Hillary Catherine Maddin is a Canadian paleontologist and developmental biologist known for her work on development in extinct and extant amphibians. She is currently an associate professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Carleton University.
Hillary Maddin | |
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Nationality | Canadian |
Alma mater | |
Scientific career | |
Fields | |
Institutions |
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Thesis | Phylogenetic implications of the morphology and development of the braincase of caecilian amphibians (Gymnophiona) (2011) |
Doctoral advisor | Jason Anderson; Anthony Russell |
Website | https://maddinlab.com/ |
Maddin obtained her B.Sc. in biology from the University of Toronto (1999-2004). She went on to also complete her M.Sc. degree at the University of Toronto (2004-2006) researching caseid synapsids under the supervision of Robert Reisz, followed by a Ph.D. degree (2006-2011) exploring the morphology and evolution of caecilians at the University of Calgary under the supervision of Anthony Russell and Jason Anderson.
Maddin was awarded the highly competitive NSERC postdoctoral fellowship, [1] [2] which she used to fund a position at the Museum of Comparative Zoology and Harvard University in Cambridge, MA (2011-2013), where she was supervised by Jim Hanken and was subsequently awarded the prestigious Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, [3] [4] which she used to fund a position at Carleton University in Ottawa, ON (2013-2015), where she was supervised by Claudia Schröder-Adams. Since then, she has held her current position as a faculty member at Carleton.
Maddin's research encompasses a wide range of topics, primarily related to developmental biology using amphibians as a model system and exploration of morphological and phylogenetic patterns of Paleozoic tetrapods. She has published on a variety of groups, including a variety of synapsids, [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] temnospondyls, [12] [13] [14] and lepospondyls. [15] [16] [17] [18] Much of her research in this area is directed towards anatomy of the braincase and other internal structures, [19] [20] [21] which extends to her work on extant amphibians, primarily examining caecilians. [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] She has also published several studies on the African clawed frog and the axolotl, both a model study system. [28] [29] [30] [31] Her research has been published in leading scientific journals, including Biological Reviews, Nature Communications, and Nature Ecology & Evolution. Maddin has contributed to the naming of several new extinct taxa, outlined below:
Year | Taxon | Authors |
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2020 | Dendromaia unamakiensis gen. et sp. nov. | Maddin, Mann, & Hebert [7] |
2020 | Martensius bromackerensis gen. et sp. nov. | Berman, Maddin, Henrici, Sumida, Scott, & Reisz [32] |
2020 | Steenerpeton silvae gen. et sp. nov. | Mann, Gee, Pardo, Marjanović, Adams, Calthorpe, Maddin, & Anderson [33] |
2019 | Carbonodraco lundi gen. et sp. nov. | Mann & Maddin [34] |
2019 | Diabloroter bolti gen. et sp. nov. | Mann & Maddin [18] |
2019 | Infernovenator steenae gen. et sp. nov. | Mann, Pardo, & Maddin [17] |
2013 | Reiszerpeton renascentis gen. et sp. nov. | Maddin, Fröbisch, Evans, & Milner [13] |
Maddin has received numerous federal- or provincial-level grant awards to fund her research, including an Early Researcher Award (ERA) from the Ontario provincial government ($100,000 CAD), [35] a New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) award from the Canadian federal government ($250,000 CAD), [36] [37] and an NSERC Discovery Grant ($40,000 CAD), [38] and her lab's research has been covered by leading news outlets. [39] [40] [41] She also serves as one of three managing editors for the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. [42]
Temnospondyli or temnospondyls is a diverse ancient order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered primitive amphibians—that flourished worldwide during the Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic periods, with fossils being found on every continent. A few species continued into the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods, but all had gone extinct by the Late Cretaceous. During about 210 million years of evolutionary history, they adapted to a wide range of habitats, including freshwater, terrestrial, and even coastal marine environments. Their life history is well understood, with fossils known from the larval stage, metamorphosis and maturity. Most temnospondyls were semiaquatic, although some were almost fully terrestrial, returning to the water only to breed. These temnospondyls were some of the first vertebrates fully adapted to life on land. Although temnospondyls are amphibians, many had characteristics such as scales and large armour-like bony plates (osteoderms) that generally distinguish them from the modern soft-bodied lissamphibians.
