David JablonskiWilliam R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Service Professor

Research Focus:

Evolution, paleontology

Email:

djablons@uchicago.edu

Phone:

(773) 702-8163

Office:

Hinds 213

Research Interests

My research emphasizes the integration of data from living and fossil organisms to study the origins and the fates of lineages and adaptations. Comparative analysis of different macroevolutionary currencies – taxonomic, functional, and morphologic – has been an especially powerful approach, and my group has been compiling 3D images of several thousand extant and extinct bivalve species to fuel this work. Main research areas include: (1) the interplay of origination, extinction, and range shifts in shaping global diversity patterns in time and space. The fossil record shows that the "tropics-as-cradle-or-museum" paradigm of the past 40 years for the latitudinal diversity gradient is a false dichotomy, with the tropics actually being an evolutionary source of expanding lineages that also accumulate in their tropical starting points. (2) The role of geographic range, larval development, and other biological factors in determining speciation rates and patterns in Cretaceous and Cenozoic mollusks. Hierarchical approaches to large-scale evolutionary processes appear to be powerful tools for understanding macroevolutionary patterns. Once background patterns are understood, they can (3) be compared to patterns of extinction and survival during mass extinctions to gain a better picture of the evolutionary significance of extinction events. Work on the end-Cretaceous extinction indicates neither a simple intensification of background patterns nor an entirely random culling of the biota, and analyses on the early Cenozoic evolutionary rebound shows distinct differences among biogeographic regions and among clades, suggesting that evolutionary patterns are shaped by the alternation of extinction regimes, with rare but influential mass extinctions driving unexpected evolutionary shifts. Analysis of both background and mass extinction along latitudinal and bathymetric gradients, and spatial and environmental histories of major evolutionary novelties and higher taxa in post-Paleozoic marine invertebrates, are also active research projects based on the primary literature and museum collections.

Recent student research includes: the relation between bivalve diversity dynamics and climate change through the Cenozoic; how muricid snail morphology has changed with Pleistocene-Recent geographic range shifts; morphological integration and modularity in the bivalve shell; macroecological drivers of extinction risk in early Cenozoic mollusks; ecological effects of the Mesozoic Marine Revolution in late Cretaceous communities; evolutionary trends in ammonoid suture complexity through the Paleozoic; morphological patterns of extinction selectivity and recovery in Triassic ammonoids.

Selected Recent Publications

• Jablonski, D., and S.M. Edie, 2023. Perfect storms shape biodiversity in time and space. Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society 2: 1-9. [PDF]
• Collins, K.S., S.M. Edie, and D. Jablonski, 2023. Convergence and contingency in the evolution of a specialized mode of life: Multiple origins and high disparity of rock-boring bivalves. Proceedings of the Royal Society, London B 290: 20221907. [PDF]
• Zhou, S., K.S. Collins, N.M.A. Crouch, S.M. Edie, and D. Jablonski, 2023. Cambrian origin but no early burst in functional disparity for Class Bivalvia. Biology Letter, Royal Society, 19: 20230157. [PDF]
• Jablonski, D. 2022. Evolvability and macroevolution: Overview and synthesis. Evolutionary Biology 49: 265-291. [PDF]

Additional Publications and PDFs

Please note: The copyright of these articles is with their respective publishers. By downloading an article, you agree to limit the use of the pdf file to printing of single copies for personal research and study. You may not modify the files in any way, or to use them for commercial purposes.

• Edie, S.M., K.S. Collins, and D. Jablonski, 2023. High-throughput micro-CT scanning and deep learning segmentation workflow for analyses of shelly invertebrates and their fossils: Examples from marine Bivalvia. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 11: 1127756. [pdf]
• Jablonski, D. 2023. James W. Valentine (1926–2023): Trailblazing paleobiologist with an enduring legacy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 120: e2307892120. [pdf]
• Crouch, N.M.A., and D. Jablonski, 2023. Is species richness mediated by functional and genetic divergence? A global analysis in birds. Functional Ecology 37: 125-138. [pdf]
• Edie, S.M., S.C. Khouja, K.S. Collins, N.M.A. Crouch, and D. Jablonski, 2022. Evolutionary modularity, integration and disparity in an accretionary skeleton: Analysis of venerid Bivalvia. Proceedings of the Royal Society, London B: 20211199. [pdf]
• Edie, S.M., K.S. Collins, and D. Jablonski, 2022. Specimen alignment with limited point-based homology: 3D morphometrics of disparate bivalve shells (Mollusca: Bivalvia). PeerJ 10: e13617. [pdf]

