Pedro L. Godoy

Postdoctoral researcher (Paleobiology)

University of São Paulo (Brazil)

I am a vertebrate paleontologist and evolutionary biologist working on the evolution of reptiles in deep time. I am currently a postdoc at the University of São Paulo (Brazil), working with Dr. Max Langer, as well as an honorary researcher affiliated with Dr. Alan Turner’s lab. I am also currently the Phylogenetics Editor of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

My research interests include macroevolution and systematics of archosaurs and other reptiles. More specifically, my research has focused on the evolution of Crocodylomorpha, the >200-million-year old group that includes living crocodylians (crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials) and their extinct relatives.

In 2021, I worked as a Capes “Young Talent” Postdoctoral Fellow at the Federal University of Paraná (Brazil), working with Dr. Marcio Pie. From 2019 to 2021, I was an NSF postdoc at the Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, in collaboration with Dr. Alan Turner. During my PhD, I worked at the University of Birmingham, under the supervision of Prof. Richard Butler. During both my MSc and BSc degrees, I was supervised by Dr. Max Langer at the University of São Paulo.

Interests

Evolutionary Biology
Paleobiology
Macroevolution
Systematics

Education

PhD in Earth Sciences, 2018

University of Birmingham, UK
MSc in Comparative Biology, 2014

University of São Paulo, Brazil
BSc in Biological Sciences, 2011

University of São Paulo, Brazil

Research topics

Osteology and systematics

An important component of my research involves the morphological description of fossil crocodylomorph specimens, as well as doing phylogenetic analysis of different crocodylomorph groups. I have been involved in works on baurusuchid notosuchians (which led to the publication of two first-authored papers, in PLoS ONE and PeerJ), neosuchians (published in Historical Biology), caimanines (published in Papers in Palaeontology) and thalattosuchians (unpublished work).

Phenotypic evolution

I am passionate about macroevolution, particularly phenotypic evolutionary patterns. To analyse and characterise long-term patterns of trait evolution, I use a variety of quantitative methods, including geometric morphometric (GM) techniques, model-fitting analyses, disparity and diversification estimation and other phylogenetic comparative methods.

Publications

Research papers and book chapters

2023

[19] Farina BM, Godoy PL, Benson RBJ, Langer MC, Ferreira GS (2023). Turtle body size evolution is determined by lineage-specific specializations rather than global trends. Submitted. [Preprint]

[18] Bronzati M, Vieceli FM, Godoy PL, Montefeltro FC, Nassif JPM, Ribeiro D, Botezelli VS, Yan CYI, Werneburg I, Kohlsdorf T (2023). Fossils, embryos, and the deep time origin of tympanic hearing in crown reptiles. Submitted.

[17] Jones LA, Gearty W, Allen BJ, Eichenseer K, Dean CD, Galván S, Kouvari M, Godoy PL, Nicholl C, Buffan L, Dillon EM, Flannery-Sutherland JT, Chiarenza AA (2023). palaeoverse: a community-driven R package to support palaeobiological analysis. Under review. [Preprint]

[16] Wilberg E, Godoy PL, Griffiths EF, Turner AH, Benson RBJ (2023). A new early diverging thalattosuchian (Crocodylomorpha) from the Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian) of Dorset, UK and implications for the origin and evolution of the group. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2022.2161909. [PDF] [Press release]

2022

[15] Dunne E, Farnsworth A, Benson RBJ, Godoy PL, Greene SE, Valdes P, Lunt DJ, Butler RJ (2022). Climatic controls on the ecological ascendancy of dinosaurs. Current Biology, 33, 206–214. [PDF] [Press release]

[14] Fachini TS, Godoy PL, Marsola JCA, Montefeltro FC, Langer MC (2022). A large-sized mesoeucrocodylian from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil with possible neosuchian affinities. Historical Biology. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2022.2122822. [PDF] [Press release]

[13] Paiva ALS, Godoy PL, Souza RBB, Klein W, Hsiou AS (2022). Body size estimation of Caimaninae specimens from the Miocene of South America. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 118, 103970. [PDF]

[12] Langer MC†, Godoy PL† (2022). So volcanoes created the dinosaurs? A quantitative characterization of the early evolution of terrestrial Pan-Aves. Frontiers in Earth Science, 10, 899562. (†Joint lead authors) [PDF]

