Susan M. Kidwell, William Rainey Harper Professor, Department of the Geophysical Sciences, Committee on Evolutionary Biology, and the College

Recent Publications

Kidwell, S.M., in press for 2008. Ecological fidelity of open-marine molluscan death assemblages: Effects of post-mortem transportation, shelf health, and taphonomic inertia. Lethaia 41:

Kidwell, S.M. 2007. Discordance between living and death assemblages as evidence for anthropogenic ecological change. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 104(45): 17701-17706. [pdf PNAS2007Kidwell.pdf]
And see commentary = Smol, J. P. 2007. Marine sediments tell it like it was. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 104(45): 17563-17564. [pdf PNASCommentary2007.pdf ]

Best, M.M.R, T. C.W. Ku, S. M. Kidwell, and L. M. Walter, 2007 Carbonate preservation in shallow marine environments: Unexpected role of tropical siliciclastics. J. Geology 115, p. 437-456. [pdf BestEtAlJourGeol2007.pdf]

Olszewski, T.A. and S.M. Kidwell, 2007. The preservational fidelity of evenness in molluscan death assemblages. Paleobiology 33: 1-23. [pdf Olszewski&Kidwell2007.pdf]

Lotze, H.K., H.S. Lenihan, B.J. Bourque, R. Bradbury, R.G. Cooke, M. Kay, S.M. Kidwell, M.X. Kirby, C.H. Peterson, J.B.C. Jackson, 2006. Depletion, degradation, and recovery potential of estuaries and coastal seas worldwide. Science 312: 1806-1809. [pdf LotzeScienceText2006, LotzeScienceSOM2006]

Valentine, J.W., D. Jablonski, S.M. Kidwell, and K. Roy, 2006. Assessing the fidelity of the fossil record by using marine bivalves. Proc Nat Acad Science USA 103: 6599-6604. [pdf PNAS2006ValentineEtAl.pdf]

Kidwell, S.M., 2005. Shell composition has no net impact on large-scale evolutionary patterns in mollusks. Science 307: 914-917. [pdf KidwellNoBiasScience-05.pdf, KidwellNoBiasSuppl.pdf]

Kidwell, S.M., M.M.R. Best, and D. Kaufman, 2005. Taphonomic tradeoffs in tropical marine death assemblages: differential time-averaging, shell loss, and probable bias in siliciclastic versus carbonate facies. Geology 33: 729-732. [pdf KidwellTaphTrade2005.pdf, KidwellTaphTradeSuppl2005.pdf]

Behrensmeyer, A. K., F. T. Fürsich, R. A. Gastaldo, S. M. Kidwell, M. A. Kosnik, M. Kowalewski, R. E. Plotnick, R. R. Rogers, J. Alroy, 2005. Are the most durable shelly taxa also the most common in the marine fossil record? Paleobiology 31: 607-623. [pdf Behrensmeyer_etal_2005.pdf]

Kidwell, SM and SM Holland, 2002. Quality of the fossil record: implications for evolutionary biology. Annual Review of Ecology & Systematics 33: 561-588. [pdf KidwellHollandARES]

Kidwell, S.M., 2002. Time-averaged molluscan death assemblages: palimpsests of richness, snapshots of abundance. Geology 30 (9): 803-806. [pdf KidwellGeology2002snapshots]

Kidwell, S.M., 2002. Mesh-size effects on the ecological fidelity of death assemblages: A meta-analysis of molluscan live-dead studies. Geobios mémoire spécial n. 24, 107-119. [pdf Geobios2002MeshEffects]

Kidwell, S.M., 2002. The stratigraphy of skeletal concentrations: Testing for broad-scale trends. In. M. de Renzi et al., eds., Current Topics on Taphonomy and Fossilization (Proceedings International Conference Taphos 2002), p. 179-186. Valencia, Spain: Ayuntamiento de Valenica

Kidwell, S.M., 2001. Preservation of species abundance in marine death assemblages. Science 294: 1091-1094 [pdf KidwellScience2001]

Jackson, J.B.C., M.X. Kirby, and 16 alphabetic authors including S.M. Kidwell, 2001. Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Science 293: 629-638. [pdf Jackson2001ScienceOverfish]

Peterson, C., J. Jackson, M. Kirby, H. Lenihan, B. Bourque, R. Bradbury, R. Cooke, and S. Kidwell, 2001. Factors in the decline of coastal ecosystems. Response. Science v. 293(5535): 1590-1591.

