David J. Bottjer

About

David J. Bottjer is a professor of Earth Sciences, Biological Sciences, and Environmental Studies at USC Dornsife. He is a paleobiologist and paleoecologist whose work broadly focuses on organism-sediment interactions and the ecological history of life. His current research emphasizes understanding the paleobiology and paleoecology of early metazoan life through multidisciplinary approaches, with field work conducted in eastern California and China. Additionally, he investigates the paleoecology of recovery from the end-Permian and end-Triassic mass extinctions, with extensive studies on Triassic strata across the western U.S., Europe, Japan, and China. His research has contributed to the development of large databases within the Paleobiology Database to address major paleobiological and evolutionary questions. Dr. Bottjer has authored a book titled 'Paleoecology: Past, Present and Future' and has published numerous articles on topics including geobiology, paleoecology, paleoclimatology, and paleogenomics. He has received several honors, including the William H. Twenhofel Medal, the Paleontological Society Medal, and the Raymond C. Moore Medal for Excellence in Paleontology, and has served as President of The Paleontological Society and as Editor-in-Chief of key journals in his field.

Research topics

• Geology
• Paleontology
• Chemistry
• Earth science
• Geochemistry
• Environmental chemistry
• Biology
• Ecology
• Environmental science
• Oceanography

Selected publications

• Intensified continental chemical weathering and carbon-cycle perturbations linked to volcanism during the Triassic–Jurassic transition

  Nature Communications · 2022 · 113 citations

  following a carbon release event. Lastly, these data also demonstrate that high-latitude continental settings are more sensitive than low/middle-latitude sites to shifts in weathering intensity during climatic warming events.

  DOI

• Mercury contents and isotope ratios from diverse depositional environments across the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary: Towards a more robust mercury proxy for large igneous province magmatism

  Earth-Science Reviews · 2021 · 47 citations

  DOI

• Complex marine bioturbation ecosystem engineering behaviors persisted in the wake of the end-Permian mass extinction

  Scientific Reports · 2020 · 29 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  The end-Permian mass extinction was the most severe mass extinction event of the Phanerozoic and was followed by a several million-year delay in benthic ecosystem recovery. While much work has been done to understand biotic recovery in both the body and trace fossil records of the Early Triassic, almost no focus has previously been given to analyzing patterns in ecosystem engineering complexity as a result of the extinction drivers. Bioturbation is a key ecosystem engineering behavior in marine…

  DOI

• Tracking bioturbation through time: The evolution of the marine sedimentary mixed and transition layers

  Science Advances · 2025-07-30 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  The physical, biogeochemical, and ecological properties of the modern seafloor are extensively shaped by the activities of burrowing and sediment-mixing animals, processes collectively known as bioturbation. Bioturbation is primarily recorded by homogenized sediments of the seafloor mixed layer and the underlying transition layer of discrete burrows. Although these two zones can be readily measured today, there has been limited understanding of how the mixed and transition layers evolved over th…

  PublisherDOI

• Evidence for Low Dissolved Silica in mid-Mesozoic Oceans

  American Journal of Science · 2025-01-08 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  The geologic history of dissolved silica concentration in the ocean (DSi) is central to understanding the evolution of silica biomineralization, the interactions between the global carbon and silicon cycles, and their combined role controlling global climate over geologic time. However, the silica cycle in the geologic past is under-constrained, especially during major mass extinction events that impacted biosilicifiers and were associated with dramatic climate change. We measured the silicon is…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Workshop Proposal for Deep Time Earth-Life Observatories (DETELOs)

  NSF · $43k · 2010–2011

Frequent coauthors

• Wolfgang Kiessling

  180 shared

• Mark E. Patzkowsky

  Pennsylvania State University

  177 shared

• Michael Foote

  University of Chicago

  177 shared

• Martin Aberhan

  Museum für Naturkunde

  177 shared

• Matthew E. Clapham

  Planetary Science Institute

  141 shared

• Adam Tomášových

  Earth Science Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences

  128 shared

• Shanan E. Peters

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  128 shared

• Stephen Q. Dornbos

  University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

  123 shared

Awards & honors

• William H. Twenhofel Medal for Outstanding Contributions to…
• Paleontological Society Medal, 2019
• Honorary Member, Pacific Section SEPM Society for Sedimentar…
• Fellow, The Paleontological Society, 2007
• American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow,…

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