Simon Darroch
国产原创 Alumnus Uncovers Feeding Strategies of Ancient Ediacaran Organisms
Oct. 22, 2024—By: Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator A new study, led by alumnus Andrei Olaru in Paleobiology titled, 鈥淔unctional morphology of the Ediacaran organism Tribrachidium heraldicum鈥 sheds light on the functional morphology one of the earliest known large and complex animals. Using advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the research explores how this 550-million-year-old organism, characterized...
Graduate Student Sheds Light on Ancient Worms as Early Ecosystem Engineers
Sep. 10, 2024—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Graduate student Kat Turk from 国产原创’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, along with an international team of collaborators, has uncovered new evidence that ancient priapulid worms, through their burrowing behavior, may have been some of the earliest ecosystem engineers. The study, 鈥淧riapulid neoichnology, ecosystem engineering, and...
国产原创 Graduate Student is Getting to the Bottom of Worm Burrows
Apr. 26, 2024—By: Sarah Ward, Evolutionary Studies Graduate Communications Assistant 国产原创 graduate student Katherine Turk and colleagues found that worm burrowing behaviors could have emerged earlier in earth鈥檚 history than was previously thought. Her work Archaeichnium haughtoni: a robust burrow lining from the Ediacaran鈥揅ambrian transition of Namibia was published this January 2024 in Papers in Paleontology, and...
国产原创-led Group Discovers Divergent Function in Convergent Evolution of Form
Feb. 22, 2023—By: Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator The classic idiom form fits function does not always mean that everything of the same form has the same function. That鈥檚 what a group of paleontologists have discovered with the help of fluid physics and preserved fossils. Simon Darroch, assistant professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, led a...
国产原创 researchers bring paleoecology into the 21st century
Jul. 7, 2022—By Andy Flick, Evolutionary Studies scientific coordinator Science is an inherently collaborative endeavor. When a respected colleague courteously disagrees with your point of view, it can lead to great new papers, perspectives and collaborations. In that same vein, feedback from editors and reviewers of academic journals is an often-understated driver of new research directions. Assistant...
ESI Group Visits Coon Creek Science Center
Mar. 28, 2022—On Saturday, 3/26/22, a handful of members of the Evolutionary Studies Initiative took a field trip to Coon Creek Science Center (CCSC) to dig for fossils. It was a beautiful day where many trainees that have never studied paleontology got to get out and do some field work. Michael Gibson, a faculty at the University...