astronomy

Richard L. Cifelli

Richard L. Cifelli is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Richard L. Cifelli rather than just read about it. In short: Richard Lawrence Cifelli (born 1954) is an American Professor Emeritus of Biology and Curator Emeritus of Vertebrate Paleontology in the Department of Biology and at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History at the University of Oklahoma. Education and career Cifelli began his studies in the Department of Sociology at Colby College in Maine, where he graduated with an AB in 1976.

Key takeaways

Richard L. Cifelli belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Richard L. Cifelli to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Richard L. Cifelli from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Richard Lawrence Cifelli (born 1954) is an American Professor Emeritus of Biology and Curator Emeritus of Vertebrate Paleontology in the Department of Biology and at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History at the University of Oklahoma.

Education and career Cifelli began his studies in the Department of Sociology at Colby College in Maine, where he graduated with an AB in 1976. He then joined the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago. After graduating with an AM in 1979, he joined the Department of Geological Sciences at Columbia University, where he received an M.Phil. in 1980 and a PhD in 1983. Cifelli did post-doctoral research as a Fellow-in-Residence in the Division of Mammals at the Smithsonian Institution, from 1983–1985. Cifelli began his career as an archaeologist at the University of Alaska in 1974, later moving into vertebrate paleontology. He joined the University of Oklahoma in 1986, where he was the Presidential Professor of Biology and curator at the Sam Noble Museum. He is currently Professor Emeritus and Curator Emeritus at the university and the museum. Cifelli was editor or associate editor for scientific journals including the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Proceedings of the Royal Society, and Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

Research Cifelli's research has focused on the anatomy and evolution of vertebrates, primarily fossil mammals. His early studies concerned biogeography and patterns of evolution, themes he returned to later in his career. His dissertation research, with follow-up studies through the late 1990s, treated fossil hooved mammals native to South America, and included some of the first explicit hypotheses of relationships within several groups, together with paleobiological studies based on functional anatomy. His recent work focuses on the systematics and paleobiology of terrestrial vertebrates, primarily mammals, from the Cretaceous of the United States. Cifelli is known for his collection and study of mammals and other vertebrates from the Cretaceous of western North America. Cifelli is the author of about 100 species of fossil vertebrates. He contributed to the discovery and analysis of fossil assemblages from formations including Cloverly, Lakota, Cedar Mountain, and the Big Bend region. Many of these specimens are housed at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

Cifelli has authored or co-authored between 150–200 publications, including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He is co-author of the 2004 book Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs: Origins, Evolution, and Structure, published by Columbia University Press. Other edited volumes include Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics: The Miocene Fauna of La Venta, Colombia, published by the Smithsonian Institution Press.

Awards Cifelli received the Regents' Award for Superior Research and Creative Activity from the University of Oklahoma in 1995, followed by a Presidential Professorship in 1996 and the Director's Research Award from the Sam Noble Museum in 2000. In 1995, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology presented him with a Plenary Award for contributions to the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. He was awarded the Joseph T. Gregory Award in 2016 for his service to the field. Fossil species named after him include Cifellilestes ciscoensis and Cifellitherium suderlandicum, both described in 2022.

References

External links Richard L. Cifelli profile at University of Oklahoma

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard L. Cifelli

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Richard L. Cifelli claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Richard L. Cifelli before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Richard L. Cifelli ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Richard L. Cifelli

In research: Richard L. Cifelli appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Richard L. Cifelli in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Richard L. Cifelli is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1954 births, American biologists, American paleontologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard L. Cifelli outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Richard L. Cifelli in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Richard L. Cifelli means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Richard L. Cifelli out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard L. Cifelli in simple terms?

Why does Richard L. Cifelli matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Richard L. Cifelli?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Richard L. Cifelli.