| Dr. Jim I. Mead
Office: 213 Geology Annex (Building 13) QSP Home Page: click here Title: Professor |
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| U.S. Postal Service Address: Department of Geology P. O. Box 4099 Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ 86011-4099 |
UPS or FEDEX Address: Frier Hall, Building 12, Room 100 Knoles Drive Flagstaff, AZ 86011-4099 |
Research Activities:
My research interests are Neogene in concept. I have four over-riding research themes: (1) evolution of Pliocene and Quaternary biotic communities of arid North America; (2) evolution of North American bovids (mountain goats, bighorn sheep, and their ancestors); (3) evolution and osteology of arid-land lizards of both North America and Western Australia; and (4) reconstruction of the biotic communities of the Grand Canyon. Most of my current projects tie into one or more of these four themes. Although I have a number of smaller projects, the three major projects are on-going and will be so for at least 5 to 10 more years: (1) prospecting for caves and fossils in the Grand Canyon region, predominantly the Shivwits and Uinkaret plateaus; (2) modern and fossil lizards from Western Australia, this includes developing a comparative skeleton collection at the Western Australian Museum (Perth), and includes developing identification characters (synapomorphy-based) for these poorly understood lizards; (3) Terapa, Sonora, Mexico where a large fauna is being recovered that includes a heavy tropical component, such as glyptodons and crocodiles. I have three MS students in the Quaternary Sciences Program; three MS students in the Geology Department; and one Ph.D. student in Biology (dissertation on the modern and fossil skinks of Western Australia). Recent select publications include:
New species of Sinocapra (Bovidae, Caprinae) from the Lower Pliocene Panaca Formation, Nevada (USA). Palaeontologia Electronica 8(1):11A:20pp. JIM and L. Taylor.
Late Pleistocene salamander (Caudata; Plethodontidae) from Santa Rosa Island, Northern Channel Islands, California. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 103:47-56. JIM, Swift, Agenbroad.