• Crouch, N.M.A., S.M. Edie, K.S. Collins, R. Bieler, and D. Jablonski, 2021. Calibrating phylogenies assuming bifurcation versus budding alters inferred macroevolutionary dynamics in a densely sampled phylogeny of bivalve families. Proceedings of the Royal Society, London B 288: 20212178. [pdf] [pdf]

• Schumm, M., S. M. Edie, K. S. Collins, V. Gómez-Bahamón, K. Supriya, A. E. White, T. D. Price, and D. Jablonski, 2019. Common latitudinal gradients in functional richness and functional evenness across marine and terrestrial systems. Proceedings of the Royal Society, London B 286: 20190745. [pdf]

• Jablonski, D. 2020. Developmental bias, macroevolution, and the fossil record. Evolution and Development 22: 103-125. [pdf]

• Collins, K.S., S.M. Edie, and D. Jablonski, 2020. Hinge and ecomorphology of Legumen Conrad, 1858 (Bivalvia, Veneridae), and the contraction of venerid morphospace following the end-Cretaceous extinction. Journal of Paleontology 94: 489-497. [pdf]
• Edie, S.M., D. Jablonski, and J. W. Valentine, 2018. Contrasting responses of functional diversity to major losses in taxonomic diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 115: 732-737. [pdf]
• Collins, K.S., S.M. Edie, T. Gao, R. Bieler, and D. Jablonski, 2019. Spatial filters of function and phylogeny determine morphological disparity with latitude. PLoS One 14: e0221490. [pdf]
• Collins, K.S., S.M. Edie, G. Hunt, K. Roy, and D. Jablonski, 2018 Extinction risk in extant marine species integrating palaeontological and biodistributional data. Proceedings of the Royal Society, London B 285: 20181698. [pdf]
• Jablonski, D. 2017. Approaches to macroevolution: 1. General concepts and origin of variation. Evolutionary Biology 44: 427-450. [pdf]
• Jablonski, D. 2017. Approaches to macroevolution: 2. Sorting of variation, some overarching issues, and general conclusions. Evolutionary Biology 44: 451-475. [pdf]
• Jablonski, D., S. Huang, K. Roy, and J. W. Valentine, 2017. Shaping the latitudinal diversity gradient: New perspectives from a synthesis of paleobiology and biogeography. American Naturalist 189: 1-12. [pdf]

• Tomasovych, A., and D. Jablonski, 2017. Decoupling of latitudinal gradients in species and genus geographic range size: A signature of clade range-expansion. Global Ecology and Biogeography 26: 288-303. [pdf]
• Edie, S.M., P.D. Smits, and D. Jablonski, 2017. Probabilistic models of species discovery and biodiversity comparisons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 114: 3666-3671. [pdf]
• Tomašových, A., et al., 2016. Unifying latitudinal gradients in range size and richness across marine and terrestrial systems. Proceedings of the Royal Society, London B 283: 20153027. [PDF]
• Huang, S., K. Roy, and D. Jablonski, 2015. Origins, bottlenecks, and present-day diversity: Patterns of morphospace occupation in marine bivalves. Evolution 69: 735-746. [pdf]
• Valentine, J.W., and D. Jablonski, 2015. A twofold role for global energy gradients in marine biodiversity trends. Journal of Biogeography 42: 997-1005. [PDF]
• Huang, S., K. Roy, J. W. Valentine, and D. Jablonski, 2015. Convergence, divergence, and parallelism in marine biodiversity trends: Integrating present-day and fossil data. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 112: 4903-4908. [PDF]

• Jablonski, D., and N.H. Shubin, 2015. The future of the fossil record: Paleontology in the 21st Century. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 112: 4852-4858. [pdf]

• Tomasovych, A., D. Jablonski, S. K. Berke, A. Z. Krug, and J. W. Valentine, 2015. Non-linear climatic gradients shape broad-scale patterns in geographic range size and diversity. Global Ecology and Biogeography 24: 157-167. [pdf]

• Berke, S. K., D. Jablonski, A. Z. Krug, and J. W. Valentine, 2014. Origination and migration drive latitudinal gradients in marine functional diversity. PLoS One 9(7): e101494. [pdf]

• Huang, S., K. Roy, and D. Jablonski, 2014. Do past climate states influence diversity dynamics and the present-day latitudinal diversity gradient? Global Ecology and Biogeography 23: 530-540. [pdf]

