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Lawrence M. Witmer,
PhD
Professor of Anatomy
Chang Professor of Paleontology
Dept. of Biomedical Sciences
Heritage
College of Osteopathic Medicine
Life Science Building, Rm 123
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio 45701 USA
Email:
witmerL@ohio.edu
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Research Statement
WitmerLab at Ohio University
explores the functional morphology of vertebrates. A major
focus has been the soft tissues of the heads of dinosaurs, and
so, vertebrate paleontology is an important activity. But, since fossils
tend to preserve only bones and teeth, we also study modern-day animals. As
a result, our projects are diverse, ranging from studies of
the nasal apparatus of Diplodocus to the brain and ear of
T. rex to the horns of rhinos to the
airflow in alligator heads, and so
on. We use traditional techniques, as well as the latest in high-tech imaging and
3D visualization. Anatomy is our stock-in-trade, because anatomical details record the evolution of
adaptation. Their study provides a better understanding of
the vertebrate head: how it worksfrom physiology to
biomechanicsand how it evolves. |
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WitmerLab
News! |
Keeping a cool head
Different dinosaurs evolved different cooling
strategies. An
article appeared in the Anatomical Record
that showed that different kinds of large
dinosaurs solved problems associated with
overheating and heatstroke by using different
vascular heat exchangers as cooling regions. (2019-10-16)
PDF:
Porter, W. R., and L. M. Witmer. 2019. Vascular
patterns in the heads of dinosaurs: evidence for
blood vessels, sites of thermal exchange, and
their role in physiological thermoregulatory
strategies. Anatomical Record.
Project Page with Common Language Summary,
images, GIFs, movie, Sketchfab, etc. |
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Low variability in
inner ear shape within a population of wild
turkey
lends confidence to paleobiological studies. An
article appeared in
the
PeerJ that used 3D geometric
morphometric approaches to show that
intraspecific variability was very low in wild
turkey labyrinths, suggesting that
paleobiological studies with small sample sizes
may still be valid. (2019-07-23)
PDF:
Cerio, D.
G., and L. M. Witmer. 2019. Intraspecific
variability and symmetry of the inner-ear
labyrinth in a population of wild turkeys:
implications for paleontological
reconstructions. PeerJ 7:e7355
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7355. |
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3D biomechanical
modeling shows that the skull of
Tyrannosaurus rex was functionally akinetic. An
article appeared in
the
Anatomical
Record that used 3D modeling
approaches to compare extant species with
cranial kinesis to T. rex, showing that
T. rex lacked the hallmark attributes of
kinesis. (2019-07-22)
PDF:
Cost, I. N.,
K. M. Middleton, S. Echols, L. M. Witmer, J. L.
Davis, and C. M. Holliday. 2019. Palatal
biomechanics and its significance for cranial
kinesis in Tyrannosaurus rex. Anatomical
Record https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.24219. |
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New functional
interpretations of the skull roof anatomy of
archosaurs. An
article appeared in
the
Anatomical
Record that reinterprets the
frontoparietal fossa as housing vasculature
potentially associated with physiology rather
than jaw musculature. (2019-07-15)
PDF:
Holliday, C.
M., W. R. Porter, K. Vliet, and L. M. Witmer.
2019. The frontoparietal fossa and dorsotemporal
fenestra of archosaurs and their significance
for interpretations of vascular and muscular
anatomy. Anatomical Record
https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.24218. |
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New website for the
WitmerLab Skull Cast Collection. We
launched a new and much improved website to
deliver the more than 2200 photos of the almost
80 skull casts in our collection:
https://www.witmerlab.com/collection-types.
This site replaces the site we've had for many
years (http://bit.ly/2HT7Qee).
Thanks to OU freshman Anna Brant for her work on
designing the new site, and thanks to former
WitmerLab grad student Amy Martiny who did all
the photography almost a decade ago. (2019-04-
26) |
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Statistical analysis of
patterns of shape variation
in archosaurs provides new insight into skull
evolution. An
article appeared in
the
Integrative and Comparative Biology that
used high-dimensional geometric morphometric
analyses to show that archosaurs have stable
patterns of trait integration despite high
diversity of skull form and function.. (2019-04-24)
PDF:
Felice, R.
