Edward C. Shelburne

Research Interests

Edward's research involves the use of morphometric techniques to quantify and compare the morphology of vertebrates. He is currently investigating extinction selectivity among marine actinopterygian assemblages across the Permian-Triassic extinction boundary by quantifying the morphological structures of fish within both periods. By examining ecologically informative features, he can assess which features are conducive to survival across the boundary and which ecospaces survivors tend to occupy. He is also interested in the reconstruction of fossil color, and what color in extinct animals can tell us about their habits, habitats, and life history strategies. He is currently looking into reconstructing color and patterning in well-preserved extinct actinopterygians by observing and quantifying the shape of fossilized pigment-bearing cells using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and morphometrics.