People | Petsios Paleontology Lab

Current Paleo Lab Members

Elizabeth Petsios, Ph.D. (PI)

Assistant Professor in the Geosciences Department at Baylor University.

B.S. – Cornell University, 2011

Ph.D. – University of Southern California, 2016

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Interests: Invertebrate paleontology, paleoecology, developmental biology, and macroevolutionary processes.

Contact: Elizabeth_Petsios@baylor.edu

Cooper Malanoski

M.S. Candidate, 2019 start

B.S. – SUNY Cortland, 2019

Research Gate

Interests: Mass extinctions, recovery following mass extinctions, Paleoecology, Quantitative Paleobiology, taphonomy, lagerstätte, inarticulate brachiopods.

I am broadly interested in all first-order mass extinction events, and the paleoecology and recovery dynamics following these events. Specifically, I look at Ecological changes in lingulid brachiopods and other “disaster taxa” throughout the Phanerozoic using quantitative methods such as substrate affinity. My other interests include; Paleoecology, Quantitative Paleobiology, taphonomy, and lagerstätte.

Contact: Cooper_Malanoski1@baylor.edu

Megan Jacobs

Ph.D Student, 2020 start

B.S. in Paleontology – University of Portsmouth, 2018

M.S. of Research – University of Portsmouth, 2019

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Interests: I am currently an international Ph.D. candidate, originally from the UK.

My Ph.D. project is based on the morphology and function of Mesozoic echinoid spines, as well as faunal encrusters on Cretaceous echinoids in Texas. I plan to use a combination of photography, 3D scanning, thin sections, and micro CT scanning to look at echinoid spine structure through the Mesozoic.

I also have a keen interest in ichthyosaur taxonomy and ecology, with my master’s project being to describe a new genus and species of ichthyosaur from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation, UK, as well as taxonomic revisions of ichthyosaur genera. I’m also very interested in ichthyosaur ecology, with a long-term project based on using ichthyosaur morphology to infer deep diving or shallow diving modes of life.

I have previously worked on Pterosaurs and theropods from the Kem Kem Beds of Morocco, specifically describing a new fauna of toothed pterosaurs and finding a new, undescribed faunal of small theropods.

I have additionally conducted work on dinosaur gastroliths from the Cretaceous Wessex Formation, Wealden Group of the Isle of Wight, UK. This involved experiments to recreate the classic ‘shine’ found on gastroliths, and used thin sections to identify their mineralogy to trace provenance in order to find out where the dinosaurs acquired them, and build a paleogeographic map of the Wessex Basin in the Cretaceous.

Contact: Megan_Jacobs1@baylor.edu

Nathan Wright

Ph.D Student, 2020 start

B.S. – Knox College, 2020

Research Gate

Interests: I am interested in using invertebrate paleontology to learn more about the effects of past climatic shifts and extinction events on ecology and evolutionary processes, using primarily paleobiogeographic and morphological methods.

Contact: Nathan_Wright1@baylor.edu

Brendan Anderson, Ph.D.

Post-doctoral Researcher in the Geosciences Department at Baylor University.

B.S. – Dartmouth College, 2009

M.S. – University of Kansas, 2013

Ph.D. – Cornell University, 2018

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Interests:

In my research I seek to understand why shells look the way they do and how some groups became diverse, abundant, or both. I ask questions like “why are these bumps here?”, “How did these snails change their development to become reef formers?”, and “why are there so many of you all in one place?”

I am interested in macroevolutionary processes in invertebrates, especially gastropods. Within a phylogenetic context I study what processes (hierarchical, ecological, and environmental) control the diversity of clades and the evolutionary origin of shell features in gastropods. I employ stable isotope analyses to study patterns of growth in both extant and fossil organisms as well as to understand features of the abiotic environment such as paleotemperature and other influences on the shallow marine environment such as seasonal upwelling conditions or freshwater runoff. By studying the phylogenetic, functional, developmental, and environmental context of shell features I seek a holistic understanding of how they and the groups possessing them evolved.

Contact: Brendan_Anderson@baylor.edu