Nicholas R. Longrich
Department of Geology and Geophysics,
Yale University
P.O. Box 208109
New Haven, CT 06520-8109
nicholas.longrich(a)yale.edu
(203) 824 1279
Current Position
Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale University 2009-2012
Education
PhD, Biological Sciences, University of Calgary 2003-2008
MS, Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago 1998-2000
BA, summa cum laude, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University 1994-1998
Publications
21. Longrich, N. R., Bhullar, A-B. S., Gauthier, J. A. 2012. A transitional snake from the Late Cretaceous period of North America. Nature 488, 205-208.
20. Longrich, N.R., Field, D. 2012. Torosaurus is not Triceratops: ontogeny in chasmosaurine ceratopsids as a case study in dinosaur taxonomy. PLoS ONE 7(2): e32623 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032623
19. Larson, D., Longrich, N. R., Evans, D., Ryan, M. 2012. Neurankylus lithographicus, a new species of baenid turtle (Paracryptodira: Baenidae) from the Late Cretaceous Milk River Formation of Alberta, Canada. In D. B. Brinkman et al. (eds), Morphology and Evolution of Turtles. Springer, Netherlands. 389-405.
18. Longrich, N. R., Tokaryk, T. T., Field, D. 2011. Mass extinction of birds at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108 (37): 15253-15257.
17. Schott, R.K., Evans, D.C., Goodwin, M.B., Horner, J.R., Brown, C.M., Longrich, N.R., 2011. Cranial Ontogeny in Stegoceras validum (Dinosauria: Pachycephalosauria): A Quantitative Model of Pachycephalosaur Dome Growth and Variation. PLoS ONE 6, e21092.
16. Longrich, N. R. 2011. Titanoceratops ouranos, a giant horned dinosaur from the Late Campanian of New Mexico. Cretaceous Research 32:3 264-276.
15. Longrich, N. R., Olson, S.L., 2011. The bizarre wing of the Jamaican flightless ibis Xenicibis xympithecus: a unique vertebrate adaptation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 278: 2333-2337.
14. Longrich, N. R., J. R. Horner, G. M. Erickson, and P. J. Currie. 2010. Cannibalism in Tyrannosaurus rex. PLoS ONE 5(10): e13419. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013419.
13. Lyson, T. R., and N. R. Longrich. 2010. Spatial niche partitioning in dinosaurs from the latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of North America. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 278: 3459-3464.
12. Longrich, N. R., P. J. Currie, and Z.-M. Dong. 2010. A new oviraptorid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Bayan Mandahu, Inner Mongolia. Palaeontogy 53:945-960.
11. Longrich, N. R. 2010. Mojoceratops perifania, a new chasmosaurine ceratopsid from the Late Campanian of Western Canada. Journal of Paleontology 84:681-694.
10. Longrich, N. R., and M. Ryan. 2010. Mammalian tooth marks on the bones of dinosaurs and other Late Cretaceous vertebrates. Palaeontology 53:703-709.
9. Longrich, N. R., J. T. Sankey, and D. H. Tanke. 2010. Texacephale langstoni, a new genus of pachycephalosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the upper Campanian Aguja Formation, southern Texas, USA. Cretaceous Research 31:274-284.
8. Longrich, N. 2010. The function of large eyes in Protoceratops: a nocturnal ceratopsian? In: Eberth and Ryan (eds.), Horned Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press.
7. Longrich, N. R., and P. J. Currie. 2009a. A microraptorine (Dinosauria-Dromaeosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of North America. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106:5002-5008.
6. Longrich, N. R., and P. J. Currie. 2009b. Albertonykus borealis, a new alvarezsaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Maastrichtian of Alberta, Canada: Implications for the systematics and ecology of the Alvarezsauridae. Cretaceous Research 30:239-252.
5. Longrich, N. R. 2009. An ornithurine-dominated avifauna from the Belly River Group (Campanian, Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada. Cretaceous Research 30:161-177.
4. Longrich, N. R. 2008. A new, large ornithomimid from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada: implications for the study of dissociated dinosaur remains. Palaeontology 51:983-997.
3. Longrich, N.R. 2008. Small theropod teeth from the Lance Formation of Wyoming. In Sankey, J.T. and Baszio, S. (Eds). The Unique Role of Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages in Paleoecology and Paleobiology. Indiana University Press, pp 135-158.
2. Longrich, N. 2006. Structure and function of hindlimb feathers in Archaeopteryx lithographica. Paleobiology 32(3):417-431.
1. Longrich, N. 2006. An ornithurine bird from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 43:1-7.
Awards and Honors
2010 National Geographic Waitts Foundation Grant for exploratory fieldwork in the Canadian Arctic of the Northwest Territories
2009 Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, Donnelley Postdoctoral Fellowship
2008 Dinosaur Research Institute Grant for field work in Big Bend National Park, Texas
2005 Society of Canadian Ornithologists Grant
2004 Alberta Ingenuity Graduate Research Studentship
2003 University of Calgary, Dean’s Entry Scholarship
1999 Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, Student Bursary
1999 National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowship
1999 Ford Foundation, Graduate Research Fellowship (declined)
1998 Princeton University, Charles M. Cannon Memorial Prize for best senior thesis presentation
Conference Presentations
Longrich, N., 2010. Survival and extinction at the K-T boundary: New evidence and new perspectives from the vertebrate fauna of continental North America. Journal of Vertebrate Palentology 29: 124A.
