Larry Martin

Research Interests: Quaternary paleoenvironments and community evolution; climate and evolution; the fossil history of disease; the fossil history of early birds, rodents and carnivores with an emphasis on functional morphology.

Martin developed a two semester course in bone identification for archaeologists in 1973 and taught it for several decades.He has been very active in the development of zooarchaeology both as an instrument for understanding past cultures and a historical database for understanding modern biogeography.This work ties in very closely with an interest in the effects of climate change on the biota.Along with Adrian Melott, a physicist at the University of Kansas, he helped develop a “Minor in Astrobiology” at the University and they co-authored with others, a significant paper on the effects of gamma-ray bursts as a cause of mass extinction.He works extensively on the Pleistocene biogeography of North America and proposed a series of “Faunal Provinces” as well as a system of biostratigraphic zones based on the evolution and extinction of arvicolid rodents.He has worked extensively on fossil carnivores and helped introduce the giant extinct saber-tooth, Barbourofelis, the cookie-cutter sabertooth, Xenosmilus and the American cheetah, Miracinonyx to the North American paleofauna.He, along with J. Babiarz and V. Naples, presently has a book on, The Other Sabertooths, coming out in June, 2011.Martin, Naples and T. J. Meehan have agreed to begin another book with John Hopkins Press on “Ecomorph Evolution”.

Martin works closely with Dr. B. Rothschild on a new approach to the fossil history of disease using population data rather than individual examples.They wrote a nearly 400 page reference work and organized paleopathology workshops for national meetings of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.They are presently interested in the origin and original spread of tuberculosis.

Martin along with other members of the Division of Vertebrate Paleontology have a number of projects with colleagues in Korea and China on Mesozoic birds and many of these have resulted in publications in Science, Nature and PNAS including the discovery of the most famous fossil bird after Archaeopteryx, Confusciusornis ; the discovery of predentary bones in early ornithurine birds, and evidence for venom in the dinosaur-like bird Sinornithosaurus.He recently co-edited with Gareth Dyke a special volume of the journal, Systematic Paleontology, in Memory of the distinguished British Paleontologist, Cyril Walker.

Desui Miao

In last decade, Collection Manager Dr. Desui Miao has collaborated with his Chinese colleagues, mainly Prof. Mee-mann Chang, at Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Beijing on several Paleogene fish groups that showed a trans-Pacific distribution pattern, an overview of the Mesozoic fishes of Asia, an Early Cretaceous lamprey from Jehol biota, and an extraordinarily thick-boned cyprinid from the northern Tibetan plateau that was linked to the aridification of the region. He also co-edited a book on Jehol biota.

David A. Burnham

Dr. David A. Burnham is the Division's preparator and specializes in paleontological techniques that greatly enhance the information we can extract from the fossil record. This work includes the transfer of fossil skeletons out of rock matrix to fully expose the specimens and allows three-dimensional study of the bones. Such a technique provides superior quality x-rays and specimen casts.  Both are used to determine range of motion for locomotion and helps to predict lifestyles with accurate postures. One example is the four-winged glider, Microraptor, that was replicated from the original bones and a life model was then flown to test its flight capabilities. With this new data, Dr. Burnham, along with colleagues from KU and Northeastern University (Shenyang, China), concluded that the Microrator was an adept glider--strongly suggesting that the evolution of flight began in the treetops. Dr. Burnham’s research focuses on sickle-clawed, birdlike raptors called dromaeosaurs, a group that includes Velociraptor and Microraptor. This bizarre group tells a story of a transition from tree-dwelling forms, such as Microraptor, to ground runners such as Velociraptor and Bambiraptor. This group is considered part of the lineage leading to modern birds and therefore important to our understanding the evolution of flight. More recently, again in conjunction with collaborators from KU and China, the discovery of the venomous attributes of another dromaeosaur, Sinornithosaurus, has added another intriguing page to their paleoecology.