General Research Statement

The goal of our research group is includes paleobiology, paleoecology, evolutionary paleoecology, phylogenetics, taxonomy, and biostratigraphy of Paleozoic organisms and the dynamics of Paleozoic epicontinental seas. As indicated by the list of publications on the Ausich curriculum vitae and below, Ausich’s primary focus is on the class Crinoidea and other echinoderms. Presently, the major focus of our research is crinoid phylogenetics in association with the Assembling the Echinoderm Tree of Life project. The full diversity of our research scope is illustrated by graduate student and undergraduate research elsewhere on this website, and examples of recent and current published research are given below (students are indicated with an asterisk) [updated 04-01-15].

1. Assembling the Echinoderm Tree of Life

Tree of Life Project on the Web

Assembling the Echinoderm Tree of Life (AEToL)

Big Ten Network

The Columbus Dispatch

The Lantern

Echinoderm Tree of Life

Publications

Ausich, W.I., and S.K. Donovan. 2015 (in press). Early phylogeny of the disparid crinoids [abstract]. 15th International Echinoderm Conference, Mexico.

Ausich, W.I., T.W. Kammer, and E.C. Rhenberg. 2015 (in press). What is a crinoid … really? [abstract]. 15th International Echinoderm Conference, Mexico.

Ausich, W.I., T.W. Kammer, and E.C. Rhenberg. 2014. Exploring phylogenetic relationships among Ordovician crinoids. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 46.

Cole, C.R., and W.I. Ausich. 2014. Phylogenetic analysis of the Rhodocrinitidae (subclass Camerata, class Crinoidea) [abstract]. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 46.

Kammer, T.W., C.D. Sumrall, S. Zamora, W.I. Ausich, and B. Deline. 2013. Oral region homologies in Paleozoic crinoids and other plesiomorphic pentaradiate echinoderms. PLoS ONE, 8(11), 16 p. [http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0077989].

Ausich, W.I., and T.W. Kammer. 2010. Generic concepts in the Batocrinidae Wachsmuth and Springer, 1881 (Class Crinoidea). Journal of Paleontology, 84:32-50.

Janies, D.A., T.K. Baumiller, D. Foltz, R. Hunter, T.W. Kammer, A. Kerr, C. Messing, G. Rouse, C. Sumrall, G.A. Wray, W.I. Ausich, C.L. Mah, and D. Swofford. 2010. Assembling the echinoderm tree of life: challenges and plans. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 42

Ausich, W.I., and T.W. Kammer. 2009. Generic concepts in the Platycrinitidae Austin and Austin (Class Crinoidea). Journal of Paleontology, 83:694-717.

Ausich, W.I., and T.W. Kammer. 2008. Generic concepts in the Amphoracrinidae Bather, 1899 (Class Crinoidea) and evaluation of generic assignments of North American species. Journal of Paleontology, 82:1130-1149.

Ausich, W.I. and T.W. Kammer. 2008. Evolution and extinction of a Paleozoic crinoid clade: phylogenetics, paleogeography, and environmental distribution of periechocrinids, p. 149-171. In W.I. Ausich and G.D. Webster. (eds.) Echinoderm Paleobiology.

2. Revised Crinoid Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology

Ausich is the coordinating author of the Revised Crinoid Treatise. Various introductory chapters are being written. Note that as sections become available, they will be published on line by the University of Kansas Paleontological Institute.

Hess, H., and C. Messing. 2011. Articulata. In Seldon, P. (Ed.) and W.I. Ausich (Coordinating Author). Treatise on Invertebrate Palentology, Part T, Revised, Volume 3, 261 p.

Hess, H. 2010. Part T, Revised, Volume 1, Chapter 19: Paleoecology of Pelagic Crinoids, 33 p. In P. Seldon (ed.) and W.I. Ausich (Coordinating Author). Treatise Online, 16 (ISSN2153-4012).

3. Mississippian Crinoids

Rhenberg, E.C., W.I. Ausich, and T.W. Kammer. (2015 in press). Generic concepts in the Actinocrinitidae Austin and Austin, 1842. and re-evaluation of Generic Assignments. Journal of Paleontology

Thompson, J.R. and W.I. Ausich. 2015. Testing for escalation lower Mississippian camerate crinoids. Palaeobiology, 41:89-107.

Rhenberg, E.C., J.F. Miller, and W.I. Ausich. 2014. Collicrinus excavatus (Hall, 1861), generic affinities for a Lower Mississippian crinoid (phylum Echinodermata). Palaeoworld, 23:252-257.

Krivicich, E.B., W.I. Ausich, and D.L. Meyer, 2014. Crinoid assemblates from the Fort Payne Formation (late Osagean, early Visean, Mississippian) from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama. Journal of Paleontology, 88:1154-1162.

