the National Science Foundation and other related funding agencies.

A Paleontologist's Field Guide for Funding from the National Science Foundation

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2023 Paleontological Society Fellows

The new fellows are

Maria Alejandra Gandolfo (Cornell University), Brian Huber (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History), Kate Lyons (University of Nebraska), and Peter Roopnarine (California Academy of Sciences)

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Pete Palmer Obituary

Pete Palmer Obituary 

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Book Review: Strata

Reviewed by Paul Strother (Boston College Weston Observatory)

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Book Review: Rare and Wonderful Treasures

Reviewed by Paul Strother (Boston College Weston Observatory)

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Book Review: Nature Through Time

Reviewed by Bruce Rothschild (Indiana University Health, formerly Carnegie Museum of Natural History)

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Book Review: Life Through the Ages

Reviewed by Phil Novack-Gottshall (Benedictine University, Lisle, IL)

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Book Review: When Humans Nearly Vanished

Reviewed by Andrej Spiridonov (Vilnius University, Lithuania & Nature Research Centre, Lithuania)

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Book Review: Animal Movement

Reviewed by Ephraim Nissan (London, England)

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Book Review: Vertebrate Skeletal Histology and Paleohistology

Reviewed by James Farlow (Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN)

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Book Review: Trilobites of the British Isles

Reviewed by Phil Novack-Gottshall (Benedictine University, Lisle, IL)

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DEEP Award

The Paleontological Society is now soliciting for nominations for the inaugural DEEP Award!  

 
The Diversity Engagement and Enhancement in Paleontology (DEEP) Award is presented to early career professionals and students who have enhanced the global paleontology community by advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the field. The awards will be presented during the annual Geological Society of America conference. 
 
The deadline to nominate for the DEEP awards is February 12, 2023. 

Award Criteria:
Early career professionals as well as undergraduate and graduate students are eligible. Individuals are eligible regardless of their status as Paleontological Society members. Nominees eligible for the award will include: currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students; students in gap years between 2-year and 4-year degrees or between undergraduate and graduate school; postdoctoral scholars; those currently employed as paleontologists in academia, industry, government, or a museum and have received their terminal degree 5 years or fewer before the nomination.
 
Nomination Procedures:
Nominations can be submitted by a second party or can be self-nominated. To keep the selection process fair for everyone, only one letter of support is accepted per nominee. Contact information for the nominator and letter of support should be included. 
 
Please use this form to submit your nomination:  https://forms.gle/QHTVLu47tPqf7Xp39
 
For those who are self-nominating:  Please provide your letter of nomination and one email to contact for one letter of support. 
For those who are nominating someone else:  Please only provide your letter of nomination. You will not need to provide a letter of support. 
 
The letter of nomination and letter of support should be no more than two (2) pages single-spaced, and address how the nominee has excelled in one or more of the following pursuits:
 
  • Leadership in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • Innovation in the design and implementation of programs or other initiatives dedicated to enhancing diversity, equity and inclusion.
  • Recruitment and retention such as via recruitment events, mentoring, funding or program implementation.
  • Any additional relevant factors to further describe the impact of the nominee’s efforts to promote a diverse and welcoming environment in the paleontological sciences. 
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Jood Al Aswad.
 
Sincerely,
The DEEP Award Committee of the Paleontological Society

PS Student Rep Applications

The Paleontological Society is soliciting applications for a Student Representative to Council. 

Eligibility: We encourage applications from paleontology graduate students who are early-mid stage in their graduate programs from all backgrounds and institutions, particularly those that have historically been under-represented on the Paleontological Society Council.

The Role: Student Representatives serve as voices for student needs in the Society and play leading roles in student activities including organizing student events at the annual Geological Society of America conference. Student Representatives are further encouraged to develop and lead new student initiatives. In this role, students gain knowledge of the inner workings of an international organization and experience in professional service.

The selected Student Representative (who will start their role in the fall of 2023) will join current Student Representative Sam Ocon and serve a two-year term (Fall 2023–Fall 2025). Student Representatives attend two virtual Council meetings per year (one during fall and the other during spring).

Application Requirements:

Please fill out the google form and provide each question with long-answer responses (at least one paragraph per question) to be considered for this position.





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Book Review: Penguins: The Ultimate Guide

Reviewed by Ephraim Nissan (London, England)

 
De Roy, T., M. Jones, and J. Cornthwaite, eds. 2022. Penguins: The Ultimate Guide. Second edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 240 pp. ($28.00 cloth, $19.60 e-book with 20% PS discount.)

This lavishly illustrated, large-format book provides a full-rounded treatment of all extant penguin species, but it also is an eye-opener on fossil and subfossil penguin species. Part 1 is by Tui de Roy, and covers their life cycle, the “jackass” group of braying penguins, Antarctica’s three long-tailed species (the Adélie, chinstrap, and Gentoo penguins), the crested penguins, the rockhoppers, the Little penguin of Oceania, and finally the King and Emperor penguins of Antarctica.

Julie Cornthwaite authored Part 3, surveying all species one by one, in profiles sharing their structure. Part 2 instead, “Science and Conservation”, is edited by Mark Jones, and comprises 17 chapters (all but the first, of just two pages) by different scholars. For example, “March of the Fossil Penguins” by Daniel Ksepka (pp. 158–159), and Matthew Shawkey’s “Penguin Colours and Pigments” (pp. 162–163), which also discusses their evolution (a glitch chopped off its last line): “melanosomes from [the 36-million-year-old] Inkayacu [giant penguin found mummified (p. 159)] were smaller than those from modern penguins, and more similar in size and shape to those of other birds” (p. 162): perhaps larger melanosomes make feathers stiffer. “Second, Inkayacu’s plumage lacked countershading. Instead it had a brown underside and grey back” (162). Seals were diversifying, and countershading may have evolved as a response to increasing predation pressure.

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Book Review: Dragons’ Teeth and Thunderstones: The Quest for the Meaning of Fossils

Reviewed by Andrej Spiridonov (Vilnius University, Lithuania & Nature Research Centre, Lithuania)

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2022 Paleontological Society Fellows

We are delighted to announce the newest Paleontological Society Fellows:  Annalisa Berta (San Diego State University), Carlos Jaramillo (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute), Johnny Waters (University of West Georgia and Appalachian State University), and Lisa White (UC Museum of Paleontology). 


Annalisa Berta (San Diego State University) is recognized for her numerous wide-ranging and impactful contributions to our understanding of marine mammals, including their anatomy, physiology, ontogeny, sensory biology, phylogenetics, and evolutionary history; for her outstanding record of teaching and mentorship; and for her extensive service to the profession, including her pioneering efforts promoting the work of women in paleontology most notably through her book Rebels, Scholars, Explorers: Women in Vertebrate Paleontology.

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