Assistant Professor Jack Conrad, Ph.D., of NYIT’s College of Osteopathic Medicine stands in front of Tyrannosaurus rex at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

These days, Conrad’s burning question is a simple one: where do snakes come from? The answer is more complicated. “New data suggests the traditional hypotheses are incorrect,” he says, hinting that snakes are more closely related to skinks than to iguanas and monitor lizards. Conrad says working on “cool lizard stuff” is captivating. Similarly, Mihlbachler has found a certain allure in scuba diving to the bottom of Florida’s Aucilla River, excavating bones of Ice Age animals deposited in mastodon dung. Solounias is excited about this summer’s prospect of researching giraffe fossils in natural history museums. 

At any given time, each expert is typically supervising research with students, juggling fossil investigations, planning expeditions and museum visits, and preparing articles. Numerous journals, including Nature, Science, Paleobiology, and The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, have published their research on topics such as a previously unknown species of extinct dolphin, avian brain anatomy, ancient horses, and evolutionary patterns of antelopes. The department’s human anatomy studies have covered osteo-arthritis, small muscles in the hand, and facial arteries.   

“Paleontology is not just the study of dinosaurs,” says Beatty, dispelling a common myth. In fact, he has never studied a dinosaur fossil.

Mihlbachler and Beatty have focused often on the microscopic scratch marks on the teeth of extinct animals. Their observations provide clues about how the animals interacted with their particular environments. One of Beatty’s recent papers details the teeth of Dakosaurus, a marine reptile described as the Tyrannosaurus rex of the ocean. Last year, Mihlbachler and Solounias published a study of the evolution of horse teeth in Science. Most recently, Beatty and NYIT student Danielle Turrin have advanced a method of reconstructing 3-D models of tooth enamel microstructures using an acetate peel technique.

While there are some moments of singular discovery—Solounias recalls finding similarities in giraffe neck vertebrae that provided clues about their fighting habits—the faculty members agree that their findings have, like the creatures they study, developed over time. 

“There is not one ‘aha’ moment,” says Geisler during a break in his recent trip to a Charleston, S.C., museum to study dolphin fossils. “There are many little ones along the way.”

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