N., A. Watanabe, A. Cuff, D. Pol, L. M. Witmer,
M. A. Norell, P. M. O'Connor, and A. Goswami.
2019. Evolutionary integration and modularity in
the archosaur cranium. Integrative and
Comparative Biology 59(2):371382. |
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Agility and turning
speed in tyrannosaurs. An
article appeared in
PeerJ
that presents agility estimates based on
biomechanics and comparative methods to reveal
that tyrannosaurids had much greater turning
abilities than other theropods of similar body
size. (2019-02-21)
PDF:
Snively, E. D., H. O'Brien, D. M. Henderson, H.
Mallison, L. A. Surring, M. E. Burns, T. R.
Holtz, Jr., A. P. Russell, L. M. Witmer, P. J.
Currie, S. A. Hartman, and J. R. Cotton. 2019.
Lower rotational inertia and larger leg muscles
indicate more rapid turns in tyrannosaurids than
in other large theropods. PeerJ 7:e6432
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6432. |
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Nasal air conditioners
helped armored dinosaurs keep a cool head. An
article appeared in
PLOS ONE that uses computational fluid
dynamics analyses and restoration of blood-flow
patterns to show that "krazy-straw" nasal
cavities of ankylosaurs functioned as efficient
heat exchangers to cool the brain. (2018-12-19)
PDF:
Bourke, J. M., W. R. Porter, and L. M. Witmer. 2018. Convoluted
nasal passages function as efficient heat exchangers in
ankylosaurs (Dinosauria: Ornithischia: Thyreophora). PLOS ONE
13(12): e0207381.
Project Page with Common Language Summary,
images, GIF, movie, 3D-PDFs, etc. |
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An atavistic four-eyed
fossil and evolution of the pineal complex. A
commentary
article appeared as a Dispatch in Current
Biology that comments on an article (http://bit.ly/2Jg5frk)
about a new fossil monitor lizard with both
parapineal and pineal "eyes." (2018-04-02)
L. M. Witmer. 2018. Paleoneurology: A sight for
four eyes. Current Biology. 28(7):
R311R313.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.02.071 |
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Skull anatomy of the
oviraptorosaurian dinosaur Avimimus. An
article appeared in the Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology that describes important new
skull fossils from Mongolia of the peculiar
theropod Avimimus. (2017-08-31)
Tsuihiji,
T., L. M. Witmer, M. Watabe, R. Barsbold, K.
Tsogtbaatar, S. Suzuki, and P. Khatanbaatar.
2017. New information on the cranial morphology
of Avimimus (Theropoda:
Oviraptorosauria). Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology e1347177 (12 pages). DOI:
10.1080/02724634.2017.1347177. |
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WitmerLab graduate
student successes. Doctoral student JP Nassif received a three-year National
Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research
Fellowship (GRF) as well as advanced to
candidacy by passing her qualifying exams.
Doctoral student Don Cerio received significant
research grants from the OU Student Enhancement
Award fund and the Jurassic Foundation. Doctoral
Student
Catherine
Early received a prestigious NSF
Graduate Research Internship (GRIP) to work at
the Smithsonian this summer. (2017-06-05) |
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Best practices for open
data. An article appeared in the
Proceedings of the Royal Society B that
discusses best practices for open data in the
digital morphology era. (2017-04-12)
Davies, T.
G., I. A. Rahman, S. Lautenschlager, J. A.
Cunningham, R. J. Asher, P. M. Barrett, K. T.
Bates, S. Bengtson, R. B. J. Benson, D. M.
Boyer, J. Braga, J. A. Bright, L. P.A.M.
Claessens, P. G. Cox, X.-P. Dong, A. R. Evans,
P. L. Falkingham, M. Friedman, R. J. Garwood, A.
Goswami, J. R. Hutchinson, N. S. Jeffery, Z.
Johanson, R. Lebrun, C. Martνnez-Pιrez, J.
Marugαn-Lobσn, P. M. OHiggins, B. Metscher, M.
Orliac, T. B. Rowe, M. Rόcklin, M. R.
Sαnchez-Villagra, N. H. Shubin, S. Y. Smith, J.
M. Starck, C. Stringer, A. P. Summers, M. D.
Sutton, S. A. Walsh, V. Weisbecker, L. M.
Witmer, S. Wroe, Z. Yin1, E. J. Rayfield, and P.
