Caleb Brown studies the diversity of dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period of Alberta, and their evolutionary relationships. One aspect of Caleb's research investigates taphonomy (the study of influences on preservation and fossilization). He specifically looks at how preservation biases in environments shape our understanding of ancient ecosystems. Caleb is also very interested in the evolution and variation in the display structures of horned dinosaurs.
Research Interests
- The diversity and biology of herbivorous dinosaurs, including the anatomy and evolution of display structures (horns, frills, and crests).
- The diversity and preservation of small-bodied dinosaurs.
- Taphonomy (the study of influences on preservation and fossilization).
Professional Highlights
- A lead researcher on Borealopelta markmitchelli, the world's best-preserved armoured dinosaur.
- A lead researcher on Regaliceratops peterhewsi, a new species of ceratopsian that provides insights into horned dinosaur evolution.
- Documented preservation biases against small dinosaurs in Dinosaur Park Formation, and implications for understanding of dinosaur-dominated ecosystems.
- Discovered the holotype of Acrotholus, North America's oldest pachycephalosaur.
Education
Ph.D., University of Toronto, 2013
M.Sc., University of Calgary, 2009
B.Sc., University of Calgary, 2006
- Recent Publications
Brown, C.M., Bell, P., Owers, H., and Pickles, B. 2025. A juvenile pterosaur vertebra with a putative crocodilian bite from the Campanian of Alberta. Journal of Paleontology. https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2024.12
Eberth, D.A., Evans, D.C., Ramezani, J., Kamo, S.L., Brown, C.M., Currie, P.J., and Braman, D.R. 2023. Calibrating geologic strata, dinosaurs, and other fossils at Dinosaur Provincial Park (Alberta, Canada) using a new CA-ID-TIMS U–Pb geochronology. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 60(12): 1627–1646. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2023-0037
Kalyniuk, J., Greenwood, D.R., West, C.K., Basinger, J.F., and Brown, C.M. 2023. The Albian vegetation of central Alberta as a food source for the nodosaur Borealopelta markmitchelli. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 611, p.111356. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111356
Sues, H.-D., Galton, P., Evans, D.C. and Brown, C.M. 2022. Anatomy of the neornithischian dinosaur Parksosaurus warreni from the Upper Cretaceous (lower Maastrichtian) Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada. Cretaceous Research, 141, p.105369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105369
Benson, R.B.J., Brown, C.M., Campione, N.E., Cullen, T.M., Evans, D.C., and Zanno, L.E. 2022. Comment on “The influence of juvenile dinosaurs on community structure and diversity”. Science, 375(6578): eabj5976. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj5976
Cullen, T.M., Brown, C.M., Chiba, K., Evans, D.C., and Makovicky, P.J. 2021. Growth variability and the interpretation of osteohistological growth data. Biology Letters. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0383
Brown, C.M., Campione, N.E., Wilson Mantilla, G.P., and Evans, D.C. 2021. Size-driven preservational and macroecological biases in the latest Maastrichtian terrestrial vertebrate assemblages of North America. Paleobiology, 48(2), p. 187–210. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2021.35
Evans, D.C., Brown, C.M., Campione, N.E., and You, H. 2021. Description and revised diagnosis of Asia’s first recorded pachycephalosaurid, Sinocephale bexelli gen. nov., from the Upper Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 58(10): 981 – 992. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2020-0190
Brown, C.M., Currie, P.J., and Therrien, F. 2021. Intraspecific facial bite marks in tyrannosaurids provide insight into sexual maturity and evolution of bird-like intersexual display. Paleobiology, 48(1), p. 12–43. https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2021.29
Druckenmiller, P. S., Erickson, G.M., Brinkman, D., Brown, C.M., and Eberle, J. 2021. Nesting at extreme polar latitudes by non-avian dinosaurs. Current Biology, 31(16): 3469–3478.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.05.041
