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Paleontological Services

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CONTACT:
Tom Deméré, Ph.D.
619.255.0232
fax: 619.232.0248
paleo@sdnhm.org

Our region has a natural history that extends back millions of years and encompasses many past physical "stages" and biological "players." Even the slightest glimpse into this dynamic past leaves me with a profound sense of wonder.

As Curator of Paleontology, Dr. Deméré has occupied the Joshua L. Baily, Jr. Chair of Paleontology at the Museum since 1994. Tom's research focuses on the evolutionary history and paleobiology of pinnipeds and cetaceans. He is also keenly interested in the geology and paleontology of southern California and Baja California and has published numerous scientific and popular articles on these subjects.

Tom also serves as Director of PaleoServices, a consulting arm of the BRCC that provides paleontological resource assessment and impact mitigation services to public and private developers. This work has been responsible for the discovery, salvage, and conservation of thousands of significant fossils from construction sites in San Diego, Orange, and Riverside counties.

Publications:

Deméré, T.A. and A. Berta. 2001.
A re-evaluation of Proneotherium repenningi from the middle Miocene Astoria Formation of Oregon and its position as a basal odobenid (Pinnipedia: Mammalia). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21(2): 279-310

Wagner, H.M., B.O. Riney, T.A. Deméré, and D.R. Prothero. 2001.
Magnetic stratigraphy and land mammal biochronology of a nonmarine facies of the Pliocene San Diego Formation, San Diego County, California. In Prothero, D.R. (ed.), Magnetic Stratigraphy of the Pacific Coast Cenozoic. SEPM Pacific Section Book 91: 359-368.

Deméré, T.A. and A. Berta. 2001.
A reevaluation of Proneotherium repenningi from the Miocene Astoria Formation of Oregon and its position as a basal odobenid (Pinnipedia: Mammalia). Journal of Vertebrate paleontology 21:279-310.

Deméré, T.A. and A. Berta. 2002.
The Miocene pinniped Desmatophoca oregonensis Condon, 1906 (Mammalia: Carnivora) from the Astoria Formation, Oregon. In Emry, R.J. (ed.), Cenozoic Mammals of Land and Sea: Tributes to the Career of Clayton E. Ray. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 93:113-147.

Deméré, T.A., A. Berta, and P.J. Adam. 2003.
Pinnipedimorph evolutionary biogeography. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 13(279):32-76.*

Deméré, T.A., A. Berta, and M.R. McGowen. 2005.
The taxonomic and evolutionary history of fossil and modern balaenopteroid mysticetes. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 12:99-143.*

Deméré, T.A. and A. BERTA. 2005.
New skeletal material of Thalassoleon (Otariidae:Pinnipedia) from the late Miocene-Early Pliocene (Hemphillian) of California. Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History 45(4): 379-411 (2.0 MB *PDF file).

Deméré, T.A. 2006. Chapter 2, The Imperial Sea: Marine Geology and Paleontology, Pp. 29-41. In G.T. Jefferson and L. Lindsay (eds.) Fossil Treasures of the Anza-Borrego Desert. Sunbelt Publications, Inc., San Diego, CA (1.3 MB *PDF file)

Deméré, T.A. and N.S. Rugh. 2006. Chapter 3, Invertebrates of the Imperial Sea, Pp. 43-69. In G.T. Jefferson and L. Lindsay (eds.) Fossil Treasures of the Anza-Borrego Desert. Sunbelt Publications, Inc., San Diego, CA (.4 MB *PDF file).

Deméré, T.A., M.R. McGowen, A. Berta, and J. Gatesy. 2008.
Morphological and molecular evidence for a stepwise evolutionary transition from teeth to baleen in mysticete cetaceans. Systematic Biology 57:15-37.

*If unable to open the PDF document, please download Adobe Acrobat Reader.