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 Scott Lidgard, PhD
Geology Department
Associate Curator, Fossil Invertebrates
Scott Lidgard is a paleoecologist currently studying the role of biological forces such as predation as a possible driver of large-scale trends in the history of life. His work focuses on cheilostome bryozoans, which are marine invertebrates that live on the bottom of the sea in colonies of two to two million individuals and take on an enormous variety of shapes. The complexity, colonial nature, and excellent fossil record of bryozoans make them ideal subjects for studying general patterns of ecology and evolution.
Lidgard uses ecological, morphological, and fossil diversity patterns of bryozoans to try to test operational explanations of trends driven by predation. He looks at the precise timing and co-occurrences of predators and prey in the fossil record; the appearance and spread of skeletal armament among fossil bryozoans; and the mechanisms of attack and dietary specialization of bryozoan consumers alive today.
By combining these different perspectives he uses the extent to which evidence from a great number of cases independently validate or dispute hypotheses of biological trends driven by predation.
Dr. Scott Lidgard Interview
“One of the commonest fates of all organisms is to be eaten alive, in whole or in part. We know from countless field studies and experiments that predation is an important force molding the bodies and life histories of organisms.”
“There is also a wealth of evidence that predation is one factor structuring the distribution and abundance of organisms, and for some species causing extinction in ecological time. Yet how predation correlates with large-scale trends in the diversity and forms of organisms over millions of years on a global scale continues to be debated.”
 To learn more about why it’s the little fossils that tell the big story of Earth’s history, take a look at the Dr. Scott Lidgard and Dr. Peter Wagner Video created for the Evolving Planet exhibition.
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Continue to Dr. Jennifer McElain. >>
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