[11] Bestwick J, Godoy PL, Maidment, SCR, Ezcurra MD, Wroe M, Raven TJ, Bonsor, JA, Butler RJ (2022). Relative skull size evolution in Mesozoic archosauromorphs: potential drivers and morphological uniqueness of erythrosuchid archosauriforms. Palaeontology, 65, e12599. [PDF]

[10] Benson RBJ, Godoy PL, Bronzati M, Butler RJ, Gearty W. (2022). Reconstructed evolutionary patterns for crocodile-line archosaurs demonstrate impact of failure to log-transform body size data. Communications Biology, 5, 171. [Preprint] [PDF]

2014 - 2020

[09] Godoy PL, Turner AH. (2020). Body size evolution in crocodylians and their extinct relatives. In: eLS, 1, 442–452. [PDF]

[08] Godoy PL, Cidade GM, Montefeltro FC, Langer MC, Norell MA. (2020). Redescription and phylogenetic affinities of the caimanine Eocaiman cavernensis (Crocodylia, Alligatoroidea) from the Eocene of Argentina. Papers in Palaeontology, 7, 1205–1231. [PDF] [Prize]

[07] Montefeltro FC, Lautenschlager S, Godoy PL, Ferreira GS, Butler RJ. (2020). A unique predator in a unique ecosystem: modelling the apex predator from the Late Cretaceous crocodyliform-dominated fauna in Brazil. Journal of Anatomy, 237, 323–333. [Preprint] [PDF] [Recognition]

[06] Godoy PL. (2019). Crocodylomorph cranial shape evolution and its relationship with body size and ecology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 33, 4–21. [Preprint] [PDF] [Recognition]

[05] Godoy PL, Benson RBJ, Bronzati M, Butler RJ. (2019). The multi-peak adaptive landscape of crocodylomorph body size evolution. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 19, 167. [Preprint] [PDF]

[04] Mannion PD, Chiarenza AA, Godoy PL, Cheah YN. (2019). Spatiotemporal sampling patterns in the 230 million year fossil record of terrestrial crocodylomorphs and their impact on diversity. Palaeontology, 62, 615–637. [PDF]

[03] Godoy PL, Ferreira GS, Montefeltro FC, Vila Nova BC, Butler RJ, Langer MC. (2018). Evidence for heterochrony in the cranial evolution of fossil crocodyliforms. Palaeontology, 61, 543–558. [PDF] [Blog post]

[02] Godoy PL†, Bronzati M†, Eltink E, Marsola JCA, Cidade GM, Langer MC, Montefeltro FC. (2016). Postcranial anatomy of Pissarrachampsa sera (Crocodyliformes, Baurusuchidae) from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil: insights on lifestyle and phylogenetic significance. PeerJ, 4, e2075. (†Joint lead authors). [PDF] [Press release/interview]

[01] Godoy PL, Montefeltro FC, Norell MA, Langer MC. (2014). An additional baurusuchid from the Cretaceous of Brazil with evidence of interspecific predation among Crocodyliformes. PLoS ONE, 9, e97138. [PDF] [Press release] [Recognition]

Other publications

[05] 500 Women Scientists, Earth Science Women’s Network, Pal(a)eoPERCS, Aspen Global Change Institute (2023). Guide to Inclusive Scientific Meetings 2023 (where to begin)- 500 Women Scientists. [PDF]

[04] Bhatia R, Burke J, Godoy PL, Sekhon N, Hall C, Sibert E (2022). A global palaeo-science community: an interview with Pal(a)eoPERCS. Communications Biology, 5, 978. [PDF]

[03] Godoy PL. (2019). Climate change created today’s large crocodiles. The Conversation.

[02] Benson RBJ, Godoy PL. (2019). Evolution: much on the menu for ancient crocs. Current Biology, 29, PR683–R685. [PDF]

[01] Godoy PL, Ferreira GS, Dassie ECG, Corrêa ACM, Hsiou AS. (2017). Continuing education on Paleontology: the experience with the project “Workshop on Paleontology: fossils inside the classroom”. Revista de Cultura e Extensão USP, 17, 11–19. [PDF]