David M. Grossnickle

Research Interests

I'm an evolutionary biologist interested in how functional traits influence macroevolution. My preferred study organisms are mammals, both modern and extinct. Much of my research has focused on early mammals from the Mesozoic Era (or Age of Dinosaurs), but I've also studied modern mammals to address questions about evolutionary processes, convergence, and functional morphology. 

I'm especially interested in the tempo of ecological diversification during major mammalian radiations, and my research has examined both very broad radiations (e.g., all mammals and other synapsid groups) and mammalian subgroups (e.g., phyllostomids, an incredibly diverse group of bats). I'm performing this research as an assistant professor of biology at Oregon Institute of Technology. Formerly, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington, working in Sharlene Santana's lab and Greg Wilson Mantilla's lab. I obtained my PhD (2018) through the Committee on Evolutionary Biology at The University of Chicago, studying in the labs of Zhe-Xi Luo and Kenneth Angielczyk. I'm a former fellow at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.