Research associate and dinosaur researcher Tracy Thomson of the UC Davis Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences will give a talk on Feb. 21 during the 15th annual Biodiversity Museum Day. He he is at an undisclosed area to collect fossils. Photo courtesy of Tracy Thompson, UC Davis

DAVIS, CA (MPG) - Research associate and dinosaur researcher Tracy Thomson, PhD, of the UC Davis Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences will speak on "Hobnobbing in the Cretaceous: What's Up With Dinosaur Forelimbs?" during the 15th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day

It will be part of the series of speakers addressing the crowd from 4 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21 in the Silverado Vineyards' Sensory Theatre, Sensory Building, Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, 392 Old Davis Road.  Each speaker will present a 15-minute talk.

“The Alvarezsauridae are a family of theropod dinosaurs characterized by relatively short and highly modified forelimbs,” Thomson says in his abstract. “The recent discovery of a new species from Mongolia with unusual spikes and an enlarged claw on its hand prompted the speculative interpretation that it was an egg-eater using its forelimbs for handling and opening hard-shelled eggs. However, animals that eat eggs today do not require specialized limbs or claws to open and eat the contents and the only animals specialized for eating eggs are a few species of snakes which lack limbs altogether." 

"I view the egg-eating hypothesis as a 'just-so' story seeking to explain the admittedly enigmatic forelimbs possessed by alvarezsaurid dinosaurs and propose an alternative hypothesis for their function: to facilitate social interactions,” Thomsons said. “Today, many organisms possess specialized and unique biological structures that function to produce, send, and receive signals that communicate specific messages to members of their own species."

"For example, several species of pond turtles possess elongated foreclaws which are used to stroke or 'titillate' females during courtship rituals. Birds of prey engage in cartwheeling where two individuals lock talons and freefall through the air. There are countless examples of such social behaviors associated with signaling found throughout the animal kingdom, many of which are facilitated by unusual or specialized biological structures. Perhaps the enigmatic forelimbs of alvarezsaurids, and structures observed in other fossil organisms, were simply used to communicate and/or receive the signals required for successful social behaviors." 

"Space is limited in," said BioDiv Day chair Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, "so it's best to arrive early." The list of speakers, topics. and times are as follows.

4 p.m.: Pallavi Shakya, doctoral candidate, lab of nematologist Shahid Siddique, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, "Into the Nematode World."

4:15 p.m.: "Samantha "Sam" Murray, education and garden coordinator of The Bee Haven and member of the Elina Niño bee lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, "Creating Your Own Pollinator Haven"

4:30 p.m.: Tracy Thomson, research assistant, UC Davis Earth and Planetary Sciences, "Hobnobbing in the Cretaceous: What's Up With Dinosaur Forelimbs?"

4:45 p.m.: Kyria Boundy-Mills, collection curator and research microbiologist, Phaff Yeast Collection, "Creative Uses of Yeasts."

BioDiv Day, a free and family friendly event, will showcase 12 museums or collection across campus within varying times between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's a "Super Science Day" where you watch a carnivorous plant eat a fly,  pet a stick insect, photograph a bald eagle, time-travel two billion years, stare down a T. rex, learn how to plant a pollinator garden, try your hand at flintnapping, laugh at yeast jokes, and take home seed cookies for the pollinators. 

It's a day to discover, explore and connect, said BioDiv committee chair Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology. 

See more at https://biodiversitymuseumday.ucdavis.edu/