Robert Reisz

Professor Reisz is a full time Professor in the Department of Biology and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto, Mississauga campus.

Reisz got his start in paleontology working on Late Paleozoic tetrapods that existed long before the dinosaurs, with his M.Sc. thesis directed toward some of the earliest synapsids (the group ancestral to mammals) from the Carboniferous of Nova Scotia and his Ph.D. dissertation centered on Petrolacosaurus from the Carboniferous of Kansas, which remains the earliest known diapsid today! Since then, he has remained an avid student of Paleozoic tetrapods, expanding his research program to address virtually all of the major tetrapod groups spanning the Permo-Carboniferous, including more derived synapsids, temnospondyls (the likely ancestors to amphibians), parareptiles, eureptiles (the ancestors to all diapsids, including modern reptiles). Much of this work has focused on anatomical descriptions, which form the foundation of studies examining the phylogenetic relationships of different tetrapod groups, including the origins of modern groups in some cases. In more recent years, Robert has expanded his focus beyond the Paleozoic tetrapods, including some ventures into lungfish teeth and the nesting sites and embryos of the Early Jurassic sauropodomorph Massospondylus. Incorporating newer paleontological methods, such as bone histology and advanced scanning methods (neutron tomography, synchotron) have also expanded Robert's focus in recent years into other areas of paleontological research such as the dental histology of tetrapods ranging from Permian temnospondyls to Cretaceous dinosaurs. He has been around the world and back for fieldwork, undertaking expeditions to areas both near (e.g., Joggins, Nova Scotia and Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta) and far (Russia, South Africa, China). Robert continues to maintain an active research program that includes the supervision of graduate students and that involves active collaborations with paleontologists around the world (Australia, China, Germany, USA, to name a few).

Media availability: TV, Radio, Print/Online