Patterns of insect herbivory in a fossilized tropical forest from the age of dinosaurs
Cynthia Looy, Professor
Integrative Biology
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2025.
At present, flowering plants (angiosperms) represent ~90% of the land plant species and are dominant in most global biomes. However, the first flowering plant is known from the fossil record around 135 million years ago (mya) during the Early Cretaceous, much more recent compared to the gymnosperms, which first appeared around 319 mya. They rapidly diversified during the Cretaceous (135-66 mya) when global temperatures were much higher and conditions were more equable year-round. By the end of the Cretaceous before the Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass Extinction that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs, flowering plants were thought to have risen to dominance in many communities. Yet there is little direct evidence for how the diversification of angiosperms affected forest structure and function. In particular, what were the impacts on other organisms in these ancient forest communities?
The Jose Creek flora (75 mya, New Mexico) is one of the most diverse single deposit Cretaceous floras known to date, and flowering plants are the most diverse and ecologically dominant group across the landscape, which is unusual for its coevals. This entire tropical forest was preserved on-site by a volcanic ashfall event. We aim to understand biotic interactions in this unique and hyperdiverse fossil forest, by studying the patterns of insect herbivory left on fossil leaves. Some specialized feeding types such as gall and mining can be used to identify insects and/or other terrestrial arthropods that produced such traces and reconstruct the herbivorous insect communities that were living in the forest. Understanding the patterns of insect herbivory in this fossilized tropical forest that captured the rapid ecological expansion of flowering plants may provide us a better understanding of plant-insect interactions we observe and experience currently in the midst of environmental challenges.
Role: We are looking for a student who will assist obtaining measurements from the images of fossil leaves, using ImageJ software, entering data into excel, data analysis and literature study. Specific weekly tasks of the project include:
1) Data entry and management
2) Performing digital measurements using photoshop and/or imagej
3) Literature study
Qualifications: We are looking for a person who can devote 3-5 hours a week to the project. Attention to detail and ability to remain focused during repetitive measurements is a must. No previous experience is required.
The student will gain experience in data collection, management, and image analyses. Supervision will be from graduate student Jaemin Lee and Prof. Cindy Looy. We will work in person, in the UC Museum of Paleontology.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Jaemin Lee, Graduate Student
Hours: 3-5 hrs
Related website: http://www.looylab.org/
Environmental Issues Biological & Health Sciences