Kenshu Shimada, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Paleobiology


Contact Information
kshimada@depaul.edu
(773) 325-4697
McGowan South, Room 203G

Classes Taught

  • General Biology II (Bio 102)
  • Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (Bio 270)
  • Introduction to Paleobiology (Bio 122)
  • Topics in Paleobiology (Bio 345/445)
  • Environmental Geology with Lab (Env 115)
  • Geology of the Environment (Env 116)
  • The Earth through Time with Lab (Env 117)
  • Natural History in Chicago (ISP 102: Explore Chicago)

Research Interests

I am interested in the evolution of marine ecosystems over geologic time, particularly by examining the paleobiology of sharks and other marine vertebrates that lived during the ‘age of dinosaurs’ (Mesozoic). While I study a variety of organisms in the context of paleoecology, my specialty is in a group of sharks called lamniforms that have been ecologically important in past and present oceans as they include top predators (e.g., mako and great white sharks) and large plankton feeders (e.g., basking and megamouth sharks). I enjoy demonstrating the relationships of morphology in such aquatic vertebrates to their life history strategies, behavior, ecology, and evolution.

Select Publications

Friedman, M., K. Shimada, L. D. Martin, M. J. Everhart, J. Liston, A. Maltese, M. Triebold. 2010. 100-million-year dynasty of giant planktivorous bony fishes in the Mesozoic seas. Science, 327:990–993.

Shimada, K., C. K. Rigsby, and S. H. Kim. 2009. Labial cartilages in the smalltooth sandtiger shark, Odontaspis ferox (Lamniformes: Odontaspididae) and their significance to the phylogeny of lamniform sharks. Anatomical Record, 292:813–817.

Shimada, K. 2008. Ontogenetic parameters and life history strategies of the Late Cretaceous lamniform shark, Cretoxyrhina mantelli, based on vertebral growth increments. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28(1):21–33.

Professional Activities

  • Chair of Government Affairs Committee, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 
  • Research Associate in Paleontology, Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Hays. Kansas 
  • Editorial Board Member, Journal of Fossil Research (Rossil Research Society of Japan)

Professional Society Memberships

  • American Elasmobranch Society
  • American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
  • Fossil Research Society of Japan
  • Kansas Academy of Science
  • Paleontological Society
  • Society of Vertebrate Paleontology