Adam Huttenlocker - Vertebrate Biology

Ph.D. student, Department of Biology, University of Washington
Seattle, Washington, USA

Advisor: Christian Sidor

Master of Science: Biology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA, USA

email: ahuttenlocker@gmail.com

- Utility of osteohistology in fossil vertebrates to study development, skeletal mechanics, and life history traits

- Paleoecology and biogeography of Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrate faunas

Hyperelongate neural spines in early synapsids - At least two separate lineages of Permo-Carboniferous mammal-like reptiles (synapsids) developed large dorsal "sails" independently. An analysis of the bone microstructure of neural spines in multiple taxa allows us to explore the evolution and development of these structures in its cladistic context for the first time. (California State University, San Bernardino and Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona)

Late Paleozoic terrestrial vertebrates and their environments - This broad work examines the phylogenetic relationships of Paleozoic terrestrial vertebrates (e.g., temnospondyl and lepospondyl amphibians, early amniotes), their temporal and spatial distributions, and their implications for the origins of modern tetrapods. New fossils from the earliest Permian (~299 Mya) of Nebraska have helped to revise the morphology and systematics of known taxa and enigmatic groups. Analyses of paleoclimate and the proliferation of estivation behavior at Four Corners and Midcontinent localities provide insights into the evolution of physiological plasticity in early Permian vertebrates. (Denver Museum of Nature & Science and California State University, San Bernardino)

Survivorship and recovery of therapsids across the Permo-Triassic extinction boundary - Often referred to as "the mother of mass-extinctions," the P/Tr extinction event (~251 Mya) played a huge role in the restructuring of terrestrial vertebrate communities. This work uses morphologic and phylogenetic data to determine survival during this greatest mass extinction in Earth's history, based on stratocladistic analyses and "ghost lineages." (California State University, San Bernardino, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaigne)

Pardo, J. D., A. K. Huttenlocker, & J. Marcot. In Press. Stratocladistics and evolutionary modes in the fossil record:
an example from the ammonite genus Semiformiceras. Palaeontology.

Engelhorn, J., B. J. Small, & A. Huttenlocker. 2008. The anatomy and relationships of Acroplous vorax:
new specimens from the Lower Permian of Kansas and Nebraska. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28(2),
15 pages (in press)

Huttenlocker, A. K., & J. Marcot. 2007. The effects of phylogenetic augmentation on analyses of
paleodiversity: a case study on Permo-Triassic eutheriodonts (Amniota: Therapsida). Geological Society
of America Annual Meeting (abstract).

Huttenlocker, A. K., E. Rega, & S. Sumida. 2007. New histological invetigations of hyperelongate neural
spines of eupelycosaurs (Amniota: Synapsida) and the affinities of Lupeosaurus kayi. Society of
Vertebrate Paleontology 67th Annual Meeting (abstract).

Huttenlocker, A. K., B. J. Small, & J. D. Pardo. 2007. Plemmyradytes shintoni gen. et sp. nov., an Early
     Permian amphibamid (Temnospondyli: Dissorophoidea) from the Eskridge Formation, Nebraska. Journal
     of Vertebrate Paleontology 27:316-328.

Huttenlocker, A. K., K. Angielczyk, & A. Lee. 2006. Osteohistology of Sphenacodon (Synapsida:
     Sphenacodontidae) and the hidden diversity of growth patterns in basal synapsids. Society of Vertebrate
     Paleontology 66th Annual Meeting (abstract).

Small, B. J., J. D. Pardo, & A. K. Huttenlocker. 2006. Taxonomic diversity of estivating species in the lowest
     Permian of North America: onset of seasonality and comments on physiological plasticity. Society of
     Vertebrate Paleontology 66th Annual Meeting (abstract).

Huttenlocker, A. K., J. Marcot, & D. Fox. 2006. New insights into therocephalian phylogeny (Amniota:
     Therapsida): a comparison of stratigraphy-free and stratocladistic methods. Palaeontological Society of
     Southern Africa 14th Biennial Conference (abstract).

Huttenlocker, A. K., J. D. Pardo, & B. J. Small. 2005. An earliest Permian nonmarine vertebrate assemblage
     from the Eskridge Formation, Nebraska. Bulletin of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
     30: 133-143.

Huttenlocker, A. K. 2005. Survivorship of cynodonts and therocephalians (Therapsida: Eutheriodontia)
     across the Permo-Triassic Boundary in South Africa: an analysis of ghost lineages. Western Interior
     Paleontological Society Founders Symposium 2005, Extinctions: Punctuations in Time (abstract).

- Scientific Contributor: Tree of Life Web Project (ToL); Encyclopedia of Life (EOL)