Bruce S. Lieberman

Professor
Macroevolution & Paleobiology
Ph.D. Columbia University, 1994
Dyche Hall
Phone: (785) 864-2741




Links

Lieberman Lab: http://paleo.ku.edu/geo/lieberman.html
Invertebrate Paleontology: http://invertebratepaleontology.biodiversity.ku.edu/

Classes Taught

Systematics and Macroevolution
Evolution of the Arthropods
Macroevolution
Paleobiogeography
Paleoecology

Area of Interest and Research

I am a paleontologist and evolutionary biologist interested in macroevolution.  My research uses the fossil record of arthropods, especially trilobites, but also other taxa including mollusks, to reconstruct evolutionary patterns in order to gain insight into the nature of the evolutionary process.  I am particularly interested in research approaches that use biogeography, phylogenetics, and ecological niche modeling.   I have also considered various topics in macroevolutionary theory including levels of selection, punctuated equilibria and mechanisms of stasis, evolutionary and adaptive radiations, the role abiotic as opposed to biotic factors play in governing macroevolution, and the effects of past, present, and future climate change on ecology and evolution.  In addition, my research focuses on macroevolutionary patterns and processes during key episodes in the history of life such as the Cambrian radiation, the end Ordovician mass extinction, and the Late Devonian biodiversity crisis.

Representative Publications

Books
Wiley, E. O., and B. S. Lieberman. 2011.Phylogenetics, 2nd edition. J. Wiley & Sons, New York. 432 p.

Lieberman, B. S., and R. A. Kaesler. 2010. Prehistoric Life: Evolution and the Fossil Record. Wiley/Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, UK, 385 p.

Articles
Lieberman, B. S. 2012. Adaptive radiations in the context of macroevolutionary theory: a paleontological perspective. Evolutionary Biology39:181-191.

Peterson, A. T., and B. S. Lieberman. 2012. Species’ geographic distributions through time: playing catchup with changing climates. Evolution Education and Outreach. DOI: 10.1007/s12052-012-0385-2.

Marshall, A. Olcott, R. L. Wehrbein, B. S. Lieberman, and C. P. Marshall. 2012. Raman spectroscopic investigations of Burgess Shale-type preservation: a new way forward. Palaios 27:288-292.

Abe, F. R, and B. S. Lieberman. 2012. Quantifying morphological change during an evolutionary radiation of Devonian trilobites. Paleobiology 38(2):292-307.

Lieberman, B. S., and A. L. Melott. 2012. Whilst this planet goes cycling on: What role for periodic astronomical phenomena in large scale patterns in the history of life? Pp. 37-50 in J. Talent (Ed.), Earth and Life: Global Biodiversity, Extinction Intervals, and Biogeographic Perturbations Through Time, International Year of Planet Earth. Springer, Berlin.

Lieberman, B. S., and P. Cartwright. 2011. Macroevolutionary patterns and processes during the Cambrian radiation: Integrating evidence from fossils and molecules. Açoreana 7:15-38.

Congreve, C. R., and B. S. Lieberman. 2011. Phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis of sphaerexochine trilobites. PloS One 6:e21304.

Gapp, I. W., B. S. Lieberman, M. C. Pope, and K. Dilliard. 2011. New olenelline trilobites from the Northwest Territories, Canada, and the phylogenetic placement of Judomiaabsita. Zootaxa 2918:15-28.

Myers, C., and B. S. Lieberman. 2011. Sharks that pass in the night: Using GIS to investigate competition in the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B. 278:681-689.

Yu-nan, W., Di-ying, H., and B. S. Lieberman. 2010. New Isoxys (Arthropoda) from the Cambrian Mantou Formation, Shandong Province. ActaPalaeontologicaSinica 49:398-406.

Abe, F. R., B. S. Lieberman, M. C. Pope, and K. Dilliard. 2010. New information on olenelline trilobites from the Early Cambrian Sekwi Formation, northwestern Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 47:1445-1449.

Lieberman, B. S., and T. S. Karim. 2010. Tracing the trilobite tree from the root to the tips: a model marriage of fossils and phylogeny. Arthropod Structure & Development39:111-123.

Congreve, C. R., and B. S. Lieberman. 2010. Phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis of deiphonine trilobites. Journal of Paleontology84:128-136.

Abe, F. R., and B. S. Lieberman. 2009. The Nature of evolutionary radiations: A case study involving Devonian trilobites. Evolutionary Biology 36:225-234.

Moore, R. A., and B. S. Lieberman. 2009. Preservation of Early and Middle Cambrian soft-bodied arthropods from the Pioche Shale, Nevada, USA. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 277:57-62.

Hendricks, J. R., B. S. Lieberman, and A. L. Stigall. 2008. Using GIS to study the paleobiogeography of soft-bodied Cambrian arthropods. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology 264:163-175.

Congreve, C. R., and B. S. Lieberman. 2008. Phylogenetic and biogeographic analysis of Ordovician homalonotid trilobites. The Open Paleontology Journal 1:24-32.

Lieberman, B. S. 2008.Stephen Jay Gould’s evolving, hierarchical thoughts on stasis. Pp. 227-241 in W. D. Allmon, P. Kelley, and R. Ross (Eds.), Stephen Jay Gould: Reflections on His View of Life. Oxford University Press, New York.

Lieberman, B. S. 2008. The Cambrian radiation of bilaterians: Evolutionary origins and palaeontological emergence; earth history change and biotic factors. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 258:180-188.

Briggs, D. E. G., B. S. Lieberman, J. R. Hendricks, S. L. Halgedahl, R. D. Jarrard. 2008. Middle Cambrian arthropods from Utah. Journal of Paleontology 82:238-254.

Meert, J. G., and B. S. Lieberman. 2008. The Neoproterozoic assembly of Gondwana and its relationship to the Ediacaran-Cambrian Radiation. Gondwana Research 14:5-21. 

Lieberman, B. S. 2008. Emerging syntheses between palaeobiogeography and macroevolutionary theory. Neil W. Archbold Memorial Publication, eds. G. R. Shi, D. McCann, J. Talent, and R. Peirson. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 120(1):51-57.

Hendricks, J. R., and B. S. Lieberman. 2008. New phylogenetic insights into the Cambrian radiation of arachnomorph arthropods. Journal of Paleontology 82:585-594.


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