Ausich, W.I., and T.W. Kammer. 2013. Mississippian crinoid biodiversity, biogeography, and macroevolution. Palaeontology, 56:727-740.

Ausich, W.I., and E.W. Roerser. 2012. Camerate and disparid crinoids from the late Kinderhookian Meadville Shale, Cuyahoga Formation of Ohio. Journal of Paleontology, 86:488-506.

Ausich, W.I., and T.W. Kammer. 2010. Generic concepts in the Batocrinidae Wachsmuth and Springer, 1881 (Class Crinoidea). Journal of Paleontology, 84:32-50.

Kammer, T.W, L.C. Sallan, W.I. Ausich, and L.A. Cook. 2010. Radiation and legacy adaptations of Mississippian crinoids following the Hangenberg extinction of predatory fishes. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 42, 481.

Ausich, W.I., and T.W. Kammer. 2009. Generic concepts in the Platycrinitidae Austin and Austin (Class Crinoidea). Journal of Paleontology.

Ausich, W.I., and T.W. Kammer. 2008. Generic concepts in the Amphoracrinidae Bather, 1899 (Class Crinoidea) and evaluation of generic assignments of North American species. Journal of Paleontology, 82:1130-1149.

Ausich, W.I. and T.W. Kammer. 2008. Evolution and extinction of a Paleozoic crinoid clade: phylogenetics, paleogeography, and environmental distribution of periechocrinids, p. 144-171. In W.I. Ausich and G.D. Webster. (eds.) Echinoderm Paleobiology.

Kammer, T.W., and W.I. Ausich. 2007. Stratigraphical and geographical distribution of Mississippian Crinoidea from Scotland. Earth and Environmental Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 98:139-150.

Ausich, W.I., and T.W. Kammer. 2006. Stratigraphic and Geographic Distribution of Lower Carboniferous Crinoidea from England and Wales. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 56(2):91-109.

Kammer, T.W., and W.I. Ausich. 2006. The Age of Crinoid: a Mississippian biodiversity spike coincident with widespread carbonate ramps. Palaios, 21:236-248.

4. Anticosti Island: Ordovician-Silurian crinoids, Regional Encrinites, and Other Projects

Borths, M.R.*, and W.I. Ausich. 2011. Ordovician-Silurian Lilliput crinoids during the end-Ordovician biotic crisis. Swiss Journal of Paleontology, 130:7-18.

Ausich, W.I. 2010. Post-hoc sampling analysis of crinoid collections from Anticosti Island, Quebec, Canada. Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Paleontologists, 39, 12-25.

Ausich, W.I., and P. Copper, P. 2010. The Crinoidea of Anticosti Island, Québec (Late Ordovician to Early Silurian). Palaeontographica Canadiana, 29, 257p.

Ausich, W.I., L. Tapanila, J. Jin., and P. Copper. 2008. The Anticosti Project: biosphere collapse and recovery during a global glacial epoch. Geological Society of America Abstract with Programs 40(6):97.

Richardson*, J.G., and W.I. Ausich. 2007. Late Ordovician-Early Silurian crypotospore occurrences on Anticosti Island (Île d’Anticosti), Quebec, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 44:1-7.

5. Silurian Crinoids and Macroevolution of Ordovician and Silurian Crinoids

Mao, Y., J.-P. Lin, and W.I. Ausich. (2015 in press). Chinese origin and radiation of the Palaeozoic crinoid family Petalocrinidae. Palaeoworld..

Ausich, W.I., M.E. Peters, and F.R. Ettensohn. (2015 in press). Echinoderms from the Lower Silurian Brassfield Formation of east-central Kentucky. Journal of Paleontology.

Ausich, W.I., M.A. Wilson, and O. Vinn. 2015. Wenlock and Pridoli crinoids from the Saaremaa, Western Estonia (Phylum Echinodermata). Journal of Paleontology, 89:72-81.

Deline, B., W.I. Ausich, and C.E. Brett. 2012. Comparing taxonomic and geographic scales in the morphologic disparity of Ordovician through Early Silurian Laurentian crinoids. Paleobiology, 38(4):538-553.

Ausich, W.I., and B. Deline. 2012. Macroevolutionary transition in crinoids following the Late Ordovician extinction event (Ordovician to Early Silurian). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 361-362:38-48. [published online 2012, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.07.022]

Ausich, W.I., M.A. Wilson, and O. Vinn. 2012. Crinoids from the Silurian of Western Estonia (Phylum Echinodermata). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 57(3):613-631.

Peters, S.E., and W.I. Ausich. 2008. A sampling-adjusted macroevolutionary history for Ordovician-Silurian crinoids. Paleobiology, 34(1):104-116.

