- Home>
- Research & Collections>
- Science Experts>
- Danielle Fraser
Danielle Fraser
Research Scientist, Palaeobiology
Danielle Fraser studies the palaeoecology and evolution of Cenozoic-Era (66 million years to present) mammals.
Specialties
- Palaeoecology
- Evolutionary biology
- Functional morphology
- Phylogenetic approaches
- Mammals.
Education
- Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, District of Columbia, 2015–2016
- Ph.D., Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, 2010–2015
- M.Sc., University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, 2008–2010
- B.Sc., University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, 2003–2007.
Danielle Fraser's research is focused on understanding how mammals and the communities in which they live have evolved. She is especially interested in the conditions that led to the formation of mammal communities as we know them today. Fraser broadly studies mammalian evolution with a particular focus on their feeding adaptations as well as mammal community ecology at both small (local) and large (continental) spatial scales. Fraser uses a variety of tools to study mammal palaeoecology including functional morphology, stable isotopes, phylogenetics and computational palaeobiology.
Fraser is particularly interested in the evolution of hoofed mammals (relatives of modern horses, pigs, sheep and deer), studying their diversification, morphological and dietary evolution during the Cenozoic of North America.
Professional Services
- Adjunct Research Professor, Earth Sciences, Carleton University
- Education and Outreach Grant Committee, Paleontological Society
Students
- Kim Duff (Carleton University)
- Brigid Christison (Carleton University).
Links
- Personal research page https://fraserdanielle.wordpress.com
- Education and Outreach Grant, Paleontological Society https://paleosoc.org/grants-and-awards/paleontological-society-outreach-and-education-grant
- Canadian Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology http://csvp.ca
- Society of Vertebrate Paleontology http://vertpaleo.org
- Earth Sciences, Carleton University http://earthsci.carleton.ca
Publications
Refereed Journal Papers
Fraser, D. (In press). Can latitudinal richness gradients be measured in the fossil record? Paleobiology (PAB-OR-2016-00406). http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/pab.2017.2
Lyons, S. K., J.H. Miller, D. Fraser, F.A. Smith, A. Boyer, E. Lindsey, A.M. Mychajliw. 2016. The changing role of mammal life histories in late Quaternary extinction vulnerability on continents and islands. Biology Letters 12: 20160342. http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/12/6/20160342.abstract
Fraser, D., R. Gorelick and N. Rybczynski. 2015. Macroevolution and climate change influence phylogenetic community assembly of North American hoofed mammals. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 114: 485–494. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bij.12457/abstract
Hoffmann, J., D. Fraser and M.T. Clementz. 2015. Controlled feeding trials with ungulates: A new application of in vivo dental molding to assess the abrasive factors of microwear. Journal of Experimental Biology 218: 1538–1547. http://jeb.biologists.org/content/early/2015/04/06/jeb.118406.abstract
Fraser, D., C. Hassall, R. Gorelick and N. Rybczynski. 2014. Climate drives spatiotemporal patterns of Cenozoic mammal beta diversity and latitudinal turnover gradients in North America. PLOS One 9: e106499. http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0106499
Cullen, T.M., D. Fraser, N. Rybczynski and C. Schroder-Adams. 2014. Early evolution of sexual dimorphism and polygyny within Pinnipedia. Evolution 68: 1469–1484. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evo.12360/abstract
Fraser, D., T. Zybutz, E. Lightner and J.M. Theodor. 2014. Scoring mesowear in the mandibular cheek teeth of ruminants: a new scheme for increasing paleoecological sample sizes. Journal of Zoology 294: 41–48. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzo.12149/abstract
Fraser, D. and N. Rybczynski. 2014. Complexity of ruminant masticatory evolution. Journal of Morphology 275: 1093–1102. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jmor.20284/abstract
Fraser, D. and J.M. Theodor. 2013. Ungulate diets reveal patterns of grassland evolution in North America. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 369: 409–421. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018212006311
Fraser, D. and J.M. Theodor. 2011. Comparing ungulate dietary proxies using discriminant function analysis. Journal of Morphology 272: 1513–1526. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jmor.11001/full
Fraser, D. and J.M. Theodor. 2011. Anterior dentary shape as an indicator of diet in ruminant artiodactyls. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31: 1366–1375. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.2011.605404
Fraser, D. and J.M. Theodor. 2010. The use of gross dental wear in dietary studies of extinct lagomorphs. Journal of Paleontology 84: 720–729. http://jpaleontol.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/4/720
Fraser, D., J.C. Mallon, R. Furr and J. M. Theodor. 2009. Improving the repeatability of low magnification microwear methods utilizing high dynamic range imaging. PALAIOS 24: 818–825. http://palaios.sepmonline.org/content/24/12/818.abstract
In the Museum's Blog
-
Biting into the Past
Paleontologist Danielle Fraser blogs about why finding a fossil tooth always gives her a big smile. Continue reading
-
Discovering species on the shelves
What’s the best place for a paleontologist to discover a new species: Alberta; Mongolia; or the collections at the Canadian Museum of Nature? Museum paleontologist Danielle Fraser writes that there’s beauty, mystery and lots of scientific discoveries to be made on the shelves, and in the drawers and boxes, of the museum’s collection. Continue reading