P. David Polly

Last updated
P. David Polly
Born1966
Jefferson City, Missouri
NationalityAmerican
EducationBA, PhD
Alma mater University of Texas at Austin
University of California, Berkeley
Known forwork on fossil Carnivora and Creodonta, quantitative evolution, geometric morphometrics
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsVertebrate Paleontology, Evolutionary Biology
InstitutionsIndiana University
Queen Mary, University of London
Natural History Museum, London
University of Michigan
Doctoral advisor William A. Clemens, Jr.
Website earth.indiana.edu/directory/faculty/polly-p.html

Paul David Polly is an American paleontologist and the Robert R. Shrock Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Indiana University as well as the sitting chair of the department. [1] [2]

Contents

Research

Polly's research focuses on quantitative evolution, phylogeny, and paleoecology of vertebrates. [3] Much of his work has been on the phylogenetics and functional evolution of mammals, especially Carnivora [4] [5] and Creodonta, [6] on the correspondence between phenotypic and genetic differentiation, [7] on the role of functional traits in structuring mammalian communities, [8] and on the evolution of multivariate quantitative morphological traits. [9] With lead author Jason Head and other co-authors, he helped describe the giant fossil snake Titanoboa and the associated methods for estimating paleotemperature from the size of extinct reptiles. [10] [11]

Education and organisational affilitations

Polly received a BA from the Plan II Honors program at University of Texas at Austin in 1987 [12] and a PhD in Paleontology from the Department of Integrative Biology at University of California, Berkeley in 1993 for his work on the phylogeny of creodonts. [13] He was then a member of the Michigan Society of Fellows from 1994 to 1996, [14] and on the faculty of the St. Bartholomew's and Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, and later the School of Biological Sciences, at Queen Mary, University of London from 1997 to 2006. He moved to Indiana University in 2006. In 2021 he became a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS). [15]

Polly served as president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology from 2016 through 2018. [16] During Polly's term as SVP president, US President Donald J. Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke downsized two national monuments that protect vertebrate paleontological resources, Grand Staircase–Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments. Polly was involved in lawsuits by SVP to reverse those actions, which are currently ongoing. [17]

Work on early website, awards

With Robert P. Guralnick and Allen Collins, Polly started one of the first 50 websites in the world in 1993, the University of California Museum of Paleontology site. [18] In 2001, Polly received the Joseph T. Gregory Award from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology for putting the society on the web and developing an online abstract submission system. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creodonta</span> Former order of extinct flesh-eating placental mammals

Creodonta is a former order of extinct carnivorous placental mammals that lived from the early Paleocene to the late Miocene epochs in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Originally thought to be a single group of animals ancestral to the modern Carnivora, this order is now usually considered a polyphyletic assemblage of two different groups, the oxyaenids and the hyaenodonts, not a natural group. Oxyaenids are first known from the Palaeocene of North America, while hyaenodonts hail from the Palaeocene of Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viverravidae</span> Extinct family of carnivorous mammals

Viverravidae is an extinct monophyletic family of mammals from extinct superfamily Viverravoidea within the clade Carnivoramorpha, that lived from the early Palaeocene to the late Eocene in North America, Europe and Asia. They were once thought to be the earliest carnivorans and ancestral to extant ones, but now are placed outside the order Carnivora based on cranial morphology as relatives to extant carnivorans.

<i>Miacis</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Miacis is an extinct genus of placental mammals from clade Carnivoraformes, that lived in North America from the early to middle Eocene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferungulata</span> Clade of mammals comprising carnivorans, pangolins, artiodactyls and perissodactyls

Ferungulata is a grandorder of placental mammals that groups together mirorder Ferae and clade Pan-Euungulata. It has existed in two guises, a traditional one based on morphological analysis and a revised one taking into account more recent molecular analyses. The Fereungulata is a sister group to the order Chiroptera (bats) and together they make clade Scrotifera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnivoramorpha</span> Clade of carnivores

Carnivoramorpha is a clade of placental mammals of clade Pan-Carnivora from mirorder Ferae, that includes the modern order Carnivora and its extinct stem-relatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Union Formation</span> Geologic formation in the northwestern United States

The Fort Union Formation is a geologic unit containing sandstones, shales, and coal beds in Wyoming, Montana, and parts of adjacent states. In the Powder River Basin, it contains important economic deposits of coal, uranium, and coalbed methane.

