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Posts by Paleobiology Research Group at OU

A very happy graduate student holding her MS thesis

A very happy graduate student holding her MS thesis

Congratulations to Kiera Crowley (Wright lab) for successfully defending her MS thesis today! Her thesis research focused on "The ecological and developmental dimensions of a post-extinction radiation in Ordovician-Silurian crinoids." Fantastic job Kiera!

5 days ago 10 0 0 1
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Congratulations to Alysha Zazubec (Cole lab) for successfully passing their PhD Candidacy exams!

6 days ago 8 2 0 0
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Congratulations to OU paleobiologist Dr. @leptaena.bsky.social for receiving the 2026 Teaching Excellence Award from the Mewbourne College at The University of Oklahoma!

3 weeks ago 7 2 0 0
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OU Geosciences undergraduate Macie Menard and Colby Higdon (both advised @leptaena.bsky.social) presented at the department's annual Student Research Symposium and Expo. Both projects were made possible via the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History's Invertebrate Paleontology collections. Great job!

1 month ago 11 2 0 1
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Happy #FossilFriday! from Anticosti Island, Quebec 🌊🪨

There’s nothing quite like the thrill of fieldwork—when someone shouts “Oh! Come look at this!” and the whole team gathers around to see what ancient story the rocks are about to reveal.

#AnticostiIsland #CanadianFossils

2 months ago 8 1 0 1
Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA) | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA) - Volume 99 Issue 5

The specimen belongs to Pararchaeocrinus decoratus and is featured in this recent publication by OU graduate student Colby Higdon and Dr. Selina Cole

3 months ago 0 0 0 0
Pararchaeocrinus decoratus Strimple and Watkins, 1955, OU 9448, a camerate (Diplobathrida) with 10 branched, densely pinnulate arms and very thin, biserial brachials

Pararchaeocrinus decoratus Strimple and Watkins, 1955, OU 9448, a camerate (Diplobathrida) with 10 branched, densely pinnulate arms and very thin, biserial brachials

A fossil crinoid from the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (OU 99448) graces the cover of the new issue of the @paleosoc.bsky.social's Journal of Paleontology!

3 months ago 4 2 1 1

As the end of the year approaches, we're pleased to announce the OU Invert Paleo group at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History documented and described 33 new species in 2025, including fossil crinoid echinoderms, brachiopods, and snails

4 months ago 8 3 0 2
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Helicoplacoid in a Santa hat and fossil friends wish you a very merry Christmas from the Cambrian mat grounds!

3 months ago 39 13 0 0

As the end of the year approaches, we're pleased to announce the OU Invert Paleo group at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History documented and described 33 new species in 2025, including fossil crinoid echinoderms, brachiopods, and snails

4 months ago 8 3 0 2
Series of plots and graphs illustrating the five different evolution model configurations studied. They correspond to a range of simple to (moving down the page) increasingly complex and parameter-rich models of morphological evolution.

Series of plots and graphs illustrating the five different evolution model configurations studied. They correspond to a range of simple to (moving down the page) increasingly complex and parameter-rich models of morphological evolution.

Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @daveyfwright.bsky.social @datadryad.bsky.social

5 months ago 39 16 0 0

Many thanks to @astigall.bsky.social for coming to OU last week to give an awesome colloquium talk & visit the Sam Noble Museum! It was a semester highlight for us in @oupaleobiology.bsky.social and (as always) it was super great to catch up and chat science with one of my favorite paleontologists!

5 months ago 4 1 1 0
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Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data Understanding the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of morphologic traits is fundamental to macroevolutionary research. Despite decades of major advances and key insights from molecular systema...

🚨New paper out in Palaeontology! Check it out if you're interested morphological evolution, fossil phylogenetics, and macroevolution 🧪

"Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data"

5 months ago 51 24 1 3
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Check it out if you're interested in modeling morphological evolution, its impact on fossil phylogenies, and the macroevolutionary inferences derived from them. There's a bit of a cautionary(?) tale about continuous characters in here, too. Can't believe they let me quote Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan!

