Doug Boyer dboyer@ic.sunysb.edu phone : (631) 444-7364 B.S., Professional Geology., University of Michigan, 2002     Major Advisor: David Krause

General research Interests:
I am primarily interested in extinct Cretaceous and Paleogene mammals. Specifically, I want to gain a better understanding of the detailed skeletal anatomy of these animals in order to refine reconstructions of their ecomorphology and to determine their phylogenetic relationships to other mammals. Ultimately, such information can assist in elucidating macroevolutionary patterns and in testing hypotheses regarding the adaptive origins of extant mammalian clades. Adaptive interpretations of macroevolutionary patterns are relevant to other branches of geological and paleobiological science because they often generate predictions regarding many historical parameters, including paleoclimatic conditions and changes there-of, which can be tested with appropriate data. Thus, the evolutionary tie of Paleogene mammals to their extant relatives and its implications for other historical events makes the investigation and thorough documentation of skeletal morphology of fossil taxa a critical and compelling endeavor.

Current/recent projects/methods:
Dissertation - My interests, described above, are reflected in my dissertation work. This project's foundation is a taxonomic and systematic revision of the extinct Paleogene family, Plesiadapidae, currently regarded as stem-member of the order Primates. I aim to provide a more thorough understanding of the morphological traits and variation in this group based on abundantly available dental material, as well as recently discovered skeletal remains from the western interior of North America. These data will be employed to reconstruct a species level phylogeny for the family. The resulting phylogeny will provide the foundation to allow: 1) formulation of a better-constrained hypothesis for the primitive form of the family than previously possible, and 2) evaluation of the evolutionary significance of results from an ecomorphological study of molar tooth morphology. These are scientifically compelling research goals because they have implications for current hypotheses on the adaptive origins of Primates.

General - I am involved in experimental studies of functional morphology that serve to test whether hypotheses about the adaptive significance of key traits of extant mammalian clades are consistent with their actual functions. I have collaborated with other Stony Brook faculty and students on these projects using telemetered electromyography on lemuriform primates. I also use quantitative comparative morphology to reconstruct aspects of function and behavior in fossil mammals with various types of data including those from traditional caliper measurements as well as measurements from high resolution x-ray computed tomography. Collaborators on this work include fellow Stony Brook students, as well as researchers at various North American universities and museums; however, I have primarily worked with assistant curator of the Florida Museum of Natural History, Jonathan I. Bloch. Finally, I continue to work on basic descriptions of fossils of Cretaceous and Paleogene mammals with a number of collaborators from institutions in North America. These fossils come mainly from the Laramide basins of the continent’s western interior. Many are the result of an on-going field project, co-lead with J. Bloch, to collect fossil mammals and contextual data from the Crazy Mountains Basin of south-central Montana.

Description of researcher’s portrait - Standing on the Bangtail Plateau of the western Crazy Mountains Basin near Clyde Park, Montana. The white beacon is an antenna for a Trimble ProXRS differentially corrected global positioning unit. This equipment is used to log “super correct” positional data (accurate at a sub-1 meter level) in order to mark fossil localities, to mark collection sites of for contextual data, and to mark outcrop exposures allowing interpolation of geologic bedding attitudes and projection of corresponding bedding planes.

Doug Boyer's CV

Publications, Abstracts, and Artwork:

Articles

Boyer, D. M., and J. I. Bloch. in press. “Evaluating the mitten-gliding hypothesis for Paromomyidae and Micromomyidae (Mammalia, "Plesiadapiformes") using comparative functional morphology of new Paleogene skeletons,” in Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology: A Tribute to Frederick S. Szalay. Edited by E. J. Sargis and M. Dagosto, pp.XX-XX. Springer, Dordrecht. Netherlands.

Boyer, D. M., and Georgi, J. A. in press. Cranial morphology of a pantolestid eutherian mammal from the eocene bridger formation, wyoming, usa: implications for relationships and habitat. Journal of Mammalian Evolution XXX: XX-XX  .

Gunnell, G. F., T. M. Bown, J. I. Bloch, and D. M. Boyer.  in press. Chapter 5.  "Proteutheria". In: Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America, Volume 2, Small Mammals, Xenarthrans, and Marine Mammals. Edited by C. M. Janis, G. F. Gunnell, and M. D. Uhen. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Silcox, M. T., D. M. Boyer, J. I. Bloch, and E. J. Sargis. in press. Revisiting the adaptive origins of primates (again). Journal of Human Evolution XXX: XX-XX.

Bloch, J. I., and D. M. Boyer. 2007. "New skeletons of Paleocene-Eocene Plesiadapiformes: a diversity of arboreal positional behaviors in early primates," in Primate Origins: Adaptations and Evolution, pp. 535-581. Edited by M. Dagosto and M. J. Ravosa. New York: Plenum Press.

Bloch J. I., M. T. Silcox, D. M. Boyer, and E. J. Sargis. 2007.  New Paleocene skeletons and the relationship of plesiadapiforms to crown-clade primates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104: 1159-1164.

