Browsing by Subject "Paleoecology"
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Akrotiri Aetokremnos and the Cypriot Pygmy Hippopotamus: An Interdisciplinary Look at a Late Pleistocene Large Mammal Extinction
The cause for large mammal extinctions in the Late Pleistocene has been debated for decades, with two main factors constantly discussed--human hunting and climatic change. The Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus represents a case ... -
Beautiful Days in the Neighborhood: Modeling Self-Perpetuated Climate and Forest Expansion during the Mid-Holocene
At the end of glacial periods, warmer temperatures induce ice sheet retreat, exposing the land surface for forest establishment. The emergence of forest transforms the area from high to low albedo. Lowering land surface ... -
The Ecology of Human Diets during the Holocene at North Creek Shelter, Utah
This research examines the ecology of human diet using archeological evidence from a specific site in western North America, North Creek Shelter (NCS) near Escalante, Utah. I use ecological measures and theory to quantify ... -
Effects of the mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum on ecosystem structure and plant-animal interactions: a phytolith and stable isotope perspective
The mid-Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO, 17–14.75 Ma) is one of Earth’s most recent, prolonged global warming events that is thought to have promoted ecological change across the globe. Although there is general agreement ... -
Foraging Variability in the Prehistoric Caribbean: Multiple Foraging Optima, Resource Use, and Anthropogenic Impacts on Carriacou, Grenada
(2013-07-25)This research assesses the zooarchaeological evidence for variable foraging strategies at two matched Caribbean sites, Sabazan and Grand Bay, on the Grenadine Island of Carriacou during the Late Ceramic Age, ca. AD 400 - ... -
From Cells to Canopies: Reconstructing Vegetation Structure and its Response to Climate Change in the Middle Cenozoic of Patagonia Using Phytolith Morphology
(2014-02-24)Reconstructing ancient ecosystems to answer outstanding questions in paleoecology requires a multidisciplinary approach. This dissertation research integrates geochronology and conventional phytolith analysis, with a new ... -
Insights into the evolution and ecology of mammals from the Hell Creek region of northeastern Montana
The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event has historically been viewed as the catalyst for the radiation of mammals, with marked increases in body mass, taxonomic richness, and ecological disparity during the ... -
Insights into the evolution of Late Cretaceous metatherian mammals of North America: interpreting feeding ecologies using quantitative analyses
Metatherian mammals (the stem-based clade of extant marsupials and their closest relatives) were important members of North American communities during the Late Cretaceous: they were both taxonomically rich and numerically ... -
Investigating the functional morphology, locomotor diversification, and paleoecology of Mesozoic mammals
The first two-thirds of mammalian history occurred in the Mesozoic Era (252-66 Ma). Mesozoic mammals have been long thought of as generalized, nocturnal, terrestrial taxa that were constrained by selective and ecological ... -
Late Cretaceous and Paleocene Lissamphibia and Squamata of Montana and the end-Cretaceous mass extinction
Late Cretaceous and Paleocene lissamphibians (e.g., salamanders and albanerpetontids) and squamates (e.g., lizards and snakes) are common components of the nonmarine vertebrate fossil record of North America. However, ... -
Mammalian faunal recovery following the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction: a multifaceted investigation
The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction and subsequent recovery were a turning point for terrestrial ecosystems, signaling a shift from communities dominated by dinosaurs to those dominated by mammals. Mammalian ... -
The Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum in the Hanna Basin, WY: Constraints from Organic Carbon Isotopes and Palynological Data
(2014-02-24)The P-E boundary, approximately 56 Ma, coincides with a global climatic event, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The PETM is believed to have resulted from a 2-8 fold increase in atmospheric pCO2 in less than ... -
Phytoliths from modern and ancient habitats: toward a modern-based, quantitative approach to reconstruct vegetation change during the MMCO of Patagonia, Argentina
Phytolith analysis has high potential for reconstructing past vegetation with higher spatial resolution compared other high-resolution proxies, such as pollen and spores. Phytolith assemblages are used in paleoecology to ... -
The rise of modern mammalian faunas: tempo and mode of faunal turnover in western Montana during the Oligocene
The ongoing biodiversity crisis affects almost one in four mammal species. The main threat affecting them is the loss of their habitat with changes in their environment. Paleontological data allow an exploration of the ... -
Vegetation and Environmental Changes Across the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) Boundary in Northeastern Montana
The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) mass extinction was a pivotal event in Earth history; not only did this include the global extinction of non-avian dinosaurs but also the local disappearance of as much as 75% of vertebrate ... -
Vertebrate patterns of taxonomic and ecological diversity and recovery from the End-Permian Mass Extinction: two novel test cases from southern Pangea
Mass extinctions are among the most important events in the history of life on Earth and understanding their effects on life and the structure of biotic systems is restricted to the fossil record. Comparatively few studies ...