Dr. Ross MacPhee studies the historical biogeography of the West Indies, using a combined tectonic/paleontological approach. His research has focused on systematic and functional anatomical investigations of the groups concerned. Dr. MacPhee also studies recent mammalian extinctions (last 40,000 years). Loss of species during geologically recent times is a worldwide phenomenon that has been blamed either on direct impacts involving people, or less direct impacts caused by environmental change. His research aims to clarify the causal patterns behind these losses, most recently by studying population dynamics of fossil species using ancient DNA methods.