Jingmai O'Connor

Jingmai Kathleen O'Connor (Chinese: 邹晶梅; born August 26, 1983) is a paleontologist who works as a curator at the Field Museum.[2][3][1]

Dr. Jingmai K. O'Connor
Born (1983-08-26) August 26, 1983[1]
Los Angeles, California.
CitizenshipAmerican
Scientific career
FieldsPaleontology
Institutions
ThesisA Systematic Review of Enantiornithes (Aves: Ornithothoraces) (2009)
Doctoral advisorLuis M. Chiappe and Dr. David Bottjer
Websitepaleontologista.com

Biography

O'Connor is from Pasadena, California.[3] Her mother is a geologist.[4] O'Connor says that while she was not a dinosaur enthusiast as a child, being present for her mother's geology fieldwork began her interest in the subject.[4] She explains, "I enjoyed going to the field with her, collecting rocks, minerals, and fossils, and playing in the lab."[5]

O'Connor graduated from Occidental College after majoring in Geology and studying with Donald Prothero.[2] While a student, she volunteered in the paleontology department of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, working with Xiaoming Wang.[2] She received a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 2009, studying ancient birds with Luis M. Chiappe and Dr. David Bottjer.[2]

Paleontology

After obtaining her Ph.D., O'Connor moved to Beijing where she worked as a postdoc at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology.[2] Working with Zhou Zhonghe, she advanced to a full professorship while continuing her ancient bird research.[2] Professor O'Connor is half Chinese and says that she is "very, very proud and fascinated by my Chinese culture" and found moving to China to pursue paleontology very rewarding.[4]

In 2011, O'Connor named a species of Qiliania, a Cretaceous-era bird that she discovered with a team, the Qiliania graffini after Greg Graffin.[3] Graffin is most well-known as the singer of the punk band Bad Religion and is also a professor of Evolutionary biology.[6]

During her time with the Institute, O'Connor was part of a team that made discoveries of extraordinary Enantiornithes remains preserved in Burmese amber. These deposits dated to 99 million years ago and the remains are among the most well-preserved of any Mesozoic dinosaur. The team found fully feathered wings, feet, and even entire hatchlings.[7][8][9] With the team, and also as first author, Prof. O'Connor has published findings showing that enantiornithines had fully modern feathers, clarified the feather arrangements and musculature of several species.[7][10]

O'Connor was given the Charles Schuchert Award by the Paleontological Society. The award is given annually to a person under 40 whose work reflects excellence and promise in the science of paleontology.[11]

In 2020, O'Connor returned to the United States, becoming the Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles at the Field Museum in Chicago.[2] She continues to publish, and in 2021 co-authored a paper on the discovery of quartz crystals in the stomach of an enantiornithe.[5] She is also doing research within the Field's collection, studying the mysterious holes in the jaw of Sue the Tyrannosaurus rex.[12]

Works
  • When Dinosaurs Conquered the Skies: The Incredible Story of Bird Evolution (2022)

Further reading
  1. "Jingmai Kathleen O'Connor 邹晶梅: CV". Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  2. "Staff Profile: Jingmai O'Connor, Associate Curator of Fossil Reptiles". Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  3. Mahoney, Adam (2020-10-07). "Field Museum's new dinosaur curator known as 'punk rock' paleontologist". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  4. "Digging For Answers To Avians' Ancestors". Science Friday. 2020-10-02. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  5. Gorey, Colm. "Jingmai O'Connor: 'I think people imagine we spend far more time digging up fossils than we actually do'". Frontiers Science News. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  6. Feinberg, Paul. "Reading, Writing and Rock 'n' Roll". UCLA Magazine. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  7. Xing, Lida; McKellar, Ryan C.; Wang, Min; Bai, Ming; O’Connor, Jingmai K.; Benton, Michael J.; Zhang, Jianping; Wang, Yan; Tseng, Kuowei; Lockley, Martin G.; Li, Gang; Zhang, Weiwei; Xu, Xing (28 June 2016). "Mummified precocial bird wings in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber". Nature Communications. 7 (1): 12089. Bibcode:2016NatCo...712089X. doi:10.1038/ncomms12089. PMC 4931330. PMID 27352215.
  8. Xing, Lida; McKellar, Ryan C.; O’Connor, Jingmai K.; Bai, Ming; Tseng, Kuowei; Chiappe, Luis M. (30 January 2019). "A fully feathered enantiornithine foot and wing fragment preserved in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 927. Bibcode:2019NatSR...9..927X. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-37427-4. PMC 6353931. PMID 30700773.
  9. Xing, Lida; O'Connor, Jingmai K.; McKellar, Ryan C.; Chiappe, Luis M.; Tseng, Kuowei; Li, Gang; Bai, Ming (September 2017). "A mid-Cretaceous enantiornithine (Aves) hatchling preserved in Burmese amber with unusual plumage". Gondwana Research. 49: 264–277. Bibcode:2017GondR..49..264X. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2017.06.001.
  10. O’Connor, Jingmai K.; Li, Da-Qing; Lamanna, Matthew C.; Wang, Min; Harris, Jerald D.; Atterholt, Jessie; You, Hai-Lu (30 December 2015). "A new Early Cretaceous enantiornithine (Aves, Ornithothoraces) from northwestern China with elaborate tail ornamentation". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 36 (1): e1054035. doi:10.1080/02724634.2015.1054035. S2CID 85800831.
  11. "Past Awardees". Paleontological Society. Retrieved 2021-05-28.
  12. Esposito, Stefano (2021-03-10). "Shining a 'dino' light on a T. rex mystery". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
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