We are examining the relationships of species richness and ecological structure of vertebrates with continental-scale gradients of climatic and topographic variability.

Current projects
1) Ecological biogeography of modern North American squamates in relation to climate and topography (Whiting and Fox, 2021)
2) Functional ecology of modern and late Pleistocene mammals in relation to climate (Nora Loughlin, Ph.D. project)

Evolution of mammalian communities and grassland ecosystems in the Great Plains over the last 15 million years using stable isotope analyses of buried soils and mammal fossils and estimates of fossil mammal diets from the 3D shapes of teeth.

Climate and habitat reconstructions using stable isotope analyses of buried soils at fossil sites in East Africa that range in age from 22-17 million years ago and that preserve the earliest ape fossils.

The bioegeography and ecology of modern North American mammals and lizards in relation to climate and topography at the continental scale.

The evolution of cranial and tooth morphology of modern muroid rodents in Australasia and the SW Pacific.