From: Madhur Anand
To: Sigma Xi Society University of Toronto Chapter
Subject: Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecture - March 25, 2010 - Dinosaurs!
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SIGMA XI SOCIETY -- UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO CHAPTER DISTINGUISHED LECTURE
SERIES
http://www.sigmaxi.utoronto.ca/events
*New Insights Into the Paleobiology of Crested Duck-billed Dinosaurs*
Professor David C. Evans
Associate Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology
Department of Natural History (Palaeobiology) Royal Ontario Museum
Thursday, March 25, 2010, 4:30pm
Ramsay Wright Zoological Laboratories
25 Harbord Street, Lecture Room 432
University of Toronto
Location map: http://www.sigmaxi.utoronto.ca/events/location.html
Abstract: Lambeosaurine dinosaurs are characterized by extravagant bony head
crests that contain their elongated and convoluted nasal passages. The
strange crests come in wide variety of shapes and sizes, even in closely
related species.This has led to a number of popularly known speculations on
their palaeobiology that contributed to the refreshed view of dinosaurs put
forth in the 'dinosaur renaissance' of the 1970s. Few of these ideas have
ever been rigorously tested. CT scanning was used to reconstruct the brains
and nasal cavities of four species in order to test hypotheses of cranial
crest function. The new study suggests that the crests did not evolve to
improve olfaction, but documents a delicate inner ear that confirms that
these dinosaurs could hear the low-frequency calls hypothesized to have been
produced by the crests. When all the available information is put together,
it confirms ideas that the crest played an important role in intraspecific
communication. Differences in the relative prominence of the crest at
presumed maturity in Corythosaurus and Lambeosaurus are textbook examples of
sexual dimorphism in dinosaurs. A new field-based study demonstrates that
crest morphs within each genus are largely stratigraphically segregated,
with presumed males occurring in different sratigraphic levels than putative
females. This data rejects sexual dimorphism, but does not preclude possible
anagenetic interpretations. These studies demonstrate the power of using an
integrated approach combining 3D imaging, growth studies, biostratigraphy
and phylogenetic sampling to test ideas about the function and evolution of
unusual structures in extinct animals.
All students, faculty, and the general public are welcome.
--
Madhur Anand
Associate Professor & Canada Research Chair
Global Ecological Change (GEC) Laboratory
School of Environmental Sciences
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario
N1G 2W1
519-824-4120 x56254
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~manand
President,
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
University of Toronto Chapter
http://www.sigmaxi.utoronto.ca/index.html
co-Editor, Regreen: New Canadian Ecological Poetry
http://www.yourscrivenerpress.com/default.asp?id=2055
Café Scientifique 2009-10
http://www.uoguelph.ca/cafescientifique
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