Richard L. Cifelli

Richard L. Cifelli
Born1954 (age 71–72)
Centralia, Washington, United States
Alma materColby College, University of Chicago, Columbia University
Known forResearch on early mammals and vertebrates of the Cretaceous
Scientific career
FieldsBiology, Vertebrate paleontology
InstitutionsUniversity of Oklahoma

Richard Lawrence Cifelli is an American Professor Emeritus of Biology and Curator Emeritus of Vertebrate Paleontology in the Department of Biology and at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History at the University of Oklahoma.[1][2][3]

Education and career

Cifelli began his studies in the Department of Sociology at Colby College in Maine, where he graduated with an A.B. in 1976.[4] He then joined the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago. After graduating with an A.M. in 1979, he joined the Department of Geological Sciences at Columbia University, where he received an M.Phil. in 1980 and a Ph.D. in 1983. Cifelli did post-doctoral research as a Fellow-in-Residence in the Division of Mammals at the Smithsonian Institution, from 1983–1985.[1][5]

Cifelli began his career as an archaeologist at the University of Alaska in 1974, later moving into vertebrate paleontology.[1]

He joined the University of Oklahoma in 1986, where he was the Presidential Professor of Biology and curator at the Sam Noble Museum. He is currently Professor Emeritus and Curator Emeritus at the university and the museum. Cifelli was editor or associate editor for scientific journals including the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Proceedings of the Royal Society, and Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.[2][6][3]

Research

Cifelli’s research has focused on the anatomy and evolution of vertebrates, primarily fossil mammals. His early studies concerned biogeography and patterns of evolution,[7] themes he returned to later in his career.[8] His dissertation research, with follow-up studies through the late 1990s, treated fossil hooved mammals native to South America, and included some of the first explicit hypotheses of relationships within several groups,[9] together with paleobiological studies based on functional anatomy.[10]

His recent work focuses on the systematics and paleobiology of terrestrial vertebrates, primarily mammals, from the Cretaceous of the United States.[1]

Cifelli is known for his collection and study of mammals and other vertebrates from the Cretaceous of western North America. Cifelli is the author of about 100 species of fossil vertebrates.[2] He contributed to the discovery and analysis of fossil assemblages from formations including Cloverly, Lakota, Cedar Mountain, and the Big Bend region.[11][12][13] Many of these specimens are housed at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

Cifelli has authored or co-authored between 150–200 publications, including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.[14][15] He is co-author of the 2004 book Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs: Origins, Evolution, and Structure, published by Columbia University Press.[16] Other edited volumes include Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics: The Miocene Fauna of La Venta, Colombia, published by the Smithsonian Institution Press.[17]

Awards

Cifelli received the Regents’ Award for Superior Research and Creative Activity from the University of Oklahoma in 1995, followed by a Presidential Professorship in 1996 and the Director’s Research Award from the Sam Noble Museum in 2000.[18]

In 1995, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology presented him with a Plenary Award for contributions to the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. He was awarded the Joseph T. Gregory Award in 2016 for his service to the field.[18][19]

