Browsing Biology by Title
Now showing items 107-126 of 207
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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 ... -
Intertwined evolution of swimming, morphology and microhabitat in tree frogs from the subfamily Hylinae
Multidisciplinary studies including phylogenetic inference, functional morphology and phylogenetic comparative methods are imperative to understand how closely related species evolved. By combining those three approaches ... -
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, ... -
Learning from nature: understanding and engineering transcription regulation in plants
Synthetic biology offers tools to modify plants in an environment that is changing at a faster pace than can be matched by evolution alone. The tools available come from parts either borrowed from nature or designs built ... -
Linking protein function to complex traits
In this dissertation, I aim to establish the utility of linking large-scale protein mutagenesis to complex trait selection in order to better understand how subtle alterations to protein function lead to shifts in trait ... -
Local ecosystem processes modulate ocean acidification and its effect on benthic foundation species
Ocean acidification poses serious threats to coastal ecosystem services, yet few empirical studies have investigated how feedbacks from local ecological processes may modulate global trends of pH from rising atmospheric ... -
Local impacts of global change: shifting range limits, advancing phenology, and communicating research
There are two generalizable biological impacts of climate change: first, species are shifting their distributions (both pole-ward in latitude and up in elevation), and second, species are advancing their spring phenology. ... -
Long Range Transport of Microorganisms in the Upper Atmosphere
(2013-04-17)Microorganisms are abundant in the atmosphere and can be transported globally on winds. In general, the upper atmosphere is an understudied, extremely harsh environment where the limits of life can be tested unlike anywhere ... -
Made in the Americas: How three lineages of flowering plants evolved and dispersed across the Neotropics and the World
Bignoniaceae is a flowering plant family of ca. 850 species. The family has the highest species diversity in the Neotropics, but taxa are also found in tropical Africa and Asia, as well as the temperate zones in both the ... -
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 ... -
Many paths to chlorophyll: the evolution of protochlorophyllide oxidoreductases in the algae
Cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae and some land plants catalyze the second to last step of chlorophyll a synthesis with either of two non-homologous enzymes: the light-independent (LIPOR) and light-dependent (POR) ... -
Marine microplastic pollution: An interdisciplinary approach to understanding the effects on organisms, ecosystems, and policy
Microplastics (plastic < 5mm) are ubiquitous in marine environments, from surface waters to benthic sediments. Microplastic in the oceans was first documented in 2004 and our current knowledge of potential biological ... -
Mechanical Properties of Alimentary Tissues in Teleostean Fishes
Fishes are a diverse paraphyletic group that have evolved numerous abilities to occupy a diversity of niches. One successful feeding strategy that has independently evolved in many clades of fishes is commonly known as ... -
Microbes in space: The importance of spatial organization in evolution
My research uses a multi-prong approach to understand the ecological and evolutionary processes that drive and maintain diversity. Specifically, I examine how competition and spatial structure drive evolutionary change. ... -
Microbial evolution in changing environments
{\it Chapter 1.} Compensatory mutations play a critical role in the evolution of drug resistance in microorganisms. Most directly, they serve to alleviate the fitness cost commonly associated with initial drug resistance ... -
Microtubule Dynamics in Neuronal Morphogenesis
Microtubules in neurons provide structural stability, and also provide a transport route for cellular cargo carried by motor proteins. Exactly how microtubules are organized and maintained in neurons is not clear, but ... -
Modeling genetic networks to aid in understanding their function
(2003)Data on genetic interactions is accumulating at a very high rate. Here I introduce a new tool for analyzing this data at the level of genetic networks. The software program I helped write, called Ingeneue, lets the user ... -
Molecular and Biophysiological Differences in Neuronal Innexin Gap Junctions Likely Underlie Unique Circuit Behaviors in Hydra vulgaris
Connexins, in vertebrates, and Innexins, in invertebrates, are non-homologous gene families that are both known to form functionally similar channels. Connexins have been well characterized both functionally and molecularly ...