<i>Didymictis</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Didymictis is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Didymictinae within extinct family Viverravidae, that lived in North America and Europe from the late Paleocene to middle Eocene.

<i>Quercygale</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Quercygale is an extinct genus of placental mammals from the clade Carnivoraformes, that lived in Europe during the early to late Eocene.

<i>Titanoboa</i> Extinct genus of snakes

Titanoboa is an extinct genus of giant boid snake that lived during the middle and late Paleocene. Titanoboa was first discovered in the early 2000s by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute who, along with students from the University of Florida, recovered 186 fossils of Titanoboa from La Guajira department in northeastern Colombia. It was named and described in 2009 as Titanoboa cerrejonensis, the largest snake ever found at that time. It was originally known only from thoracic vertebrae and ribs, but later expeditions collected parts of the skull and teeth. Titanoboa is in the subfamily Boinae, being most closely related to other extant boines from Madagascar and the Pacific.

Philip Dean Gingerich is an American paleontologist and educator. He is a Professor Emeritus of Geology, Biology, and Anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and directed the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan (UMMP) from 1981-2010. His research focus is on vertebrate paleontology, especially the Paleocene-Eocene transition and early Cenozoic mammals. His primary research focus is on the origin of modern orders of mammals and he is a leading expert on the evolution of primates and whales. Gingerich was among the experts who analyzed the skeleton of Darwinius masillae.

Cerrejonisuchus is an extinct genus of dyrosaurid crocodylomorph. It is known from a complete skull and mandible from the Cerrejón Formation in northeastern Colombia, which is Paleocene in age. Specimens belonging to Cerrejonisuchus and to several other dyrosaurids have been found from the Cerrejón open-pit coal mine in La Guajira. The length of the rostrum is only 54-59% of the total length of the skull, making the snout of Cerrejonisuchus the shortest of all dyrosaurids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerrejón Formation</span> Geologic formation in Colombia

The Cerrejón Formation is a geologic formation in Colombia dating back to the Middle-Late Paleocene. It is found in the El Cerrejón sub-basin of the Cesar-Ranchería Basin of La Guajira and Cesar. The formation consists of bituminous coal fields that are an important economic resource. Coal from the Cerrejón Formation is mined extensively from the Cerrejón open-pit coal mine, one of the largest in the world. The formation also bears fossils that are the earliest record of Neotropical rainforests.

The Willwood Formation is a sedimentary sequence deposited during the late Paleocene to early Eocene, or Clarkforkian, Wasatchian and Bridgerian in the NALMA classification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wasatch Formation</span> Geologic formation in the western United States

The Wasatch Formation (Tw) is an extensive highly fossiliferous geologic formation stretching across several basins in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and western Colorado. It preserves fossils dating back to the Early Eocene period. The formation defines the Wasatchian or Lostcabinian, a period of time used within the NALMA classification, but the formation ranges in age from the Clarkforkian to Bridgerian.

The Dove Spring Formation is a geologic formation in the western Mojave Desert of California. It preserves fossils dating back to the Miocene epoch of the Neogene period.

This paleomammalogy list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2011, as well as notes other significant paleomammalogy discoveries and events which occurred during that year.

This paleomammalogy list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2010, as well as notes other significant paleomammalogy discoveries and events which occurred during that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyaenodonta</span> Extinct order of mammals

Hyaenodonta is an extinct order of hypercarnivorous placental mammals of clade Pan-Carnivora from mirorder Ferae. Hyaenodonts were important mammalian predators that arose during the early Paleocene in Europe and persisted well into the late Miocene.

