Click here (cv.pdf) for my full curriculum vitae (updated March 2024).
Peer-reviewed Publications
- Brownstein, C.D., and Near, T.J. Colonization of the ocean floor by jawless vertebrates across three mass extinctions. BMC Ecology and Evolution, in review.
- Brownstein, C.D., Zapfe, K.L., Lott, S., Harrington, R. Ghezelayagh, A., Dornburg, A., and Near, T.J. Reproductive innovation enabled radiation in the deep sea during an ecological crisis. Current Biology, in review. Preprint: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.12.575380.
- Brownstein, C.D., and Near, T.J. A giant raptorial bowfin from a Paleocene hothouse ecosystem in North America. Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society, in press.
- Brownstein, C.D., MacGuigan, D., Kim, D., Orr, O., Yang, L., David, S.R., Kreiser, B., and Near, T.J. (2024). The genomic signatures of evolutionary stasis. Evolution, qpae028.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2024). A juvenile bird with possible crown-group affinities from a dinosaur-rich Cretaceous ecosystem in North America. BMC Ecology and Evolution 24(20):1–12.
- Brownstein, C.D., and Near, T.J. (2023). Evolutionary origins of the lampriform pelagic radiation. Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society:zlad142.
- Meyer, D., Brownstein, C.D., Jenkins, K.A., and Gauthier, J.A. (2023) A Morrison stem gekkotan reveals gecko evolution and Jurassic biogeography. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 290:20232284.
- Brownstein, C.D., Simões, T.R., Caldwell, M.W., Lee, M.S.Y., Meyer, D., and Scarpetta, S. (2023). The Affinities of the Late Triassic Cryptovaranoides and the Age of Crown Squamates. Royal Society Open Science 10:230968.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2023). Palaeospondylus and the early evolution of gnathostomes. Nature 620:E21-22.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2023). A late-surviving phytosaur from the northern Atlantic rift reveals climate constraints on Triassic reptile biogeography. BMC Ecology and Evolution 23(33):1–20.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2023). Syngnathoid evolutionary history and the conundrum of fossil misplacement. Integrative Organismal Biology 5(1):1–12.
- Brownstein, C.D., Harrington, R.C., and Near, T.J. (2023). The biogeography of extant lungfishes traces the breakup of Gondwana. Journal of Biogeography 50:1191–1198.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2023). A large coelacanth, †Whiteia giganteus sp. nov., from the Triassic of Texas establishes a Pangean radiation of early Mesozoic actinistians. Palaeontologia Electronica 26(1):a11.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2023). Evidence of large sturgeons in the Paleocene of North America. Journal of Paleontology 97(1):218–222.
- Brownstein, C.D., and Near, T.J. (2023). Phylogenetics and the Cenozoic radiation of lampreys. Current Biology 33:397–404.
- Brownstein, C.D., Yang, L., Friedman, M., Near, T.J. (2023). Phylogenomics of the ancient and species-depauperate gars tracks 150 million years of continental fragmentation in the Northern Hemisphere. Systematic Biology 72(1):213–227. *Cover Article.
- Brownstein, C.D., Kim, D., Orr, O., Hogue, G.M., Tracy, B.M., Worth Pugh, M., Singer, R., Myles-McBurney, C., Molish, J.M., Simmons, J.W., David, S.R., Watkins-Colwell, G., Hoffman, E., and Near, T.J. (2022). Hidden species diversity in an iconic living fossil vertebrate. Biology Letters 18:20220395.
- Brownstein, C.D., Meyer, D., Fabbri, M., Bhullar, B.A., Gauthier, J.A. (2022). Evolutionary origins of the prolonged extant squamate radiation. Nature Communications 13(7087):1–11.
- Brownstein, C.D., Bissell, I. (2022). Species delimitation and coexistence in an ancient, depauperate vertebrate clade. BMC Ecology and Evolution 22(90):1–15.
- Brownstein, C.D., Lyson, T. (2022). Giant gar from directly above the K–Pg boundary suggests healthy freshwater North American ecosystems existed within thousands of years of the asteroid impact. Biology Letters 18:20220118.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2022). Unappreciated Cenozoic ecomorphological diversification of stem gars revealed by a new large species. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 67(2):1–10. *Editor’s Choice.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2022). High morphological disparity in a bizarre Paleocene fauna of predatory freshwater reptiles. BMC Ecology and Evolution 22(34):1–23.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2021). Dinosaurs from the Santonian-Campanian Atlantic coastline substantiate phylogenetic signatures of vicariance in Cretaceous North America. Royal Society Open Science 8(8):210127.
