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Reposted by Christopher M. Smith

Marta Mirazon Lahr @martamlahr.bsky.social · 7d

Like you, I've read so many nice things about Jane Goodall's amazing life and legacy today, but this video of the realease of the chimp called Wounda is beyond words ♥️

If only we could find the will to stop destroying the extraordinary natural world around us...

youtu.be/ClOMa_GufsA?...

Wounda's Journey - Jane Goodall Witnesses Release of Chimpanzee Into New Island Sanctuary Site

YouTube video by Dr. Jane Goodall & the Jane Goodall Institute USA

youtu.be

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Reposted by Christopher M. Smith

Liverpool EMB lab @livevobiomech.bsky.social · Jul 17

Interested in the functional morphology of mammal heads and want to come join us in Liverpool? Apply for this exciting new PhD project with Alana!

Dr Alana Sharp @acsharp.bsky.social · Jul 3

Are you looking for a PhD project starting this year?

I have a funded (UK rates) project on mammal skull diversity and function, looking at skull allometry and how mammal heads adapt to trade-offs in tissue demands during growth 🦌🦘🐘🦥

Please share and apply: www.liverpool.ac.uk/courses/buil...

Building giants: tissue relationships during skull growth in large mammals | Courses | University of Liverpool

From elephants to rhinos to bison, enormous increases in body mass have repeatedly evolved within Mammalia over relatively short timescales, leading to a diversity of size and shape. In this project, ...

www.liverpool.ac.uk

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Christopher M. Smith @csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social · Apr 14

Grateful to Dr. Jasmine Pan and @commsbio.bsky.social for the opportunity to share my journey of using art as a gateway into science.
It was a pleasure to discuss how creativity can shape and enhance scientific exploration! www.nature.com/articles/s42...

From medical illustration to evolutionary anatomy: Christopher Smith’s artistic approach to science - Communications Biology

In this Q&A, Christopher Smith, Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History, discusses his journey from medical illustration to evolutionary anatomy, emphasizing how artistic ski...

www.nature.com

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Christopher M. Smith @csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social · Apr 8

Thank you!

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Christopher M. Smith @csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social · Apr 7

Thank you!

Christopher M. Smith @csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social · Apr 7

I'm excited to share that next fall, I'll be joining the faculty at Fairfield U as an Asst Prof in Biology! 🦌

I'm deeply grateful for my time at the AMNH and as part of the Bio Anth Lab. I look forward to continuing and expanding on these collaborations in this next chapter! 💀👂🧠

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Reposted by Christopher M. Smith

The Anatomical Record @anatrecord.bsky.social · Apr 7

Check out this month's Editor's Choice author interview featuring @jordynneal.bsky.social and Dr. Allison Bronson: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/editors-...
Read more about their exciting research on shark skeletal labyrinths here:
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

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Reposted by Christopher M. Smith

Caley Orr @caleyorr.bsky.social · Apr 1

Our 3D scans of the ~2.0 million-year-old hominin pelvis (DNH 43) from Drimolen (Cradle of Humankind, South Africa) publicly available at this link. Species is most likely Paranthropus robustus. Please use scans & cite Berg et al (2025). #paleoanthropology 🏺🧪
human-fossil-record.org/index.php?/c...

Figure 1 from Berg et al (2025): Three-dimensional polygon models derived from surface scanning of DNH 43. A) sacrum (DNH 43A) with arrow indicating cranially-directed deformation of the left side of the sacral plateau; B) bisection and reflection of the relatively undistorted right side to reconstruct the left side; C) medial view of the two refit pieces of the os coxae (DNH 43B); D) anterior view of the articulated pelvis with the reconstructed sacrum and the right os coxae reflected to reproduce the left side; E) superior view of the articulated pelvis; F) lateral view of the articulated pelvis.

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Reposted by Christopher M. Smith

Caley Orr @caleyorr.bsky.social · Mar 27

New paper from my lab & Drimolen team (@ozarchaeomaglab.bsky.social) on the DNH 43 hominin pelvis. I first saw it in 2019. Given the importance of the pelvis in the evolution of human locomotion and birth, I was surprised only a basic description had been published. 1/ #paleoanthropology 🏺🧪

sajournalofscience.bsky.social @sajournalofscience.bsky.social · Mar 27

Analysis of an understudied 2-million-year-old fossil pelvis from the site of Drimolen, South Africa provides additional insights into the anatomy of early human relatives. doi.org/10.17159/saj... @caleyorr.bsky.social @ozarchaeomaglab.bsky.social

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Christopher M. Smith @csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social · Mar 20

Excellent opportunity for any students interested in ear evolution! 👇👇

a-urciuoli.bsky.social @a-urciuoli.bsky.social · Mar 20

🧵 1/2 PhD Opportunity! Join my new HEAR lab
@ the University of Zurich (Sept 2025) to research hominin hearing evolution. 4yr contract, SNSF funded. Focus: cochlear anatomy, computational modeling, fossil hearing. shorturl.at/ohH44

Open PhD position on Biomechanics and Anatomy of the Ape and Hominin Organ of Hearing

shorturl.at

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Reposted by Christopher M. Smith

Jordan Crowell @crowelljw.bsky.social · Mar 13

New paper is out! We used microCT to reanalyze the partial cranium of Plesiolestes nacimienti - the oldest plesiadapiform cranium currently known!
@purgatoriidae.bsky.social

nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

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Reposted by Christopher M. Smith