• Jablonski, D., C. L. Belanger, S. K. Berke, S. Huang, A. Z. Krug, K. Roy, A. Tomasovych, and J. W. Valentine, 2013. Inaugural Article: Out of the tropics, but how? Fossils, bridge species, and thermal ranges in the dynamics of the marine latitudinal diversity gradient. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 110: 10487-10494. [pdf]
• Valentine, J. W., D. Jablonski, A. Z Krug, and S. K Berke, 2013. The sampling and estimation of marine paleodiversity patterns: Implications of a Pliocene model. Paleobiology 39: 1-20. [pdf]
• Berke, S. K., D. Jablonski, A. Z. Krug, K. Roy, and A. Tomasovych, 2013. Size-latitude relationships in marine Bivalvia worldwide: Beyond Bergmann's Rule. Global Ecology and Biogeography 22: 173-183. [pdf]
• Belanger, C.L., D. Jablonski, K. Roy, S. K Berke, A. Z Krug, and J. W. Valentine, 2012. Global environmental predictors of benthic marine biogeographic structure. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 109: 14046-14051. [pdf link]
• Krug, A. Z., and D. Jablonski, 2012. Long-term origination rates are reset only at mass extinctions. Geology 40: 731-734. [pdf link]
• Krug, A. Z., D. Jablonski, K. Roy, and A. G. Beu, 2010. Differential extinction and the contrasting structure of polar marine faunas. PLoS One 5(12): e15362. [pdf link]
• Valentine, J. W., and D. Jablonski, 2010. Origins of marine patterns of biodiversity: Some correlates and applications. Palaeontology 53: 1203–1210. [pdf link]
• Harnik, P. G., D. Jablonski, A. Z Krug, and J. W. Valentine, 2010. Genus age, provincial area and the taxonomic structure of marine faunas. Proc. Roy. Soc. London B277: 3427–3435. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 2009. Paleontology in the twenty-first Century. In: D. Sepkoski and M. Ruse, eds., The Paleobiological Revolution: Essays on the growth of modern paleontology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 471-517. [pdf link]
• Roy, K., G. Hunt, and D. Jablonski, 2009. Phylogenetic conservatism of extinctions in marine bivalves. Science 325: 733-737. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D., and J.A. Finarelli, 2009. Congruence of morphologically-defined genera with molecular phylogenies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 106: 8262-8266. [pdf link]
• Roy, K., G. Hunt, D. Jablonski, A. Z Krug, and J. W. Valentine, 2009. A macroevolutionary perspective on species range limits. Proc. Roy. Soc. London B 276: 1485-1493. [pdf link]
• Krug, A. Z., D. Jablonski, and J. W. Valentine, 2009. Signature of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction in the modern biota. Science 323: 767-771. [pdf link]
• Krug, A. Z., D. Jablonski, J. W. Valentine, and K. Roy, 2009. Generation of Earth's first-order biodiversity pattern. Astrobiology 9: 113-124. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 2008. Species selection: Theory and data. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 39: 501-524. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 2008. Extinction and the spatial dynamics of biodiversity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 105 (Suppl. 1): 11528-11535. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 2008. Biotic interactions and macroevolution: Extensions and mismatches across scales and levels. Evolution 62: 715-739. [pdf link]
• Valentine, J. W., D. Jablonski, A. Z. Krug, and K. Roy, 2008. Incumbency, diversity, and latitudinal gradients. Paleobiology 34: 169-178. [pdf link]
• Krug, A. Z., D. Jablonski, and J. W. Valentine, 2008. Species-genus ratios reflect a global history of diversification and range expansion in marine bivalves. Proc. Roy. Soc. London B 275: 1117-1123. [pdf link]
• Krug, A. Z., D. Jablonski, and J. W. Valentine, 2007. Contrarian clade confirms the ubiquity of spatial origination patterns in the production of latitudinal diversity gradients. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104: 18129-18134 [pdf link]  [spreadsheet]
• Jablonski, D. 2007. A multilevel exploration [review of Okasha, Evolution and the Levels of Selection]. Science 316:1428-1430. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 2007. Scale and hierarchy in macroevolution. Palaeontology, 50: 87-109. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D., K. Roy, and J.W. Valentine, 2006. Out of the Tropics: Evolutionary dynamics of the latitudinal diversity gradient. Science 314: 102-106. [pdf link]  and Supplementary Online Material  [pdf link]
• Kosnik, M. A., D. Jablonski, R. Lockwood, and P M. Novack-Gottshall, 2006. Quantifying molluscan body size in evolutionary and ecological analyses: Maximizing the return on data-collection efforts. Palaios 21: 588-597. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D., and G. Hunt, 2006. Larval ecology, geographic range, and species survivorship in Cretaceous mollusks: Organismic vs. species-level explanations. Am. Nat. 168: 556-564. [pdf link]