Kidwell, S.M., TA Rothfus, and M.M.R. Best, 2001. Sensitivity of taphonomic signatures to sample size, sieve size, damage scoring system, and target taxa. Palaios 16: 26-52.

Behrensmeyer, A.K., S.M. Kidwell, and R. Gastaldo, 2000. Taphonomy and paleobiology. In DH Erwin and SL Wing, eds, Deep Time, Paleobioloogy's Perspective. Paleobiology, Supplement to Volume 26(4): 103-147.

Rogers, R.R., and S.M. Kidwell, 2000. Associations of vertebrate skeletal concentrations and discontinuity surfaces in nonmarine and shallow marine records: A test in the Cretaceous of Montana. J. Geology 108 (2): 131-154.

Best, M.M.R, and S.M. Kidwell, 2000. Bivalve taphonomy in tropical mixed siliciclastic-carbonate settings: I. Environmental variation in shell condition. Paleobiology 26 (1): 80-102.

Best, M.M.R, and S.M. Kidwell, 2000. Bivalve taphonomy in tropical mixed siliciclastic-carbonate settings: II. Effect of bivalve life-habits and shell types. Paleobiology 26 (1): 103-115.

Work in Progress (abstracts, etc):

Best, MMR, TCW Ku, SM Kidwell, and LM Walter, 2001. Shells in tropical sediments: skeletons, substrates, and reactive surfaces. Seventh North American Paleontological Convention Abstracts of Papers, Paleontological Society Special Publication.

Ku, T., L.M. Walter, MMR Best, SM Kidwell. 2000. The role of reactive iron aluminosilicates in carbonate preservation during early marine diagenesis of coastal sediments, San Blas Archipelago, Panama. Geol. Soc. Amer. 32 (7):

Kidwell, SM and MMR Best, 2001. Tropical time-averaging: disparate scales and taphonomic clocks in bivalve assemblages from modern subtidal siliciclastic and carbonate facies. Seventh North American Paleontological Convention Abstracts of Papers, Paleontological Society Special Publication

Kidwell, S.M., 2002. Dead or alive, (mesh) size matters. Geol Soc Amer. Abstr Program 34(7):

Olszewski, T.A., and S.M. Kidwell, 2002. The taphonomy of diversity: Live-dead comparisons of evenness metrics. Geol Soc Amer. Abstr Program 34(7):

Kowalewski, M.I., A.K. Behrensmeyer, F.T. Fursich, R.A. Gastaldo, S.M. Kidwell, M.A. Kosnik, R.E. Plotnick and R. Rogers, 2002. Phanerozoic taphonomy of marine benthos: fidelity and secular trends. Geol Soc Amer. Abstr Program 34(7):

Kidwell, S.M., 2001. Whatever happened to unconformology (and should we care)? Geol Soc Amer Abstr Programs 33(7):

Edelman-Furstenberg, Y, SM Kidwell, A Almogi-Labin, Z Lewy, 2001. Environmental reconstruction of high-productivity marine settings: benthic paleoecology and taphonomy of the Cretaceous Mishash Formation, southern Israel. North American Paleontological Convention 2001, Program & Abstracts. PaleoBios vol. 21, supplement to No. 2, 47-48.

Rogers, RR, and SM Kidwell, in review. The origin and interpretation of bonebeds. In Rogers, RR, D Eberth and A Fiorillo, eds, Bonebeds: Genesis, Analysis, and Paleobiological Significance. Univ Chicago Press (February 2002)

Winker, C.D., and S.M. Kidwell, 2002. Stratigraphic evidence for ages of different extensional styles in the Salton Trough, southern California. Geol Soc Amer. Abstr Program 34(7):

Winker, C.W., & S.M. Kidwell 2002. Extensional history of the Salton Trough constrained by stratal-fault relationships in the west-central Salton Trough. Memorias, VI International Meeting on Geology of the Baja California Peninsula. La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico (April 4-6, 2002), p. 47-48.

