Postdoctoral fellowship: ear-PF: evolution and ecology of early mammal communities in north america: insights from a late jurassic fossil assemblage

The National Science Foundation Office of Integrative Activities awarded the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History Foundation $383,586 on September 1, 2026, under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) to support a postdoctoral fellowship examining early mammal community evolution and ecology during the Late Jurassic period.

The postdoctoral fellow will conduct research on fossil collections from the Fruita Paleontological Area of Colorado, housed at the museum's Dinosaur Institute in Los Angeles. The research activities include characterizing the taxonomic and functional diversity of the Fruita assemblage, comparing its biodiversity to other stem mammal sites, and describing new species from the museum's collections. The fellow will employ micro-computed tomography imaging to generate 3D models of fossil specimens. The project will enhance the museum's curatorial data for these paleontological collections while advancing public understanding of Mesozoic biodiversity and biogeography through museum outreach and education. The fellowship includes mentorship and training components for graduate and undergraduate students in geoscience workforce development.

Place of performance is Dockweiler, California 90007. The award runs through August 31, 2028.

Abstract

Studying ancient fossil communities helps US to understand how the diversity of life on earth has been sustained through our planet?S history. North america boasts an incredible fossil record of mammals from the age of dinosaurs, including sites of remarkable preservation such as the fruita paleontological area of colorado. This research program will add significant curatorial data to the fossil collections from this paleontological area that are housed at the natural history museum of LOS angeles county. The project will benefit society by creating new knowledge of the evolution and ecology of mammals during the age of dinosaurs, while enhancing public museum collections for outreach and education. A postdoctoral fellow will be mentored through the research and education activities, who will also contribute to training for graduate and undergraduate students to become future leaders in the geoscience workforce. The postdoctoral fellow will study fossil collections from the fruita paleontological area housed natural history museum of LOS angeles county dinosaur institute, and use the data generated to test hypotheses about the relationship between taxonomic and functional diversity in early mammal communities. These fossil collections are ideal for studying mesozoic biodiversity and biogeography because of their abundance of mammal and non-mammal fossils, preservation of cranial and post-cranial specimens, and well-described sedimentary facies. The postdoctoral fellow will 1) characterize the taxonomic and functional diversity of the fruita paleontological area; 2) compare the biodiversity of the fruita paleontological area to other stem mammal sites and 3) describe new species in the fossil collections of the dinosaur institute. This project will use micro-computed tomography imaging to create 3D models of fossil dentition. These tooth models will be analyzed to calculate functional and morphological diversity using dental topographical analyses. The results will be used to compare the biodiversity of the fruita paleontological area to other jurassic microvertebrate sites from north america to better understand mammalian evolutionary history and biogeography during the age of dinosaurs. The postdoctoral fellow will also serve as a mentor for undergraduate and graduate students at the natural history museum of LOS angeles county and contribute to community outreach and geoscience communication at the museum. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.