Fossil species named after him include Cifellilestes ciscoensis and Cifellitherium suderlandicum, both described in 2022.[20][21][22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Kielan-Jaworowska, Zofia (2013). "Introduction". In Pursuit of Early Mammals. Indiana University Press. p. 253.
  2. ^ a b c "Farewell to Longtime Curators - Sam Noble Museum". 2021-03-25. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  3. ^ a b "Richard L. Cifelli - Sam Noble Museum". 2014-12-19. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  4. ^ https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app67/app009882022.pdf
  5. ^ "Rich Cifelli, Ph.D. | Explorology Foundation". Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  6. ^ https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app67/app009882022.pdf#:~:text=After%20a%20few%20years%20in%20nearby%20Flagstaff,the%20Cretaceous%20of%20the%20US%20Western%20Interior.
  7. ^ Cifelli, R. L. (1980). A reassessment of labyrinthodont paleolatitudinal distributions. *Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology*, 30, 121–131. — (1981). Patterns of evolution among the Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla (Mammalia). *Evolution*, 35(3), 433–440. — (1985). South American ungulate evolution and extinction. In F. Stehli & S. D. Webb (Eds.), *The Great American Biotic Interchange* (pp. 249–266). New York: Plenum Press.
  8. ^ Cifelli, R. L., Kirkland, J. I., Weil, A., Deino, A. L., and Kowallis, B. J., 1997, High-precision 40Ar/39Ar geochronology and the advent of North America's Late Cretaceous terrestrial fauna: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, v. 94, p. 11163-11167. Cifelli, R. L., 2000, Cretaceous mammals of Asia and North America, in Lee, Y.-N., ed., 2000 International Dinosaur Symposium for Kosong County, Korea: Program, Abstracts, and Field Guidebook: Seoul, p. 15.
  9. ^ Cifelli, R. L., 1993, The phylogeny of the native South American ungulates, in Szalay, F. S., Novacek, M. J., and McKenna, M. C., eds., Mammal Phylogeny: Placentals: New York, Springer-Verlag, p. 195-216.
  10. ^ Cifelli, R. L., and Villarroel, C., 1997, Paleobiology and affinities of Megadolodus, in Kay, R. F., Madden, R. H., Cifelli, R. L., and Flynn, J. J., eds., Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics: The Miocene fauna of La Venta, Colombia: Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Institution Press, p. 265-287.
  11. ^ Rowe, T. B., Cifelli, R. L., Lehman, T. M., and Weil, A., 1992, The Campanian Terlingua local fauna, with a summary of other vertebrates from the Aguja Formation, Trans-Pecos Texas: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, v. 12, p. 472-493.
  12. ^ Cifelli, R. L., and Davis, B. M., 2015, Tribosphenic mammals from the Lower Cretaceous Cloverly Formation of Montana and Wyoming: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, v. e920848. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2014.920848, p. 1-18.
  13. ^ Sames, B., Cifelli, R. L., and Schudack, M., 2010, The nonmarine Lower Cretaceous of the North American Western Interior foreland basin: new biostratigraphic results from ostracod correlations and early mammals, and their implications for paleontology and geology of the basin—an overview: Earth-Science Reviews, v. 101, p. 207-224.
  14. ^ "Richard L. Cifelli". scholargps.com. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  15. ^ Cifelli, Richard L. (1985). "South American ungulate evolution and extinction". In Francis G. Stehli; S. David Webb (eds.). The Great American Biotic Interchange. Topics in Geobiology. Vol. 4. Springer. pp. 249–266. doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-9181-4_9.
  16. ^ Kielan-Jaworowska, Zofia; Cifelli, Richard L.; Luo, Zhe-Xi (2005). Mammals from the age of dinosaurs: origins, evolution, and structure. Columbia University Press.
  17. ^ Kay, Richard F.; Madden, Richard H.; Cifelli, Richard L.; Flynn, John J. (2015-06-09). Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics: The Miocene Fauna of La Venta, Colombia. Soho Press. ISBN 978-1-935623-85-4.
  18. ^ a b https://www.ou.edu/content/dam/provost/documents/awards-and-professorships.pdf
  19. ^ "Award Winners and Grant Recipients – Society of Vertebrate Paleontology". Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  20. ^ https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app67/app009142021.pdf
  21. ^ Davis, B. M., Jäger, K., Rougier, G., Trujillo, K. C., and Chamberlain, K., 2022, A morganucodontan mammaliaform from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, Utah, USA: Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, v. 67, no. 1, p. 77-93.
  22. ^ Martin, T., Averianov, A. O., Schultz, J. A., Schellhorn, R., and Schwermann, A. H., 2022, First spalacotheriid and dryolestid mammals from the Cretaceous of Germany: Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, v. 67, no. 1, p. 155-175.
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