We study modern environments and their very young fossil record to define ecological baselines for the differentiation of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic change and to set realistic targets for the restoration of disturbed ecosystems. We use the older geologic record including now-extinct taxa to study biotic responses to environmental change that is beyond conditions observed today and to strengthen the ecological theory underlying conservation practice. For this purpose we concentrate on modern and fossil marine ecosystems and we use geohistorical records (e.g., fossils, sediment cores, geochemical data among others) to study biotic responses to environmental disturbances.
My research focuses on mammal evolution and ecological niche development especially in carnivorous animals. The different aspects include food preference (microwear methods), locomotion adaption and population development (in co-operation with Michael Hofreiter, DNA-lab, Univ. Potsdam and the Radiocarbon lab in Mannheim). Current projects focus on niche development of Miocene carnivores and climate adaptions of mammals in the Upper Pleistocene (Teufelslucke).
I am Professor of Palaeobiology and head of the Evolutionary Morphology Research Group at the Department of Palaeontology of the University of Vienna since September 2010. Prior to coming to Vienna I was curator at the Natural History Museum Berlin and State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart (Germany). My research is at the interface of palaeobiology and evolutionary developmental biology of vertebrates. For this I integrate living and fossil organisms, knowledge of their evolutionary relationships and past diversity patterns, and developmental biology, to provide a holistic understanding of their evolutionary history.
