Laurenthe Mississippian

Lauren Sallan

Program in Integrative Biology
University of Chicago
1027 East 57th Street
Chicago, IL 60657
E-mail: laurensallan@gmail.com
Office: Culver Hall 301
Curriculum Vitae

Publications

In Review and Accepted

  • Friedman, M. and Sallan, L. Accepted with revision. 500 million years of extinction and recovery: a Phanerozoic survey of large-scale diversity patterns in fishes." Palaeontology.

  • Sallan, L. Submitted. Tetrapod-like axial regionalization in an early actinopterygian fish.

Current Project: After the end: What the end-Devonian extinction reveals about adaptive radiations, ecological processes, and the origins of modern biodiversity.

Summary

  • Global events, such as mass extinctions, have lasting impacts on biodiversity. Actinopterygians (ray-finned fishes) are the most abundant and diverse group of living vertebrates. However, this situation only arose after previously dominant groups suffered major losses coincident with the Paleozoic Hangenberg event. This project has already revealed that 1) the Hangenberg extinction event, associated with climatic changes, permanently restructured the global vertebrate biota, giving rise the modern vertebrate fauna; (2) actinopterygians underwent a large-scale radiation after an extinction bottleneck; (3) actinopterygian diversification occurred in response to vacated niches and new opportunities in post-extinction ecosystems, leading to the widespread evolution of novel functional morphologies such as crushing jaws and eel-shaped bodied. This project has required the assembly of comprehensive vertebrate occurrence databases for the Devonian-Mississippian, analyses of faunal composition and the occupation/reoccupation of vertebrate morphospace, investigation of patterns of diversification and radiation using model-based approached, and the examination of novelty, innovation and convergence within Carboniferous actinopterygians using both the full Carboniferous actinopterygian record and exceptional species. Investigation of actinopterygian evolution is vital for interpreting current vertebrate biodiversity because these fishes are a major component of modern ecosystems.
  • Advisor: Michael Coates

Funding

Oral Presentations

  • Sallan, L. "After the end: how the end-Devonian extinction shaped vertebrate biodiversity, ecology, and morphology." Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM. January 25, 2012. Invited Talk
  • Friedman, M., Sallan, L., and Lloyd, G. Half a billion years of extinction and recovery: Phanerozoic diversity patterns in fishes." Thematic session: "Ancient and Modern Biotic Crises." Palaeontological Association Annual Meeting. Plymouth, UK. December 17-20, 2011.Invited Talk
  • Sallan, L. When is an eel not an eel? Axial regionalization and specialization in an early actinopterygian fish, Tarrasius problematicus. Society for Vertebrate Paleontology 71st Annual Meeting. Las Vegas, Nevada. November 2-5, 2011.
  • Ausich, W., Kammer, T., and Sallan, L. Climate change versus predation: drivers for macroevolutionary transitions within Paleozoic crinoids. 2012 Annual Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. October 2-6, 2011.
  • Sallan, L. Surviving the recovery: how the aftermath of the end-Devonian extinction shaped subsequent vertebrate biodiversity. World Conference on Marine Biodiversity Aberdeen, Scotland. September 26-30, 2011. Invited talk.
  • Sallan, L., Kammer, T., Ausich, W., and Cook, L. The impact of successive Devonian extinction on early vertebrate ecosystems and diversity. 12th International Symposium on Early Vertebrates/Lower Vertebrates Dallas, Texas. June 11-14, 2011. (accepted)
  • Sallan, L., Kammer, T., Ausich, W., and Cook, L. The impact of successive Devonian extinctions on crinoid and vertebrate trophic interactions and diversity. Geological Society of America, Northeast/North-Central Section Combined Annual Meeting. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. March 20-23, 2011. Invited talk.
  • Sallan, L., Kammer, T., Ausich, W., and Cook, L. Look, no arms race: predator-prey interactions between durophagous fishes and crinoids following the Hangenberg mass extinction. Palaeontological Association Annual Meeting. Ghent, Belgium. December 17-20, 2010. Honourable Mention, President's Prize.
  • Kammer, T., Sallan, L., Ausich, W., and Cook, L. Radiation and "legacy adaptations" of Mississippian camerate crinoids following the Hangenberg extinction of predatory fishes. Geological Society of America 2010 Annual Meeting. Colorado Convention Center, Denver, CO. October 31-November 3, 2010.
  • Sallan, L. Functional morphology and modular lags in the early diversification of ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii). Society for Vertebrate Paleontology 70th Anniversary Meeting. Pittsburgh Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA. October 10-13, 2010.
  • Sallan, L. Functional morphology and modular lags in radiation events: patterns from early actinopterygian morphospace. 3rd International Paleontological Congress Imperial College London, London, UK. June 28-July 3, 2010.
  • Friedman, M. and Sallan, L. Heads and tails, size and shape: contrasting patterns and modes of phenotypic diversification during the evolutionary radiation of acanthomorph teleosts. 3rd International Paleontological Congress Imperial College London, London, UK. June 28-July 3, 2010.
  • Sallan, L. Vertebrate biodiversity and large-scale turnover during the Devonian-Mississippian transition. Society for Vertebrate Paleontology 69th Annual Meeting. University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. September 23-26, 2009.
  • Sallan, L. The impact of the Late Devonian biotic crisis on global vertebrate diversity: results from a new Paleozoic database. 9th North American Paleontological Convention. University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH. June 21-26, 2009.
  • Sallan, L and Coates, MI. Bandringa: the "spoonbill dogfish" from Mazon Creek, IL. Geological Society of America, North-Central Section. 43rd Annual Meeting. Northern Illinois University, Rockford, IL. April 2-3, 2009. Student Presentation Award.

Previous Research

M.S. Thesis: "A Phylogeny of Mexican Ambystoma Salamanders (Caudata:Ambystomatidae) from Larval Characters"

Last Updated: January 30, 2012