Paula Mikkelsen
Paleontology Editor
The Paleontological Research Institution in Ithaca, New York, was founded in 1932 as an establishment committed to furthering basic research in paleontology. Over the past 80 plus years, PRI staff members have contributed new findings in the fields of evolutionary paleobiology, conservation, and macroevolution, focusing mainly on the faunas and formations of the United States, Caribbean, and Latin America. Today, PRI has expanded to include a vast research collection of fossil and Recent specimens, books and scientific journals under it’s own publishing brand, advanced research and educational facilities, a formal affiliation with nearby Cornell University, and two public venues: the Cayuga Nature Center and the Museum of the Earth, which offer exhibitions and educational programs for visitors of all ages. As Editor of This View of Life: Paleontology, PRI strives to bring our message “Everything is Paleontology” to a broad audience, using our unique combination of scientists, educators, students, and assets. Dr. Paula Mikkelsen, Associate Director for Science, oversees PRI’s contributions to TVOL.
Authored by
Paula Mikkelsen
February 21, 2013
Did “Invasions” Occur in the Fossil Record?
A panel of evolutionary biologists during Ithaca Darwin Days reflects on what we can learn about species invasions from the fossil record.Are human-facilitated invasions today the same kinds of events as Earth-facilitated changes in species distributions in the distant past? Are all species invasions “destructive”? Does invasion shut down speciation? Do we really know what the rate of invasion was in the past? In most instances, we simply don’t know.
August 22, 2012
Seals in Parallel
A new study of seal locomotion suggests that true seals and sea lions evolved in parallel from separate aquatic ancestors.