• Valentine, J. W., D. Jablonski, S. M. Kidwell, and K. Roy, 2006. Assessing the fidelity of the fossil record by using marine bivalves. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103: 6599-6604. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 2005. Evolutionary innovations in the fossil record: The intersection of ecology, development and macroevolution. Journal of Experimental Zoology. Part B, Molecular and Developmental Evolution 304B: 504-519. [pdf link]
• Hunt, G., K. Roy, and D. Jablonski, 2005. Heritability of geographic range sizes revisited. Am. Nat. 166: 129-135. [pdf link]
• Goldberg, E., K. Roy, R. Lande, and D. Jablonski, 2005. Diversity, endemism, and age distributions in macroevolutionary sources and sinks. Am. Nat. 165: 623-633. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 2005. Mass extinctions and macroevolution. Paleobiology 31 (Suppl. to No. 2): 192-210. [pdf link]
• Roy, K., D. Jablonski, and J.W. Valentine, 2004. Beyond species richness: biogeographic patterns and biodiversity dynamics using other metrics of diversity. In M. V. Lomolino and L. R. Heaney eds. Frontiers of Biogeography: New Directions in the Geography of Nature. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer, 151-170. [pdf link]
• Valentine, J.W., and D. Jablonski, 2003. Morphological and developmental macroevolution: A paleontological perspective. International Journal of Developmental Biology 47: 517-522. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 2004. Extinction: Past and present. Nature 427: 589. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D., K. Roy, J.W. Valentine, R.M. Price, and P.S. Anderson, 2003.The impact of the Pull of the Recent on the history of bivalve diversity. Science 300: 1133-1135. [pdf link] and Supplementary Online Material [pdf link] [spreadsheet]
• Jablonski, D., and K. Roy, 2003. Geographic range and speciation in fossil and living molluscs. Proc. Roy. Soc. London B270: 401-406. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D., K. Roy, and J. W. Valentine, 2003. Evolutionary macroecology and the fossil record. In: T.M. Blackburn and K. J. Gaston, eds., Macroecology: Concepts and consequences. Oxford: Blackwell Science, 368-390. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 2003. The interplay of physical and biotic factors in macroevolution. In: A. Lister and L. Rothschild, eds., Evolution on planet Earth: The impact of the physical environment. New York: Academic Press, 235-252
• Jablonski, D. 2002. Survival without recovery after mass extinctions. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 8139-8144. [pdf link]
• Valentine, J.W., K. Roy, and D. Jablonski, 2002. Carnivore/ noncarnivore ratios in northeastern Pacific marine gastropods. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser. 228: 153-163. [pdf link]
• Roy, K., D. Jablonski, and J.W. Valentine, 2002. Body size and invasion success in marine bivalves. Ecology Letters 5: 163-167. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 2001. Lessons from the past: Evolutionary impacts of mass extinctions. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98: 5393-5398. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 2001. Origin of evolutionary novelties. In: D.E.G. Briggs and P.R. Crowther, eds., Palaeobiology 2. Oxford: Blackwell Science, 162-166.
• Roy, K., D. Jablonski, and J.W. Valentine, 2001. Climate change, species range limits and body size in marine bivalves. Ecology Letters 4: 366-370. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 2000. Micro- and macroevolution: scale and hierarchy in evolutionary biology and paleobiology. Paleobiology 26 (Suppl. to No. 4): 15-52. [pdf link]
• Roy, K., D. Jablonski, and K.K. Martien, 2000. Invariant size-frequency distributions along a latitudinal gradient in marine bivalves. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97: 13150-13155. [pdf link]
• Roy, K., D. Jablonski and J.W. Valentine, 2000. Dissecting latitudinal diversity gradients: functional groups and clades of marine bivalves. Proc. Roy. Soc. London B267: 293-299. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 1999. The future of the fossil record. Science 284: 2114-2116. [pdf link]
• Valentine, J.W., D. Jablonski, and D.H. Erwin, 1999. Fossils, molecules and embryos: new perspectives on the Cambrian explosion. Development 126: 851-859. [pdf link]
