IACD Institute of Ageing & Chronic Disease Professor Emily Rayfield, Bristol. 'Biomechanical insights into the origin of mammals.' Host: Karl Bates
12:45pm - 1:45pm /
Thursday 13th July 2017
/ Venue: G12-G15,Ground floor, William Henry Duncan Apex Building
- 0151 794 9003
- Brenda Smith
- Suitable for: Suitable for staff and postgraduate students.
- Admission: Free to University staff and students
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Emily is a British palaeontologist, who is a Professor in Palaeobiology in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. Her research primarily focuses on the functional anatomy of extinct vertebrates, especially dinosaurs, using computational methods such as finite element analysis (FEA). In the landmark paper Rayfield et al. (2001), the skull of the theropod dinosaur Allosaurus was analysed using FEA in order to quantitatively assess different feeding hyoptheses. This paper was the first use of FEA on a three-dimensional structure in palaeontology (in collaboration with CT scanning), and spurred the current trend of CT-scanned skull FEA on feeding biomechanics in zoology and palaeontology.
In addition, she helped elucidate the cranial biomechanics of the noted carnivorous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus using two-dimensional FEA.[4] This study was expanded upon in a comparative finite element analysis of 2D theropod skulls (namely Allosaurus Coelophysis and Tyrannosaurus), in order to quantitately compare cranial biomechanics.[5].
The origin of mammals is one of the key events in vertebrate evolutionary history and sparks particular resonance as the origination of our own lineage. In this talk I will discuss how studying exceptionally preserved fossils with digital scanning and reconstruction technologies and the use of biomechanical and engineering analysis is shaping our understanding of this event. I will present some of our work evidencing how the extant mammalian jaw changes its shape in response to functional feeding loads, discuss how a combination of biomechanics and tooth microwear are helping us pick apart different functional and ecological specialisations in some of the earliest Jurassic mammaliaformes, before describing how my group are applying multibody dynamic simulations of muscle function and biomechanical models of jaw joint stress to understand the evolution of the unique mammalian middle ear.
In addition, she helped elucidate the cranial biomechanics of the noted carnivorous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus using two-dimensional FEA.[4] This study was expanded upon in a comparative finite element analysis of 2D theropod skulls (namely Allosaurus Coelophysis and Tyrannosaurus), in order to quantitately compare cranial biomechanics.[5].
The origin of mammals is one of the key events in vertebrate evolutionary history and sparks particular resonance as the origination of our own lineage. In this talk I will discuss how studying exceptionally preserved fossils with digital scanning and reconstruction technologies and the use of biomechanical and engineering analysis is shaping our understanding of this event. I will present some of our work evidencing how the extant mammalian jaw changes its shape in response to functional feeding loads, discuss how a combination of biomechanics and tooth microwear are helping us pick apart different functional and ecological specialisations in some of the earliest Jurassic mammaliaformes, before describing how my group are applying multibody dynamic simulations of muscle function and biomechanical models of jaw joint stress to understand the evolution of the unique mammalian middle ear.