Dr. Mary T. Silcox @marytsilcox.bsky.social · Mar 11

New paper co-led by Maddy Lang and myself, providing the most comprehensive analysis of the evolution of olfactory bulb size in living and fossil euarchontoglirans. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

But how does it smell? An investigation of olfactory bulb size among living and fossil primates and other euarchontoglirans

Analysis of cranial endocast data of 181 extant and 41 fossil species from Euarchontoglires shows that there was a reduction in olfactory bulb size in Crown Primates, but that there were also subsequ...

anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Christopher M. Smith @csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social · Feb 21

Fascinating new research from @a-urciuoli.bsky.social using the inner ear to dig deep into Neanderthal evolution. Check it out!!

a-urciuoli.bsky.social @a-urciuoli.bsky.social · Feb 20

New research on the inner ear morphology of Neanderthals and their ancestors challenges the widely accepted theory that Neanderthals originated after an evolutionary event that implied the loss of part of their genetic diversity 🧵👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Reposted by Christopher M. Smith

Caley Orr @caleyorr.bsky.social · Jan 24

An open-access collection of early fossil hominin scans from Swartkrans, South Africa was recently published in the journal PaleoAnthropology by Skinner et al. Both Paranthropus robustus & early Homo are represented in the assemblage.
paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.ph...
🏺🧪🦣
#paleoanthropology

Image from Skinner et al (2025) showing the SK 46 fossil specimen (a cranium typically attributed to Paranthropus robustus) from Swartkrans, South Africa. The specimen is depicted in sagittal section from the microCT image (top right) and as surface renderings of the cranium in anterior view (top left), lateral view (bottom left), and inferior view (bottom right).

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Reposted by Christopher M. Smith

Griffin Lab @griffinlabpaleo.bsky.social · Jan 15

New paper alert! Kimi_Chapelle, lab PI Chris Griffin, and Diego Pol try our best to review everything we know about dinosaur ontogeny and reproduction in under 2k words in an invited contribution to Biology Letters

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Growing with dinosaurs: a review of dinosaur reproduction and ontogeny | Biology Letters

Since the start of the twenty-first century, there has been a notable increase in annual publications focusing on dinosaur reproduction and ontogeny with researchers using these data to address a rang...

royalsocietypublishing.org

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Christopher M. Smith @csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social · Jan 13

🚨 ICYMI: We've launched 6k+ 3D skeletal scans of primates, freely accessible! Led by my AMNH mentor, Sergio Almécija, it's a game-changer for biology, anthropology, & conservation research.
nature.com/articles/s41...

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Reposted by Christopher M. Smith

Dr. Headbutt 🌈🧪 @nicoleackermans.com · Jan 7

NEW PUBLICATION ALERT!
I started writing this paper in 2020 and it's come a long way since. We went in trying to figure out why braincases in headbutting animals looked bumpy, we found... 🧪 🧠 👩‍🔬
#SICB2025

The Anatomical Record @anatrecord.bsky.social · Jan 7

Headbutting bovids like muskoxen evolved thick skulls & large horns due to sexual selection & headbutting. But, cranial adaptations may not extend into brain case, endocranial roughness doesn't correlate w/headbutting in bovids
@nicoleackermans.bsky.social & Joy Reidenberg: doi.org/10.1002/ar.2...

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Reposted by Christopher M. Smith

Ryan N. Felice @rnf.bsky.social · Dec 21

turns out you can do some pretty cool stuff with the power of diceCT, SPROUT (www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...), and the SmARTR pipeline (www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...)

a 3d rendering of the skull and cranial muscles of the Eurasian oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

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Reposted by Christopher M. Smith

Caley Orr @caleyorr.bsky.social · Dec 18

Our new paper announcing a freely available database of 3D scans of primate skeletal material--a major effort led by Sergio Almécija & his team at the American Museum of Natural History.
🧪 🏺 #paleosky #anatomy #primates #anthropology #morphology #zoology #paleoanthropology #openscience

Primate Phenotypes: A Multi-Institution Collection of 3D Morphological Data Housed in MorphoSource - Scientific Data

Scientific Data - Primate Phenotypes: A Multi-Institution Collection of 3D Morphological Data Housed in MorphoSource

www.nature.com

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Christopher M. Smith @csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social · Dec 18

Haha thanks Jeff!

Christopher M. Smith @csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social · Dec 14

Thanks Zach!

Christopher M. Smith @csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social · Dec 14

This was a massive team effort w/ Ashley Hammond, Alessandro Urciuoli, José Braga, Amélie Beaudet, Marine Cazenave, Jeffrey Laitman, and Sergio Almécija and sets the foundation to explore the system in hominins. There's still so much to discover—it's just the tip of the iceberg with Paranthropus!

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Christopher M. Smith @csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social · Dec 14

…and useful osteological markers to be used in taxonomic identification of P. robustus remains plus future assessments of Paranthropus classification.

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Christopher M. Smith @csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social · Dec 14

We find unique structural alterations in the Paranthropus robustus inner ear vestibule related to functional properties of the otolithic (gravito-inertial) organs, offering potential evidence for differential positional behavior between P. robustus and A. africanus…

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Christopher M. Smith @csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social · Dec 14

The human evolutionary story is full of oddities. The Paranthropus group is particularly fascinating. Today, we present new insights into their inner ear indicating that one species -Paranthropus robustus- may have indeed been doing something different! 1/4🧵

authors.elsevier.com/a/1kGFIAlZXX...

Inner ear anatomy of Paranthropus robustus compared to modern humans.

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