Postdoctoral Fellow
I am examining how mammalian carnivores differentiate their diets and how they compete for resources within carnivore guilds. I will be examining both living guilds from all over the world and extinct guilds from the Pleistocene and Pliocene of North America. I will be looking at carnivore skeletal morphology to see if there is a shift in form or body size depending upon what other carnivore species are present in the guild. This data can ultimately be used to predict what will happen to the world's remaining carnivore species as other carnivore species in their guild become extinct.
For more information, my publications and CV go to:
http://www.duke.edu/~js311/
Competition, guild structure and evolution in the carnivora
| PI(s): | Julie A Meachen |
| Start Date: | 1-Aug-2009 |
| End Date: | 31-Jul-2012 |
| Keywords: | |
I am examining how mammalian carnivores differentiate their diets and how they compete for resources within carnivore guilds. I will be examining both living guilds from all over the world and extinct guilds from the Pleistocene and Pliocene of North America. I will be looking at carnivore skeletal morphology to see if there is a shift in form or body size depending upon what other carnivore species are present in the guild. This data can ultimately be used to predict what will happen to the world's remaining carnivore species as other carnivore species in their guild become extinct. For more information, my publications and CV go to:
http://www.duke.edu/~js311/
Related products
Publications- Postcranial morphology and the locomotor habits of living and extinct carnivorans Joshua X. Samuels, Julie A. Meachen and Stacey A. Sakai. 2013. Postcranial morphology and the locomotor habits of living and extinct carnivorans, Journal of Morphology, 274(2): 121-146.
- Evolution in coyotes (Canis latrans) in response to the megafaunal extinction. Meachen, J. and J.X. Samuels. In Press. Evolution in coyotes (Canis latrans) in response to the megafaunal extinction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
- Morphological convergence of the prey-killing arsenal of sabertooth predators Julie A. Meachen-Samuels. 2012, Morphological convergence of the prey-killing arsenal of sabertooth predators, Paleobiology, volume 38, issue 1, pp. 1-14
- Morphological convergence of the prey-killing arsenal of sabertooth predators Julie A. Meachen-Samuels. 2012, Morphological convergence of the prey-killing arsenal of sabertooth predators, Paleobiology, volume 38, issue 1, pp. 1-14
- Morphological convergence of the prey-killing arsenal of sabertooth predators. Meachen-Samuels, J. In Press. Morphological convergence of the prey-killing arsenal of sabertooth predators. Paleobiology.
- Aquatic adaptations in the nose of carnivorans: evidence from the turbinates. Van Valkenburgh, B., A. Curtis, J. X. Samuels, D. Bird, B. Fulkerson, J. Meachen-Samuels, and G. Slater. 2011. Aquatic adaptations in the nose of carnivorans: evidence from the turbinates. Journal of Anatomy 218: 298-310.
- Comparative scaling of humeral crosssections of felids and canids using radiographic images. Meachen-Samuels, J. (2010). Comparative scaling of humeral crosssections of felids and canids using radiographic images. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 17: 193-209.
- Sexual dimorphism and ontogenetic growth in the American lion and sabertoothed cat from Rancho La Brea Meachen-Samuels, J.A. and W.J. Binder (2010). Sexual dimorphism and ontogenetic growth in the American lion and sabertoothed cat from Rancho La Brea. Journal of Zoology 280(3): 271-279.
- publication: Radiographs Reveal Exceptional Forelimb Strength in the Sabertooth Cat, Smilodon fatalis. Meachen-Samuels, J.A. and Van Valkenburgh, B. 2010. Radiographs Reveal Exceptional Forelimb Strength in the Sabertooth Cat, Smilodon fatalis. PLoS ONE 5: e11412.
- POSTCRANIAL MORPHOLOGY AND THE LOCOMOTOR HABITS OF LIVING AND EXTINCT CARNIVORANS Sakai, Stacey, Samuels, Joshua, Meachen-Samuels, Julie 2009. POSTCRANIAL MORPHOLOGY AND THE LOCOMOTOR HABITS OF LIVING AND EXTINCT CARNIVORANS. JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY 29, Supplement 1, p174A.
- Forelimb indicators of prey-size preference in the Felidae Meachen-Samuels, J.A., and B.V. Valkenburgh (2009). Forelimb indicators of prey-size preference in the Felidae. Journal of Morphology 270(6): 729-744.
