- Jacques Gauthier
Jacques Armand Gauthier is a vertebrate paleontologist, comparative morphologist, and systematist, and one of the founders of the use of
cladistics in biology.He received a BS in Zoology at
San Diego State University in 1973, a Masters of Science at the same institute in 1980, and a PhD in Paleontology from theUniversity of California , Berkeley, in 1984 [Gauthier (1984)] . Currently he is a Professor of Geology and Geophysics and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology andCurator of Vertebrate Paleontology and Vertebrate ZoologyatYale University . His master's thesis, the content of which was published in 1982, is a classic work on the paleontology and phylogeny of the lizard cladeAnguimorpha that remains a core reference for morphological research onXenosauridae andAnguidae in particular. His PhD thesis constituted the first majorcladistic analysis ofDiapsida , as well as arguing for themonophyly of thedinosaur s. He followed this with an important paper on the origin ofbird s fromtheropod s [Gauthoer (1986)] . This was the first detailed cladistic analysis of the theropod dinosaurs, and initiated a revolution in dinosaur phylogenetics, in which cladistics replaced the Linnaean system in the classification and phylogenetic understanding of the dinosaurs.Gauthier's corpus is remarkable in that he contributed the foundational phylogenetic studies of
Archosauria andLepidosauria , two major amniote clades; and he was the primary author of the foundational and still widely cited phylogenetic study ofAmniota [Gauthier, Kluge & Rowe (1988); Gauthier (1994)] as a whole. The phylogenetic character sets from his 1984 and 1986 works, the 1988 amniote paper, and the 1988lepidosaur andsquamate papers still form the core of essentially all gross-anatomy-based phylogenetic analyses of these groups, and as such are among the most highly cited papers in amniote morphology and paleobiology. The 1988 amniote paper is also frequently cited to demonstrate the importance of taxon sampling in phylogenetic analysis, in particular the importance of sampling rare or fossil taxa that can break 'long branches' along which convergence can occur.More recently, he has argued together with
Kevin de Queiroz for replacingLinnaean taxonomy with thePhyloCode Verify source|date=November 2007 . In addition to his theoretical work on systematics and taxonomy, Gauthier continues to study the anatomy and relationships of diapsids, particularly lepidosaurs. His lizard work currently focuses onScincomorpha , following on a career-long interest in the unusual cladeXantusiidae . He is a principal investigator on theNational Science Foundation -funded effort to reconstruct the phylogeny of lizards and snakes (Squamata ) using gross anatomy and molecular structure, building on his earlier work in collaboration with Richard Estes and Kevin de Queiroz, which established the most widely accepted phylogeny of the group.Footnotes
References
* (1988): Phylogenetic relationships within Squamata. "In:" aut|Estes, R. & Pregill, G. (eds.): "The Phylogenetic Relationships of the Lizard Families": 15-98. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto.
* (1982): Fossil xenosaurid and anguid lizards from the early Eocene of Wyoming, and a revision of the Anguioidea. "Contributions to Geology, University of Wyoming" 21: 7-54.
* (1984): "A cladistic analysis of the higher systematic categories of the Diapsida." [PhD dissertation] . Available from University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, #85-12825, vii + 564 pp.
* (1986): Saurischian monophyly and the origin of birds. "In:" aut|Padian, K. (ed.): "The Origin of Birds and the Evolution of Flight". "Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences" 8: 1–55.
* (1988): A phylogenetic analysis of Lepidosauromorpha. "In:" aut|Estes, R. & Pregill, G. (eds.): "The Phylogenetic Relationships of the Lizard Families": 15-98. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto.
* (1988): Amniote phylogeny and the importance of fossils. "Cladistics" 4(2): 105–209.
* (1990): Ceratosauria. "In:" aut|Weishample, D.; Dodson, P. & Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): "The Dinosauria": 151-168. University of California Press, Berkeley.
* (1992): Phylogenetic taxonomy. "Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst." 23: 449–480.
* (1994): The diversification of the amniotes. "In:" aut|Prothero, D. (ed.): "Major Features of Vertebrate Evolution: Short Courses in Paleontology": 129-159. Paleontological Society.
* (2004): Implementing the PhyloCode. "Trends Ecol. Evol." 19(6): 281–282.External links
* [http://www.yale.edu/peabody/collections/vp/vp_gauthier.html Yale Peabody Museum]
* [http://wiki.cotch.net/index.php/Jacques_Gauthier EvoWiki]
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