Graduate Student Program Research Support

This Graduate Student Program Research Support brief highlights the anatomy laboratory providing ongoing research opportunities for graduate students. The lab's work centers on vertebrate growth, development, and intraspecific variation using a combination of bone histology, computed tomography and phylogenetic methods. The primary taxonomic focus is dinosaurs (including birds) and other fossil and extant vertebrates from deep time intervals such as the Triassic and Permian, and he also investigates amniote eggs and nesting. The program supports students seeking hands-on experience in comparative anatomy, growth and developmental dynamics, reproductive biology, and evolutionary inference.

The lab's research productivity is evident across a diverse set of outputs; the profile lists 18 research outputs including articles, posters, chapters, and conference papers. Examples cited in the profile reflect the methods and themes central to the program: computed tomography visualization studies such as work on Wormian bones in the pen-tailed tree shrew demonstrate technical training in CT imaging and osteological interpretation; osteohistological research on a smallest-known phytosaur femur provides insights into growth rates and archosaur evolution, illustrating histological sampling and developmental inference approaches; three-dimensional reconstructions of maxillary canals in ancient amniote relatives showcase integrative anatomical and sensory-system investigations; and comparative cranial biomechanics research highlights macroevolutionary analyses applied to theropod dinosaurs. These outputs, together with conference presentations and media engagement, show that students involved in the program can gain experience spanning specimen preparation, microstructure analysis, digital visualization, phylogenetic and functional interpretation and science communication.