C. J. Donoghue. 2017. Open data and digital
morphology. Proceedings of the Royal Society
B 284: 20170194. |
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Avian cranial kinesis
and joint histology in ducks. An
article appeared in the Journal of Anatomy
that details the ontogeny of kinetic joint
formation in ducks, with implications for the
evolution of avian kinesis. (2017-02-17)
Bailleul, A.
M., L. M. Witmer, and C. M. Holliday. 2017.
Cranial joint histology in the mallard duck (Anas
platyrhynchos): new insights on avian
cranial kinesis. Journal of Anatomy
230:444460. |
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Jurassic
thalattosuchian crocodylomorph braincase and
endocast. An
article appeared in the Anatomical Record that
provides new information on the braincase of the
teleosaurid Steneosaurus with
implications for brain and sinus evolution. (2016-11-06)
Brusatte, S. L., A. Muir, M. T. Young, S. Walsh,
L. Steel, and L. M. Witmer. 2016. The braincase
and neurosensory anatomy of an Early Jurassic
marine crocodylomorph: implications for
crocodylian sinus evolution and sensory
transitions. Anatomical Record
299:15111530. DOI: 10.1002/ar.2346. |
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The Visible Interactive
Pachycephalosaur.
Our 10th
open-access, freely downloadable resource for
education and research. This
website presents 3D PDFs and movies of the
3D anatomical structure of the skulls of three
pachycephalosaurian dinosaur specimens, along with links to
annotated interactive 3D models on Sketchfab.
(2016-10-25)
Check out the WitmerLab
Visible Interactive Pachycephalosaur site
Download the ΅CT scan data and STLs for 3D
printing on MorphoSource |
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Blood vessels in the
heads of birds and their physiological
significance. An
article appeared in the Anatomical Record that
provides the most comprehensive analysis of
cephalic vasculature in birds and explores the
controversial function of a cephalic heat
exchanger. (2016-10-13)
Porter, W.
R. and L. M. Witmer. 2016. Avian cephalic
vascular anatomy, sites of thermal exchange, and
the rete ophthalmicum. Anatomical Record
299:14611486. doi:10.1002/ar.23375
Note: an
interactive 3D PDF is embedded within the
document on the seventh page similar to other
figures
Download the 3D PDF
as a separate file on Dryad
DICOM
data download for injected specimens of two
turkeys and
two cormorants on Dryad |
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Blood vessels in the
heads of crocodilians and their physiological
significance. An
article appeared in the Journal of Anatomy that
provides the most comprehensive analysis of
cephalic vasculature in crocodilians in the context
of heat exchange. (2016-09-28)
Porter, W. R, J. C. Sedlmayr, and L. M. Witmer.
2016. Vascular patterns in the heads of
crocodilians: blood vessels and sites of thermal
exchange. Journal of Anatomy 229:125.
doi: 10.1111/joa.12539
Download a PDF of the article complete with the
supplemental 3D PDF
Download the supplemental 3D PDF
DICOM
data download for three injected alligator and
one crocodile specimens on Dryad |
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Skull and brain
endocast of Triopticus primus, a new basal
archosauriform. An
article appeared in Current Biology that names
and describes a new basal archosauriform from
Texas and analyzes evolutionary convergence with
later dinosaurs. (2016-09-22)
Stocker, M. R., S. J. Nesbitt, K. E. Criswell,
W. G. Parker, L. M. Witmer, T. B. Rowe, R. C.
Ridgely, and M. A. Brown. 2016. A dome-headed
stem-archosaur exemplifies convergence among
dinosaurs and their distant relatives.
Current Biology 26:26762680.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.066.
Download a PDF of the article
View a
YouTube video of the
rotating skull with endocast
View 3D interactive
Sketchfab animations of
the
annotated skull and
skull & endocast together
Download the CT scan data on
MorphoSource |
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Aerodynamic baffles in
bird nasal cavities. An
article appeared in Respiratory Physiology &
Neurobiology that presents 3D modeling of
nasal airflow in turkeys, revealing the role of
nasal conchae in airstreaming. (2016-09-12)
Bourke, J. M., and L. M. Witmer. 2016. Nasal
conchae function as aerodynamic baffles:
Experimental computational fluid dynamic
analysis in a turkey nose (Aves: Galliformes).
Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology
234:3246.