- The First Mid-blancan Occurrence of Agriotherium (Ursidae) in North America: a Record from Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho Samuels, J.X., J.A. Meachen-Samuels, and P.A. Gensler (2009). The First Mid-blancan Occurrence of Agriotherium (Ursidae) in North America: a Record from Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho. Journal of Paleontology 83(4): 597-603.
- Duke Postdoctoral Professional Development Award funded to attend SACNAS 2010 conference in Anaheim, CA in the capacity as a mentor, panelist, speaker and poster judge.
- Short untitled talk to the Pocatello, Idaho Kennel Club on canid turbinates and competition and niche partitioning in extinct canids. November 10, 2009
- short talk for triangle area SCONCs at NESCent titled, "Smilodon fatalis, a different kind of predator" on November 19, 2009
- Job interview talk for John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, titled, "Carnivore Morphology and Evolution: Past, Present and Future" given on November 17, 2009
- Meachen-Samuels, J. and J.X. Samuels. 2011. Bigger, stronger and faster in the Pleistocene: evolutionary change in coyotes (Canis latrans) after the megafaunal extinction. Society for the Study of Evolution Meeting. Norman, OK.
- Meachen-Samuels, J. 2011. Carnivore morphology and evolution: past, present and future. Marshall University, Huntington, WV.
- Meachen-Samuels, J. 2010. Carnivore morphology and evolution: past, present and future. College of Charleston, Department of Biology departmental seminar, Charleston, SC.
- Meachen-Samuels, J. 2010. Changes within carnivore guilds from the Pleistocene and Holocene of North America. 70th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Pittsburgh, PA.
- Talk presented at Society for the Study of Evolution Meeting, Portland, OR.
- MEAS Departmental seminar at NC State University, titled "Morphology and evolution in the Carnivora: past, present and future" given on February 8, 2010
- Unknown. 2009. Study paints sabertooths as relative pussycats. MSNBC News.
- Unknown. 2009. Study paints sabertooths as relative pussycats. LiveScience.
- Unknown. 2009. Sabertooth tigers were relative pussycats. Fox News.
- Smith, R. 2009. Sabertoothed males were pussycats. Duke University Office of News and Communications.
- Switek, Brian. 2009. Q: How do you sex a Smilodon? (A: Very carefully). Laelaps Science Blog.
- 2009. Sabertooth just a pussycat next to feline kin. The Durham Herald-Sun.
- 2012. Why the coyote got small. Science Now.
- 2012. What caused big coyotes to shrink to modern-day size. MSNBC.
- 2012. Ice Age coyotes were supersized compared to coyotes today, fossil study reveals. Eurekalert.
- 2012. Honey, I shrunk the coyote. Wired.
- 2012. Coyotes were bigger before Ice Age, Canis latrans orcutti fossils show. Huffington Post.
- 2012. Coyotes shrank, wolves did not, after last ice age and megafaunal extinctions. National Science Foundation.
- 2012. Sabertooth predators packed a punch. Nature.
- 2012. John Batchelor Podcasts. WABC Radio New York.
- 2012. Sturdy arms were secret to the saber-tooth's success. Science Magazine.
- 2012. Sabre-toothed cats had weaker teeth than today's house cats - and relied on strong forelimbs to subdue struggling prey. Daily Mail.
- 2012. Sabertooth cats hunted with their 'beefy' arms, scientists find. Huffington post.
- 2012. Prehistoric predators with supersized teeth had beefier arm bones. NSF Press Release.
- 2012. Wrestling ninjas -- why sabre-toothed predators have massive arms. Discover Magazine.
- 2012. Turns out, sabertooths had arms like Popeye. MSNBC.
- 2012. Powerful arms saved saber-toothed killers' fearsome fangs, study shows. History Channel.
- 2012. Prehistoric predators with supersized teeth had beefier arm bones. Eurekalert.
- Moseman, A. 2010. The saber-toothed cat's true secret: its super-strong arms. Discover Magazine.
- Yong, Ed. 2010. Sabre-tooth cats wrestled prey with powerful front legs. Discover Magazine.
- Smith, R. 2010. Why you should never arm wrestle a saber-toothed tiger. Eurekalert.
- Krishnaswamy, D. 2010. Saber-tooth tigers add powerful arms to their arsenal. Science Magazine.
- Dickey, G. 2010. Saber-toothed cats strong-armed prey. ScienceNews.
- Choi, C. 2010. Saber-toothed cats also had powerful arms. MSNBC.
- Loh, S. T. (2010). Saber Equality. The Loh Down on Science, National Public Radio.
