The Negaunee Integrative Research Center

As laid out in a new study in Current Biology, Jingmai and colleagues found fossilized seeds in its stomach, indicating that the species was eating fruits, despite a long-standing hypothesis that this species used its incredibly strong teeth (enamel 50 microns thick, the same as large predatory dinosaurs) to eat fish, or, according to later hypotheses, insects. About the size of a blue jay, Longipteryx was discovered in 2000, but no specimens with fossilized stomach contents had ever been found—until Jingmai visited the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature a few years back, and noticed two Longipteryx specimens that appeared to have something in their stomachs. She consulted with paleobotanist and Negaunee Associate Curator of Fossil Plants Fabiany Herrera, who was able to determine that the tiny, round structures in the birds’ stomachs were seeds from the fruits of an ancient tree. Since Longipteryx lived in a temperate climate, the team suspects that it probably wasn’t eating fruits year-round, but also ate insects when fruits weren’t available. Still unknown is the function of the long, pointy beak and incredibly strong teeth. “The thick enamel is overpowered, it seems to be weaponized,” says co-author and Resident Grad Student Alex Clark (University of Chicago). “One of the most common parts of the skeleton that birds use for aggressive displays is the rostrum, the beak.” Adds Jingmai, “there are cool little hummingbirds that have keratinous projections near the tip of the rostrum that resemble what you see in Longipteryx, and they use them as weapons to fight each other.” Thus, Longipteryx’s teeth and beak may have served as a weapon, perhaps evolving under social or sexual selection. Overall, the research helps illuminate broader questions in paleontology about the scope and limits of the information revealed by skeletal traits.

Read more in the press release, and in coverage from Newsweek, Discover mag, BBC Wildlife, and The Daily Mail, to name just a few.

* Other co-authors with Jingmai, Alex Clark, and Fabiany: Xin Yang (Field Museum, University of Chicago), Xiaoli Wang (Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature, Linyi University, Shandong University of Science and Technology), Xiaoting Zheng (Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature), Han Hu (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences), and Zhonghe Zhou (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences).

September 27. 2024

The production of snake venom involves thousands of genes, and different species of venomous snakes use different combinations and versions of those genes to produce their toxins. “Knowing what’s in a certain kind of venom can help in the development of antivenom for treating that kind of snakebite,” notes Sara. In addition, compounds in snake venoms are used in pharmaceutical development and human medicine (e.g., the first ACE-inhibitor for high blood pressure was created from a compound found in the venom of a Brazilian pit viper). To identify the genes responsible for venom production in a given species, the team developed a technique called VenomCap, a set of exon-capturing probes—groups of molecules designed to interact with a specific group of genes. VenomCap was designed to bind with any of the several thousands of genes that previous studies have shown are involved with venom production in snakes. Rather than having to sequence a snake’s entire genome (a lengthy and expensive process) and comb through it for 2,000+ possible venom-making genes, VenomCap may provide a quicker, easier means for scientists to see which of these genes a snake possesses. The team tested VenomCap’s ability to bind with venom-producing genes, using tissue samples from the family Elapidae (cobras, mambas, coral snakes, etc.), and found that on average the tool was able to match those results with 76% accuracy. VenomCap could make it easier for scientists to study the relationships between these snakes’ lifestyles and the venoms they produce, as well as provide baseline data for developing effective treatments for snakebite. Read more in the press release, and the coverage in Popular Science.

September 27. 2024

On September 13, the EAF invited former students from the University of Illinois – Chicago and the University of Wisconsin – Madison, to reflect on their experience in the lab, which some have been using since its inception, and continue to do so today. The presenters showed how the EAF has shaped their academic careers and influenced their research and teaching. This one-day conference included nine speakers and a roundtable discussion about the future of Archaeological Science and the EAF, and was attended by Museum colleagues and students and faculty of local universities and institutions. The roundtable (see photo) was moderated by Adjunct Curator Ryan Williams and Research Scientist Laure Dussubieux, co-Directors of the EAF. Speakers included Foreman Bandama (Assistant Curator of African Anthropology), Christina Friberg (Assistant Curator of North American Anthropology, FM), Luis Muro Ynoñán (Career Path Research Scientist), Alison Carter (Associate Professor Anthropology, University of Oregon) and Mark Golitko (Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame). The discussion highlighted the need for more resources to teach Archaeological Science in the U.S., and more community engagement at all levels of research. The day was capped with a reception to honor the Anthropology Alliance, which over the years has generously supported the EAF and Anthropology at the FMNH.

