publications
these are peer-reviewed journal articles; names of lab members are highlighted. click on images for links; for reprint requests please contact daniel (djf70[at]cam.ac.uk).
du Toit, C.J., Bond, A.L., Cunningham, S.J., Field, D.J., Portugal, S.J. 2024. Tactile bill-tip organs in seabirds suggest conservation of a deep avian symplesiomorphy. Biology Letters 20: 20240259. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2024.0259
Berv, J.S., Sonal, S., Field, D.J., et al. 2024. Molecular early burst associated with the diversification of birds at the K–Pg boundary. Science Advances 10: eadp0114. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adp0114
Burton, M.G.P., Benito, J., Mellor, K., Smith, E., Martin-Silverstone, E., O'Connor, P.M., Field, D.J. 2024. The influence of soft tissue volume on estimates of skeletal pneumaticity: implications for fossil archosaurs. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, in press.
Pimiento, C., Kacáková, K., Mathes, G.H., Argyriou, T., Cadena, E.-A., Cooper, J.A., Cortés, D., Field, D.J., Klug, C., Scheyer, T.M., Valenzuela-Toro, A.M., Hatt, P., Holdener, G., Jacober, G., Kobelt, S., Masseraz, S., Mehli, I., Reiff, S., Rigendinger, E., Ruckstuhl, M., Schneider, S., Seige, C., Senn, N., Staccoli, V., Baumann, J., Flüeler, L., Guevara, L.J., Ickin, E., Kissling, K.C., Rogenmoser, J., Spitznagel, D., Villafaña, J.A., Zanatta, C. 2024. The extinct marine megafauna of the Phanerozoic. Cambridge Prisms: Extinction 2: e7. doi:10.1017/ext.2024.12.
Crane, A., Benito, J., Chen, A., Musser, G., Torres, C., Clarke, J.A., Lautenschlager, S., Ksepka, D.T., Field, D.J. 2024. Taphonomic damage obfuscates interpretation of the retroarticular region of the Asteriornis mandible. GeoBios.
Widrig, K.E., Navalón, G., Field, D.J. 2024. Palaeoneurology of stem palaeognaths clarifies the plesiomorphic condition of the crown bird central nervous system. Journal of Morphology 285: e21710. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21710
Field, D.J., Benito, J., Werning, S., Chen, A., Kuo, P.-C., Crane, A., Widrig, K.E., Ksepka, D.T., Jagt, J.M.W. 2024. Remarkable insights into modern bird origins from the Maastrichtian type area (north-east Belgium, south-east Netherlands). Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 103: e15. https://doi.org/10.1017/njg.2024.11
Kuo, P-C.K., Navalón, G., Benson, R.B.J., Field, D.J. 2024. Macroevolutionary drivers of morphological disparity in the avian quadrate. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 291: 20232250. http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2250
Brocklehurst, N. & Field, D.J. 2024. Tip dating and Bayes factors provide insight into the radiation of crown birds across the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 291: 20232618. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2618
Peacock, J., Spellman, G.M., Field, D.J., Mason, M.J., Mayr, G. 2024. Comparative morphology of the avian bony columella. The Anatomical Record 307(5): 1735-1763.
doi: 10.1002/ar.25278.
Widrig, K.E., Bhullar, B.-A., Field, D.J. 2023. 3D atlas of tinamou (Neornithes: Tinamidae) pectoral morphology: Implications for reconstructing the ancestral neornithine flight apparatus. Journal of Anatomy. doi: 10/1111/joa.13919.
Kuo, P.-C., Benson, R.B.J., Field, D.J. 2023. The importance of fossils in macroevolutionary analyses of 3D geometric morphometric data: a case study of galloanseran quadrates. Journal of Morphology 284(6): e21594.
Gayford, J.H., Whitehead, D.A., Ketchum, J.T., Field, D.J. 2023. The selective drivers of allometry in sharks (Chondrichthyes: Elasmobranchii). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society zlac110. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac110
Burton, M.G.P., Benson, R.B.J., Field, D.J. 2023. Direct quantification of skeletal
pneumaticity illuminates ecological drivers of a key avian trait. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 290: 20230160. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.0160.
