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David Černý

Researcher in phylogenetics and macroevolution

About

I am interested in the development, evaluation, and application of phylogenetic methods, using Bayesian statistics as an overarching framework and fossil as well as extant vertebrates as my primary model system. My current research projects include the development of a fast and flexible Bayesian method for estimating time-scaled supertrees, and an empirical study assessing the ability of environment-dependent birth-death models to yield insights into the diversification of coevolving clades.

In 2024, I completed my PhD in Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago, where I worked in the Slater Lab on fossil vertebrate phylogenetics and macroevolution. My previous research experience includes paleontological and ecological fieldwork in Poland and French Polynesia, a bioinformatics internship in the Kondrashov Lab at the Centre de Regulació Genòmica in Barcelona, Spain, and undergraduate research in the Alfaro Lab at UCLA.

Education

  • PhD in Geophysical Sciences, 2024

    University of Chicago

  • BSc in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, 2018

    University of California, Los Angeles

Publications

A new abelisaurid dinosaur from the end Cretaceous of Patagonia and evolutionary rates among the Ceratosauria

Gondwanan dinosaur faunae during the 20 Myr preceding the Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K/Pg) extinction included several line- ages …

Statistical evaluation of character support reveals the instability of higher-level dinosaur phylogeny

The interrelationships of the three major dinosaur clades (Theropoda, Sauropodomorpha, and Ornithischia) have come under increased …

A new genus-group name for Burhinus bistriatus (Wagler, 1829) and Burhinus superciliaris (Tschudi, 1843)

Recent phylogenetic findings indicate that the divergence of the Neotropical taxa Burhinus bistriatus (Wagler, 1829) and Burhinus …

Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes)

Shorebirds (Charadriiformes) are a globally distributed clade of modern birds and, due to their ecological and morphological disparity, …

Empirical and methodological challenges to the model-based inference of diversification rates in extinct clades

Changes in speciation and extinction rates are key to the dynamics of clade diversification, but attempts to infer them from …

Applying Lanchester’s laws to the interspecific competition of coral reef fish

Lanchester’s laws of combat are a mathematical framework describing the relative contributions of individual fighting ability and group …

Talks

Relative impact of character coding differences and stratigraphic information on the support for alternative early dinosaur phylogenies

Since 2017, multiple studies have cast doubt on the traditional view of large-scale dinosaur phylogeny, according to which the …

Vetted calibrations and comprehensive taxon sampling clarify the timescale of shorebird evolution

Shorebirds (Aves: Charadriiformes) represent one of the most species-rich orders of non-passerine birds, and their ecomorphological …

Inferring macroevolutionary dynamics of extinct clades: a test using ‘bird-hipped’ dinosaurs (Ornithischia)

A number of methods have recently become available to infer rates of speciation and extinction from datasets containing or restricted …

Posters

Bayesian Least-Squares Supertrees (BLeSS): a flexible method for inferring large time-calibrated phylogenies

In recent years, sparse molecular supermatrices have been used to infer time-scaled “macrophylogenies” with thousands or …

Posts

Teaching RevBayes: reflections and materials

Introduction In the fall of 2022, I got to TA a course called Phylogenetics and the Fossil Record, taught by my PhD advisor, Graham …

Visualizing BEAST 2 time trees

The summary of the posterior from a Bayesian tip-dating analysis – e.g., the maximum clade credibility tree computed by TreeAnnotator …

Contact

  • 5734 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL 60637