UI Explorers Seminar: “Alligators, Ecomorphology, and the Myth of the ‘Living Fossil'” with Jess Miller Camp
Event Details
17 N. Clinton St.
Iowa City, Iowa
Contact Name: Sarah Horgen
Email: uimnh@uiowa.edu
Phone: 319-335-0606
Website: http://uiowa.edu/mnh
Event Description
In our free, monthly, Cafe Scientifique-style series, Ph.D. Student Jess Miller Camp will discuss American Alligators and their prehistoric ancestors.
American alligators have a lot in common with modern crocodiles—they’re big, have pointy teeth, and will eat anything that fits in their mouths. It makes sense to assume their last common ancestor looked the same, but most extinct alligators are small with short snouts and big, bulbous back teeth. This means that American alligators break the “Law of the Unspecialized” and are certainly not “living fossils”, a term with a whole host of problems.
Time for questions will follow the talk, and refreshments will be served.
University of Iowa Museum of Natural History
17 N Clinton St
Iowa City, IA
319-335-0480
