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JIM BROWER |
PROFESSOR EMERITUSPALEONTOLOGY |
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Department of Earth Sciences Office: 221 Heroy Geology Laboratory Phone: 315.443.3440 |
After a hiatus of some years, my research has been redirected toward Paleozoic crinoids. A series of papers has treated the relationships between ontogeny, phylogeny and functional morphology in calceocrinid crinoids. The unique life style of these animals with their recumbent stems that ran along the substrate and a moveably hinged crown makes them especially suited for such studies. Basically, the unusual morphology makes allows paleobiological questions about evolution and functional morphology to be posed and answered. This philosophy can and should be extrapolated to paleoecology. Clearly, the examination of faunas characterized by unusual preservation or occurrence in unusual environments can provide much paleoecological information. In this vein, I have been and am now engaged in a long-term investigation of the paleoecology of some exquisitely preserved echinoderm assemblages from the Upper Ordovician of the midcontinent and the Appalachian region. The habitats involved range from shallow to deep waters. The communities are dominated by suspension feeding echinoderms. Catastrophic burial resulted in the preservation of many complete adult and juvenile specimens. Consequently, it is possible to infer the elevations relative to the substrate at which the individuals lived, estimate the sizes of food particles taken, and infer their methods of food capture by extrapolating from modern crinoids and other echinoderms and by applying filtration theory. The material encourages reconstruction of ecological structure, both in the context of adults and ontogenetic sequences. Comparison of diversity and ecological structures from deep and shallow water settings comprises a major goal of the research. Inasmuch as some of the taxa are new, it is necessary to describe the species and determine their phylogenetic affinities.
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| Upper Ordovician crinoids from a shallow-water limestone in southeastern Minnesota. The complete specimens of four crinoid species reveal the original elevations of the animals with respect to the seafloor. The four species have small holdfasts that were cemented to shell fragments or directly to the hard substrate. The food grooves and covering plates provide the primary data for modeling their feeding techniques and the size distributions of their food particles by means of filtration theory. |
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Click on either image for full size - warning - these are very large files!!!
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| Upper Ordovician crinoids from a lagoonal limestone in central Pennsylvania. Both specimens are characterized by lichenocrinid holdfasts which were cemented to the interior of a strophomenid brachiopod shell that was lying on the seabed. The anal tube is of the crown is fully preserved. The crown of the complete individual was located about seven centimeters above the substrate when the animal was alive. The food grooves and covering plates of another specimen allow the reconstruction of the feeding habits for the crinoid. |
Ph.D., Geology (minor in oceanography), 1964, University of Wisconsin
M.S., Geology, 1961, The American University
B.S., Magna cum laude, Geology (minor in biology), 1959, The American University
A. A., 1954, Orlando Jr. College, Orlando Florida
Emeritus Professor of Geology, Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University (1995-Present)
Professor of Geology, Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University (1974-1995)
Associate Professor of Geology, Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University (1967-1974
Assistant Professor of Geology, Department of Earth Sciences, Syracuse University (1963-67)
Paleontological Society
Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists
Paleontological Association
*Brower, James C., Ontogeny and phylogeny of the dorsal cup in calceocrinid crinoids, 1990, Journal of Paleontology, v. 64, p. 300-318.
*Brower, James C., and D. F. Merriam, Geological map analysis and comparison by several multivariate algorithms, 1990, Geological Survey of Canada Paper 89-9, p. 123-134.
*Brower, James C., A case study for comparison of some biostratigraphic techniques using Paleogene alveolinids from Slovenia and Istria, 1990, Geological Survey of Canada Paper 89-9, p. 407-416.
*Ding Yuan, and Brower, James C, Error effects and error estimation for graphic correlation in biostratigraphy, 1990, Geological Survey of Canada Paper 89-9, p. 427-438.
*Brower, James C., and O. B. Nye Jr., Quantitative analysis of paleocommunities in the lower part of the Hamilton Group near Cazenovia, New York, 1991, New York State Museum Bulletin 469, p. 37-74.
*Brower, James C., Cupulocrinid crinoids from the Middle Ordovician (Galena Group, Dunleith Formation) of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, 1992, Journal of Paleontology, v. 66, p. 99-128.
*Newman, W. B., James C. Brower, and C. R. Newton, Quantitative paleoecology of Hamilton Group localities in central New York, 1992, New York State Geological Association Guidebook for 1992, p. 170-199.
