Staff Spotlight
Dr. Jonathan I. Bloch
Associate Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology
222 Dickinson Hall
Museum Road & Newell Drive
Gainesville, FL 32611
(352) 273-1938
Email: jbloch@flmnh.ufl.edu
Ph.D. University of Michigan, 2001
FLMNH Vertebrate Paleontology Collection
Concurrent Appointments
Associate Professor of Geological Sciences, Anthropology, and Zoology
Research Interests
I study fossil mammals in order to address questions surrounding the first appearance and early evolution of the modern orders of mammals. A major emphasis is the interval from the terminal Cretaceous through the early Eocene, which includes the evolution and diversification of "archaic" mammals following the extinction of the dinosaurs (ca. 65 mya), and the first appearance of nearly one-half of the modern orders of mammals, several appearing coincident with rapid, large-scale, global warming at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary (ca. 55 mya). Specific research topics include: (1) the response of mammal communities to climate change; (2) use of phylogenetic methods to infer hypotheses of relationships; and (3) use of functional morphology in order to study the evolution and paleoecology of small mammals. I am currently doing related field-based research in the Paleocene and Eocene of the Clarks Fork, Bighorn, and Crazy Mountains basins of Wyoming and Montana, and the Cerrejon and Bogota formations of northern Colombia.
Collection-related Activities
- Fieldwork related to active research projects and collections acquisition in Florida, Wyoming, Montana, and South America
- Director of the Program of Vertebrate Paleontology
Courses Taught
- Vertebrate Paleontology: The Fossil Record and Evolution of Vertebrates (ZOO 5115; GLY 6932)
- Topics in Field Geology: Florida Vertebrate Paleontology (GLY 5786)
Staff
Richard Hulbert - Vertebrate Paleontology Collection Manager
Jason Bourque - Fossil Preparator
Arthur Poyer - Research Associate
Graduate Students
Alex Hastings, PhD Candidate, Geology
Email: akh@ufl.edu
- Paleocene crocodyliforms from northern Colombia
Carly Manz, PhD Candidate, Geology
Email: clmanz@gmail.com
- Evolutionary morphology of Paleogene mammals
Aldo Rincón B., Masters Candidate, Geology
Email: arincon@ufl.edu
- Mammalian evolution and Neotropical biostratigraphy in Central and South America
Representative Publications
Cadena, E. A., J. I. Bloch, and C. A. Jaramillo. 2010. New podocnemidid turtle (Testudines: Pleurodira) from the middle-upper Paleocene of South America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(2):367–382.
Hastings, A. K, J. I. Bloch, E. A. Cadena, and C. A. Jaramillo. 2010. A new small short-snouted dyrosaurid (Crocodylomorpha, Mesoeucrocodylia) from the Paleocene of northeastern Colombia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(1):139–162.
Silcox, M. T., C. K. Dalmyn, J. I. Bloch. 2009. Virtual endocast of Ignacius graybullianus (Paromomyidae, Primates) and brain evolution in early Primates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106:10987-10992.
Head, J. J., J. I. Bloch, A. K. Hastings, J. R. Bourque, E. A. Cadena, F. A. Herrera, P. D. Polly, and C. A. Jaramillo. 2009. Giant boid snake from the Paleocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures. Nature, 457: 715-717.
Silcox, M. T., J. I. Bloch, D. M. Boyer, M. Godinot, T. Ryan, F. S. Spoor, and A. Walker. 2009. The semicircular canal system in early primates. Journal of Human Evolution, 56:315-327
Boyer, D. M., and J. I. Bloch, 2008. Evaluating the Mitten-Gliding Hypothesis for Paromomyidae and Micromomyidae (Mammalia, "Plesiadapiformes") Using Comparative Functional Morphology of New Paleogene Skeletons. In E. J. Sargis and M. Dagosto (eds.), Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology: A Tribute to Frederick S. Szalay. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 233-284.
Bloch, J. I., M. T. Silcox, E. J. Sargis, and D. M. Boyer. 2007. New Paleocene skeletons and the relationship of plesiadapiforms to crown-clade primates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104:1159-1164. Cover article.
Bloch, J. I., D. M. Boyer. 2006. New skeletons of Paleocene-Eocene Plesiadapiformes: a diversity of arboreal positional behaviors in early primates. In M. Ravosa and M. Dagosto (eds), Primate Origins: Adaptations and Evolution. Springer, New York, pp. 535-581.
Missiaen, P., T. Smith, D. Guo, J. I. Bloch, and P. D. Gingerich. 2006. Asian gliriform origin for arctostylopid mammals. Naturwissenschaften, 93:407-411.
Bloch, J. I., M. T. Silcox. 2006. Cranial Anatomy of Carpolestes simpsoni (Mammalia, Primates) using ultra high-resolution X-ray computed tomography, and the relationships of plesiadapiforms to Euprimates. Journal of Human Evolution, 50:1-35.
Wing, S. L., G. J. Harrington, F. Smith, J. I. Bloch, and D. M. Boyer. 2005. Transient Floral Change and Rapid Global Warming at the Paleocene-Eocene Boundary. Science, 310:993-996. Cover article.
Zack, S. P., T. A. Penkrot, J. I. Bloch, and K. D. Rose. 2005. Affinities of "hyopsodontids" to elephant-shrews and a Holarctic origin of Afrotheria. Nature, 434:497-501.
Bloch, J. I., and D. M. Boyer. 2002. Grasping Primate Origins. Science 298:1606-1610.
Bloch, J. I., D. M. Boyer, P. D. Gingerich, and G. F. Gunnell. 2002. New primitive paromomyid from the Clarkforkian of Wyoming and dental eruption in Plesiadapiformes. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22:366-379.
Bloch, J. I., M. T. Silcox. 2001. New basicrania of Paleocene-Eocene Ignacius: re-evaluation of the Plesiadapiform-Dermopteran link. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 116:184-198.
Bloch, J. I., D. C. Fisher, K. D. Rose, and P. D. Gingerich. 2001. New genus of late Tiffanian carpolestid and a stratocladistic analysis of North American Carpolestidae (Mammalia, Proprimates). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21:118-130.
Current External Funding
| 2007-2010 | Collaborative Research: Paleohydrology of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: A Multiple Proxy Reconstruction, NSF-EAR-0719941, PI. | $103,001 |
| 2007-2010 | Environmental and Climatic Change Across the Paleocene-Eocene Boundary in the Continental Interior of North America, NSF EAR-0640076, Sedimentary Geology & Paleobiology, PI. | $194,048 |
| 2006-2011 | Collaborative Research: Resolving Mammalian Phylogeny with Genomic and Morphological Approaches, NSF EF- 0629836, Assembling the Tree of Life, CoPI. | $135,993 |