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 Olivier Rieppel, PhD
Geology Department
Curator, Fossil Amphibians and Reptiles and
Chair, Department of Geology
During the Mesozoic Era, also called the “Age of Reptiles,” a number of reptile lineages secondarily adapted to a life in the sea. Over the last few years, Olivier Rieppel pursued the global revision of Triassic Sauropterygia, marine reptiles that later would include the more widely known plesiosaurs of the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods.
This work provided the basis for the ongoing collaborative research program with faculty and students of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, focusing on new collections of Triassic marine reptiles from Guizhou Province in southern China.
These new collections require taxonomic work not only on sauropteryians, but on other marine reptiles such as thalattosaurs and protorosaurs as well. The Triassic record of marine reptiles is rich and diverse, and allows the study of broad evolutionary patterns as originally terrestrial lineages adapted to marine habitats.
More recently, Rieppel has become involved with research on the origin of snakes, a program that will continue. Again of a collaborative nature, this research seeks to integrate paleontology, comparative morphology, and molecular systematics.
The origin of snakes is a longstanding problem in the evolution of reptiles that still awaits a satisfactory resolution. The study of the origin of snakes is now embedded in a broad-scale investigation of the phylogenetic relationships of squamate reptiles as part of the Tree of Life program sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Olivier Rieppel Interview
“Researching the evolution of various reptile lineages and reconstructing their phylogenetic past raises a number of theoretical and methodological issues that require philosophical analysis. I take an active interest in the history and philosophy of comparative biology.”
 To learn more about the relationship between early Mesozoic marine reptiles other reptiles such as dinosaurs, crocodiles, and lizards, take a look at the Dr. Olivier Rieppel Video created for the Evolving Planet exhibition.
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Continue to Dr. Meenakshi Wadhawa. >>
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