Latest Publications (for full list, see Research
Publications)
Modesto, S.P., Scott, D., and Reisz, R.R. (2009) Arthropod remains in the oral cavities of fossil reptiles support inference
of early insectivory. Biology Letters 5: 838-840.
Frobisch,
J. and Reisz, R.R. (2009) The Late Permian herbivore Suminia and the early
evolution of arboreality in terrestrial vertebrate ecosystems. Proceedings
of the Royal Society of London 276: 3611-3618.
Bickelmann, C., Mueller, J., and Reisz, R. R. (2009)
The enigmatid diapsid Acerosodontosaurus piveteaui (Reptilia:Neodiapsida)
from the Upper Permian of Madagascar and the Paraphyly of 'Younginiform'
Reptiles. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 46: 651-661.
Anderson, J. and Reisz, R.R. (2009) Nannaroter mckinsiei, a new ostodolepid microsaur
(Tetrapoda, Lepospondyli) from the Early Permian of Richards Spur (Ft. Sill)
Oklahoma. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29: 379-388.
Reisz, R., Schoch, R., and Anderson, J. (2009) The armored dissorophid Cacops from
the Early Permian of Oklahoma and the exploitation of the terrestrial realm
by amphibians. Naturwissenschaften 96: 789-796.
Research, In a Nutshell...
The fossil animals we study are for the most part tetrapods (limbed vertebrates, such as amphibians and reptiles) that lived more than 200 million years ago during the Carboniferous and Permian Periods. Although some of these creatures can be identified as remote ancestors of animals living today, they differed greatly from their modern descendants in appearance and presumably in behaviour as well. The "pelycosaurs", for instance, were recognizably related to living mammals - but were also sprawling, lizard-like animals, some with grotesque and unusual features such as the enormous sail that rose from the back of certain genera. While we have to admit that the pelycosaurs and other members of the Permian and Carboniferous fauna were no match for Apatosaurus or Tyrannosaurus rex in terms of sheer size, they were certainly as strange and interesting as any of the dinosaurs, and offer at least as many puzzles to the beleaguered scientists who arrived on the scene hundreds of millions of years too late to study them properly.
The most fundamental of these puzzles is the ongoing effort to improve our understanding of the anatomy and evolutionary history of Permian and Carboniferous tetrapods; the identity of the immediate ancestors of turtles is a particularly contentious problem at the moment. Aside from this basic - but critical - sort of work, we also delve into more biological and ecological topics such as the origins of herbivory in vertebrates and the rather puzzling geographical distribution of vertebrate faunas during Permian time. If any of this sounds interesting, follow the links below for more information:
Palaeozoic Bestiary - More about some of the animals we study, with photographs of our pet specimens.
Strange Aeons - An introduction to geological time, and the state of the world during the Carboniferous and Permian Periods.
Research Methods - A look at the long and occasionally tedious process of discovering, preparing, analysing, and finally documenting vertebrate fossils.
Research Projects - Details on the sometimes frustrating, but always fascinating, palaeontological questions that we wrestle with when we aren't busy designing web pages.
