PhD, Organismal Biology & Anatomy, University of Chicago. Thesis Title: “The Load Paths in the Jaws of Extant Mammals and Fossil Mammaliaforms and Their Significance for Mammal Jaw and Ear Evolution”

Related Publications

Biomechanics of the mandibular middle ear of the cynodont Thrinaxodon and the evolution of mammal hearing
Alec T. Wilken, Chelsie C. G. Snipes, Callum F. Ross, and Zhe-Xi Luo. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 122 (51) e2516082122 (2025) [PDF] [DOI]

Quadrate orientation and joint reaction force underwent correlated evolution during suchian evolution
Kaleb C. Sellers, Alec T. Wilken, Corrine R. Cranor, Kevin M. Middleton, Casey M. Holliday. Journal of Anatomy. (2025) [PDF] [DOI]

Avian cranial kinesis is the result of increased encephalization during the origin of birds
Alec T. Wilken, Kaleb C. Sellers, Ian N. Cost, Julian Davis, Kevin M. Middleton, Lawrence M. Witmer, and Casey M. Holliday. PNAS. (2025) [PDF] [DOI]

A new biomechanical model of the mammal jaw based on load path analysis
Alec T. Wilken, Julia A. Schultz, Zhe-Xi Luo, Callum F. Ross. Journal of Experimental Morphology. jeb-247030 (2024) [PDF] [DOI]

Connecting the chondrocranium: Biomechanics of the suspensorium in reptiles
Wilken AT, Sellers KC, Cost IN, Rozin RE, Middleton KM, and Holliday CM. Vertebrate Zoology. 70(3): 275-290 (2020) [DOI]

Comparative functional skeletal morphology among three genera of shrews: implications for the evolution of locomotor behavior in the Soricinae (Eulipotyphla: Soricidae)
Woodman, N and Wilken, AT. Journal of Mammalogy. 100(6): 1750-1764 (2019) [DOI]

The roles of joint tissues and jaw muscles in palatal biomechanics of the Savannah monitor (Varanus exanthematicus) and their significance for cranial kinesis.
Wilken AT, Middleton KM, Sellers KC, Cost IN, and Holliday CM. Journal of Experimental Biology. 222 (18): jeb201459 (2019) [DOI]

See how they ran: morphological and functional aspects of skeletons from ancient Egyptian shrew mummies (Euliptophyla: Soricidae: Crocidurinae)
Woodman, N, Wilken, AT, and Ikram, S. Journal of Mammalogy. 100(4): 1199-1210 (2019) [DOI]