Lowi-Merri, T.M., Demuth, O.E., Benito, J., Field, D.J., Benson, R.B.J., Claramunt, S., Evans, D.C. 2023. Reconstructing locomotor ecology of extinct avialans: a case study of Ichthyornis comparing sternum morphology and skeletal proportions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 290: 20222020. http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.2020.
Ksepka, D.T., Field, D.J., Heath, T.A., Pett, W., Thomas, D.B., Giovanardi, S., Tennyson, A.J.D. 2023. Largest-known fossil penguin provides insight into the early evolution of sphenisciform body size and flipper anatomy. Journal of Paleontology 1-20. doi:10.1017/jpa.2022.88
Steell, E.M., Nguyen, J., Benson, R.B.J., Field, D.J. 2023. Evolution of the passerine carpometacarpus helps illuminate the early fossil record of crown Passeriformes. Journal of Anatomy. DOI: 10.1111/joa.13761.
Chiappe, L.M., Navalón, G., Martinelli, A.G., Nava, W., Field, D.J. 2022. Fossil basicranium clarifies the origin of the avian central nervous system and inner ear. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 289: 20221398.
Benito, J., Kuo, P-C., Widrig, K.E., Jagt, J.W.M., Field, D.J. 2022. Cretaceous ornithurine supports a neognathous crown bird ancestor. Nature 612: 100–105. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05445-y
Benito, J., Chen, A., Wilson, L.E., Bhullar, B-A.S., Burnham, D., Field, D.J. 2022. Forty new specimens of Ichthyornis provide unprecedented insight into the postcranial morphology of crownward stem group birds. PeerJ 10:e13919. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13919
Demuth, O.E., Benito, J., Tschopp, E., Lautenschlager, S., Mallison, H., Heeb, N., Field, D.J. 2022. Topology-based three-dimensional reconstruction of delicate skeletal fossil remains and the quantification of their taphonomic deformation. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10:828006. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2022.828006
Widrig, K. & Field, D.J. 2022. The evolution and fossil record of palaeognathous birds (Neornithes: Palaeognathae). Diversity 14(2), 105. https://doi.org/10.3390/d14020105
Ducatez, S. & Field, D.J. 2021. Disentangling the avian altricial-precocial spectrum: Quantitative assessment of developmental mode, phylogenetic signal, and dimensionality. Evolution 75(11): 2717-2735. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14365.
Hughes, J.J., Berv, J.S., Chester, S.J.B., Sargis, E.J., Field, D.J. 2021. Ecological selectivity and the evolution of mammalian substrate preference across the K–Pg boundary. Ecology and Evolution 00, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8114
O'Connor, J.K., Field, D.J., Sullivan, C. 2021. Editorial: Early Avian Evolution. Frontiers in Earth Science 9:730214. doi: 10.3389/feart.2021.730214.
Louchart, A., Bhullar, B.A-S., Riamon, S., Field, D.J. 2021. The true identity of putative tooth alveoli in a Cenozoic crown bird, the gastornithid Omorhamphus. Frontiers in Earth Science 9:661699. doi: 10.3389/feart.2021.661699.
Brocklehurst, N. & Field, D.J. Macroevolutionary dynamics of dentition in Mesozoic birds reveal no long-term selection towards tooth loss. iScience 24(3), 102243.
Watanabe, J., Field, D.J., Matsuoka, H. Wing musculature reconstruction in extinct flightless auks (Pinguinus and Mancalla) reveals incomplete convergence with penguins (Spheniscidae) due to differing ancestral states. Integrative Organismal Biology 3(1), obaa040.
Klein, C.G., Pisani, D., Field, D.J., Lakin, R., Wills, M.A., Longrich, N.R. 2021. Evolution and dispersal of snakes across the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. Nature Communications 12:5335. http://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25136-y.
Field, D.J., Benito, J., Chen, A., Jagt, J.M.W., Ksepka, D.T. 2020. Late Cretaceous neornithine from Europe illuminates the origins of crown birds. Nature 579 397-401.
