Species named after EEB Professor Blaire Van Valkenburgh

Scientists have named a new fossil sabertooth carnivore after our own UCLA EEB Professor, Blaire Van Valkenburgh: – Diegoaelurus vanvalkenburghae. The authors (Zack, Poust, & Wagner, 2022, PeerJ), who do not know Prof. Van Valkenburgh personally, state that this discovery is “Named in honor of Dr. Blaire Van Valkenburgh, in recognition of her substantial contributions to our understanding of iterative evolution in carnivorous mammals and saber-tooth paleoecology.”

For full article please visit <a href=”https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/newly-discovered-saber-tooth-predator-shows-how-hypercarnivores-evolved/”> Scientific American, “Newly Discovered Saber-Tooth Predator Shows How Hypercarnivores Evolved”</a>.