- Brownstein, C.D., Bissell, I. (2021). An elongate hadrosaurid forelimb with biological traces informs the biogeography of the Lambeosaurinae. Journal of Paleontology 95(2):367–375.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2021). Osteology and phylogeny of small-bodied hadrosauromorphs from an end-Cretaceous marine assemblage. Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society 191(1):185–200.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2021). Dromaeosaurid crania demonstrate the progressive loss of facial pneumaticity in coelurosaurian dinosaurs. Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society 191(1): 87–112.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2020). Caesar’s Bestiary: using classical accounts to statistically map changes in the large mammal fauna of Germany during the Pleistocene and Holocene. Historical Biology 32(5):635–644.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2019). New records of theropods from the latest Cretaceous of New Jersey and the Maastrichtian Appalachian fauna. Royal Society Open Science 6(11):191206.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2019). Halszkaraptor escuilliei and the evolution of the paravian bauplan. Scientific Reports 9(16455):1–16.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2019). First record of a small juvenile giant crocodyliform and its ontogenetic and biogeographic implications. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 60(1):83–92.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2018). Large basal tyrannosauroids from the Maastrichtian and terrestrial vertebrate diversity in the shadow of the K-Pg extinction. The Mosasaur 10:105–115.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2018). The northernmost occurrence of Chelydra serpentina in the eastern US during the Pleistocene. The Mosasaur 10:13–19.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2018). Review: The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs. Systematic Biology 68(1):184–186.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2018). The distinctive theropod assemblage of the Ellisdale site of New Jersey and its implications for North American dinosaur ecology and evolution during the Cretaceous. Journal of Paleontology 92(5):1115–1129. *Editor’s Choice.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2018). A large dromaeosaurid from North Carolina. Cretaceous Research 92:1–7.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2018). Evidence persists for two Arundel ornithomimosaurs: a response to McFeeters et al. (2018). Vertebrate Anatomy, Morphology, Paleontology 6:68–72.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2018). Trace fossils on dinosaur bones reveal ecosystem dynamics along the coast of eastern North America during the latest Cretaceous. PeerJ 6(e4973):1–23.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2018). A tyrannosauroid from the lower Cenomanian of New Jersey and its evolutionary and biogeographic implications. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 59(1):95–104.
- Brownstein C.D. (2018). A tyrannosauroid tibia from the Navesink Formation of New Jersey and its biogeographic and evolutionary implications for North American tyrannosauroids. Cretaceous Research 85:309–318.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2018). The biogeography and ecology of the Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs of Appalachia. Palaeontologia Electronica 21.1.5A:1–56.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2017). A tyrannosauroid metatarsus from the Merchantville Formation of Delaware increases the diversity of non-tyrannosaurid tyrannosauroids on Appalachia. PeerJ 5(e4123):1–19.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2017). Description of Arundel Clay ornithomimosaur material and a reinterpretation of Nedcolbertia justinhofmanni as an “Ostrich Dinosaur”: biogeographic implications. PeerJ 5(e3110):1–20.
Other published works
- Brownstein, C.D. (2020). Naturalistic animal depiction in Roman sacrifice reliefs. Second Annual SUNY New Paltz Undergraduate Art History Symposium, pp. 46–53.
Conference abstracts
- Brownstein, C.D., Kim, D., Stokes, M.F., and Near, T.J. (2023). Phylogenomic species delimitation in North American shiners allows for recognition of the Sawfin Shiner, a species undescribed for over half a century. Southeastern Fishes Council Annual Meeting.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2022). High morphological disparity in a bizarre Paleocene fauna of predatory freshwater reptiles. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2022). Isolated skull reveals a new Triassic coelacanth from Texas. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting.
- Meyer, D., Brownstein, C.D., and Gauthier, J.A. (2022). Analysis of a stem-gekkotan from the Morrison Formation places the Solnhofen squamates on the Tree of Life. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2022). High morphological disparity in a bizarre Paleocene fauna of predatory freshwater reptiles. ASN/SSB/SSE Evolution Conference.
- Brownstein, C.D. (2022). High morphological disparity in a bizarre Paleocene fauna of predatory freshwater reptiles. EAVP Conference.
- Meyer, D., Brownstein, C.D., and Gauthier, J.A. (2021). A Jurassic stem-gekkotan from the Morrison Formation revealed via computed tomography imaging. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs.
- Meyer, D., Brownstein, C.D., and Gauthier, J.A. (2021). Computed tomography reveals a Jurassic stem-gekkotan from the Morrison Formation. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting.
- Brownstein, C.D., Napoli, J., Ruebenstahl, A., Forcellati, M.R., and Norell, M.A. (2021). Diminutive theropods from Appalachia and the early evolution of the avian braincase. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting.
- Brownstein, C.D., MacGuigan, D., Kim, D., Orr, O., Yang, L., Near, T.J. (2021). Gars reveal the signatures of extreme evolutionary stasis. ASN/SSB/SSE Evolution Conference (Oral Presentation).
- Brownstein, C.D. (2020). A new Santonian Dinosaur assemblage from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Yale Undergraduate Research Symposium (Oral Presentation).
- Brownstein, C.D. (2020). Reevaluation of dinosaur material from Atlantic Coastal Plain illuminates a bizarre new assemblage. Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting.
Other science writing
- Brownstein, C.D. (February 2022). Changes in Earth’s oxygen levels sculpted origins of multicellular diversity. Yale Daily News.
- Brownstein, C.D. (February 2019). What the Government Shutdown Means for Museum-led Conservation: A Curatorial Perspective. Quinnehtukqut, the magazine of the Connecticut Sierra Club.
- Brownstein, C.D. (September 2018). Return of the Bone Wars: the fight to save scientifically important sites in the western United States continues. Quinnehtukqut, the magazine of the Connecticut Sierra Club.
- Brownstein, C.D. (March 2018). The lost continent under our feet. Quinnehtukqut, the magazine of the Connecticut Sierra Club.
- Brownstein, C.D. (February 2018). Is Our Planet Facing a Sixth Extinction? Quinnehtukqut, the magazine of the Connecticut Sierra Club.