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Richard W. Blob

Associate Professor

Contact Information

Phone: 864 656-3602
FAX: 864 656-0435
Email: rblob@clemson.edu

Education

Ph.D. Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, 1998
M.S. Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, 1995
B.A. Individualized Studies (Paleobiology); Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 1992

Research Interests

I am broadly interested the evolution of musculoskeletal function in animals. To understand how animals perform the tasks that allow them to survive, I test the functional consequences of variation in biological design through experimental studies of musculoskeletal biomechanics, primarily in vertebrate systems. To understand how function evolves, I take a comparative approach to these analyses, conducting studies in a phylogenetic context and frequently drawing on data from the fossil record as well as extant species. Studies of vertebrate locomotion are a particular focus in my lab, and our recent research in this area has included studies of (1) the evolution of limb bone safety factors through studies of limb bone loading in amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and fossil mammal-like reptiles, (2) the kinematics and hydrodynamics of aquatic locomotion in turtles, (3) how muscle function changes between locomotor behaviors in alligators and turtles, (4) comparisons of limb bone allometry among reptilian, amphibian, and mammalian lineages, and (5) comparisons of the mechanics of waterfall climbing among species of Hawaiian gobioid fishes. I am also generally interested in bone biomechanics, and my lab has initiated long term work examining the evolution of the mechanical properties of vertebrate limb bones and deer antler, with a particular emphasis on the application of phylogenetic comparative methods in these analyses. Other projects include examinations of feeding and sucker function in gobioid fishes, studies of musculoskeletal function in insects, and paleoecological and taphonomic studies of Cretaceous fossil assemblages from North America.

Selected Publications

Wilson, M. P., N. R. Espinoza, S. R. Shah, R. W. Blob. 2009. Mechanical properties of the hindlimb bones of bullfrogs and cane toads in bending and torsion. The Anatomical Record292:935-944.

Maie, T., H. L. Schoenfuss, R. W. Blob. 2009. Jaw lever analysis of Hawaiian gobioid stream fishes: a simulation study of morphological diversity and functional performance. Journal of Morphology 270:976-983.

Maie, T., M. P. Wilson, H. L. Schoenfuss, R. W. Blob. 2009. Feeding kinematics and performance of Hawaiian stream gobies, Awaous guamensis and Lentipes concolor: linkage of functional morphology and ecology. Journal of Morphology 270:344-356.

Gosnell, J. S., G. Rivera, R. W. Blob. 2009. A phylogenetic analysis of sexual size dimorphism in turtles. Herpetologica65:70-81.

Blob, R. W., W. C. Bridges, T. Maie, R. A. Cediel, M. M. Bertolas, M. B. Ptacek, M. L. Julius, H. L. Schoenfuss. 2008. Morphological selection in an extreme flow environment: body shape and waterfall-climbing success in the Hawaiian stream fish Sicyopterus stimpsoni. Integrative and Comparative Biology48:734-749.

Butcher, M. T., N. R. Espinoza, S. R. Cirilo, R. W. Blob. 2008. In vivo strains in the femur of river cooter turtles (Pseudemys concinna) during terrestrial locomotion: test of force-platform models of loading mechanics. Journal of Experimental Biology 211:2397-2407.

Butcher, M. T., R. W. Blob. 2008. Mechanics of limb bone loading during terrestrial locomotion in river cooter turtles (Pseudemys concinna). Journal of Experimental Biology211:1187-1202.

Cediel, R. A., R. W. Blob, G. D. Schrank, R. Plourde, and H. L. Schoenfuss. 2008. Muscle fiber type distribution in climbing Hawaiian gobioid fishes: ontogeny and correlations with locomotor performance. Zoology (Jena)111:114-122.

Shah, S. R., J. D. DesJardins, and R. W. Blob. 2008. Antler stiffness in caribou (Rangifer tarandus): testing variation in bone material properties between males and females. Zoology (Jena)111:476-482.

Blob, R. W., A. R. V. Rivera, and M. W. Westneat. 2008. Hindlimb function in turtle locomotion: limb movements and muscular activation across taxa, environment, and ontogeny. Chapter 6 in J. Wyneken, M. H. Godfrey, and V. Bels, (eds.), Biology of Turtles, CRC Press, pp. 139-162.
Blob, R. W., Wright, K. M., Becker, M., Maie, T., Iverson, T. J., Julius, M. L., and Schoenfuss, H. L. 2007.Ontogenic change in functions: Waterfall climbing in adult Hawaiina gobiid fishes. Journal of Zoology 273: 200-209.
Rivera, G., Rivera, A. R. V., Dougherty, E. E., and Blob, R. W. 2006. Aquatic turning performance of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) and functional consequences of a rigid body design. Journal of Experimental Biology 209: 4203-4213.
Blob, R. W., and J. M. Snelgrove. 2006. Antler stiffness in moose (Alces alces): correlated evolution of bone function and material properties? Journal of Morphology 267:1075-1086.
Blob, R. W., R. Rai, R., M. L. Julius, and H. L. Schoenfuss. 2006. Functional diversity in extreme environments: effects of locomotor style and substrate texture on the waterfall climbing performance of Hawaiian gobiid fishes. Journal of Zoology 268:315-324.
Blob, R. W. 2006. Scaling of the hindlimb skeleton in cynognathian cynodonts: implications for ontogeny and thermoregulation. In M. T. Carrano, T. J. Gaudin, R. W. Blob, and J. R. Wible (eds.), Amniote Paleobiology: Perspectives on the Evolution of Mammals, Birds, and Reptiles, University of Chicago Press, pp. 410-431.
Reilly, S. M., J. S. Willey , A. R. Biknevicius, and R. W. Blob. 2005. Locomotor dynamics in a semi-erect posture: integrating movements, motor patterns, ground reaction forces and bone strains of hindlimb locomotion in the alligator. Journal of Experimental Biology 208:993-1009
Reilly, S. M., and R. W. Blob. 2003. Motor control of locomotor hindlimb posture in the American alligator (Allligator mississippiensis). Journal of Experimental Biology 206:4327-4340.
Schoenfuss, H. L., and R. W. Blob. 2003. Kinematics of waterfall climbing in Hawaiian freshwater fishes (Gobiidae): vertical propulsion at the aquatic-terrestrial interface. Journal of Zoology 261:191-205.
Gillis, G. B. and R. W. Blob. 2001. How muscles accommodate movement in different physical environments: aquatic versus terrestrial locomotion. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A 131:61-75.
Blob, R. W. and A. A. Biewener. 2001. Mechanics of limb bone loading during terrestrial locomotion in the green iguana (Iguana iguana) and American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Journal of Experimental Biology 204:1099-1122.
Blob, R. W. 2001. Evolution of hindlimb posture in non-mammalian therapsids: biomechanical tests of paleontological hypotheses. Paleobiology 27:14-38.