Download a PDF of the article |
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The Visible Interactive
Parrot. An
open-access, freely downloadable resource for
education and research. This
website presents 3D PDFs and movies of the
3D anatomical structure of the skull of a
scarlet macaw
(Ara macao), along with links to
annotated interactive 3D models on Sketchfab.
(2016-06-20)
Check out the WitmerLab
Visible Interactive Parrot site
Download the ΅CT scan data and STLs for 3D
printing on MorphoSource |
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Skull and brain
endocast of Sarmientosaurus, a new basal titanosaurian sauropod. An
article appeared in PLOS ONE that names
and describes a new dinosaur from Argentina. (2016-04-26)
Martνnez, R. D. F., M. C. Lamanna, F. E. Novas,
R. C. Ridgely, G. A. Casal, J. Martνnez, J. R.
Vita, and L. M. Witmer. 2016. A basal
lithostrotian titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda)
with a complete skull: Implications for the
evolution and paleobiology of Titanosauria. PLoS
ONE 11(4): e0151661.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151661.
Download a PDF of the article
Download a 3D PDF of the skull and brain
endocast
View a
YouTube video of the
rotating skull with endocast or of the
labeled skull
View annotated 3D interactive
Sketchfab animations of
the
skull,
brain endocast, and
skull & endocast together |
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Enhanced visualization
of soft-tissues with ΅CTdiceCT: Diffusible
Iodine-based Contrast-Enhanced Computed
Tomography. An
open-access article appeared in the
Journal of Anatomy that explores the
benefits and technical intricacies of iodine
staining for ΅CT. (2016-03-11)
Gignac, P.
M., N. J. Kley, J. A. Clarke, M. W. Colbert, A.
C. Morhardt, D. Cerio, I. N. Cost, P. G. Cox, J.
D. Daza, C. M. Early, M. S. Echols, R. M.
Henkelman, A. N. Herdina, C. M. Holliday, Z. Li,
K. Mahlow, S. Merchant, J. Mόller, C. P. Orsbon,
D. J. Paluh. M. L. Thies, H. P. Tsai, and L. M.
Witmer. 2016. Diffusible iodine-based
contrast-enhanced computed tomography (diceCT):
an emerging tool for rapid, high-resolution, 3-D
imaging of metazoan soft tissues. Journal of
Anatomy 228(6):889909. doi: 10.1111/joa.12449.
Download a PDF of the article
Visit the diceCT website |
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Postnatal development
of the head arterial patterns of giraffe. An
article appeared in PeerJ that compares
the vascular patterns of different age classes
of giraffe. (2016-02-16)
OBrien, H. D., P. M. Gignac, T. L. Hieronymus,
and L. M. Witmer. 2016. A comparison of
postnatal arterial patterns in a growth series
of giraffe (Artiodactyla: Giraffa
camelopardalis). PeerJ 4:e1696; DOI
10.7717/peerj.1696.
Download a PDF of the article
View a
YouTube video of the adult skull and blood
vessels |
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Skull of
the early ornithischian dinosaur
Lesothosaurus. An
article appeared in PeerJ that uses CT
scanning and 3D visualization to describe the
skull of Lesothosaurus. (2015-12-21)
Porro, L.
B., L. M. Witmer, and P. M. Barrett. 2015.
Digital preparation and osteology of the skull
of Lesothosaurus diagnosticus
(Ornithischia: Dinosauria). PeerJ 3:e1494
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1494.
Download a
PDF of the article |
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Skull of a new
ankylosaurian
dinosaur from Australia. An
article appeared in PeerJ that
describes the skull of the basal ankylosaur
formerly known as Minmi sp. as
Kunbarrasaurus. (2015-12-08)
Leahey, L.
G., R. E. Molnar, K. Carpenter, L. M. Witmer,
and S. W. Salisbury. 2015. Cranial osteology of
the ankylosaurian dinosaur formerly known as
Minmi sp. (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) from
the Lower Cretaceous Allaru Mudstone of
Richmond, Queensland, Australia. PeerJ
3:e1475. doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1475
Download a PDF of the article complete with the
supplemental 3D PDF
View a
YouTube video of the skull, brain endocast,
inner ear, and nasal structures
View an
annotated 3D interactive Sketchfab animation of
the skull
View a 3D
interactive Sketchfab animation of the skull,
brain endocast, inner ear, etc. |
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Blood vessels in the
heads of lizards and their physiological
significance. An
article appeared in PLOS ONE that
provides the most comprehensive analysis of
cephalic vasculature in lizards in the context
of heat exchange. (2015-10-14)
Porter, W. R. and L. M. Witmer. 2015. Vascular
patterns in iguanas and other squamates: blood
vessels and sites of thermal exchange. PLOS ONE
10(10): e0139215.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0139215.
