Gregory Funston
Visiting Assistant Professor
3121 Earth & Physical Sci
gfunston@ucdavis.edu
Paleobiology, Evolution, and Geochemistry
Dr. Greg Funston is a Canadian palaeontologist interested in understanding the way that animals grew and how ecosystems evolved over millions of years. Following his lifelong dream to be a palaeontologist, he completed his PhD at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, focusing on the anatomy and evolution of toothless dinosaurs. This took him across the world, from the badlands of Alberta, to the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. After a Newton International Fellowship in Scotland, he also developed an interest in fossil mammals, and how their teeth can be used to understand their life histories and evolution. He uses growth marks and geochemical signals preserved in the teeth to reveal daily changes in diet, including when ancient baby mammals stopped breastfeeding. His current research is using these techniques to evaluate whether maternal investment strategies affected mammal survival rates in the extinction that killed the dinosaurs.