Postdoctoral Fellow
Competition and meso-evolutionary change in the mammalian fossil record
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| PI(s): |
Paula Spaeth |
| Start Date: |
1-Dec-2007 |
| End Date: |
26-Jun-2009 |
| Keywords: |
species interactions |
How have species interactions shaped the diversity of life? I propose to examine the role played by interspecific competition over evolutionary time using paleontological data. I will evaluate the strength of competition using fossil assemblages that preserve temporally and spatially circumscribed local communities of co-occurring taxa sharing a similar resource pool. This project will unite ecological methods derived from the study of modern communities with stratigraphic information from mammalian faunas from the fossil record. In contrast to previous examinations of the role of competition in generating macroevolutionary patterns of origination and extinction, I propose to examine meso-evolutionary changes such as abundance, range, and morphology shifts evident in the history of life with regard to the role played by competition. I propose to focus in particular on late-Cenozoic mammalian fossil records from the Northern Hemisphere.
Related products
Publications
- Linking big: the continuing promise of evolutionary synthesis Sidlauskas, B., G. Ganapathy, E. Hazkani-Covo, K.P. Jenkins, H. Lapp, L.W. McCall, S. Price, R. Scherle, P.A. Spaeth, and D.M. Kidd (2010). Linking big: the continuing promise of evolutionary synthesis. Evolution 64(4): 871-880.
- E. A. Hadly, P. A. Spaeth and C. Li 2009 Colloquium Papers: Niche conservatism above the species level, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, volume 106, issue Supplement_2, pp. 19707-19714
- Morphological convergence and coexistence in three sympatric North American species of Microtus (Rodentia:Arvicolinae) Spaeth, P.A. (2009). Morphological convergence and coexistence in three sympatric North American species of Microtus (Rodentia:Arvicolinae). Journal of Biogeography 36: 350-361.
- Phylogeography of Microtus longicaudus in the tectonically and glacially dynamic landscape of the Central Rocky Mountains Spaeth, P.A., M. van Tuinen, Y.L. Chan, D. Terca, and E.A. Hadly (2009). Phylogeography of Microtus longicaudus in the tectonically and glacially dynamic landscape of the Central Rocky Mountains. Journal of Mammalogy 90: 571-584.