Boyer, D. M., B. A. Patel, S. G. Larson, and J. T. Stern Jr . 2007. Telemetered electromyography of peroneus longus in Varecia variegata and Eulemur rubriventer: implications for the functional significance of a large peroneal process. Journal of Human Evolution 53: 119-134.

Sargis, E. J., D. M. Boyer, J. I. Bloch, and M. T. Silcox. 2007. Evolution of pedal grasping in Primates. Journal of Human Evolution 53: 103-107.

Silcox, M. T., E. J. Sargis, J. I. Bloch, and D. M. Boyer. 2007. Primate origins and supraordinal relationships: morphological evidence. In W. Henke, H. Rothe, and I. Tattersall (eds.), Handbook of Paleoanthropology, Vol. 2: Primate Evolution and Human Origins, pp.831-859. Springer: Heidelberg, Germany.

Silcox, M. T., J. I. Bloch, D. M. Boyer, and E. J. Sargis. 2005. "Euarchonta (Dermoptera, Scandentia, Primates)," in Rise of Placental Mammals. Edited by K. D. Rose and J. D. Archibald, pp. 127-144. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Wing, S. L., G. J. Harrington, F. A. Smith, J. I. Bloch, D. M. Boyer, and K. H. Freeman. 2005. Transient floral change and rapid global warming at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary. Science 310:993-996.

Bloch, J. I., and D. M. Boyer. 2003. Response to comment on "Grasping Primate Origins". Science 300: 741c.

Bloch, J. I., D. M. Boyer, P. D. Gingerich, and G. F. Gunnell. 2002. New primitive paromomyid from the Clarkforkian of Wyoming and dental eruption in Plesiadapiformes. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22: 366-379.

Bloch, J. I., and D. M. Boyer. 2002. Grasping primate origins. Science 298: 1606-1610.

Bloch, J. I., and D. M. Boyer. 2001. "Taphonomy of small mammals in freshwater limestones from the Paleocene of the Clarks Fork Basin," in Paleocene-Eocene Stratigraphy and Biotic Change in the Bighorn and Clarks Fork Basins, Wyoming. Edited by P. D. Gingerich, pp. 185-198: Museum of Paleontology Papers on Paleontology No. 33.

Presentations

Boyer, D. M.  2007. A test of the visual predation hypothesis of euprimate origins using diet-correlated measures of tooth shape. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Accepted abstract

Bloch, J. I. and D. M. Boyer. 2007. The oldest North American rodent skeleton: evaluation of the competition hypothesis in Paleocene primate evolution. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Accepted abstract

Silcox, M. T., J. I. Bloch,  D. M. Boyer and P. Houde. 2007. Cranial anatomy of Labidolemur kayi and the relationships of the Apatemyidae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Accepted abstract

Maiolino, S. A. and D. M. Boyer. 2007. Evidence from claw morphology for a diversity of positional behaviors in plesiadapid “plesiadapiforms” . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Accepted abstract

Bloch, J. I., D. M. Boyer, and D. W. Krause. 2006. New mammal-bearing quarry from the earliest Tiffanian (Early Late Paleocene) of the Eastern Crazy Mountains Basin, Montana.  Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(3):43A.

Scott, C.S., and D. M. Boyer. 2006. First skeletal material of Litocherus notissimus (Simpson) (Mammalia, Erinaceomorpha) from the Late Paleocene of south central Alberta, Canada. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(3):123A.

Boyer, D. M., B. A. Patel, S. G. Larson, and J. T. Stern Jr. 2006. Electromyography of peroneus longus in Varecia variegata and Eulemur rubriventer help in grasping primate origins. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 129(S42):13.

Chester, S. G. B., J. I. Bloch, D. M. Boyer, and S. L. Wing. 2005. Anachronistic occurrences of phenacodontid species in the Clarkforkian of the southern Bighorn Basin: possible evidence against transient dwarfing during the CIE-PETM interval. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25:44A.

Sargis, E. J., J. I. Bloch, D. M. Boyer, and M. T. Silcox. 2005. Evolution of grasping in Euarchonta. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25:109A.

St. Clair, E. M., D. W. Krause, and D. M. Boyer. 2005. Pantodonts (Mammalia) from the early Tiffanian (Paleocene) of the Crazy Mountains Basin, Montana. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25:118A.

Bloch, J. I., D. M. Boyer, S. G. Strait, and S. L. Wing. 2004. New sections and fossils from the southern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming document faunal turnover during the PETM. Eos Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 85:abstract PP14A-08.

Bloch, J. I., D. M. Boyer, P. Houde, and M. T. Silcox. 2004. New skeletons of Paleocene-Eocene Labidolemur kayi (Mammalia, Apatemyidae): ecomorphology and relationship of apatemyids to primates and other mammals. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24:40A.

Bloch, J. I., M. T. Silcox, D. M. Boyer, and E. J. Sargis, E. J.  2004.  New hypothesis of primate supraordinal relationships and its bearing on competing models of primate origins: a test from the fossil record. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 125(S39):64A.

Boyer, D. M., J. I. Bloch, M. T. Silcox, and P. D. Gingerich. 2004. New observations on anatomy of Nannodectes (Mammalia, Primates) from the Paleocene of Montana and Colorado. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24:40A.

