I have wide research interests and have published in areas ranging from systematics, palaeontology, biogeography and megafaunal extinction to cranial mechanics in living and fossil species. As Director of the multidisciplinary Computational Biomechanics Research Group[and see www.compbiomech.com] I aim to identify and understand forces that drive the evolution of morphology, a process facilitated by research into relationships between skull anatomy, mechanics, and feeding ecology in a wide range of living and fossil species.

 

Central to my approach is the use of Finite Element (FE) analysis, a powerful engineering tool. long used by engineers to predict and simulate the behaviour of man-made objects ranging from wing-nuts to space-shuttles, but only recently adopted in biological studies. We construct FE computer models from serial x-ray images (CT scan data) and solve them for specific loading conditions that simulate real world behaviours. This 'digital crash-testing' can reveal detailed information on distributions of stress/strain, as well as other variables such as bite force, allowing the investigator to determine what behaviours a particular skull is best adapted to perform. Properly validated, FE models provide very accurate predictions of actual performance limits in far greater detail than can be achieved using traditional approaches. The non-destructive nature of the FE approach is a further obvious advantage - particularly regarding fossil-based investigations.

 

We have made great progress in the application of the Finite Element method to the study of biology. I believe that our models, such as those shown here, are the most sophisticated FE models of biological structure yet produced. They incorporate multiple material properties, realistically simulate muscle origin/insertion points and include both crania and mandibles in correct anatomical positions. Moreover, they can be fully assembled and 'solved' quickly, within as little as four days. The application of these procedures has provided new insights into the evolution of vertebrate feeding behaviour and has great potential in a wide range of biomedical fields. Improvement of procedures and model realism is ongoing.

 

Taxa currently under investigation range from various living and extinct mammals, such as lions, sabretoothed cats, thylacines and modern and fossil hominids, to reptiles, including crocodilians, varanids and theropod dinosaurs including Tyrannosaurus rex and Giganotosaurus. I have recently constructed FE models of a great white shark and extinct 'terror bird'. While questions surrounding structure and feeding behaviour remain a primary focus, biomedical and safety science questions are growing areas of interest.

 

I am keen collaborate with other researchers and to take on higher degree students [see www.compbiomech.com].