Origin & Evolution of Placental Mammals
The early Paleogene Period (Paleocene and Eocene epochs) was a time of rapid mammalian diversification which resulted in the origins of nearly all modern placental mammal clades. However, the role that small, insectivorous mammals played in this radiation is severely understudied. Our lab studies these extinct mammals using such techniques as X-ray micro-computed tomography (µ–CT), phylogenetics, and comparative anatomy (e.g., geometric morphometrics) to understand their ecologies and their relationships to other extinct and extant mammals.
Recent Publications
Jones, M.F., Beard, K.C., and Simmons, N.B., 2024. Phylogeny and systematics of early Paleogene bats. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 31:18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-024-09705-8
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Jones, M.F., and Beard, K.C., 2023. Nyctitheriidae (Mammalia, ?Eulipotyphla) from the late Paleocene of Big Multi Quarry, southern Wyoming, and a revision of the subfamily Placentidentinae. Annals of Carnegie Museum 88:115-159. https://doi.org/10.2992/007.088.0202
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Rietbergen, T.B., van den Hoek Ostende, L.W., Aase, A., Jones, M.F., Medeiros, E.D., and Simmons, N.B., 2023. The oldest known bat skeletons and their implications for Eocene chiropteran diversification. PLOS One 18:e0283505. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283505
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Jones, M.F., Li, Q., Ni, X., and Beard, K.C., 2021. The earliest Asian bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) address major gaps in bat evolution. Biology Letters 17:20210185. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0185
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Beard, K.C., Jones, M.F., Thurber, N.A., and Sanisidro, O., 2020. Systematics and paleobiology of Chiromyoides (Mammalia, Plesiadapidae) from the upper Paleocene of western North America and western Europe. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 39:e1730389-2. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2019.1730389