ROW:  Trophic Diversity in Ancient and Modern Predator      Guilds:  An Ecomorphological Analysis
{'Code': '08010208', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'DEB', 'LongName': 'Division Of Environmental Biology'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Althea Ball', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
The study of fossil comunities has much to offer ecologists,               as well as paleontologists.  The fossil record can provide                      communities undisturbed by human influence over a time scale that               chronicles the influence of historical processes, such as                       extinction and immigration, on community structure.  Trophic                    diversity within the guild of large, terrestrial mammalian                      predators in North America over the last 37 million years will be               explored.  The paleoguilds, separated in age by two to four                     million years, will be compared over time to a sample of four                   previously analyzed Recent guilds.  The sampled paleofaunas                     include some which precede or follow mass extinction events, and                some that are missing such typical modern carnivores as cats and                hyaenas.  Using an ecomorphological approach, trophic diversity                 will be assessed by body size and previously demonstrated,                      functional measurements of canivore teeth.  Measurements include                estimates of slicing, grinding and bone-crushing abilities and                  reflect the relative proportion of meat, bone, and non-vertebrate               foods in the diet.  A principal component analysis will be                      applied to these data to create a multivariate morphospace in                   which to view the distribution of species within guilds.  Species               packing, as measured by Euclidean distance between taxa, will be                compared among guilds with hypothetical, randomly generated                     guilds.  In addition, the number and body size distribution of                  prey species will be quantified for each time period to explore                 the influence of resource characteristics on guild composition.                 Results should suggest general rules, if they exist, of predator                guild structure that are likely to have broad implications for                  community ecology.
{'FirstName': 'Blaire', 'LastName': 'Van Valkenburgh', 'PI_MID_INIT': None, 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Blaire Van Valkenburgh', 'EmailAddress': 'bvanval@eeb.ucla.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000243987', 'StartDate': '06/01/1989', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'University of California-Los Angeles', 'CityName': 'LOS ANGELES', 'ZipCode': '900244200', 'PhoneNumber': '3107940102', 'StreetAddress': '10889 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 700', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'California', 'StateCode': 'CA', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '36', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'CA36', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'RN64EPNH8JC6', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': None}
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{'Code': '1128', 'Text': 'Population & Community Ecology'}
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