PhD Geology

My PhD thesis is entitled “Ichthyosaurs of the British Middle & Upper Jurassic & the Evolution of Ichthyosaurs”. My three chapters covered distinct questions in ichthyosaur evolution.

Ophthalmosaurus icenicus in the Natural history Museum, London.

1. Ichthyosaurs of the British Middle and Upper Jurassic. The first chapter is a taxonomic revision of British Middle–Upper Jurassic ichthyosaur material. This chapter was modified for publication in two parts:
   • Moon BC & Kirton AM. 2016. Monogr Palaeontogr Soc doi:10.1080/02693445.2016.11963958
   • Moon BC & Kirton AM. 2018. Monogr Palaeontogr Soc doi:10.1080/02693445.2018.1468139
2. A new phylogeny of ichthyosaurs (Reptilia: Diapsida). This chapter presents a new, species-level phylogeny of ichthyosaurs and systematic revision. A modified version of this chapter has is published as Moon, BC. 2019. J Syst Palaeontol doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1394922
3. Morphological trends through ichthyosaur evolution. My final chapter is a macroevolutionary analysis of continuous character evolution in ichthyosaurs using morphospace, disparity, and evolutionary rates. A modified version of this chapter is published as Moon, BC & Stubbs, TL. 2020. Commun Biol doi:10.1038/s42003-020-0779-6.