Darin A. Croft, PhD

Chair
Department of Anatomy
School of Medicine
Graduate Program Director
Department of Anatomy
School of Medicine
Professor
Department of Anatomy
School of Medicine
Professor
Department of Biology
College of Arts and Sciences
Professor
Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
College of Arts and Sciences

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

ANAT 411 Gross Anatomy
ANAT 445 Mammal Diversity and Evolution
ANAT 510 Anatomical Principles of Surgery
ANAT 516 Surgical Anatomy: Head and Neck

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

Faculty Inductee
AOA Honor Medical Society
Fulbright U.S. Scholar (Argentina)
Gold Medal (Science)
Independent Publisher (IPPY) Book Awards
Kaiser-Permanente Excellence in Teaching Award
Nominee
Carl F. Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching
Provost’s Commendation for Teaching Excellence
UCITE Glennan Fellowship

Professional Memberships

American Society of Mammalogists
Asociación Paleontológica Argentina
Asociación Chilena de Paleontología
Sigma Xi
Society for the Study of Mammalian Evolution
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

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.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy
University of Chicago
2000
Master of Science
University of Chicago
1996
Bachelor of Arts
University of Iowa
1993

Residencies, Internships and Fellowships

Institution
The Field Museum, Chicago
Area of Study
Post-Doctoral Research Scientist & Education Program Developer

Additional Information