Field, D.J. 2020. Preliminary paleoecological insights from the Pliocene avifauna of Kanapoi, Kenya: implications for the ecology of Australopithecus anamensis. Journal of Human Evolution 140 102384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.08.007
Field, D.J. 2020. The changing face of birds from the age of dinosaurs (Commentary). Nature. doi: http://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03260-x
Ksepka, D.T., Balanoff, A.M., Smith, N.A., Bever, G.S., Bhullar, B.A-S., Bourdon, E., Braun, E.L., Burleigh, J.G., Clarke, J.A., Colbert, M.W., Corfield, J.R., Degrange, F.J., De Pietri, V.L., Early, C.M., Field, D.J., Gignac, P.M., Gold, M.E.L., Kimball, R.T., Kawaba, S., Lefebvre, L., Marugán-Lobón, J., Mongle, C.S., Morhardt, A., Norell, M.A., Ridgely, R.C., Rothman, R.S., Scofield, R.P., Tambussi, C.P., Torres, C.R., van Tuinen, M., Walsh, S.A., Watanabe, A., Witmer, L.M., Wright, A.K., Zanno, L.E., Jarvis, E.D., Smaers, J.B.et al. 2020. Tempo and pattern of avian brain size evolution. Current Biology 30: 1-10. doi.org/10.1016//j.cub.2020.03.060
Chen, A. & Field, D.J. Phylogenetic definitions for Caprimulgiformes (Aves) and major constituent clades under the International Code of Phylogenetic Nomenclature. Zoology 74(4): 571-585. https://www.senckenberg.de/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/03_vertebrate_zoology_70_4_2020_Chen.pdf
Ding, A., Pittman, M., Upchurch, P., O’Connor, J.K., Field, D.J., Xing, X. 2020. The biogeography of coelurosaurian dinosaurs and its impact on their evolutionary history. In Pennaraptoran theropod dinosaurs: Past progress and new frontiers (Pittman, M. & Xing, X. Eds.). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 440: 117-157.
Field, D.J., Berv, J.S., Hsiang, A.Y., Lanfear, R., Landis, M.J., Dornburg, A. 2020. Timing the extant avian radiation: The rise of modern birds, and the importance of modeling molecular rate variation. In Pennaraptoran theropod dinosaurs: Past progress and new frontiers (Pittman, M. & Xing, X. Eds.). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 440: 159-181.
Pittman, M., O’Connor, J.K., Field, D.J., Turner, A.H., Ma, W., Xing, X. Pennaraptoran systematics. 2020. In Pennaraptoran theropod dinosaurs: Past progress and new frontiers (Pittman, M. & Xing, X. Eds.). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 440: 7-36.
Pittman, M., O’Connor, J.K., Tse, E., Makovicky, P., Field, D.J., Ma, W., Turner, A.H., Xing, X. 2020. The fossil record of Mesozoic and Paleocene pennaraptorans. In Pennaraptoran theropod dinosaurs: Past progress and new frontiers (Pittman, M. & Xing, X. Eds.). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 440: 37-95.
Pittman, M., Heers, A.M., Serrano, F.J., Field, D.J., Habib, M.B., Dececchi, T.A., Kaye, T.G., Larsson, H.C.E. 2020. Methods of studying early theropod flight. In Pennaraptoran theropod dinosaurs: Past progress and new frontiers (Pittman, M. & Xing, X. Eds.). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History: 440: 277-294.
Dawson, R.R., Field, D.J., Hull, P.M., Zelenitsky, D.K., Therrien, F., Affek, H.P. 2020. Eggshell geochemistry reveals ancestral metabolic thermal regulation in Dinosauria. Science Advances 6 eaax9361.
