Catherine Forster

Catherine A. Forster
Associate Professor

Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania,
1990

catherine.forster@stonybrook.edu

Dinosaur systematics, cladistic and morphometric analyses, Gondwana biogeography, dinosaur origins

Dr. Forster's research focus is on dinosaurs. She tries to incorporate various approaches and techniques while investigating different facets of this archosaur group. Some of her recent research includes:

1. Phylogenetic analyses of dinosaur clades. Dr. Forster is currently completing phylogenetic analysis of the Ceratopsidae (with Dr. S. Sampson) and of the Iguanodontia and Hadrosauridae.

2. Field research in Madagascar, South Africa, and China. Ongoing field work in Madagascar (with Dr. D. Krause) is producing a diverse, well preserved, and completely new vertebrate fauna from Upper Cretaceous strata. This fauna includes dinosaurs, birds, frogs, mammals, snakes, fish, crocodilians, and lizards. With the information gathered in these field based operations, she hopes to begin to address biogeographic questions surrounding the break-up of Gondwana. In a realated project, Dr. Forster is involved in a program of field work (with Dr. C. Ross and Dr. W. de Klerk) to search for vertebrate remains in Early Cretaceous strata in South Africa. She has recently begun working (with husband Dr. J. Clark) in Late Jurassic rocks in Xinjiang Province in western China. This work is producing a number of new, small dinosaurs, as well as other vertebrates.

3. Bird origins and phylogeny. Field work in Madagascar in 1995, 1996, and 1998 produced a number of new taxa of primitive birds, including the very primitive "dinosaur-bird" Rahonavis ostromi. The morphology and phylogenetic relationships of these specimens are currently under study.

In addition to her work on dinosaurs, Dr. Forster has described two new carnivorous cynodonts from the late Triassic of Argentina (with Dr. R. Martinez and Dr. C. May), and reviewed eucynodont phylogeny. She had also completed a morphometric study of skull variability in the Late Permian-Early Triassic dicynodont Lystrosaurus (with Dr. F. Grine).

Recent Publications:

Holmes RB, Forster CA, Ryan M, Shepherd KM . 2001. A new species of Chasmosaurus from the Dinosaur Park Formation of southern Alberta. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 38:1423-1438.

Curry Rogers K, Forster CA. 2001. The last of the dinosaur titans: a new sauropod from Madagascar. Nature 412:530-534.

Sampson SD, Carrano MT, Forster CA. 2001. A bizarre new carnivorous dinosaur from Madagascar. Nature 409:504-506.

Forster CA. 1999. Gondwanan dinosaur evolution and biogeographic analysis. Journal of African Earth Sciences 28:169-185.

Forster CA, Sampson SD, Chiappe LM, Krause DW. 1998. The theropod ancestry of birds: new evidence from the Late Cretaceous of Madaagscar. Science 279:1915-1919.

Forster CA. 1996. New information on the skull of Triceratops. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16(2):246-258.

Forster CA 1996. Species resolution in Triceratops: morphometric and cladistic approaches. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16(2):259-270.

Forster CA, Chiappe LM, Sampson SD, Krause DW. 1996. The first Cretaceous birds from Madagascar. Nature 382:532-534.

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1.	Phylogenetic analyses of dinosaur clades. Dr. Forster is currently completing phylogenetic analysis of the Ceratopsidae (with Dr. S. Sampson) and of the Iguanodontia and Hadrosauridae.
2.	Field research in Madagascar, South Africa, and China. Ongoing field work in Madagascar (with Dr. D. Krause) is producing a diverse, well preserved, and completely new vertebrate fauna from Upper Cretaceous strata. This fauna includes dinosaurs, birds, frogs, mammals, snakes, fish, crocodilians, and lizards. With the information gathered in these field based operations, she hopes to begin to address biogeographic questions surrounding the break-up of Gondwana. In a realated project, Dr. Forster is involved in a program of field work (with Dr. C. Ross and Dr. W. de Klerk) to search for vertebrate remains in Early Cretaceous strata in South Africa. She has recently begun working (with husband Dr. J. Clark) in Late Jurassic rocks in Xinjiang Province in western China. This work is producing a number of new, small dinosaurs, as well as other vertebrates.
3.	Bird origins and phylogeny. Field work in Madagascar in 1995, 1996, and 1998 produced a number of new taxa of primitive birds, including the very primitive "dinosaur-bird" Rahonavis ostromi. The morphology and phylogenetic relationships of these specimens are currently under study.
In addition to her work on dinosaurs, Dr. Forster has described two new carnivorous cynodonts from the late Triassic of Argentina (with Dr. R. Martinez and Dr. C. May), and reviewed eucynodont phylogeny. She had also completed a morphometric study of skull variability in the Late Permian-Early Triassic dicynodont Lystrosaurus (with Dr. F. Grine).