Lauren Cole Sallan, PhD
Assistant Professor
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Michigan
&
Michigan Fellow
Michigan Society of Fellows
lsallan@umich.edu
University of Michigan Webpage
View CV
Contributor to the Paleobiology Database
Research Interests
Macroevolution, Ichthyology
Early Vertebrate Paleobiology,
Biodiversity, Mass Extinction
Macroecology, Biomechanics, Evo-Devo
Listen to a Palaeocast interview on our research with early vertebrates
Research Summary
We are interested in long-term biodiversity trends, patterns of diversification, mass extinction, large-scale ecological dynamics, and other macroevolutionary processes. In order to answer major questions about these areas, we apply quantitative and descriptive approaches to the fossil records of Paleozoic vertebrates (half of their history) and ray-finned fishes (half of living diversity). Modern vertebrate biodiversity began in the Paleozoic, an interval containing both the origins of major living groups (e.g., ray-finned fishes, tetrapods) and major events in their evolutionary history (e.g., the end-Devonian mass extinction and subsequent diversification). This period contains multiple "natural experiments" (e.g., environmental and ecological changes) revealing common patterns of diversification, extinction and morphological evolution. Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) have dominated aquatic ecosystems since the mid-Paleozoic, come in myriad functional forms, and are widely used in evolutionary and ecological research. They also have an excellent fossil record, containing thousands of complete specimens and preserving traits from which function and ecology can be inferred. Investigation of these two records has already revealed significant macroevolutionary patterns and processes. These include the role of global events and mass extinction in structuring vertebrate ecosystems, the existence of "head-first" and other novel models of adaptive radiation, and the ecological, environmental and even developmental drivers of early and modern biodiversity (see Publications).
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