Download a PDF of the article complete with the
supplemental 3D PDF
DICOM data
download for five OUVC injected specimens on Dryad
Visit the updated Visible Interactive
Iguana
site |
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Titanosaur sauropod
braincase and endocast evolution based on a new
specimen from Spain. An
article appeared in PLOS ONE that looks
at the structure and evolution of titanosaur
neurological evolution. (2015-10-07)
Knoll, F., L. M. Witmer, R. C. Ridgely, F.
Ortega, and J. L. Sanz. 2015. A new
titanosaurian braincase from the Cretaceous Lo
Hueco locality in Spain sheds light on
neuroanatomical evolution within Titanosauria.
PLOS ONE. 10(10): e0138233.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0138233
Download a
PDF of the article complete with the
supplemental 3D PDF
DICOM data
download on Dryad. |
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Young Scholars OHIO. WitmerLab
put on a workshop for a
group of "profoundly gifted" students as part of
the Young Scholars OHIO program. This year we
had 9 students aged 1015 from six different
states. The workshop allowed the kids to work with our >80 skull
casts and to interact with WitmerLab
members to learn about the science of dinosaurs
and to assemble the "Field
Guide to the Dinosaurs of the WitmerLab."
Check out the
photo album on our Facebook page. (2015-10-05) |
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Building better brain
endocasts. An
article appeared in the Journal of
Anatomy that explores the theory and
practice of generating virtual brain endocasts
from CT scan data. (2015-09-25)
Balanoff, A.
M., G. S. Bever, M. Colbert, J. A. Clark, D.
Field, P. M. Gignac, D. T. Ksepka, R. C.
Ridgely, N. A. Smith, C. Torres, S. Walsh, and
L. M. Witmer. 2015. Best practices for digitally
constructing endocranial casts: examples from
birds and their dinosaurian relatives.
Journal of Anatomy. doi: 10.1111/joa.12378. |
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Anatomy and ontogeny of
the middle ear and paratympanic pneumatic
sinuses in alligators with implications for
hearing. An
article appeared in PLOS ONE that examines the developmental anatomy,
scaling, and function of the middle-ear air
sinuses in a growth series of alligator
comprising almost a 20-fold increase in skull
size. (2015-09-23)
Dufeau, D. L., and L. M. Witmer. 2015. Ontogeny
of the middle-ear air-sinus system in
Alligator mississippiensis (Archosauria:
Crocodylia). PLOS ONE 10(9): e0137060.
doi:10.1371/journal. pone.0137060E.
Download a PDF of the article complete with the
supplemental 3D PDF
DICOM data
download for OUVC 10606 on Dryad.
Visit the updated Visible Interactive Alligator
site |
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Welcome to James Nassif who
joins the lab as a new doctoral student.
James graduated from the University of Wisconsin
at Madison in 2014. Welcome, James! (2015-07-22) |
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Anatomy of the
braincase, endocast,
and other skeletal
remains of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaurs from
Uzbekistan. An
article appeared in the Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology that
examines the anatomical structure of the
braincase, brain endocast, inner ear, and other
skeletal remains of titanosaurs the
Cretaceous Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan. (2015-02-05)
Sues, H.-D., A. O. Averianov, R. C.
Ridgely, and L. M. Witmer. 2015. Titanosauria
(Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Upper
Cretaceous Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
35(1):e889145-1e889145-14.
Download supplemental figures of the braincase
and endocast
Download a 3D PDF of the braincase, brain
endocast, and labyrinth:
small (5 MB),
medium (16 MB),
large (30 MB) Note: save 3D PDFs to your
computer before running.
Download the original CT scan data in DICOM
format (51 MB):
WitmerLab site,
figshare |
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Skull anatomy in the therizinosauroid dinosaur Erlikosaurus. An
article appeared in the Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology that
examines the anatomical structure of the skull in the
Cretaceous Mongolian therizinosauroid theropod
Erlikosaurus. (2014-11-04)
Lautenschlager, S., L. M. Witmer, Perle A., L.