<i>Viverravus</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Viverravus is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Viverravinae within extinct family Viverravidae, that lived in North America, Europe and Asia from the middle Paleocene to middle Eocene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palaeonictinae</span> Extinct subfamily of mammals

Palaeonictinae is an extinct subfamily of placental mammals from extinct family Oxyaenidae, that lived from the late Paleocene to early Eocene of Europe and North America.

References

  1. ↑ "P. David Polly, Indiana University". Indiana University. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Blasing, George. "134 – Interview with Dr. David Polly – President of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology". Dinosaur George Podcast – A Podcast Devoted to Paleontology and Natural Science. RadioPublic. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  3. ↑ "GoogleScholar Profile, P. David Polly". Google, Inc. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  4. ↑ Polly, P. D. (1997). "Ancestry and Species Definition in Paleontology: A Stratocladistic Analysis of Paleocene-Eocene Viverravidae (Mammalia, Carnivora) from Wyoming". Contributions from the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology. 30: 1–53. hdl:2027.42/48638.
  5. ↑ Polly, P.D.; Fuentes-Gonzales, J.; Lawing, A. M.; Bormet, A. K.; Dundas, R. (2017). "Clade sorting has a greater effect than local adaptation on ecometric patterns in Carnivora". Evolutionary Ecology Research. 16: 61–95.
  6. ↑ Polly, P. D. (1996). "The Skeleton of Gazinocyon vulpeculus Gen. et comb. nov. and the Cladistic Relationships of Hyaenodontidae (Eutheria, Mammalia)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 16 (2): 303–319. Bibcode:1996JVPal..16..303P. doi:10.1080/02724634.1996.10011318. JSTOR   4523721. S2CID   84853339.
  7. ↑ Caumul, R.; Polly, P. D. (2005). "Phylogenetic and environmental components of morphological variation: skull, mandible, and molar shape in marmots (Marmota, Rodentia)". Evolution. 59 (11): 2460–2472. doi:10.1554/05-117.1. PMID   16396186. S2CID   198157479.
  8. ↑ Polly, P. D.; Eronen, J. T.; Fred, M.; Dietl, G. P.; Mossbrugger, V.; Scheidigger, C.; Frank, D. V.; Damuth, J.; Stenseth, N. C.; Fortelius, M. (2011). "History matters: ecometrics and integrative climate change biology". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 278 (1709): 1121–1130. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.2233. PMC   3049084 . PMID   21227966.
  9. ↑ Polly, P. David (2008). "Developmental Dynamics and G-Matrices: Can Morphometric Spaces be Used to Model Phenotypic Evolution?". Evolutionary Biology. 35 (83): 83–96. Bibcode:2008EvBio..35...83P. doi:10.1007/s11692-008-9020-0. S2CID   27300709.
  10. ↑ Head, Jason J. (2009). "Giant boine snake from a Paleocene Neotropical rainforest indicates hotter past equatorial temperatures". Nature. 457 (7230): 715–717. doi:10.1038/nature07671. PMID   19194448. S2CID   4381423.
  11. ↑ Kemp, Martin. "Titanoboa: Monster Snake". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  12. ↑ Rowe, Timothy B. "Students". Jackson School of Geosciences. University of Texas, Austin. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  13. ↑ "P. David Polly Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Indiana University. Retrieved 22 Jul 2018.
  14. ↑ "Alumni Fellow". Michigan Society of Fellows. University of Michigan. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  15. ↑ "2021 AAAS Fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  16. ↑ "Leadership of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology". Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Retrieved 22 Jul 2018.
  17. ↑ Underwood, Emily (6 Dec 2017). "Why fossil scientists are suing Trump over monuments downsizing". Science. 358 (6369): 1368. doi:10.1126/science.358.6369.1368. PMID   29242325 . Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  18. ↑ Schachter, Beth (14 Jan 1999). "With Minimalist Approach, Paleontology Is Brought to Life". New York Times. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  19. ↑ "Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Award Winners". Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
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