5 months ago 12 2 2 0
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Seems like our students have been busy decorating Invertebrate Paleontology lab at the museum 🧪

5 months ago 12 4 0 0
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A lot of great talks and posters by OU paleobiology students at the GSA meeting. Well done!

5 months ago 3 0 0 1

Burnett, E., Soreghan, M., and Cole, S.R. Variation in shell morphometry of Neothauma in Lake Tanganykia, Africa

6 months ago 2 0 0 0

Stigall, A.L., Wright, D.F., and Censullo, S.M. Species-level diversity dynamics during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event: a phylogenetic case study of Laurentian brachiopod lineages.

6 months ago 4 0 1 0

Soto, G.E., Cole, S.R., Wright, D.F., and Hopkins, M.J. Complex morphological variation within the trilobite Celtencrinurus laurentinus (Twenhofel, 1928), based on newly discovered specimens from Anticosti Island, Quebec.

6 months ago 1 0 1 0

Bell, N.J.M., Cole, S.R., Wright, D.F., Ausich, W.I., and Cournoyer, M. Environmental controls on niche space occupation and feeding ecology of Late Ordovician (Katian) crinoid communities.

6 months ago 1 0 1 0

Zazubec, A. and Cole, S.R. The order of survival: clade confections in Silurian crinoids.

6 months ago 1 0 1 0

Cole, S.R., Ausich, W.I., Cournoyer, M., and Wright, D.F. Echinoderms from the Neuville Lagerstätte (Late Ordovician, Québec, Canada): an exceptional taphonomic window into biotic interactions and functional ecology.

6 months ago 1 0 1 0
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Crowely, K.D. and Wright, D.F. On the Origin of the Flexibilia: modeling the rise and ecomorphological radiation of a major crinoid clade in a Bayesian phylogenetic framework.

6 months ago 2 0 1 0

Wright, D.F. Unraveling the evolutionary origin and macroevolutionary dynamics of crown group Crinoidea (Echinodermata) using fossils, genes, and phylogenies

6 months ago 2 0 1 0

🧵The Geological Society of America / Paleontological Society annual meeting is next week! Here's a thread of research presentations involving OU Paleobiology:

6 months ago 25 8 2 1
Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA) | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA)

New paper from Dr. Selina Cole's lab!

"Competition or coexistence? Ecology and niche partitioning of pelmatozoan echinoderms from the Late Ordovician Bromide Formation (Oklahoma, USA)"

6 months ago 12 3 0 2
Fossil tip-dating reveals novelties on evolutionary and diversification trends in three Late Ordovician brachiopod genera (Atrypida, Anazygidae) | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core Fossil tip-dating reveals novelties on evolutionary and diversification trends in three Late Ordovician brachiopod genera (Atrypida, Anazygidae) - Volume 99 Issue 2

New paper!

"Fossil tip-dating reveals novelties on evolutionary and diversification trends in three Late Ordovician brachiopod genera (Atrypida, Anazygidae)" Yay for brachiopods! 🧪

6 months ago 22 10 1 0
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Huge congrats to @crowleyk.bsky.social (Wright lab) and colleagues on publishing a major taxonomic revision of Paleocene gastropods!

7 months ago 4 0 0 1
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Undergraduate Programs The University of Oklahoma

As a paleontologist, here's something incredible about the geosciences program at OU:

1. Overall freshmen enrollment has been * increasing * in recent years.
2. We have more students in our * Paleobiology * Bachelor of Science program than any other option (including the general geosciences path)

7 months ago 27 4 1 0
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Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data Understanding the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of morphologic traits is fundamental to macroevolutionary research. Despite decades of major advances and key insights from molecular systemat...

New updated preprint! Many thanks to reviewers for their suggestions and helpful advice for improving our manuscript. Check it out if you're interested in fossils, phylogenies, and modeling morphologic evolution! 🧪

7 months ago 24 13 1 0