I am interested in macroecological patterns of body size in vertebrates. In collaboration with Scott Boback from Dickinson College, I am exploring the relationship between spatial scale and characteristics of body size distributions in squamate reptiles. While squamates have proved useful for studies of competition at the community level, we are interested in how this competition might structure body size distributions at different spatial scales. Additionally, I am interested in the evolution of body size in turtles. Turtle represent a monophyletic lineage of tetrapods that share a common morphological feature (an external shell) that may uniquely constrain the evolution of body size. In collaboration with Ben Anders from University of Texas-Arlington, I am exploring global patterns of body size for all extant and recently extinct turtles.
