MCZ Faculty Director Jim Hanken, Faculty-Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology Stephanie Pierce and Preparator Chris Capobianco visited the Harvard-owned land in Goshen County, Wyoming last week. This was the first visit to the site in nearly 80 years, when paleontologist excavated about 4,000 pounds of material. Read more about the visit in The Torrington Telegram.
Congratulations to MCZ Faculty-Curator George Lauder, named Harvard College Professor. It is a five-year appointment providing faculty with extra support, one way Harvard awards excellence in teaching.
Dr. Peter Cummings and George Farah of Boston University recently utilized the MCZ's Ornithology collection to investigate whether woodpeckers exhibited some of the same signs of brain injury detectable in humans. The behavior of woodpeckers of pecking at trees with their bills to extract insects or to create nest cavities makes them an interesting group to study in this way. The brains of several of the MCZ’s preserved woodpecker specimens were tested and revealed some distinct signs of brain injury including the presence of phosphorylated tau proteins which have been linked to detectability... Read more about MCZ specimens used for research on woodpeckers and possible brain damage
