Last month, Dr. Adiel Klompmaker (UA Museums’ Curator of Paleontology) and Dr. Cristina Robins (a UA Museums’ Research Associate) participated in the 8th Symposium on Fossil Decapod Crustaceans organized in Zaragoza, Spain.
Research News
Diversity of Nearctic Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata)
A new paper in Diversity, authored by a team of international collaborators that was headed up by Dr. John Abbott (Director of The University of Alabama’s Department of Museum Research and Collections) and Dr. Cornelio Bota Sierra (Postdoctoral Research, The University of Alabama Museums) about the Diversity of Nearctic Dragonflies and Damselflies has been published.
Dragonfly ID and Genetics Workshop in Colombia
From June 16-21, Dr. John Abbott (Director of The University of Alabama Museum’s Research and Collections) and Kendra Abbott (Alabama Museum of Natural History‘s Research and Outreach Coordinator) traveled to Colombia to conduct a Dragonfly ID and Genetics Workshop, as part of the GEODE research project.
Six new fossil squat lobster taxa discovered
Squat lobsters of the Galatheoidea superfamily live in all oceans today, from shallow waters to depths of thousands of meters, and from hot hydrothermal vents to cold waters in the polar regions. The number of extant species is currently ~1,300 species, many of which are truly colorful.
Most diverse, oldest fauna of hermit crabs discovered
The evolutionary history of hermit crabs (Paguroidea) has been unraveling over the last 15 years. While claws were mainly reported before then, dozens of species based on millimeter-sized carapaces have been discovered and described since 2008.
Preservation of parasitism in deep time
Over the last two months, two new books on parasitism in the fossil record were published as part of the Topics in Geobiology series. The last one appeared online on 1 January 2022.
Crustaceans as hosts of parasites
Over the last decade, parasites in the marine fossil record have been increasingly studied. The scientific community has shown that part of the lack of knowledge about marine parasites in deep time is simply due to a lack of research.
Animals hidden in a 100-million-year-old giant clam
The sea floor was a dangerous place for particularly smaller animals. Over the last century, a wealth of information about traces in ancient prey items has been recorded, showing successful and unsuccessful predation. One of the best ways to largely avoid predators and other disturbances is to find a shelter.
Increase in Marine Parasitism Through Time Linked to Biodiversity
Evidence of parasitism in the fossil record has historically received little attention because parasites are small, these soft bodied animals do not fossilize well, and there is an enormous lack of study.
‘Living Fossil’ Damselflies Get Their Own Families!
A large molecular study has confirmed what was thought for a while: some isolated groups with at most a handful of species each are so unique that they have no close living relatives remaining. Five new families were named and two were revived.