*Brower, James C., and D. F. Merriam, A simple method for the comparison of adjacent points on thematic maps, 1992, In Use of microcomputers in geology, edited by Hans Kurzl and D. F. Merriam, Plenum Press, p. 227-240.
*Brower, James C., Hybocrinid and disparid crinoids from the Middle Ordovician (Galena Group, Dunleith Formation) of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, 1992, Journal of Paleontology, v. 66, p. 973-993.
*Forster, A., D. F. Merriam, and James C. Brower, Relationship of geological and geothermal field properties: Midcontinent Area, USA, an example, 1993, Mathematical Geology, v. 25, p. 937-947.
*Brower, James C., Camerate crinoids from the Middle Ordovician (Galena Group, Dunleith Formation) of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, 1994, Journal of Paleontology, v. 68, p. 570-599.
*Brower, James C., Paleoautecology and ontogeny of Cupulocrinus levorsoni Kolata, a Middle Ordovician crinoid from the Guttenberg Formation of Wisconsin, 1994, In E. Landing (editor), Studies in stratigraphy and paleontology in honor of Donald W. Fisher, New York State Museum Bulletin 481, p. 25-44.
*Brower, James C., Eoparisocrinid crinoids from the Middle Ordovician (Galena Group, Dunleith Formation) of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, 1995, Journal of Paleontology, v. 69, p. 351-366.
*Brower, James C., Allometry in the Pliocene Bivalve Astarte omalii: a new look at an old data set, 1995, Mathematical Geology, v. 27, p. 399-420.
*Brower, James C., Dendrocrinid crinoids from the Ordovician of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, 1995, Journal of Paleontology, v. 69, p. 939-960.
*Brower, James C., Carabocrinid crinoids from the Ordovician of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, 1996, Journal of Paleontology, v. 70, p. 614-631.
*Brower, James C., Homocrinid crinoids from the Upper Ordovician of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, 1997, Journal of Paleontology, v. 71, p. 442-458.
*Brower, James C., A new pleurocystitid rhombiferan echinoderm from the Middle Ordovician Galena Group of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, 1999, Journal of Paleontology, v. 73, p. 129-153.
*Brower, James C., Seriation of an original data matrix as applied to biostratigraphy, p. 72-85, 2000, In H. S. Pandalai and P. K. Sarawati (editors), Geological data analysis: Statistical methods, (Volume of papers in honor of Professor B. K. Sahu), Recent Researches in Geology, v. 18, Hindustan Publishing Corporation (India), New Delhi.
*Brower, James C., and D. F. Merriam, Thematic map analysis using multiple regression, 2001, Mathematical Geology, v. 33, p. 353-368.
*Brower, James C., Cupulocrinus angustatus (Meek and Worthen), a cladid crinoid from the Upper Ordovician Maquoketa Formation of the northern midcontinent of the United States, 2002, Journal of Paleontology, v. 76, p. 109-122.
*Bonuso, N., C. R. Newton, James. C. Brower, and L. C. Ivany, Statistical testing of community patterns: uppermost Hamilton Group, Middle Devonian (New York State: U.S.A.), 2002, Palaeogeography, Palaeooclimatology, Paleoecology, v. 185, p. 1-24.
*Brower, James C., Quintuplexacrinus, a new cladid crinoid genus from the Upper Ordovician Maquoketa Formation of the northern midcontinent of the United States, 2002, Journal of Paleontology, v. 76, p. 993-1006.
*Bonuso, N., C. R. Newton, James. C. Brower, and L. C. Ivany, Does coordinated stasis yield taxonomic and ecologic stability?: Middle Devonian Hamilton Group of central New York, 2002, Geology, v. 30, p. 1055-1058.
*Brower, James C., The paleobiology and ontogeny of Cincinnaticrinus varibrachialus Warn and Strimple, 1977 from the Middle Ordovician (Shermanian) Walcott-Rust Quarry of New York, 2005, Journal of Paleontology, v. 79, p. 152-174.
*Brower, James C., A review of aerodynamic flight paradigms for large pterosaurs, 2005, Proceedings of the International Association of Mathematical Geology Meeting in Toronto, Canada.
*Brower, James C., Ontogeny of the food-gathering system in Ordovician crinoids, 2006, Journal of Paleontology, v. 80, p. 430-446.
*Brower, James C., Upper Ordovician crinoids from the Platteville Limestone of northeastern Iowa, 2007 (In press), Journal of Paleontology, v. 81, p. 103-115.
*Brower, James C., The application of filtration theory to food gathering in Ordovician crinoids, 2008 (In press), Journal of Paleontology, v. 82.
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