Dr. Robert Feranec

Director of Research and Collections, Curator of Pleistocene Vertebrate Paleontology
robert.feranec@nysed.gov
518-474-5819

While my interests encompass a broad scope of topics including influences on biogeography, causes of speciation and adaptive radiation, and triggers of extinction, my research has been focused at describing the evolution of ecology in mammals.  My research concentrates on examining ecology in mammals from short time scales (seasons) to very long time scales (millions of years). 

In order to understand ecology of fossil mammals, the modern quantitative and analytical techniques I employ include stable isotope geochemistry, utilization of bioinformatics databases, and computer-based imaging of fossils which permits quantitative analysis of various morphological features.  Fieldwork is also an important aspect of my research program, and I have conducted or participated in excavations in the U.S. and Spain. 

Typical questions addressed in my research include:

How does climate change effect ecology?
Does ecology change during development?
Does immigration/dispersal of new species affect ecology?
Does extinction/extirpation of species affect ecology?

I am interested and open to collaboration within and beyond North America.  Potential collaborators, including current or potential graduate students, are encouraged to email me.

Publications

2016

R. Feranec, N. Famoso, E. Davis, S. Hopkins, S. Price 2016, Are Hypsodonty and Occlusal Enamel Complexity Evolutionarily Correlated in Ungulates?, Journal of Mammalian Evolution 23, 43-47. 10.1007/s10914-015-9296-7
A. Kozlowski, R. Feranec 2016, Implications of a Bayesian radiocarbon calibration of colonization ages for mammalian megafauna in glaciated New York State after the Last Glacial Maximum, Quaternary Research 85, 262-270. 10.1016/j.yqres.2016.01.003
Hadly, E., Feranec, R., 2016. Paleovertebrate communities, in: Mooney, H., Zavaleta, E. (Eds.), Ecosystems of California. , , pp. 155-168.

2015

R. Feranec, T. Cerling, N. Garcia, B. Passey, J. Arsuaga, L. Bondioli 2015, Exploring the Potential of Laser Ablation Carbon Isotope Analysis for Examining Ecology during the Ontogeny of Middle Pleistocene Hominins from Sima de los Huesos (Northern Spain), PLOS ONE 10, e0142895. 10.1371/journal.pone.0142895
C. Siegfried, R. Feranec, J. Sutherland, F. Acker, J. Bloomfield, C. Boylen, D. Charles, D. Daniels, L. Eichler, J. Farrell, M. Hare, S. Kanfoush, R. Preall, S. Quinn, H. Rowell, W. Schoch, W. Shaw, T. Sullivan, D. Winkler, S. Nierzwicki-Bauer 2015, Brooktrout Lake Case Study — Biotic Recovery from Acid Deposition 20 Years after the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, Environmental Science and Technology 49, 2665-2674. 10.1021/es5036865
R. Feranec, M. Wysocki, Z. Tseng, C. Bjornsson 2015, Using a Novel Absolute Ontogenetic Age Determination Technique to Calculate the Timing of Tooth Eruption in the Saber-Toothed Cat, Smilodon fatalis., PLOS ONE 10, e0129847. 10.1371/journal.pone.0129847

2014

A. Kozlowski, R. Feranec, D. Franzi 2014, A New Record of Ringed Seal (Pusa hispida) from the Late Pleistocene Champlain Sea and Comments on Its Age and Paleoenvironment, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34, 230-235. 10.1080/02724634.2013.784706
R. Feranec, L. DeSantis 2014, Understanding specifics in generalist diets of carnivorans by analyzing stable carbon isotope values in Pleistocene mammals of Florida, Paleobiology 40, 477-493. 10.1666/13055

2013

R. Feranec, N. Famoso, E. Davis 2013, Occlusal Enamel Complexity and Its Implications for Lophodonty, Hypsodony, Body Mass, and Diet in Extinct and Extant Ungulates, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 387, 211-216. 10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.07.006
R. Feranec, D. Pagnac 2013, Stable Carbon Isotope Evidence for the Abundance of C4 Plants in the Middle Miocene of Southern California, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 388, 42-47. 10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.07.022