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	Bathead is an old e-mail moniker for: Scott Pedersen, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Biology & Microbiology South Dakota State University, Brookings South Dakota 57007 Scott_Pedersen@sdstate.edu 605-688-5529
Download CV as a .PDF file	EDUCATION: Post-Doc 1994-99, University of Washington - Seattle Ph.D. 1993, University of Nebraska - Lincoln M.A. 1988, University of Colorado - Boulder B.A. 1984, University of Colorado - Boulder
	MUSEUM RESEARCH ASSOCIATE-SHIPS: Division of Mammals, Texas Tech University Division of Mammals, South Dakota State University Natural History Collections Division of Mammals, University of Washington Burke Museum - Seattle Division of Zoology, University of Nebraska State Museum - Lincoln
	FIELD EXPERIENCE: Germany, Austria, Washington, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Costa Rica, Trinidad, Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Guadaloupe, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Kitts, Nevis, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barths, St. Maarten [Use navigation bar for further details]
	BOOKS PUBLISHED: Dr. Rick Adams (UW - Whitewater) and I co-edited a book (Cambridge University Press) with nine contributing authors: "Ontogeny, Evolution, and Functional Ecology in the Chiroptera". We reestablished the importance of ontogenetic studies and perinatal bat biology in studies of the ecology and evolution of bats. We renewed the debate on the role of morphogenesis and post-partum growth patterns that drive the evolutionary and ecological diversity in vertebrates. See Book Review: Journal of Mammalogy Research publications (selected .pdf files available) have appeared in: Natural History, Journal of Morphology, Journal of Mammalogy, Journal of Physical Anthropology, Amphibia-Reptilia, Caribbean Journal of Science, Southwest Naturalist, Zoomorphology, Bulletin of the Washington Park Arboretum, and Bat Research News.
	PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS: Society for Integrative and Comparative Biolog, American Society of Mammalogists, Society for the Study of Evolution, Society for the Study of Mammalian Evolution, Bats Northwest, Western States Bat Working Group, Washington Bat Working Group, South Dakota Bat Working Group.
SPECIALIZED TEACHING AND EXPERTISE: Gross Anatomy, Comparative and Functional Vertebrate Anatomy, Embryology, Mammalogy, Evolution, Mammalian Systematics and Museology, General Histology, Statistics
	ONGOING RESEARCH includes the study of biodiversity and biogeographic patterns in the bat fauna throughout the northern Lesser Antilles, and archival work concerning the development of the first radar-guided missile utilized by the armed forces of the United States during WWII - ASM-N-2 BAT Glide bomb. [Return to the navigation bar for further details]
RESEARCH INTERESTS: My research has focused on craniofacial morphogenesis in vertebrates and the importance of soft-tissue integration during skeletogenesis. Of particular interest are the histological and gross anatomical shifts imposed on facial development by the effects of spatial constraint among the various subcomponents of the skull. I have investigated the changes in skull shape in salamander larvae when skull mechanics are altered by cannibalistic behavior (Masters Thesis), and described the perinatal development of the orofacial complex in bats with respect to the use of the head as an acoustic horn (Ph.D. Dissertation).
	BAT SKULLS: Many chiropteran taxa have rebuilt the basic mammalian skull around a highly modified rostrum that functions as a tuned resonator (acoustical horn) during the emission of the echolocative call. Accordingly, the developmental path of these nasal "resonators" has been canalized into a new evolutionary trajectory that is quite different from all other mammals. In nasal-emitting taxa, differential growth of the brain and the pharynx even-tually distorts the skull to align the nasal cavity and nasopharynx with the axis of the body in flight. Conversely, oral-emitting taxa construct the skull around an axis aligned with the oral cavity. Structural changes in the pharynx cascade throughout the other functional spaces in the head (otic, optic, nasal, and oral) and leave the remainder of cranial development to accommodate these newly imposed spatial requirements through the redistribution of all musculoskeletal elements associated with the soft palate and larynx. These patterns of skull growth are taxonomically distinct and form the basis for the current re-evaluation of chiropteran systematics.
The crania of bats exhibit a stunning range of morphological diversity that reflects their diverse dietary specializations. However, my work has shown that this diversity in masticatory function is subordinate to, and constrained by, the biomechanical demands of vocal-ization (echolocation). For example, extreme forms, such as Old World leaf-nosed bats (Rhinolophidae), exhibit rostrae that are characterized by expansive nasal cavities and short hard-palates. Mechanically, this organization of the skull is not optimized for robust masticatory function, instead, it is intimately related to the presence of elaborate resonance chambers within the rostrum and the use of the nasal cavities as an acoustical horn. I now have the technical ability to explore the interface between evolution, adaptation, and the biomechanics of the chiropteran skull within an experimental framework. Specifically, I intend to construct a predictive model of bat skull design utilizing standard morphometrics and test the model with data accumulated from diverse experimental techniques: materials testing, and bone strain and bite-force analyses. Though the initial focus will be on highly specialized taxa such as rhinolophoid bats, the model will ultimately be tested against the entire Order - Chiroptera - where it appears that mastication and echolocation have worked at cross-purposes during the evolution of the chiropteran skull.

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