Ausich, W.I., and S.E. Peters. 2005. A revised macroevolutionary history for Ordovician-Silurian crinoids. Paleobiology, 31:542-555.

6. Biomarkers in Paleozoic Echinoderms

O’Malley, C.E., W.I. Ausich, and Y.-P. Chin. 2014. Ancient biomolecules: testing hypotheses for early echinoderm phylogeny. International Paleontological Congress, Mendoza, Argentina, p. 583.

O’Malley, C.E., W.I. Ausich, and Y.P. Chin. 2014. Forum Reply: Isolation and characterization of the earliest taxon-specific organic molecules (Mississippian, Crinoidea). Geology, 1 p. (Online only) [doi:10.1130/G35388Y.1]

O’Malley, C.E., W.I. Ausich, and Y.-P. Chin. 2013. Isolation and characterization of the earliest taxon-specific organic molecules (Mississippian, Crinoidea). Geology, 41(3):347-350.

O’Malley*, C.E., W.I. Ausich, and Y.-P. Chin. 2008. Crinoid biomarkers (Borden Group, Mississippian): Implications for phylogeny, p.290-306. In W.I. Ausich, and G.D. Webster (eds.) Echinoderm Paleobiology, Indiana University Press, Bloomington.

O’Malley*, C.A., W.I. Ausich, and Y.-P. Chin. 2008. Biomarkers in Paleozoic Echinoderms. Geological Society of America Abstract with Programs 40(6):393.

O’Malley*, C.R., W.I. Ausich, and Y.-P. Chin. 2007. Identity of biomarkers from Mississippian (Paleozoic) crinoids [abstract]. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 39(6):22.

O’Malley*, C.E., W.I. Ausich, and Y.-P. Chin. 2006. Biomarkers in colored crinoids: Implications for phylogeny [abstract]. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 38(7):482.

7. Ordovician Crinoids from Peri-Gondwana and the Early Evolution of the Crinoidea

Ausich, W.I., J.C. Gutiérrez-Marco, and A.A. Sá. 2007. New and Revised occurrences of Ordovician crinoids from southwestern Europe. Journal of Paleontology, 81(6):1374-1383.

Ausich, W.I., and D. Gil Cid, and P. Domínquez Alonso. 2002. Ordovician [Dobrotivian (Llandeillian Stage) to Ashgill] Crinoids (Phylum Echinodermata) from the Montes de Toledo and Sierra Morena, Spain with implications for paleogeography of peri-Gondwana. Journal of Paleontology, 76:975-992.

 

 

 

8. Cambrian Echinoderms and Taphonomy

Lin, J.-P., W.I. Ausich, U.-L. Zhao, and T.-S. Tai. (2015 in press). Crypto-helical body plan in partially disarticulated gogiids from the Cambrian of South China. Palaeoworld.

Lin*, J.-P., W.I. Ausich, Y.-L. Zhao, and J. Peng. 2008. Taphonomy, Colouration, and Paleoecologic, Implications of Cambrian gogiid echinoderms from Guizhou Province, South China. Geological Magazine, 145(1):17-36.

Lin*, J.-P., W.I. Ausich, and Y.-L. Zhao. 2008. Settling strategies of eocrinoids from the Kaili Biota (middle Cambrian) Guizhou Province, South China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoecology, Palaeoclimatology, 258:213-221.

Lin*, J.-P., A.C. Scott, C.-W. Li, H.-J. Wu, W.I. Ausich, Y.-L Zhao, and Y.K. Hwu. 2006. Silicified egg clusters from a Middle Cambrian Burgess Shale-type Deposit, Guizhou, South China. Geology, 34(12):1037-1040..

9. Silurian Biostratigraphy and Paleoceanography

  Young, S.A., M.R. Saltzman, A. Desrochers, W.I. Ausich, and D. Kaljo. 2010. Did changes in atmospheric CO-2 coincide with the Late Ordovician glacial-interglacial cycles? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 296:376-388.

Schmidt*, D.A., and W.I. Ausich, W.I. 2008. A shallowing-upward succession of peritidal microbial carbonates in the Tymochtee Dolomite (Silurian-Ludlow) [abstract]. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 40(5):14.

Young*, S.A., M.R. Saltzman, W.I.Ausich, and D. Kaljo. 2007. A global change in ?13C of organic matter during the Late Ordovician (Hirnantian): Implications for atmospheric CO2 levels and glaciation [abstract]. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 39(6):84-85.

Bancroft*, A.M., M.A. Kleffner, and F.R. Brunton. 2009. Silurian conodont biostratigraphy and carbonate carbon isotope stratigraphy of the Eramosa southwestern Ontario, Canada. [abstract]. North American Paleontological Convention.