Ph.D., Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts, 2001.
M.S., Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts, 1998.
B. A. (with Highest Distinction), Zoology, University of Maine, 1992.

Awards and Fellowships:

John Caldwell Meeker Fellowship, The Field Museum, 2002. (Accepted)

Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Museum of Natural History, 2002. (Declined)

David J. Klingener Scholarship, Massachusetts Museum of Natural History, 2001.

OEB Teaching Award, Graduate Program in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, University of Massachusetts, 2000.

Stoye Award, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, 1999.

Woods Hole Scholarship, University of Massachusetts, 1998.

Gaige Fund Award, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, 1997.

Bigelow Award, University of Massachusetts, 1996.

Phi Beta Kappa, University of Maine, 1992.

Phi Kappa Phi, University of Maine, 1991.

Research Interests:

Vertebrate functional morphology; phylogenetic systematics (especially squamate interrelationships and the evolutionary origin of snakes); evolutionary morphology of snakes; and the biology of blindsnakes (Scolecophidia).

Current Research:

The evolutionary origin of snakes has been a highly controversial topic in vertebrate systematics for more than a century. Although there is universal consensus that snakes and lizards collectively constitute a monophyletic group (Squamata), there is little consensus concerning the phylogenetic affinities of snakes within this group. Previous analyses, nearly all of which have focused on morphological character data, have yielded the following conflicting hypotheses (among others): 1) Serpentes (snakes) and Lacertilia (lizards) are monophyletic sister groups, or 2) snakes are derived from lizards (thus rendering "Lacertilia" paraphyletic) and share a sister-group relationship with a) varanoid lizards, b) acontine skinks, or c) amphisbaenians and/or dibamids. My current research at The Field Museum is aimed addressing this issue from a molecular perspective. Specifically, I am collaborating with Olivier Rieppel (Geology Department) and Maureen Kearney (Zoology Department) on a molecular phylogenetic analysis of squamates, in which we will be using sequence data from both nuclear and mitochondrial genes in an attempt to better resolve the phylogenetic position of snakes within Squamata. In working toward this goal, we also hope to address several long-standing questions concerning the interrelationships among basal snakes (e.g., monophyly of Scolecophidia, monophyly of Anilioidea, phylogenetic relationships among the three families of blindsnakes, etc.).

Publications:

Kley, N. J. and E. L. Brainerd. 1999. Feeding by mandibular raking in a snake. Nature 402: 369-370.

Kley, N. J. 2000. REVIEW OF: Maine Amphibians and Reptiles, edited by M.
L. Hunter Jr., A. J. K. Calhoun and M. McCollough. Herpetological Review 31: 270-271.

Kley, N. J. 2001. Prey transport mechanisms in blindsnakes and the evolution of unilateral feeding systems in snakes. American Zoologist 41: 1321-1337.

Young, B., J. Jaggers, N. Nejman and N. J. Kley. 2001. Buccal expansion during hissing in the puff adder, Bitis arietans. Copeia 2001: 270-273.

Kley, N. J. and E. L. Brainerd. 2002. Post-cranial prey transport mechanisms in the black pinesnake, Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi: an x-ray videographic study. Zoology 105: 153-164.

Kley, N. J. 2003. Early blindsnakes (Anomalepididae). In M. Hutchins, J.B. Murphy and N. Schlager (eds.), Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd edition. Vol. 7, Reptiles, pp. 369-372. Gale Group, Farmington Hills, MI.

Kley, N. J. 2003. Slender blindsnakes (Leptotyphlopidae). In M. Hutchins, J.B. Murphy and N. Schlager (eds.), Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd edition. Vol. 7, Reptiles, pp. 373-377. Gale Group, Farmington Hills, MI.

Kley, N. J. 2003. Blindsnakes (Typhlopidae). In M. Hutchins, J.B. Murphy and N. Schlager (eds.), Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd edition. Vol. 7, Reptiles, pp. 379-385. Gale Group, Farmington Hills, MI.

Kley, N. J. and M. Kearney. Adaptations for digging and burrowing. Invited contribution for Fins into Limbs, B. K. Hall (ed.). University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Accepted August, 2003. Scheduled for publication in August, 2004.

Current Position:

http://gibbon.anat.sunysb.edu/Department/nkley.html