My research incorporates vertebrate paleoecology, paleobiology, and taphonomy.  I am using dental microwear analysis to estimate the diet of extant xenarthrans (modern tree sloths, armadillos), to form a baseline from which paleodiet of extinct xenarthrans (ground sloths, glyptodonts, pampatheres, etc.) can be estimated.  I will use these data in a second aspect of my research, which involves reconstructing the paleoecology of Triassic dicynodonts (non-mammalian therapsids). To better understand the paleobiology i.e., growth patterns, life history, and physiology) of the latter group, I am analyzing long bone histology and growth patterns in Triassic dicynodonts from North America (i.e., Placerias hesternus and a new specimen from North Carolina).  I am also describing a new dicynodont from the Late Triassic of North Carolina.