Saupe, E.E., Farnsworth, A., Lunt, D.J., Sagoo, N., Pham, K.V., Field, D.J. 2019. Climatic shifts drove major contractions in avian latitudinal distributions throughout the Cenozoic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116:26 12895-12900. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1903866116
Oliveros, C., Field, D.J., Ksepka, D.T., Barker, F.K., Aleixo, A., Anderson, M.J., Alström, P., Benz, B.W., Braun, E.L., Braun, M.J., Bravo, G.A., Brumfield, R.T., Chesser, R.T., Claramunt, S., Cracraft, J., Cuervo, A.M., Derryberry, E.P., Glenn, T.C., Harvey, M.G., Hosner, P.A., Joseph, L., Kimball, R., Mack, A.L., Miskelly, C.M., Peterson, A.T., Robbins, M.B., Sheldon, F.H., Silveira, L.F., Smith, B.T., White, N.D., Moyle, R.G., Faircloth,B.C. 2019. Earth history and the passerine supperradiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116:16 7915-7925. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1813206116
Chen, A., White, N.D., Benson, R.B.J., Braun, M.J., Field, D.J. 2019. Total-evidence framework reveals complex morphological evolution in nightbirds (Strisores). Diversity 11(9),143. https://doi.org/10.3390/d11090143
Kimball, R.T, Oliveros, C.H., Wang, N., White, N.D., Barker, F.K., Field, D.J., Ksepka, D.T., Chesser, R.T., Moyle, R.G., Braun, M.J., Brumfield, R.T., Faircloth, B.C., Smith, B.T., Braun, E.L. 2019. A phylogenomic supertree of birds. Diversity 11:109 doi:10.3390/d11070109
Musser, G.M., Ksepka, D.T., Field, D.J. 2019. New material of Paleocene-Eocene Pellornis clarifies pattern and timing of the extant gruiform radiation. Diversity 11:102. doi:10.3390/d11070102
Field, D.J. 2019. Evolution: Convergence fits the bill (Commentary). Current Biology 29: R132-R134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.01.018
Pimiento, C., Cantalapiedra, J.L., Shimada, K., Field, D.J., Smaers, J.B. 2019. Evolutionary pathways toward gigantism in sharks and rays. Evolution. doi:10.1111/evo.13680.
Field, D.J. & Hsiang, A.Y. 2018. A North American stem turaco, and the complex biogeographic history of modern birds. BMC Evolutionary Biology 18:102. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-018-1212-3
Field, D.J., Bercovici, A., Berv, J.S., Dunn, R., Fastovsky, D.E., Lyson, T.R., Vajda, V., Gauthier, J.A. 2018. Early evolution of modern birds structured by global forest collapse at the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Current Biology 28: 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.04.062
Field, D.J., Hanson, M., Burnham, D., Wilson, L., Super, K., Ehret, D., Ebersole, J., Bhullar, B.A-S. 2018. Complete skull of Ichthyornis illuminates mosaic assembly of the avian head. Nature 556(7703): 96-100. http://doi.org/10.1038/s415860018-0053-y
Field, D.J. 2018. Endless Skulls Most Beautiful (Commentary). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114(30): 7750-7752. doi:10.1073/pnas.1721208115
Berv, J.S. & Field, D.J. 2018. Genomic signature of an avian Lilliput Effect across the K-Pg Extinction. Systematic Biology. 67(1): 1-13. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syx064.
[Cover; winner of the Society of Systematic Biologists Publisher’s Award]
Field, D.J. 2017. Big-time insights from a tiny bird fossil (Commentary). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114(30): 7750-7752.
Faux, C. & Field, D.J. 2017. Distinct developmental pathways underlie independent flight losses in ratites. Biology Letters. 20170234. [Cover]
Fabbri, M., Koch, N.M., Pritchard, A.C., Hanson, M., Hoffman, E., Bever, G.S., Balanoff, A.M., Morris, Z.S., Field, D.J., Camacho, J., Rowe, T.B., Norell, M.A., Smith, R.M., Abzhanov, A., Bhullar, B-A.S.B. 2017. The skull roof tracks the brain during the evolution and development of reptiles including birds. Nature Ecology and Evolution. doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0288-2
Field, D.J., Boessenecker, R., Racicot, R., Ásbjörnsdóttir, L., Jónasson, K., Hsiang, A., Behlke, A., Vinther, J. 2017. The oldest marine vertebrate fossil from the volcanic island of Iceland: A partial right whale skull from the high latitude Pliocene Tjörnes Formation. Palaeontology. doi:10/1111/pala.12275.
Dumont, M., Tafforeau, P., Bertin, T., Bhullar, B.-A., Field, D., et al. 2016. Synchrotron imaging of dentition provides insights into the biology of Hesperornis and Ichthyornis, the “last” toothed birds. BMC Evolutionary Biology 16:178. doi:10.1186/s12862-016-0753-6.