Boyer, D. M., J. M. Pares, J. I. Bloch, and D. W. Krause. 2004. Refining intra- and inter-basinal chronostratigraphic correlations of Paleocene mammal-bearing localities in the Crazy Mountains Basin, Montana: initial paleomagnetic results. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 36:363.

Mawyin, C., J. Groenke, D. M. Boyer, and J. I. Bloch. 2004. Novel use for cyclododecane in acid preparation of recently recovered Paleocene limestones from the western Crazy Mountains Basin, Montana. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24:90A-91A.

McCullough, G. M., M. T. Silcox, J. I. Bloch, D. M. Boyer, and D. W. Krause. 2004. New palaechthonids (Mammalia, Primates) from the Paleocene of the Crazy Mountains Basin, Montana. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24:91A.

Bloch, J. I., D. M. Boyer, and P. Houde. 2003. New skeletons of Paleocene-Eocene micromomyids (Mammalia, Primates): functional morphology and implications for euarchontan relationships. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23:35A.

Boyer, D. M., and J. I. Bloch. 2003. Comparative anatomy of the pentacodontid Aphronorus orieli (Mammalia, Pantolesta) from the Paleocene of the western Crazy Mountains Basin, Montana. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23:36A.

Bloch, J. I., and D. M. Boyer. 2002. Phalangeal morphology of Paleocene plesiadapiforms (Mammalia, ?Primates): evaluation of the gliding hypothesis and the first evidence for grasping in a possible primate ancestor. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 34:13A.

Bloch, J. I., M. T. Silcox, E. J. Sargis, and D. M. Boyer. 2002. Origin and relationships of Archonta (Mammalia, Eutheria): Re-evaluation of Eudermoptera and Primatomorpha. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22:37a.

Boyer, D. M., and J. I. Bloch. 2002. Bootstrap comparisons of vertebral morphology of Paleocene Plesiadapiforms (Mammalia, ?Primates): functional implications. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 34:13A.

Boyer, D. M., and J. I. Bloch. 2002. Structural correlates of positional behavior in vertebral columns of Paleocene small mammals. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22:38A.

Bloch, J. I., D. M. Boyer, and P. D. Gingerich. 2001a. Small mammals from Paleocene-Eocene freshwater limestones of the Fort Union and Willwood formations, Clarks Fork Basin, Wyoming: exceptional preservation in unique depositional environments. Conference: Paleocene-Eocene stratigraphy and biotic change in the Bighorn and Clarks Fork basins, Wyoming.

Bloch, J. I., D. M. Boyer, and P. D. Gingerich. 2001b. Positional behavior of late Paleocene Carpolestes simpsoni  (Mammalia, ?Primates). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21:34A.

Bloch, J. I., D. M. Boyer, P. D. Gingerich, and G. F. Gunnell. 2001. New Paleogene Plesiadapiform (Mammalia, ?Primates) skeletons from Wyoming: a diversity of positional behaviors in possible primate ancestors. First International Conference on Primate Origins and Adaptations: A Multidisciplinary Perspective.

Boyer, D. M., J. I. Bloch, P. D. Gingerich. 2001. New skeletons of Paleocene paromomyids (Mammalia, ?Primates): were they mitten gliders? Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21:35A.

Bloch, J. I., D. M. Boyer, G. F. Gunnell, and P. D. Gingerich. 2000. New primitive paromomyid from the Clarkforkian of Wyoming and dental eruption in Plesiadapiformes. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20:30A.

Boyer, D. M., and J. I. Bloch. 2000. Documenting dental-postcranial associations in Paleocene-Eocene freshwater limestones from the Clarks Fork Basin, Wyoming. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20:31A.

Published original artwork

* Illustrations appearing in works co-authored by the artist are not listed.

Ignacius clarksforkensis life reconstruction: pencil on paper

Beeland, D. 2007. Florida paleontologist discovers most primitive primate skeleton. Natural History, 116: 60-62.

Various other publications by the popular media

Carpolestes simpsoni cranium reconstruction: pen and ink

Bloch, J. I. and M. T. Silcox. 2006.  Cranial anatomy of Paleocene plesiadapiform Carpolestes simpsoni (Mammalia, Primates) using ultra high-resolution X-ray computed tomography, and the relationships of plesiadapiforms to Euprimates. Journal of Human Evolution, 50: 1-35.

Carpolestes simpsoni life reconstruction: color art

Sargis, E. J. 2002.  Primate origins nailed. Science, 298:1503-1666.

Journal of Mammalian Evolution [cover illustration starting with volume 24 (January 2003)]

Shadmehr, R. and S. P. Wise. 2005. Computational Neurobiology of Reaching and Pointing. A Foundation for Motor Learning. Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT Press.

Various publications by the popular media

Rodhocetus balochistanensis skeleton reconstruction: pen and ink

Gingerich, P. D., M. Haq, I. S. Zalmout, I. H. Khan, and M. S. Malkani. 2001. Origin of whales from early artiodactyls: hands and feet of Eocene Protocetidae from Pakistan. Science, 293:2239-2242.