Dr. Croft has been a faculty member of Case Western Reserve University since 2003. He teaches human anatomy to medical and graduate students, and his research focuses on the evolution and paleoecology of extinct South American mammals. He has been actively involved in faculty governance at both the school and university levels and serves as director of the MS in Applied Anatomy program in addition to chairing the Anatomy Department. He is part of the design team for Block 6 (Cognition, Sensation & Movement) of the Medical School’s University Program (4-year MD curriculum), representing Block 7 (gross anatomy, radiology, and living anatomy).
Teaching Information
Courses Taught
Research Information
Research Interests
Dr. Croft uses a variety of approaches to study evolution and adaptation in extinct mammals, particularly those of South America. He has authored nearly 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on fossil mammals and related topics as well as a popular science book entitled “Horned Armadillos and Rafting Monkeys: The Fascinating Fossil Mammals of South America” (2016, Indiana University Press). He is a research associate at several major museums, including the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and is actively engaged in science outreach. He serves as a research mentor for undergraduate and graduate students in the departments of Biology and Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, and he is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Mammalian Evolution.
For additional details about Dr. Croft’s research and outreach, visit his personal web page: dcpaleo.org
Awards and Honors
Professional Memberships
External Appointments
Docente Externo, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
Research Associate, Department of Geology, The Field Museum, Chicago
Research Associate, Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland Ohio
Research Associate, Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York
Research Associate, Section of Mammals, Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Publications
- Croft, D.A., J.N. Gelfo & G.M. López. 2020. Splendid innovation: the South American native ungulates. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 48:259-290.
- Engelman, R.K., J.J. Flynn, A.R. Wyss & D.A. Croft. 2020. Eomakhaira molossus, a new saber-toothed sparassodont (Metatheria: Thylacosmilinae) from the early Oligocene (?Tinguirirican) Cachapoal locality, Andean Main Range, Chile. American Museum Novitates 3975:1-75.
- Croft, D.A. & M. Lorente. 2021. No evidence for parallel evolution of cursorial limb adaptations among Neogene South American native ungulates (SANUs). PLOS ONE 16(8):e0256371.
- Croft, D.A., J.J. Flynn, A.R. Wyss, R. Charrier, & F. Anaya. 2021. New chinchillid rodents (Hystricognathi: Caviomorpha) from northern Chile and Bolivia fill a 17-million-year gap in the pan-chinchilline fossil record. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 28(4):1205–1236.
- Saylor, B.Z., A.M. Catena, D.I. Hembree, F. Anaya & D.A. Croft. 2022. Lithostratigraphy, chronostratigraphy, and sedimentary environments of the Middle Miocene Quebrada Honda Basin in southern Bolivia and implications for Andean climate and uplift. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 601:111135.
- Engelman, R.K. & D.A. Croft. 2023. A new record of a carnivorous metatherian (Sparassodonta) from the late Miocene - early Pliocene Santa María Group of Catamarca, Argentina. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 129:104493.
- McGrath, A.J., J.J. Flynn, D.A. Croft, J.M.H. Chick, H.E. Dodson & A.R. Wyss. 2023. Caviomorphs (Rodentia, Hystricognathi) from Pampa Castillo, Chile: new octodontoid records and biochronological implications. Papers in Palaeontology 9(1):e1477.
- Nelson, A., R.K. Engelman & D.A. Croft. 2023. How to weigh a fossil mammal? South American notoungulates as a case study for estimating body mass in other extinct clades. Journal of Mammal Evolution 30(3):773-809.
- Armella, M.A., D.A. García-López & D.A. Croft. 2024. Cranial anatomy and petrosal morphology of a complete juvenile individual of Neobrachytherium (Proterotheriidae, Litopterna, Mammalia). American Museum Novitates 4023:1-57.
- Lee, N.J., J.J. Flynn, A.R. Wyss & D.A. Croft. 2024. Early Miocene sloth (Folivora) remains from Pampa Castillo, southern Chile, including a natural cranial endocast. Ameghiniana 61(3):148-169.
- Strömberg, C.A., B.Z. Saylor, R.K. Engelman, A.M. Catena, D.I. Hembree, F. Anaya & D.A. Croft. 2024. The flora, fauna, and paleoenvironment of the late Middle Miocene Quebrada Honda, Bolivia (Eastern Cordillera, Central Andes). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 656:112518.
- Lorente, M, G.I. Schmidt, & D.A. Croft. 2025. Convergence, divergence, and novelty in the ungulate-like hindlimbs of South American litopterns. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 32(2):18.