Darroch, S. A. F., Webb, A., Longrich, N. 2010 Visualizing Paleocene-Eocene evolution of beta-diversity among ungulate mammals in North America. Paleontological Association Annual Meeting.
Schott, R., Evans, D., Goodwin, M., Brown, C., Longrich, N. 2010. Ontogeny in Stegoceras and the evolution of cranial doming and ornamentation in Pachycephalosauria (Dinosauria: Ornithischia). Journal of Vertebrate Palentology 29: 159A.
Lyson, T., and Longrich, N. R. Spatial niche partitioning in dinosaurs from the Latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of North America. GSA Abstracts with Programs Vol. 42, No. 5.
Longrich, N., 2008c. Aerodynamic function of the hind limb feathers of Archaeopteryx lithographica. Journal of Vertebrate Palentology 28:3A (Romer Prize Symposium)
Currie, P.J., Longrich, N.R., Ryan, M., Eberth, D., Demchig, B., 2008. A bonebed of Avimimus sp. (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation, Gobi Desert: Insights into social behavior and development in a maniraptoran theropod. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28, 67A.
Longrich, N. R. 2007. Structure and function of hind limb feathers in Archaeopteryx lithographica. Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology Program with Abstracts.
Longrich, N. 2007. The better to see you with: the function of large eyes in Protoceratops. Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology Ceratopsian Symposium.
Longrich, N. R. 2005. Semiaquatic marsupials from Dinosaur Provincial Park. Dinosaur Park Symposium.
Longrich, N. R. 2005. Aquatic marsupials from the Late Cretaceous of North America. Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology Program with Abstracts.
Longrich, N. R. 2005. Aquatic specialization in marsupials from the Late Cretaceous. Evolution of Aquatic Tetrapods Fourth Triannual Convention Abstracts: 46.
Longrich, N. R. 2004. Aquatic specialization in mammals from the Late Cretaceous of North America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24,3A
Teaching Experience
Spring 2011 Geology 125 History of Life, Yale University (undergraduate course; lecturing responsibilities for six one-hour lectures)
Spring 2011 Geology 125 History of Life, Yale University
Fall 2006 Ecology 301, University of Calgary (teaching assistant)
Lectures and Public Talks
May 2011, Boston Museum of Science
May 2011, New York Paleontological Society
November 2010, Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, External Advisory Board Meeting
January 2009, University of Alaska Kodiak College, Kodiak Island, Alaska.
December 2008, Linnean Society of New York
March, 2008, University of Alberta Paleontological Society
March 30, 2007 invited lecture, Department of Geology, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Fall 2006, Alberta Paleontological Society
Field Work
2010 Northwest Territories Arctic Dinosaur Expedition. Led expection searching for K-T vertebrates near the Mackenzie River Valley in the Northwest Territories and collected duckbill dinosaur fossils.
2010 Southern Alberta. Led prospecting for K-T vertebrate sites in the Alberta foothills and continued fieldwork along South Saskatchewan River.
2009 Southern Alberta. Led prospecting for dinosaur remains in the Oldman Formation, recovering a partial skeleton of the rare Chasmosaurus irvinensis.
2008 Big Bend National Park, Texas. Collaborated with J. Sankey
Outreach
As a PhD student and postdoc, I have worked closely with University media relations to put together press releases on my research. Select examples of media coverage:
Torosaurus and Triceratops (Longrich and Field, 2011)
March 5, 2012, The New York Times, “Triceratops’ Quiet Cousin, the Torosaurus, gains new legitimacy”.
K-T bird extinction (Longrich et al., 2011)
September 20, 2011, bbc.co.uk, “Old fossils solve mystery of earliest bird extinction”
T. rex cannibalism (Longrich et al., 2010)
October 18, 2010, Slate.com, “What Did Dinosaur Meat Taste Like?”
Mojoceratops (Longrich, 2010)
July 17, NPR, “Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me”
July 9, 2010, New York Times, “From a Museum Basement, a ‘New’ Dinosaur”
Mammalian gnaw on dinosaur bones (Longrich and Ryan, 2010)
June 21, 2010, New York Times, ‘The fossil record of prehistoric gnawing’
Albertonykus (Longrich and Currie, 2009a)
Sept 27 2008, Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update with Amy Poehler
Research Interests
Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) Mass Extinction
Cretaceous Dinosaur Systematics and Diversity
Evolution of Birds and Origins of Avian Flight
Evolution of Lizards and Snakes
Referee for Peer-reviewed Publications
Science
Proceedings B
PLoS ONE
Naturwissenschaften
Palaeontology
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
Auk
Lethaia
Geological Journal
Cretaceous Research
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology