TEACHING AND RESEARCH AREAS
Molecular Paleontology: Preservation and detection of original molecular fragments in well preserved fossil specimens
Molecular diagenesis and taphonomy: The examination of exceptionally well preserved fossils-those with soft tissues, color patterns, or original hard-part mineralogy or molecular signals preserved. Why are they preserved that way, and what are the biogeochemical conditions that led to such preservation?
Evolution of physiological and reproductive strategies in dinosaurs and their bird descendants. Were dinosaurs warm-blooded, cold-blooded or something in-between?
Astrobiology: Can we use the tools of molecular paleontology to detect biomarkers not only in fossils but also in extraterrestrial samples? Did life never evolve on other planets? Did it evolve then go extinct? Or is it thriving now?
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
Schweitzer MH, Wittmeyer JL, Horner JR. 2005. Gender-specific reproductive tissue in ratites and Tyrannosaurus rex. Science 308:1456-1460.
Schweitzer MH, Wittmeyer JL, Horner JR, Toporski JB. 2005. Soft Tissue Vessels and Cellular Preservation in Tyrannosaurus rex. Science 307: 1952-1955.
Avci, R., M. Schweitzer, R. D. Boyd, J. Wittmeyer, F. Teran Arce, J. O. Calvo. 2005. Preservation of bone collagen from the late Cretaceous period, studied by immunolocalization and atomic force microscopy. Langmuir 21(8):3584 – 3590.
Schweitzer MH, LM Chiappe, AC Garrido, JM Lowenstein, SH Pincus. Molecular preservation in Late Cretaceous sauropod dinosaur eggshells. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. 272:775-784.
Channing, A, MH Schweitzer, JR Horner, T McEneaney. 2005. Novel preservation of a Pleistocene bird. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B. 272:905-911.
Schweitzer MH. 2003. The future of molecular paleontology. Paleontologica Electronica 5(2).
Schweitzer MH, CL Hill, JM Asara, WS Lane, SH PIncus, 2002. Identification of immunoreactive material in mammoth fossils. Journal of Molecular Evolution, 55:696-705.
Chin K, DA Eberth, MH Schweitzer, TA Rando, WJ Sloboda, JR Horner. 2003. Remarkable preservation of muscle tissue within a tyrannosaurid coprolite. Palaios, 18: 287-293.
Jackson, FD, MH Schweitzer, JG Schmitt. 2002. Dinosaur eggshell study using Scanning Electron Microscopy. Scanning, 24:217-223.
Schweitzer MH, and CL Marshall. 2001. A molecular model for the evolution of endothermy in the theropod-bird lineage. Journal of Experimental Zoology (Mol. Devel. Evol.) 291:317-338.
Schweitzer MH, FD Jackson, LM Chiappe, JO Calvo, DE Rubilar. 2001. Late Cretaceous avian eggs with embryos from Argentina. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 22(1):191-195.
http://www.meas.ncsu.edu/faculty/schweitzer/schweitzer.htm