- Evolution and systematics of mammals
- Vertebrate evolution in sub-Saharan Africa
- Cladistics
- +۳ مورد دیگر
Professor Maureen A. O'Leary is a vertebrate paleontologist and systematist in the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University . Since earning her PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1997, she has led field expeditions across West Africa and North America, focusing on Early Cenozoic mammal origins and diversification. Her research integrates cladistics , morphological phylogenetics , and fossil evidence to reconstruct the Tree of Life. She is the founder and former director (2000–2021) of the MorphoBank database—an NSF-funded, web-based repository for peer-reviewed morphological matrices that enables global collaborative phylogenetic studies. Current projects include monographic descriptions of new Late Cretaceous–Early Paleogene fossils from: North America sub-Saharan Africa (Republic of Mali expeditions) Mongolia Her prior work spans cetacean evolution, primate gradualism, ungulate ear anatomy, and paleobiology of fish, archosaurs, turtles, plants, and invertebrates. Laboratory & Teams: Dr. O'Leary heads a vertebrate paleontology research group that combines fieldwork, high-resolution morphological analysis, and cyber-infrastructure development.