Brown, C.M., Tanke, D.H., and Hone, D.W.E. 2021. Rare evidence for ‘gnawing-like’ behavior in a small-bodied theropod dinosaur. PeerJ, 9: e11557. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11557
Brown, C.M., Herridge-Berry, S., Chiba, K., Vitkus, A., and Eberth, D.A. 2020. High-resolution (centimetre-scale) GPS/GIS-based 3D mapping and spatial analysis of in situ fossils in two horned-dinosaur bonebeds in the Dinosaur Park Formation (Upper Cretaceous) at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 58(3): 225–246. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2019-0183
Brown, C.M., Greenwood, D.R., Henderson, D.M., Kalyniuk, J.E., Braman, D.R., Greenwood, C.L., and Basinger, J.F. 2020. Dietary palaeoecology of an Early Cretaceous armoured dinosaur (Ornithischia; Nodosauridae) based on floral analysis of stomach contents. Royal Society Open Science, 7: 200305. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.200305
Brown, C.M., Holmes, R., and Currie, P.J. 2020. A subadult individual of Styracosaurus albertensis (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae) with comments on ontogeny and intraspecific variation in Styracosaurus and Centrosaurus. Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology, 8. p. 67–95. https://doi.org/10.18435/vamp29361
Voris, J., Therrien, F., Zelenitsky, D., and Brown, C.M. 2020. A new tyrannosaurine (Theropoda: Tyrannosauridae) from the Campanian Foremost Formation of Alberta, Canada, and the evolution and biogeography of tyrannosaurids. Cretaceous Research, 110. 104388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104388
Brown C. M. (2018). Long-horned Ceratopsidae from the Foremost Formation (Campanian) of southern Alberta. PeerJ 6:e4265 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4265
Brown, C. M. (2017). An exceptionally preserved armoured dinosaur reveals the morphology and allometry of osteoderms and their horny epidermal coverings. PeerJ 5:e4066 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4066
Brown, C. M., Henderson, D. H., Vinther, J., Fletcher, I., Sistiaga, A., Herrera, J. & Summons, R. E. (2017). An exceptionally preserved three-dimensional ankylosaur reveals insights into coloration and Cretaceous predator-prey dynamics. Current Biology, 27(16), 2514-2521. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.071
Larson, D. W., Brown, C. M. & Evans, D. C. (2016). Ecological stability and extinction patterns in bird-like dinosaurs and the survival of crown group birds. Current Biology, 26(10), 1325-1333. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.03.039
Brinkman D. B, Aguillon-Martinez, M. C., Hutchison, H. & Brown, C. M. (2016). Yelmochelys rosarioae gen et sp. nov., a stem Kinosternid (Testudines; Kinosternidae) from the Late Cretaceous of Coahuila, Mexico. PaleoBios, 33.
- Selected Publications
Brown, C. M., Henderson, D. H., Vinther, J., Fletcher, I., Sistiaga, A., Herrera, J. & Summons, R. E. (2017). An exceptionally preserved three-dimensional ankylosaur reveals insights into coloration and Cretaceous predator-prey dynamics. Current Biology, 27(16), 2514-2521. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.071
Brown, C. M. & Henderson, D. M. (2015). A new horned dinosaur reveals convergent evolution in cranial ornamentation in Ceratopsidae. Current Biology, 25. pp. 1641-1648. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.04.041
Brown, C. M., Evans, D. C., Campione, N. E., O’Brien, L. J. &. Eberth, D. A. (2013). Evidence for taphonomic size bias in a model Mesozoic terrestrial alluvial-paralic system. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 372, 108-122.
Brown, C. M., Arbour, J. A. & Jackson, D. (2012). Testing of the effect of missing data estimation and distribution in morphometric multivariate data analyses. Systematic Biology. 61(6), 941-954.
Brown, C. M., Boyd, C. A. & Russell, A. P. (2011). A new basal ornithopod dinosaur (Frenchman Formation, Saskatchewan, Canada) and its implications for late Maastrichtian ornithischian diversity in North America. Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society, 163, 1157-1198.