E. Zanno, and E. J. Rayfield. 2014. Cranial
anatomy of Erlikosaurus andrewsi
(Dinosauria, Therizinosauria): new insights
based on digital reconstruction. Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology 34(6):12631291.
Download a
3D PDF of the restored fossil skull of
Erlikosaurus
Download a
3D PDF of the original fossil skull of
Erlikosaurus |
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The Visible Interactive
Moa. An
open-access, freely downloadable resource for
education and research. This
website presents 3D PDFs and movies of the
3D anatomical structure of the skull of a moa
(Dinornis robustus), an extinct giant
flightless bird from New Zealand.
(2014-10-26)
Check out the WitmerLab
Visible Interactive Moa site |
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Restoring nasal anatomy
and airflow in dinosaurs.
An
article appeared in the Anatomical Record that explores
breathing and brain-temperature regulation of
pachycephalosaurs like Stegoceras using
soft-tissue
reconstruction and computational fluid dynamics. (2014-10-14)
Bourke, J. M., Wm. R. Porter, R. C. Ridgely, T. R. Lyson, E. R.
Schachner, P. R. Bell, and L. M. Witmer. 2014. Breathing life
into dinosaurs: tackling challenges of soft-tissue restoration
and nasal airflow in extinct species. Anatomical Record
297:21482186.
Check out the
animation on YouTube video
Check out the AR WOW supplemental animation
Check out
the Project Page for more images, movies, PDFs
downloads, and the news release. |
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The Visible Interactive
Bobcat. An
open-access, freely downloadable resource for
education and research. This
website presents 3D PDFs and movies of the
3D anatomical structure of the skull of an Ohio
bobcat (Lynx rufus). The site also provides
downloads of the full ΅CT scan datasets and a 3D
printable STL file.
The bobcat is
the sports mascot for Ohio University, so one
goal is to connect, in some small way,
intercollegiate athletics to science. (2014-10-02)
Check out the
WitmerLab
Visible Interactive Bobcat site |
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Alexandra Spaw
completes her thesis and starts med school.
Lexie Spaw completed her undergraduate
honors thesis entitled "Fetal Developmental
Anatomy of the Human Cardiovascular and Central
Nervous Systems Using Lugols Iodine Staining
and Micro-Computed Tomography," graduated Magna
Cum Laude from OU, and will start med school at
the Ohio State University College of Medicine
this summer. Congratulations, Lexie! (2014-05-03) |
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Skeletal density
evolution in Antarctic fishes.
An
article appeared in
the
Journal of Morphology that explores the
evolutionary divergence in skeletal density in
Antarctic notothenioid fishes that lack swim
bladders yet live in the water column. (2014-03-05)
download the article on the Journal of
Morphology website
download the article on OU's site:
Eastman, J. T., L. M. Witmer, R. C. Ridgely, and
K. L. Kuhn. 2014. Divergence in skeletal mass
and bone morphology in Antarctic notothenioid
fishes. Journal of Morphology
275:841861. DOI
10.1002/jmor.20258. |
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Evolution of tooth loss
and beaks in theropod dinosaurs.
An
article appeared in
PNAS (the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences) that
explores the functional consequences of
edentulism (tooth loss) and evolution of a
rhamphotheca (a horny beak), focusing on the
peculiar theropod dinosaur Erlikosaurus. (2013-12-03)
download the open-access article on the PNAS
website
download the article on OU's site:
Lautenschlager, S., L. M. Witmer, Perle A., and
E. J. Rayfield. 2013. Edentulism, beaks, and
biomechanical innovations in the evolution of
theropod dinosaurs. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences
110:2065720662.
doi:10.1073/pnas.1310711110. |
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Young Scholars OHIO. WitmerLab once again hosted a
group of "profoundly gifted" students as part of
the Young Scholars OHIO program. This year we
had 11 students aged 1014 from several different
states and three countries. We put on a workshop on
1 Oct 2013 that
allowed the kids to work with our >80 skull
casts and to interact with WitmerLab
members to learn about the science of dinosaurs
and to assemble the "Field
Guide to the Dinosaurs of the WitmerLab."
Check out the
photo album on our Facebook page. A
good time was had by al! (2013-10-04) |
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Science Cafι.
