Collecting Mammal Fossil Occurrences from Databases and the Literature
Charles Marshall, Professor
Integrative Biology
Closed. This professor is continuing with Spring 2024 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Fall 2024.
This research seeks to understand the factors responsible for species dispersal. Specifically, we are interested in dispersals during an event known as the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). GABI was a large-scale exchange of taxa between North and South America via the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama. These dispersals were primarily concentrated within the last 3 million years and involve a wide variety of taxa. The Interchange may have been facilitated by an increase in appropriate habitat, but it is unclear why some animals shifted their ranges, but others did not. We use ecological niche modeling to reconstruct habitat suitability. To construct a model fossil locality data is required. This data typically comes from databases and the literature, and the age of the localities must be further constrained via a literature search.
Role: The URAP student will help us download locality data on mammalian groups (like pronghorns and beavers) from databases, and search the literature for additional fossil occurrences, and references for age constraints. The student will be trained in data entry and management and literature search best practices by Kat Magoulick, who will work closely with the student. Students will also collaborate with each other at weekly meetings.
Qualifications: No specific experience is required, but attention to detail and patience for thorough searches of the literature is important. The student should also be curious and motivated to participate in paleontological research.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Kat Magoulick, Ph.D. candidate
Hours: to be negotiated
Biological & Health Sciences Environmental Issues