Bever, G.S., Lyson, T.R., Field, D.J., Bhullar, B.A.S. 2016. The amniote temporal roof and the diapsid origin of the turtle skull. Zoology. doi:10.1016/j.zool.2016.04.005.
Prum, R.O., Berv, J.S., Dornburg, A., Field, D.J., Townsend, J.P, Lemmon, E.M., Lemmon, A.R. A comprehensive phylogeny of birds using targeted next-generation DNA sequencing. Nature 526: 569-573. doi:10.1038/nature15697.
Balanoff, A.M., Bever, G.S., Colbert, M.W., Clarke, J.A., Field, D.J., et al. 2016. Best practices for digitally constructing endocranial casts: Examples from birds and their dinosaurian relatives. Journal of Anatomy 229(2): 173-190. doi:10.1111/joa.12378. [Cover]
Bever, G.S., Lyson, T.R., Field, D.J., Bhullar, B.-A.S. 2015. Evolutionary origin of the turtle skull. Nature 525: 239-242. doi:10.1038/nature14900.
Feo, T.J., Field, D.J., Prum, R.O. 2015. Barb geometry of asymmetrical feathers reveals a transitional morphology in the evolution of avian flight. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 282: 20142864. [Winner of the 2015 G.G. Simpson Prize]
Field, D.J., Leblanc, A., Gau, A., Behlke, A.D. 2015. Pelagic neonatal fossils support viviparity and precocial life history of Cretaceous mosasaurs. Palaeontology 58(3): 401-407. doi: 10.1111/pala.12165.
Hsiang, A.Y., Field, D.J., Webster, T.H., Belker, A.D., Davis, M., Racicot, R.A., Gauthier, J.A. 2015. The origin of snakes: Revealing the ecology, behavior, and evolutionary history of early snakes using genomics, phenomics, and the fossil record. BMC Evolutionary Biology 15:87. doi:10.1186/a12862-015-0358-5.
[Winner of the 2016 G.G. Simpson Prize]
Snow, S.S, Field, D.J., Musser, J.M. 2015. Competitive interactions in Grallaria antpittas: observations at a feeder. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 56(1): 89-93.
Field, D.J., Gauthier, J.A.G., King, B.L., Pisani, D., Lyson, T.R.L., Peterson, K.J. 2014. Toward consilience in reptile phylogeny: miRNAs support an archosaur, not lepidosaur, affinity for turtles. Evolution & Development 16(4): 189-196. doi: 10.1111/ede.12081. [Cover]
Field, D.J., Lynner, C., Brown, C., Darroch, S.A.F. 2013. Skeletal correlates for body mass estimation in modern and fossil flying birds. PLoS ONE 8(11): e82000.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082000.
Mcnamara, M.E., Briggs, D.E.G., Orr, P.J., Field, D.J., Wang, Z. 2013. Experimental maturation of feathers: implications for reconstructions of fossil feather colour. Biology Letters 9: 20130184.
Field, D.J., D’Alba L., Vinther, J., Webb, S.M., Gearty, W., Shawkey, M.D. 2013. Melanin concentration gradients in modern and fossil feathers. PLoS ONE 8(3): e59451. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059451.
[Winner of the 2013 G.G. Simpson Prize]
Longrich, N.R., Field, D.J. 2012. Torosaurus is not Triceratops: Ontogeny in chasmosaurine ceratopsids as a case study in dinosaur taxonomy. PLoS ONE 7(2): e32623. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032623.
Longrich, N., Tokaryk, T., Field, D.J. 2011. Mass extinction of birds at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108(37):15253-15257.
Field, D.J., Ben-Zvi, M., Lin, S.C., Goldbogen, J.A., Shadwick, R.E. 2011. Convergent evolution in rorqual whales and pelicans driven by similar feeding mechanics. The Anatomical Record 294:1273-1282. [Cover]
Field, D.J., Campbell-Malone, R., Goldbogen, J.A., Shadwick, R. 2010. Quantitative computed tomography of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) mandibles: mechanical implications for rorqual lunge-feeding. The Anatomical Record 293:1240-1247.