September 27. 2024

A third of the world's species of horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus), an Old World insectivorous group, occur in Africa. The team evaluated geographic variation in the landeri species group, a small but distinctive group of sub-Saharan species. Pooling the samples collected by various research groups enabled the team to acquire representatives from near type localities, essential for establishing a sound foundation for their classification. Analyses included mitochondrial and nuclear genetics, craniodental morphometrics, and echolocation calls. The analyses suggested that two species named early in the 20th century but treated as synonyms ever since, R. axillaris and R. dobsoni, are likely valid species. Very strong evidence suggested that East Africa’s member of the landeri complex was a new, unnamed species that is well documented in our collections. The team named it Rhinolophus webalai after long-time FMNH Research Associate Paul Webala (Maasai Mara University, Kenya) “in recognition of his important contributions as a field biologist, conservation scientist, prolific author, and mentor to Africa’s next generation.” The team suggested “Webala’s horseshoe bat” as a common name for this species.

September 27. 2024

The catch was that the competition rules prohibited any team member from setting foot in the forest. As the countdown began, a fleet of drones lifted off from the clearing to begin data collection. One of six teams competing in the XPRIZE Rainforest finals, the Map of Life team included Field Museum staff (ichthyologists Lesley de Souza and Sophie Picq, botanist Nigel Pitman, and newly hired ornithologist Cameron Rutt) and Associates (ornithologist Ramiro Melinski and botanists Luis Torres and Marcos Ríos). The MOLRA team used drone-based audio, photo, and eDNA sampling to make over 5,000 identifications across 225 unique species and 109 plant morphospecies. The fleet of lightweight drone, collected 4,000-plus photos, 26 hours of audio recordings, and 24 separate eDNA samples from the study site in a single day. Getting from raw samples to species identities was achieved through the team’s advanced new modeling technology, state-of-the-art artificial intelligence algorithms, innovative eDNA processing techniques, and collaboration with biodiversity experts not just in Brazil, but all over the world. 

The goal of the XPRIZE Rainforest competition was to spur the development of new technologies to survey biodiversity remotely, and the finals saw a parade of drones and robots and AI-powered canopy platforms. As Nigel Pitman noted,

for the Field Museum, the most important lessons coming out of XPRIZE are much more down-to-earth. Historically, the data collected in the Museum’s rapid inventories has taken years to process and share. During XPRIZE Rainforest we saw data pipelines operating more than 100 times faster than ours, capable of transferring high-quality, expert-validated biodiversity data from a remote field site to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility in a matter of hours. Indeed, after the finals all of the photographs and audio recordings collected by all of the XPRIZE teams were posted here. We learned that experts can do a great deal of species identifications remotely; not a single one of our plant and animal experts were on-site during the competition, and some were as far away as Denmark. We also learned that it is possible to deliver a comprehensive report 100 times faster than we do; at the end of the 72-hour period the Map of Life team delivered a gorgeous 230-page report on our findings, with more than 100 tables and figures, as well as a photographic field guide and a digital dashboard displaying our findings. The competition also showed how environmental DNA will boost our rapid inventory field work, by proving that the time to convert an eDNA sample into a list of species can be measured in hours. The Map of Life team pioneered some other drone-based sampling techniques that have the potential to improve rapid inventory results. For example, the team programmed drones to fly predetermined routes above the canopy, stopping at waypoints to take an array of photographs, with no piloting required even for takeoff or landing. The captured images were first run through an AI model that flagged photos containing fruits or flowers, then through another model that offered preliminary identifications of those plants. Automated sampling like this has the potential to give rapid inventory botanists a low-cost “eye in the sky” to spot canopy plants we would not otherwise detect in our ground-based surveys.

Funding for the MOLRA team was provided by the Keller Science Action Center, the Negaunee Integrative Research Center, the Grainger Bioinformatics Center, and the Walder Foundation. Winners of the competition are expected to be announced in November!

September 27. 2024