Fossil crocodiles, birth-death models, and the K-Pg mass extinction
By: Andrew Magee (Minin Lab)

Dental ecomorphology and macroevolutionary patterns of Late Cretaceous North American metatherians
By: Alexandria Brannick (Wilson Lab)

An adaptation of the Luria- Delbrück fluctuation analysis reveals plasmid-host co-evolution increases plasmid transfer rate
By: Olivia Kosterlitz (Kerr Lab)

The bone histology of multituberculates could change our understanding of mammalian life history evolution
By: Lucas Weaver (Wilson Lab)

Plant community and climatic response to middle Miocene environmental change in the Pacific Northwest
By: Alex Lowe (Strömberg Lab)

The in vivo motion of muscle’s molecular machinery
By: Sage Malingen (Daniel Lab)

Natural disaster accelerates age-associated immune dysregulation
By: Marina Watowich (Snyder-Mackler Lab)

Body size and paleolatitude in Lystrosaurus: Did Bergmann’s Rule apply during the Early Triassic?
By: Zoe Kulik (Sidor Lab)

This talk investigates the use of phylogeny and climate history to model reactions of species to climate change and explores community functional trait-environment relationships to measure ecosystem transitions. Fundamental understanding of how species and communities react to climate change should be supported by our understanding of the past. This is especially important today, because modern reactions are exacerbated by anthropogenic pressures including human population growth, habitat destruction and fragmentation, and intensifying land use.