Selected Older Publications

Actualistic and Stratigraphic Taphonomy

Kidwell, S.M., 1998. Time-averaging in the marine fossil record: overview of strategies and uncertainties. Géobios 30: 977-995.

Roy, K., J.W. Valentine, D. Jablonski, and S.M. Kidwell, 1996. Scales of climatic variability and time averaging in Pleistocene biotas: Implications for ecology and evolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 11: 458-463.

Kidwell, S.M., and P.J. Brenchley, 1996. Evolution of the fossil record: thickness trends in marine skeletal accumulations and their implications. In Evolutionary Paleobiology: Essays in Honor of James W. Valentine (D. Jablonski, D.H. Erwin, and J.H. Lipps, eds.), Univ. Chicago Press, p. 290-336.

Kidwell, S.M., and K. W. Flessa, 1995. The quality of the fossil record: Populations, species, and communities. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 26: 269-299. [reprinted with additional notes in Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences (1996) b/ 24" 433-464]

Glover, C.P., and S.M. Kidwell, 1993. Influence of organic matrix on the post-mortem destruction of molluscan shells. Journal of Geology 101: 729-747.

Kidwell, S.M., 1993. Taphonomic expressions of sedimentary hiatus: field observations on bioclastic concentrations and sequence anatomy in low, moderate and high subsidence settings. Geol. Rundschau 82: 189-202.

Banerjee, I., and S.M. Kidwell, 1991. Significance of molluscan shell beds in sequence stratigraphy: an example from the Lower Cretaceous Mannville Group of Canada. Sedimentology 38: 913-934.

Kidwell, S.M., and S.M. Holland, 1991. Field description of coarse bioclastic fabrics. Palaios 6(4): 426-434.

Kidwell, S.M., 1991. Condensed deposits in siliciclastic sequences: expected and observed features. In Cycles and Events in Stratigraphy (G. Einsele, W. Ricken, A. Seilacher, eds.), Berlin: Springer Verlag, p. 682-695.

Kidwell, S.M., and T. Baumiller, 1990. Experimental disintegration of regular echinoids: roles of temperature, oxygen and decay thresholds. Paleobiology 16 (3): 247-271.

Beckvar, N., and S.M. Kidwell, 1988. Hiatal shell concentrations, sequence analysis, and sealevel history of a Pleistocene coastal alluvial fan, Punta Chueca, Sonora. Lethaia 21: 257-270.

Maryland Miocene

Kidwell, S.M., 1997. Anatomy of extremely thin marine sequences landward of a passive-margin hinge zone: Neogene Calvert Cliffs succession, Maryland. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 67B: 322-340.

Kidwell, S.M., 1988. Reciprocal sedimentation and non-correlative hiatuses across marine-paralic siliciclastics: Miocene outcrop evidence. Geology 16: 609-612.

Kidwell, S.M., 1989. Stratigraphic condensation of marine transgressive records: origin of major shell deposits in the Miocene of Maryland. Jour. Geology. 97: 1-24.

Gulf of California

Dorsey, R.J., and S.M. Kidwell, 1999. Mixed carbonate-siliciclastic sedimentation on a tectonically active margin: example from the Pliocene of Baja California Sur, Mexico. Geology 27: 935-938.

Winker, C.D., and S.M. Kidwell, 1996. Stratigraphy of a marine rift basin: Neogene of the western Salton Trough, California. In P.L. Abbott, J.D. Cooper, eds., Field Conference Guide 1996 (Annual meeting Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists, Soc. Econ. Paleont. Mineral.): Pacific Section A.A.P.G., Guide Book 73; Pacific Section S.E.P.M., Book 80, p. 295-336.

Kerr, D.R., and S.M. Kidwell, 1991. Late Cenozoic sedimentation and tectonics, western Salton Trough, California. In Geological Excursions in Southern California and Mexico (M.J. Walawender & B.B. Hanan, eds.). Guidebook 1991 Annual Meeting Geological Society of America, San Diego, California, p. 397-416b.

Winker, C.D., and S.M. Kidwell, 1986. Paleocurrents of the Pliocene Colorado delta plain, Fish Creek-Vallecito Basin, southern California: Implications for paleogeography of the early northern Gulf of California. Geology 14 (9): 788-791.