Paleontology/Geobiology

The Jackson School's paleontology program is distinguished by its diverse and active faculty, modern equipment, and extensive reference collection. It has perennially been considered one of the top paleontology programs in the nation.

Paleontological research at the Jackson School is motivated by several overarching questions: What were the causes and mechanisms for change in major lineages represented in the fossil record? What is the evolutionary history of lineages such as echinoderms, reptiles, and mammals? How can we use the fossil record and phylogenetic hypotheses to test current theories, and make predictions about potential consequences of current global-change phenomena?

Vertebrate paleontologists in the Jackson School focus on the evolutionary morphology of vertebrates, evolutionary ecology (recent and ancient), phylogenetic systematics, and the evolution of development. A major tool in this work is a high resolution computer-aided tomography scanner for 3D imaging of fossil vertebrates.

Invertebrate paleontologists in the Jackson School focus on the development of early Paleozoic echinoderms. This includes trying to determine the origin, early evolutionary history, paleoecology and closest relatives of the earliest crinoids in the Early Ordovician based on new collections from the Rocky Mountains. Researchers are also looking at the expansion of all types of echinoderms during the Cambrian Explosion and the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event.

There is also interest among the School's invertebrate paleontologists in relationships between organisms over time, especially within reef environments. Rudists, a type of extinct bivalve important in reef environments, are a particular focus of interest. Researchers explore the connections between changes in major reef-building organisms through time to better understand how conditions in the global ocean changed. Because they provide a unique long term perspective, the University's extensive fossil collections are used by researchers to relate ancient to modern climate changes.

Faculty & Research Scientists

	Christopher J Bell Vertebrate paleontology, North American Pliocene and Pleistocene small mammal biostratigraphy and biochronology, osteology, anatomy, and systematics of squamate reptiles and turtles, Impacts of climate change on vertebrate communities
	Philip C Bennett Aqueous geochemistry, geomicrobiology, environmental and microbial geochemistry, hydrogeology
	Julia A Clarke Vertebrate paleontology, systematics, evolution of morphology, avian anatomy and the evolution of flight, fossil birds.
	Matthew W Colbert Paleontology, CT data visualization, vertebrate cranial morphology, evolutionary and postnatal ontogenetic variation in the Tapiroidea (Mammalia: Perissodactyla), ontogenetic sequence analysis, digital educational resources
	Robert L Folk Sedimentary Petrology. studying mineralogy and nannobiology of hot springs in Italy, the role of nannobacteria in creating carbonate rocks. work on cherts, opals, sulfides of iron and other metals, and metal oxides, nannobacteria in martian meteorites and weathering of igneous rocks by nannobacteria under a variety of conditions in Tahiti, West Texas, and Lombardia, Italy.
	Kitty L Milliken Petrography and geochemistry of siliciclastic rocks; diagenesis; electron microbeam methods: X-ray mapping, cathodoluminescence imaging; micro-scale reservoir characterization
	Christopher R Omelon Bacteria-mineral interactions; microbial biosignatures; polar and desert environments; cyanobacteria; electron microscopy; synchrotron radiation.
	Timothy B Rowe Vertebrate paleontology, evolution and development of the vertebrate skeleton, phylogenetic systematics, the early history of mammals and their extinct relatives among Synapsida, the history of birds and their extinct relatives among Dinosauria, the history of other amniotes, high-resolution X-ray computed tomography, CT scanner, DigiMorph, informatics
	James T Sprinkle Invertebrate paleontology; evolutionary biology; fossil and living echinoderms; echinoderm systematics; Paleozoic marine communities and ecosystems; paleoecology; crinoids; blastoids; rhombiferans; eocrinoids; parablastoids; blastozoans; edrioasteroids; edrioblastoids; starfish; stylophorans; ctenocystoids; helicoplacoids; Cambrian evolutionary fauna; Paleozoic evolutionary fauna; Ordovician radiation; Cambrian explosion; environment & earth science

