Frankie Jackson is an American academic whose career has focused on the evolution and fossil history of archosaur reproduction, particularly the study of fossil eggs. Her research on fossil eggs spans five continents, and has been foundational to our views of dinosaur nesting behavior.
Frankie D. Jackson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alabama, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Montana (BA) Montana State University (PhD) |
| Known for | Paleobiology Oology Macroevolution |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Montana State University |
| Doctoral advisor | David J. Varricchio |
Early life and education
editAfter moving to Montana, she studied geography at University of Montana and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, with honors, following this with a PhD at Montana State University where she worked and taught for several decades. She was the first doctoral student granted a PhD in Earth Sciences at Montana State University.[1]
Career
editResearch
editJackson uses Scanning Electron Microscopy, histology, calculation of water vapor conductance rates, and other analytical techniques to identify eggshell and make paleoecological inferences. Her work has contributed to our understanding of theropod,[2] sauropod,[3] and turtle[4] reproductive evolution.
A special focus has been the occurrence of pathologies and microbial infections in fossil eggs.[5][6] Egg pathologies can be informative of the taphonomy of the eggshell, or the biology of the mother.[7]
She has led important work on the reproductive behavior of living animals such as turtles and crocodylians[8]
Public engagement
editJackson has used her dinosaur and avian reproductive research as the launching point for educational initiatives, including an NSF grant partnering undergraduate students with fossil egg researchers in China.[9] She was featured in Luis Chiappe and Lowell Dingus' book about the discovery of sauropod nesting sites in Argentina, "Walking on Eggs".[10]
References
edit- ^ "Frankie Jackson - PCOSUW | Montana State University".
- ^ Varricchio, D. J., Jackson, F.D., Borkowski, J., Horner, J. 1997. Nests and egg clutches of the dinosaur Troodon formosus and the evolution of avian reproductive traits. Nature 385:247-250.
- ^ Chiappe, L.M., Coria, R.A., Dingus, L., Jackson, F., Chinsamy, A., and Fox M. 1998. Sauropod Dinosaur Embryos from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia. Nature 396:258-261.
- ^ Jackson, F., Jin, X, Varricchio, D., Azuma, Y., Jiang, Y. 2008. The first in situ turtle clutch from the Cretaceous Tiantai Basin, Zhejiang Province China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28(2):319-325.
- ^ Jackson, F., Schmitt J.G. 2008. Criteria for the recognition of abnormalities in Late Cretaceous vertebrate eggs. Cretaceous Research 29:27-39.
- ^ Jackson, F., Garrido, A., Schmitt J.G., Chiappe, L.M., Dingus L., Loope, D. 2004. Abnormal, multilayered titanosaur eggs from in situ clutches (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) eggs from in situ clutches at the Auca Mahuevo locality, Neuquén Province, Argentina. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24(4):913-922.
- ^ Jackson, F.D., Varricchio D. 2003. Ovum in ovo in Coturnix japonica eggs (Japanese quail): implications for dinosaur reproductive anatomy. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23(3):699-702.
- ^ Jackson, F.D., D.J. Varricchio, R.A. Jackson, A. Walde, G. Bishop. 2015. Taphonomy of extant desert tortoise and loggerhead sea turtle nesting sites: implications for interpreting the fossil. Palaios. 30: 207–223.
- ^ "NSF Award Search: Award # 0854412 - IRES: U.S.-China Collaboration on Dinosaur Eggs and Education".
- ^ Chiappe, Luis; Dingus, Lowell (200). Walking on Eggs. Scribner. p. 224. ISBN 978-0743212113.