Caseasauria is one of the two main clades of early synapsids, the other being the Eupelycosauria. Caseasaurs are currently known only from the Late Carboniferous and the Permian, and include two superficially different families, the small insectivorous or carnivorous Eothyrididae, and the large, herbivorous Caseidae. These two groups share a number of specialised features associated with the morphology of the snout and external naris.
Varanopidae is an extinct family of amniotes that resembled monitor lizards and may have filled a similar niche, hence the name. Typically, they are considered synapsids that evolved from an Archaeothyris-like synapsid in the Late Carboniferous. Although some studies from the late 2010s have recovered them being taxonomically closer to diapsid reptiles, recent studies from the early 2020s support their traditional placement as synapsids on the basis of high degree of bone labyrinth ossification, maxillary canal morphology and phylogenetic analyses. A varanopid from the latest Middle Permian Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone is the youngest known varanopid and the last member of the "pelycosaur" group of synapsids.
Eocaecilia is an extinct genus of gymnophionan amphibian from the early Jurassic Kayenta Formation of Arizona, United States. One species is described, Eocaecilia micropodia.
The Stereospondyli are a group of extinct temnospondyl amphibians that existed primarily during the Mesozoic period. They are known from all seven continents and were common components of many Triassic ecosystems, likely filling a similar ecological niche to modern crocodilians prior to the diversification of pseudosuchian archosaurs.
Trematopidae is a family of dissorophoid temnospondyls spanning the late Carboniferous to the early Permian. Together with Dissorophidae, the family forms Olsoniformes, a clade comprising the medium-large terrestrial dissorophoids. Trematopids are known from numerous localities in North America, primarily in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, and from the Bromacker quarry in Germany.
Carrolla is an extinct genus of brachystelechid 'microsaur' that lived in the Lower Permian in North America. It was named in 1986 by American paleontologists Wann Langston and Everett Olson. The type species, Carrolla craddocki, is the only known species.
Oromycter is an extinct genus of caseid synapsids from the Early Permian of Oklahoma. The sole and type species, Oromycter dolesorum, was named in 2005 by Robert R. Reisz.
Pasawioops is an extinct genus of early Permian dissorophoid temnospondyl within the clade Amphibamiformes.
Christian Alfred Sidor is an American vertebrate paleontologist. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Biology, University of Washington in Seattle, as well as Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology and Associate Director for Research and Collections at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. His research focuses on Permian and Triassic tetrapod evolution, especially on therapsids.
Rubeostratilia is an extinct genus of amphibamiform temnospondyl from the early Permian of Texas. It is known from a single skull. This genus was named by Hélène Bourget and Jason S. Anderson in 2011, and the type species is Rubeostratilia texensis. The genus name comes from the Latin translation of 'redbeds' in reference to the Texas redbeds that produced both the holotype and many other early Permian fossils. The specific name is for the state of Texas. The holotype and only known specimen was collected in 1941 from the Nocona Formation exposures in Clay County by a Works Projects Administration project that was transferred to the Field Museum of Natural History through an interinstitutional exchange with the Texas Memorial Museum.
Recumbirostra is a clade of tetrapods which lived during the Carboniferous and Permian periods. They are thought to have had a fossorial (burrowing) lifestyle and the group includes both short-bodied and long-bodied snake-like forms. At least one species, the long-bodied molgophid Nagini mazonense, lost its forelimbs entirely. Recumbirostra includes the families Pantylidae, Gymnarthridae, Ostodolepidae, Rhynchonkidae and Brachystelechidae, with additional families such as Microbrachidae and Molgophidae being included by some authors. Brachystelechidae and Molgophidae have also been grouped together in the suggested clade Chthonosauria.
