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Bill Garcia
Lecturer, Earth Sciences Undergraduate Coordinator
OFFICE: 234 McEniry
PHONE: 704-687-5982
E-MAIL: wjgarcia@uncc.edu
HOMEPAGE:
SHORT VITAE: To be added later
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TEACHING AND RESEARCH INTERESTS:
• Phylogeny of Early Tetrapods
• Carboniferous Biogeography
• Vertebral Functional Morphology
DEGREES:
ABD Geology, University of Cincinnati
M.S. (1999) Geology, Fort Hays State University
B.A. (1996) Geology, Washington and Lee University
PROFILE:
My research interests involve the study of Carboniferous terrestrial
ecosystems, in particular understanding the evolutionary processes
involved in the vertebrate transition from aquatic to terrestrial
environments. Studying evolutionary phenomena across the fish to
tetrapod transition provides an ideal test case for studies of adaptive
radiation. I am interested in understanding the evolutionary relationships
of early tetrapods, and specifically, the evolution of characters
associated with terrestriality. This research involves understanding
the interaction of early tetrapods with their environments and how
this affected the evolution of various tetrapod groups. I am interested
in continuing field- and lab-based research documenting and describing
Carboniferous terrestrial ecosystems containing early tetrapods,
in particular I am interested in comparing faunas of the Illinois
Basin with more well-studied areas in Great Britain. At present
this research involves collaboration with Cincinnati Natural History
Museum describing the Hancock County Locality, a tetrapod and fish
fauna from a Mississippian ox-bow deposit in western Kentucky.
Other areas of research involve the examination of biogeographic
patterns among Carboniferous tetrapods and fish. In particular,
I have been using a variety of multivariate statistical techniques
to compare European and North American tetrapod faunas in order
to elucidate patterns of endemism among tetrapods. Recently I have
begun to describe the fish fauna from the Hancock County Locality
which includes a diverse fauna of sarcopterygian and acanthodian
fishes.
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