Fossil hominids
In vivo and finite element modeling studies have long informed our understanding of fossil hominid cranial and mandibular evolution. Collaborations with Dr. David Strait have produced several important papers on fossil hominid cranial mechanics. We use data on bone material properties collected with Paul Dechow, data on muscle architecture collected by Andrea Taylor, and data on jaw kinematics and muscle activity collected with Jose (Pepe) Iriarte-Diaz and Olga Panagiotopoulou to build our models. In collaboration with Zeray Alemseged, Andrea Taylor, Chris Robinson, Amanda Smith and Carol Ward we are using geometric morphometric and finite element modeling techniques to study mandible design (form-function relationships) in living and fossil hominids (humans and apes). We are interested in what aspects of diet or feeding behavior are reflected in mandible morphology, and hence can be reconstructed in fossil hominids.