Postdoctoral Researchers

Jakob Vinther

Research Staff

Graduate Students

	Robert W Burroughs I am an evolutionary paleobiologist. I am broadly interested in evaluating macroevolutionary patterns found in extant clades and their underlying mechanisms. A focus on macroevolution, necessarily requires an in-depth and critical understanding of the fossil record of extant groups. My research focuses on modes of evolution, speciation, and biogeographic distributions of taxa. At present, I am evaluating Bayesian statistical methods for, reconstructing phylogeny, understanding mosaic evolution, and evaluating the impact of systematic bias in conducting ...
	Lauren English My research interests primarily revolve around the use of computational methods to evaluate morphology in extinct vertebrates and how it relates to mechanical and ecological function as well as broad-scale evolutionary trends. All taxonomic groups are potentially of interest to me, though I am particularly drawn to animals with unusual morphologies that were very different from any living taxa. I am also rather interested in morphological changes associated with major evolutionary transitions, such as evolving ...
	Felicia Kulp
	Zhiheng Li My research interests center on the morphological evolution of birds, from Mesozoic birds to living birds. I am working on a number of well-preserved early Cretaceous and Miocene birds from China. By comparing these extinct birds with their living counterparts, I am also looking into their feeding adaptation and ecology, trying to figure out the role of specific dietary preferences in driving bird evolution.
	Joshua Lively
	Adam D Marsh Morphology and evolutionary history of sauropodomorph and early saurischian dinosaurs. Stratigraphy of the Glen Canyon Group of Arizona and New Mexico. Geochemical dating techniques. Actinide mineral crystal chemistry.
	James V Proffitt My research focuses on vertebrate evolutionary morphology and systematics, particularly in the modern avian clade. More specifically, I am interested in the patterns of morphological and ecological disparity in Neornithine birds, and how fossils can inform our understanding of the processes that generated this disparity. Secondarily, I have a strong interest in locomotor biomechanics and physiology of extant species of birds. I am also interested in comparative phylogenetic methods and their utility in resolving modern ...
	Rachel V Simon Rachel Simon is interest in the evolution of mammals. For her thesis, she is describing the skull of the long-beaked echidna and writing a diagnosis for Monotremata, Ornithorhynchidae, and Tachyglossidae using parsimony analysis. Rachel would like to continue to her PhD, following up on the evolutionary history of montremes or studying the evolution of mammalian sensory systems.
	Michelle Stocker I am a vertebrate paleontologist who examines questions about the evolution of tetrapods within an explicitly phylogenetic framework. I have interests in comparative anatomy and osteology of tetrapods, biostratigraphy and biochronology, and macroevolution. I am interested in how a cladistic framework modifies our secondary inferences, such as the use of vertebrates for biochronology or our understanding of paleobiogeographic patterns, in the fossil record. I explore the acquisition of the modern fauna through extinction and diversification ...
	Natasha S Vitek I am broadly interested in spatiotemporal variation and its influence on evolutionary processes. At UT, my thesis research focuses on how well different factors explain variation in the Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) both now and in the Pleistocene. I've done additional research into the systematics of extinct soft-shelled turtles (Trionychidae) and the taphonomy of extraordinarily well-preserved feathers.
	Travis Z Wicks

High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Facility The High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography Facility at The University of Texas at Austin (UTCT) is a national shared multi-user facility supported by the Instrumentation and Facilities Program of NSF's Earth Sciences (EAR) directorate. UTCT offers scientific researchers across the earth, biological and engineering sciences access to a completely nondestructive technique for visualizing features in the interior of opaque solid objects, and for obtaining digital information on their 3D geometries and properties.

Affiliated UT Programs & Centers

Environmental Science Institute The Environmental Science Institute is a multi-disciplinary institute for basic scientific research in environmental studies founded by The University of Texas at Austin. The Institute serves as a focal point on campus for a wide scope of interdisciplinary research and teaching involving the complex interactions of the biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere in the Earth system, as well as the human dimensions of these interactions.

Non-vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory NPL was created in 1999 as an answer to the increasing conservation and curation issues developing with the huge increase in collection size. Collections placed in the care of TNSC mainly were derived from research at the BEG, the UTDGS and the Museum (TMM) itself. Other material came from orphaned collections within Texas. Numerous other collections have been contributed as donations. Although an exact count has never been made, the collection is estimated to contain about 4 million specimens.

Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory The mission of the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory is three-fold, involving research, conservation, and education pertaining to the history of vertebrates. In particular, VPL focuses on the history of vertebrates in Texas and adjacent regions, but much broader studies are also conducted to establish a national and global context for Texas vertebrate history.