Biography

I am a palaeoprimatologist and vertebrate palaeobiologist mainly focused on primate and mammalian evolution. My main interest is to study organismal evolution by reconstructing and comparing the palaeobiology of fossils to their living ecological relatives. In order to do this, I apply a combination of predictive modelling, 3D morphometrics, virtual biomechanical techniques, computational simulations, phylogenetic comparative methods, and fieldwork. My Leverhulme Project has taken me to Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, where I work together with the Paleo-Primate Project Gorongosa.

Interests

  • Vertebrate palaeontology
  • Mammalian evolution
  • Primate evolution
  • Palaeoanthropology
  • Morphometrics
  • Biomechanics
  • Phylogenetic comparative methods
  • Palaeoecology

Education

  • PhD in Adaptive Organismal Biology, 2018

    The University of Manchester

  • MSc in Anatomy and Evolution, 2013

    The University of York, Hull York Medical School

  • BSc in Biological Anthropology, 2011

    Universidad de Chile

Experience

 
 
 
 
 

Postdoctoral Research Officer- Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship

School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford

Oct 2018 – Present Oxford, UK.
Project: ‘This study has teeth: exploring human origins and Climate Change through time.’
 
 
 
 
 

College advisor

St Antony’s College

Oct 2018 – Present Oxford, UK.
Pastoral duties at St Anthony’s College where I advise students, both at the levels of MSc and DPhil.
 
 
 
 
 

Research Officer

The University of Manchester

Apr 2018 – Sep 2018 Manchester, UK.
Postdoctoral position within the NERC project: ‘The co-evolution of human hands and tool using behaviour’ led by Prof. William Sellers.

Recent Posts

Intervals' method tutorial

Tutorial: How to use R to analyse data from FEA using the intervals’ method We have developed a new method, named the intervals’ method, to analyse data from finite element models in a comparative multivariate framework.
Apr 26, 2020 4 min read R

Intervals' method tutorial Part2

Tutorial: How to use R to analyse data from FEA using the intervals’ method Part2: Convergence procedure to estimate an appropiate number of intervals This script corresponds to the convergence procedure used to estimate an appropiate number of interval variables.
Apr 26, 2020 2 min read R

Collecting data in Nairobi

Whilst the field season may be over, work on the Gorongosa fossil collection continues. I have been working on photogrammetry for many of the Gorongosa fossils and building 3D models of them. I recently spent several weeks at the Nairobi National Museum in Kenya studying comparative collections and scanning material for comparison.
Jan 20, 2020 1 min read

Research

.js-id-Primate-morphology
Primate morphology New tools African Miocene mammals Paleo-Primate Project

African Miocene mammals

I am currently analising different Miocene mammal fossils from Gorongosa, as well as comparing them with fossil materials from other African regions in order to better characterise the fauna from the southernmost point of the East African Rift System
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African palaeoecology

Understanding the relationship between ecosystem dynamics and hominin palaeobiology is fundamental to test hypotheses that attempt to elucidate the influence of the environment on the morphological and behavioural adaptations of early hominins.
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New morpho-functional tools

One of my long-standing aims is to understand the relationship between form and ecological function. In order to do this, some colleagues and I are currently developing new methods and approaches in comparative functional morphology to contribute towards this effort.
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Primate morphology

An important part of my research has been devoted to the study of the key adaptations defining different stages of anthropoid morphological evolution.
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Paleo-Primate project

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, represents the last unstudied link in the great African Rift that runs across eastern Africa, wherein lie the “cradles of humankind”. This project seeks to shed light on the origins and evolutionary success of the human lineage.

Gallery

Talks and Social Media

Primate evolutionary morphology Assessing ecomorphological questions in extant and extinct anthropoids

Talk at the Oxford Palaeoclub about how to assess ecomorphological questions using the virtual morpho-functional toolkit
Jan 26, 2021 12:00 AM — Jan 25, 2021 12:00 AM Oxford
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Paleontología virtual un conjunto de herramientas emergente para análisis morfo-funcionales en contextos evolutivos

Plenary speaker at the XIII Jornada Chilena de Anatomía
Oct 6, 2020 12:00 AM — Oct 7, 2020 12:00 AM Santiago de Chile
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A discussion of human paleontology and the scientific career for high school students

On 11th June 2020, I will lead Acción Conciencia’s first Ñuble and Biobio (Chile) talks with a conversation on human paleontology …
Jun 11, 2020 4:00 PM Colegio Divina Pastora Yungay, Ñuble & Biobío region Chile
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Virtual ecomorphology

I Congreso Iberoamericano de Morfometría Geométrica
May 5, 2019 12:00 AM — May 7, 2019 12:00 AM U Católica Maule
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Elucidating Paralouatta’s semi-terrestriality using the virtual morpho-functional toolbox

AAPA 2020 podium presentation
Apr 10, 2019 12:00 AM — Jun 10, 2019 12:00 AM Los Angeles
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Featured Publications

April 2020 In Frontiers in Earth Science, 8, (2020)

Getting Its Feet on the Ground Elucidating *Paralouatta*’s Semi-Terrestriality Using the Virtual Morpho-Functional Toolbox

platyrrhine, semi-terrestriality, machine-learning, geometric morphometrics, finite element analysis,Paralouatta, talus

PDF DOI Online version
August 2017 In Journal of Human Evolution 111, 179–201 (2017)

The evolution of the platyrrhine talus A comparative analysis of the phenetic affinities of the Miocene platyrrhines with their modern relatives

New World monkeys, Talar morphology, Geometric morphometrics, Locomotor mode percentages, Phylogenetic comparative methods, Body mass prediction

PDF DOI Online version

Recent Publications

Finite element analysis of the proximal phalanx of the thumb in Hominoidea during simulated stone tool use

FEA, biomechanical performance, hand, primates, hominins
PDF DOI Online version

Characterizing the body morphology of the first metacarpal in the Homininae using 3D geometric morphometrics

MC1, 3D geometric morphometrics, semi-landmarks, hominins, African apes
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Modularity of the Wrist in Extant Hominids

modularity, trait covariation, wrist, hominids
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Getting Its Feet on the Ground Elucidating *Paralouatta*’s Semi-Terrestriality Using the Virtual Morpho-Functional Toolbox

platyrrhine, semi-terrestriality, machine-learning, geometric morphometrics, finite element analysis,Paralouatta, talus
PDF DOI Online version

Broad-scale morpho-functional traits of the mandible suggest no hard food adaptation in the hominin lineage

shape, biomechanical performance, mandibles, primates, hominins
PDF DOI Online version
See all publications

Contact

  • 64 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6PN
  • Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford, 64 Banbury Road, OX2 6PN, Oxford, UK
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