• Roy, K., D. Jablonski, J.W. Valentine, and G. Rosenberg, 1998. Marine latitudinal diversity gradients: Tests of causal hypotheses. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95: 3699-3702. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 1998. Geographic variation in the molluscan recovery from the end-Cretaceous extinction. Science 279: 1327-1330. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D., S. Lidgard, and P.D. Taylor, 1997. Comparative ecology of bryozoan radiations: Origin of novelties in cyclostomes and cheilostomes. Palaios, 12: 505-523. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D., 1997. Body-size evolution in Cretaceous molluscs and the status of Cope's rule. Nature 385: 250-252. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 1997. Progress at the K-T boundary. Nature 387:354-355.
• Erwin, D.H., J.W. Valentine, and D. Jablonski, 1997. The origin of animal body plans. Am. Sci. 85: 126-137.
• 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. [pdf link]
• Roy, K., D. Jablonski, and J.W. Valentine, 1996. Higher taxa in biodiversity studies: Patterns from eastern Pacific marine mollusks. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London B351: 1605-1613. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D., and J.J. Sepkoski, Jr. 1996. Paleobiology, community ecology, and scales of ecological pattern. Ecology 77: 1367-1378. [pdf link]
• Valentine, J.W., D.H. Erwin, and D. Jablonski, 1996. Developmental evolution of metazoan bodyplans: The fossil evidence. Developmental Biology 173: 373-381.
• Jablonski, D. 1996. The rudists re-examined. Nature 383: 669-670. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 1996. Mass Extinctions: Persistent problems and new directions. In: G. Ryder, D. Fastovsky, and S. Gartner, eds., The Cretaceous-Tertiary Event and Other Catastrophes in Earth History(Snowbird III). Geol. Soc. Am. Spec. Paper 307: 1-11.
• Flessa, K.W., and D. Jablonski, 1996. The geography of evolutionary turnover: A global analysis of extant bivalves. In: D. Jablonski, D.H. Erwin, and J.H. Lipps, eds., Evolutionary Paleobiology. University of Chicago Press, 376-397.
• Jablonski, D. 1996. Body size and macroevolution. In: D.Jablonski, D.H. Erwin, and J.H. Lipps, eds., Evolutionary Paleobiology. University of Chicago Press, 256-289.
• Roy, K., D. Jablonski, and J.W. Valentine, 1995. Thermally anomalous assemblages revisited: Patterns in the extraprovincial range shifts of Pleistocene marine mollusks. Geology 23: 1071-1074. [pdf link]
• Flessa, K.W., and D. Jablonski, 1995. Biogeography of Recent marine bivalve molluscs and its implications for paleobiogeography and the geography of extinction: A progress report. Hist. Biol. 10: 25-47. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D., and D.M. Raup, 1995. Selectivity of end-Cretaceous marine bivalve extinctions. Science 268: 389-391. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 1995. Extinction in the fossil record. In: R.M. May and J.H. Lawton, eds., Extinction rates. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 25-44.
• Roy, K., D. Jablonski, and J.W. Valentine, 1994. Eastern Pacific molluscan provinces and latitudinal diversity gradient: No evidence for Rapoport's Rule. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:8871-8874. [pdf link]
• Valentine, J.W., and D. Jablonski, 1993. Fossil communities: Compositional variation at many time scales. In: R.E. Ricklefs and D. Schluter, eds., Species diversity in ecological communities: Historical and geographical perspectives. University of Chicago Press, 341-349.
• Jablonski, D. 1993. The tropics as a source of evolutionary novelty: The post-Palaeozoic fossil record of marine invertebrates. Nature 364: 142-144. [pdf link]
• Raup, D.M., and D. Jablonski, 1993. Geography of end-Cretaceous marine bivalve extinctions. Science 260: 971-973. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D. 1991. Extinctions: A paleontological perspective. Science 253: 754-756.
• Jablonski, D., and D.J. Bottjer, 1991. Environmental patterns in the origins of higher taxa: The post-Paleozoic fossil record.Science 252: 1831-1833.
• Valentine, J.W., and D. Jablonski, 1991. Biotic effects of sea-level change: The Pleistocene test. J. Geophys. Res. 96: 6873-6778. [pdf link]
• Jablonski, D., and D.J. Bottjer, 1990. The origin and diversification of major groups: Environmental patterns and macroevolutionary lags. In: P.D. Taylor and G.P. Larwood, eds., Major evolutionary radiations. Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 17-57.
• Jablonski, D., and D.J. Bottjer, 1990. The ecology of evolutionary innovations: The fossil record. In: M.H. Nitecki,ed., Evolutionary innovations. University of Chicago Press, 253-288.
• Jablonski, D., and D.J. Bottjer, 1990. Onshore-offshore trends in marine invertebrate evolution. In: R.M. Ross and W.D. Allmon,eds., Causes of Evolution: A Paleontological Perspective. University of Chicago Press, 21-75.
• Jablonski, D., and R.A. Lutz, 1983. Larval ecology of marine benthic invertebrates: Paleobiological implications. Biol. Rev. 58: 21-89. [pdf link]