Mary L. Droser
Professor
Ph.D., University of Southern California, 1987
Specialty: Paleobiology
Email: mary.droser@ucr.edu
Phone: (951) 827-3797
Office: Geology 1464
Homepage: Paleobiology Home Page
Research Interests:
Evolutionary paleoecology, Paleoecology of the Precambrian-Cambrian and Ordovician radiations, Phanerozoic trends in ecospace utilization, Cambrian and Ordovician of the Great Basin.
Recent Projects:
Paleoecology of the Ediacara biota (South Australia), development of Neoproterozoic-Cambrian bioturbation and the prevalence of Cambrian firmgrounds, paleoecology of the Ordovician radiations, comparison of taxonomic and paleoecologic signatures of major diversification and extinction events, end Devonian mass extinction, paleoecology of low Oxygen environments.
Selected Publications:
Droser, M. L., Jensen, S., and Gehling, J. G. 2002. Trace fossils and substrates of the terminal Proterozoic-Cambrian transition: Implications for the record of early bilaterians and sediment mixing. PNAS, 99(20):12572-12576.
Jensen, S., Gehling, J. G., Droser, M. L., and Grant, S. W.F. 2002. A scratch circle origin for the medusoid fossil Kullingia . Lethaia, 35: 291-299.
Droser, M. L., and Finnegan, S. 2003. The Ordovician Radiation: A Follow-up to the Cambrian Explosion? Interg. Comp. Biol., 43:178-184.
Gaines, R. R., and Droser, M. L. 2003. Paleoecology of the familiar trilobite Elrathia kingii : An early exaerobic zone inhabitant. Geology, 31(11):941-944.
Boyer, D. and Droser, M.L., 2003, Shell beds of the Kanosh and Lehman Formations of Western Utah: Paleoecological and paleoenvironmental interpretations, Brigham Young Studies In Geology, v. 47, p. 1-15.
Droser, M.L., Jensen, S.R., Gehling, J.G., Myrow, P.M., Narbonne , G., 2002. Lowermost Cambrian Ichnofabrics from the Chapel Island Formation, Newfoundland : Implications for Cambrian Substrates, PALAIOS.
Droser, M.L., Jensen, S.R., and Gehling, J.G., 2004. Development of the early Paleozoic mixed layer: implications for secular trends in the preservation of event beds, trilobite trace fossils and the distribution of siltstone, Geol. Soc., Memoirs London.
McGhee, G.R., Sheehan, P.M., Bottjer, D.J., Droser, M.L., 2004. Ecological ranking of Phanerozoic biodiversity crisis: ecological and taxonomic severities are decoupled, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, vol. 211, p. 289-297.
Boyer, D. L., Bottjer, D.J., and Droser, M.L, 2004, Ecological Signature of Lower Triassic Shell Beds of the Western Untied States, PALAIOS , vol. 19, p. 372-380.
Gaines, R.R., Kennedy, M.J., and Droser, M.L., 2005, A New hypothesis for Burgess Shale-type preservation in the Middle Cambrian Wheeler Shale, House Range , Utah , Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology , v. 220, 193-206.
Gaines, R.R. and Droser, M.L., 2005, New Approaches to Understanding the Mechanics of Burgess shale-type deposits: From the micron scale to the global picture. The Sedimentary Record, v. 3, p. 4-8.
Jensen, S., Droser, M.L., and Gehling, J.G., 2005, Trace fossil preservation and the early evolution of animals. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology , v. 220, p. 19-30.
Finnegan, S. and Droser, M.L., 2005, Relative and absolute abundance of trilobites and rhynchonelliform brachiopods across the Lower/Middle Ordovician boundary, eastern Basin and Range. Paleobiology, v. 31, p. 480-502.
Droser, M., Gehling, J., and Jensen, S. 2006, Assemblage Palaeoecology of the Ediacara Biota: The Unabridged Edition?. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 232, i. 2-4, p. 131-147.
Boyer, D. and Droser, M.L. 2007. Devonian monospecific assemblages: new insights into the ecology of reduced-oxygen depositional settings. Lethaia, v. 40, pp. 321-333.
Zhu, M., Gehling, J.G., Xiao, S., Zhao, Y., and Droser, M., 2008. An eight-armed
Ediacara fossil preserved in contrasting taphonomic windows from China and
Australia. Geology, 19 MS pages
Droser, M.L. and Gehling, J. 2008. Synchronous Aggregate Growth in an Abundant New Ediacaran Tubular Organism. Science, v. 319, pp. 1660-1662.
Finnegan, S. and Droser, M. 2008. Body Size, energetics, and the Ordovician restructuring of marine ecosystems., Paleobiology, v. 34, p. 342-359.
Finnegan, S. and Droser, M. 2008. Reworking diversity: effects of storm deposition on evenness and sampled richness, Ordovician of the Basin and Range (UT and NV). PALAIOS, v. 23, pp. 87-96.