MacArthur Curator of Mammals
Negaunee Integrative Research Center
I study several topics in evolutionary biology, focusing on the diversification, distribution and conservation of mammals. The breadth of my research is testimony to the facts that no interesting biological questions are ever fully answered and progress towards answering them invariably opens up a variety of others. Curiosity, opportunity, and a bit of wanderlust have diversified my program and caused it to span two continents.
For decades now, I have used museum specimens to study the systematics and biogeography of Neotropical mammals. Collaborating with scientists and students in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, I have worked throughout the Andes, Amazônia, and in Atlantic, Valdivian, and Magellanic Forests. As we document some of the world's richest, most highly endemic faunas, we regularly discover and describe new species of bats, rodents and marsupials, and use them in regional and continental reconstructions of phylogeny and biogeography. This program has offered abundant training opportunities for American and Latin American students, both in the lab and in the field. Much of my recent work on Neotropical faunas has been in collaboration with former "sandwich fellows" Renan Maestri, Anderson Feijo, Carla Hendges, Rafaela Missagia, Read more A list of recent grants A list of recent publications Descriptions of my principal research interests. South AmericaAfricaAccomplishments
Research Sketch
Contact