Paleontology in Oklahoma refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Oklahoma has a rich fossil record spanning all three eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Oklahoma is the best source of Pennsylvanian fossils in the United States due to having an exceptionally complete geologic record of the epoch. From the Cambrian to the Devonian, all of Oklahoma was covered by a sea that would come to be home to creatures like brachiopods, bryozoans, graptolites and trilobites. During the Carboniferous, an expanse of coastal deltaic swamps formed in areas of the state where early tetrapods would leave behind footprints that would later fossilize. The sea withdrew altogether during the Permian period. Oklahoma was home a variety of insects as well as early amphibians and reptiles. Oklahoma stayed dry for most of the Mesozoic. During the Late Triassic, carnivorous dinosaurs left behind footprints that would later fossilize. During the Cretaceous, however, the state was mostly covered by the Western Interior Seaway, which was home to huge ammonites and other marine invertebrates. During the Cenozoic, Oklahoma became home to creatures like bison, camels, creodonts, and horses. During the Ice Age, the state was home to mammoths and mastodons. Local Native Americans are known to have used fossils for medicinal purposes. The Jurassic dinosaur Saurophaganax maximus is the Oklahoma state fossil.
Huskerpeton is an extinct genus of recumbirostran from the Early Permian period. They belong to the order Microsauria, which was established in 1863 by Dawson, and was quickly expanded to include many different small taxa. They lived in what is now Nebraska and Kansas. The holotype of Huskerpeton was uncovered at the Eskridge formation in Nebraska, which is part of how it got its name.
Richards Spur is a Permian fossil locality located at the Dolese Brothers Limestone Quarry north of Lawton, Oklahoma. The locality preserves clay and mudstone fissure fills of a karst system eroded out of Ordovician limestone and dolomite, with the infilling dating to the Artinskian stage of the early Permian (Cisuralian), around 289 to 286 million years ago. Fossils of terrestrial animals are abundant and well-preserved, representing one of the most diverse Paleozoic tetrapod communities known. A common historical name for the site is Fort Sill, in reference to the nearby military base. Fossils were first reported at the quarry by workers in 1932, spurring a wave of collecting by local and international geologists. Early taxa of interest included the abundant reptile Captorhinus and microsaurs such as Cardiocephalus and Euryodus. Later notable discoveries include Doleserpeton, the most diverse assortment of parareptiles in the Early Permian, and the rare early diapsid Orovenator.
Dendromaia is an extinct genus of varanopid from the Carboniferous of Nova Scotia. It contains a single species, Dendromaia unamakiensis. Dendromaia is the oldest known varanopid, the only member of which to be discovered in Nova Scotia. Known from a large partial skeleton preserved with its tail wrapped around a much smaller partial skeleton, Dendromaia may also represent the oldest known occurrence of parental care in the fossil record. While the larger skeleton possessed certain mycterosaurine-like features, the smaller skeleton resembled basal varanopids such as Archaeovenator and Pyozia, creating uncertainty over whether characteristics at the base of Varanopidae have legitimate phylogenetic significance or instead reflect the immaturity of basal varanopid specimens.
David Christopher Evans is a Canadian palaeontologist and evolutionary biologist who specializes in the evolution and paleobiology of Cretaceous dinosaurs in western North America. He received his B.Sc. from the University of British Columbia and his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. He is a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) and a member of the Royal Society of Canada and currently serves as the Senior Curator and Temerty Chair of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada. He is also a faculty member in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. Evans is particularly renowned for his work on the paleobiology of hadrosaur ("duck-billed") dinosaurs and has conducted international research on a wide variety of paleontological topics.
Nadia Belinda Fröbisch is a German vertebrate paleontologist and developmental biologist who specializes in the evolution and development of amphibians. She is currently a professor at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin in the Leibniz Institute for Research on Evolution and Biodiversity.
This list of fossil amphibians described in 2020 is a list of new taxa of fossil amphibians that were described during the year 2020, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to amphibian paleontology that occurred in 2020.