elcome to the Mammalian Morphology and Evolution Laboratory. Here you will find information about the people who work in the lab and detailed summaries of the research that they are doing. This site provides access to publications produced by the lab members as well as abstracts of presentations given at past and upcoming national and international scientific meetings. Our laboratory is responsible for managing a collection of almost 5,000 mammal specimens. This site provides access to a searchable database covering our entire collection. Finally, we have included a link to lecture notes for a college-level course in Mammalogy. These notes are complemented by a searchable database that includes images and information about the diet, anatomy, and geographic distribution of most groups of mammals.
Research in the Mammalian Morphology and Evolution laboratory has two over-riding goals: to visualize patterns in the evolution of feeding in mammals, and to identify mechanisms underlying the evolution of diversity in the feeding apparatus. To accomplish these goals, we integrate data summarizing morphology, behavior, performance, and ecology. These elements are integrally linked in the daily lives of mammals. Over evolutionary time, natural selection and the interactions among morphology, behavior, performance, and ecology have given rise to the diversity of mammals we see today.
Our research focuses on bats as model organisms because they are exceptionally diverse in terms of anatomy and behavior, and their evolutionary history is well documented. Bats also pose interesting ecological questions. For example, how do similar species living in the same areas divide available food resources? And, what are the evolutionary relationships between bats and the foods they eat? Our work has centered on two convergent lineages of tropical fruit-eating bats, the New World leaf-nosed bats (Family Phyllostomidae) and the Old World fruit bats (Family Pteropodidae).
We feel strongly that a combination of laboratory and field studies is critical to successfully answering the questions we pose. We study the morphology and mechanical functions of skulls and teeth in the lab using techniques ranging from simple morphometrics to 3D reconstruction and finite element modeling. We also maintain an active field-based research program focused on documenting behavioral plasticity within and among closely related species, feeding performance, and ecological interactions between mammals and the foods they eat. Only by integrating laboratory and field data will we be able to answer fundamental questions about how anatomy, behavior, and ecology interact and have impacted the course of mammalian evolution.
