Alycia L. Stigall
Recent News (opens in a new window)
Education
Ph.D., 2004, University of Kansas
M.S., 2001, University of Kansas
B.S., 1999, The Ohio State University (Geological Sciences)
B.S., 1999, The Ohio State University (Biology)
Research
Paleontology
- Macroevolution, speciation, and invasive species
- Quantitative paleobiogeography and paleoecology
- Phylogenetic systematics of articulated brachiopods and crustaceans
- Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event
- Late Devonian Biodiversity Crisis
- Late Ordovician Richmondian Invasion
- Jurassic lakes of Gondwana
Research Interests
Paleobiology in the Stigall Lab (opens in a new window)
My research explores the influence of biogeography and paleoecology on macroevolutionary phenomena, principally speciation and cladogensis. I am particularly interested in elucidating the long-term impacts of species invasions and the relationship between speciation mode and biodiversity expansions and declines. I utilize a variety of quantitative approaches, such as phylogenetic reconstruction and ecological niche modeling, to integrate previously disparate areas of paleontological investigation within a comprehensive evolutionary framework. Articulated brachiopods are the most commonly employed model taxa within this work.
A secondary line of research involves taxonomic and paleoecological analyses of spinicaudatan crustaceans, a group restricted to freshwater lake environments.
Recent projects have focused on the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, the Late Ordovician Richmondian Invasion, the Late Devonian Biodiversity Crisis, and Jurassic lakes of Gondwana. Primary field locations range from Ohio and adjacent states, to Oklahoma, Estonia, Namibia, and Antarctica. This research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Geographic, and the American Chemical Society’s Petroleum Research Fund.
I also contribute to paleontological database development through iDigBio and collaborate with faculty in the Ohio University Department of Teacher Education to develop workshops, lesson plans, and outreach activities to promote STEM education in the rural Appalachian region and underrepresented groups more broadly. Outreach and educational resources developed are available via the Ordovician Atlas website (opens in a new window) and the free Digital Atlas of Ancient Life (opens in a new window) app.
Courses Taught
- GEOL 2210: Earth and Life History
- GEOL 3/5410: Principles of Paleontology
- GEOL 4/5430: Paleobiogeography
- GEOL 4/5480: Paleoecology
- GEOL 4/5540 Carbonate Depositional Systems
- GEOL 4/5460: Earth Systems Evolution
Positions
2015-present, Professor
2009-2015, Associate Professor
2004-2009, Assistant Professor
2004, Post-doctoral Researcher, The Ohio State University
Selected Publications
Google Scholar Page (opens in a new window)
- Antionetto, L.S., Park Boush, L. Plotnick, R.E., Stigall, A.L. 2020. Paleoecological aspects of western United States nonmarine ostracodes during the Eocene-Oligocene transition: the Early Oligocene faunas of the Renova Formation, southwestern Montana. Palaios. 35: 165-174. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2019.040 (opens in a new window)
- Stigall. A.L. Freeman, R.L., Edwards, C.T., and Rasmussen, C.M.Ø. 2020. A multidisciplinary perspective on the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event and the development of the Paleozoic world. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 541: 109521. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.109521 (opens in a new window)
- Gallego, O.F., Monferran, M.D., Stigall, A.L., Zacarias, I.A., Hegna, T.A., Jiménez, V.C., Bittencourt, J., Li, G., Barrios Calathaki, H.G. 2020. The Devonian-Cretaceous fossil record of “conchostracans” of Africa and their paleobiogeographic relationships with other Gondwanan faunas. Journal of African Earth Sciences. 161: 103648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2019.103648 (opens in a new window)
- Stigall, A.L. 2019. The invasion hierarchy: ecological and evolutionary consequences of invasions in the fossil record. Annual Review of Ecology and Evolutionary Systematics.50: 355-380. https://doi/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110617-062638 (opens in a new window)
- Stigall. A.L. Edwards, C.T., Freeman, R.L., Rasmussen, C.M.Ø. 2019. Coordinated biotic and abiotic change during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event: Darriwilian assembly of early Paleozoic building blocks. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 530: 249-270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.05.034 (opens in a new window)
- Stigall, A.L., Fine, R. 2018. Epibole vs. ecological turnover: contrasting ecosystem impacts of biotic invasions on Ordovician communities (opens in a new window). Palaeoworld, 18:166-172.
- Epa, Y.R., Stigall, A.L., Roberts, E.M., O’Brien, H.D., Stevens, N.J. 2018. Morphological diversification of ampullariid gastropods (opens in a new window) (Nsungwe Formation, late Oligocene, Rukwa Rift Basin) is coincident with onset of East African rifting” Papers in Palaeontology. 4: 327-348.
- Perera, S.N. and Stigall, A.L. 2018. Identifying hierarchical spatial patterns within paleocommunities: An example from the Late Pennsylvanian Ames Limestone of the Appalachian basin (opens in a new window). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 506: 1-11.
- Trubovitz, S. and Stigall, A.L. 2018. Ecological revolution of Oklahoma’s rhynchonelliform brachiopod fauna during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (opens in a new window). Lethaia, 51: 277-285.
- Stigall. A.L. 2018. How is biodiversity produced? Examining speciation processes during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (opens in a new window). Lethaia, 51:165-172
- Lam, A.R., Stigall,
- A.L., Matzke, N.J. 2018. Dispersal in the Ordovician: Speciation patterns and paleobiogeographic analyses of brachiopods and trilobites (opens in a new window). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 489:147-165.
- Nylin, S., Agosta, S., Bensch, S., Boeger, W.A., Braga, M.P., Brooks, D.R., Forister, M.L., Hambäck, P.A., Hoberg, E.P., Nyman, T., Schäpers, A., Stigall, A.L., Wheat, C.W., Österling, M., Janz, N. 2018. Towards a new paradigm for species association dynamics (opens in a new window). Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 33: 4-14.
- Stigall. A.L. 2017. Ordovician oxygen and biodiversity (opens in a new window). Nature Geoscience, 10:887-888.
- Stigall, A.L., Plotnick, R.E., Park Boush, L.E. 2017. The first Cenozoic spinicaudatans from North America (opens in a new window). Journal of Paleontology, 91:467-476.
- Stigall, A.L., Bauer, J.E., Lam, A.L., Wright, D.A. 2017. Biotic immigration events, speciation and the accumulation of biodiversity in deep time (opens in a new window). Global and Planetary Change 148, 242-257.
- Trubovitz, S. and Stigall, A.L., 2016. Synchronous diversification among Laurentian and Baltic rhynchonelliform brachiopods: implications for regional vs. global triggers of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (opens in a new window). Geology, 44: 742-746.
Recent Advisees' Master's Theses
- Purcell, C. In progress. How did ecological niches evolve during Ordovician environmental change? A test using Laurentian brachiopods?
- Censullo, S.M., 2020. Did alternating dispersal and vicariance contribute to increased biodiversification during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event? A phylogenetic test using brachiopods
- Epa, Y.R., 2017. Paleoecology of the freshwater gastropods from the late Oligocene Nsungwe Formation of Tanzania.
- Perera, S.N. 2017. Hierarchical spatial patterns in paleocommunities of the Late Pennsylvanian Ames Limestone.
- Trubovitz, S. 2016. Brachiopod diversity during the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event in the Middle Ordovician Simpson Group (Oklahoma).
Links
- OHIO Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies (opens in a new window)
- The Paleontology Portal (opens in a new window)