Witmer and the whole WitmerLab team gave a
successful Science Cafι to a packed house at the
Front Room on the OU campus. The discussion
surrounded how we go about "Fleshing Out
Dinosaurs...in 3D!" The audience ranged from
preschoolers to emeritus professors and were
eager participants for onstage demonstrations.
Check out the
archived HD video on Livestream or the
album on our Facebook page. (2013-10-04) |
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WitmerLab Circle of
Life. We
welcome three new students to the lab as we wish
farewell to a departing lab member. Welcome to
(1) OU Honors Tutorial College undergrad Elsa
Heiner (top left), who is doing her thesis on
the hyolingual apparatus of diapsids; (2)
doctoral student Catherine Early (top right),
who joins us from North Carolina State
University; and (3) master's student Shayna
Knece (bottom left), who is in OU's Patton
College of Education and studying the delivery
of primary scientific research to multiple grade
levels. And farewell to
Eric Snively (bottom right), who has been
with us since 2010 and left us to start a
tenure-track job at the University of Wisconsin
La Crosse. (2013-10-04) |
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The Visible Interactive
Opossum. An
open-access, freely downloadable resource for
education and research. This
website presents 3D PDFs and movies of the
3D anatomical structure of the entire body of a
pouch young of a Virginia opossum (Didelphis
virginiana). The site also provides
downloads of the full ΅CT scan datasets for two
individuals. (2013-07-01)
Check out the
WitmerLab
Visible Interactive Opossum site |
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Feeding biomechanics in
the marsupial saber-tooth Thylacosmilus
and the placental saber-tooth
Smilodon. An
article appeared in
PLOS ONE
that compares the mechanics of saber-toothed
predation in a metatherian and placental,
exploring the extent of convergent evolution. (2013-06-28)
Wroe, S., C. Uphar, W. C. H. Parr, P. Clausen,
R. C. Ridgely, and L. M. Witmer. 2013.
Comparative biomechanical modeling of metatherian and placental saber-tooths: A
different kind of bite for an extreme pouched
predator. PLOS ONE 8(6): e66888.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0066888
Check out the
photo album on the WitmerLab Facebook page |
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Brain size in
tyrannosaurid dinosaurs. An
article appeared in the book Tyrannosaurid
Paleobiology that presents a quantitative
study of relative brain size in tyrannosaurs. (2013-06-28)
Hurlburt, G. R., R. C. Ridgely, and L. M.
Witmer. 2013. Relative size of brain and
cerebrum in tyrannosaurid dinosaurs: an analysis
using brain-endocast quantitative relationships
in extant alligators. Pp. 134154 In J. M.
Parrish, R. E. Molnar, P. J. Currie, and E. B.
Koppelhus (eds.) Tyrannosaurid Paleobiology.
Indiana University Press, Bloomington. |
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Engineering approaches
and the Visible Interactive Dinosaur project
shed new light on dinosaur feeding styles. An
article appeared in Palaeontologia
Electronica that explores the feeding
biology of Allosaurus using soft-tissue
reconstruction and multibody dynamics. (2013-05-21)
Snively, E. D., J. Cotton, R. C. Ridgely, and L.
M. Witmer. 2013. Multibody dynamics model of
head and neck function in Allosaurus
(Dinosauria, Theropoda). Palaeontologia
Electronica 16.2.11A.
Check out the YouTube video
Check out
the Project Page for more images, movies, PDFs
downloads, and the news release. |
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Braincase, endocast,
and inner ear of a titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur
from Spain. An
article appeared in PLOS ONE that
examines the structure of the braincase, brain
endocast, and inner ear of the Late Cretaceous
sauropod Ampelosaurus sp.. (2013-01-23)
Knoll, F., R. C. Ridgely, F. Ortega, J. L. Sanz,
and L. M. Witmer. 2013. Neurocranial osteology
and neuroanatomy of a Late Cretaceous
titanosaurian sauropod from Spain (Ampelosaurus
sp.). PLOS ONE 8(1): e54991.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054991.
Download a PDF of the article from the
WitmerLab site
Check out the YouTube video
Check out Brian Switek's blog post |
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Brain structure in the
therizinosauroid dinosaur Erlikosaurus. An
article appeared in PLOS ONE that
examines the structure of the brain and sensory
systems in the therizinosauroid theropods. (2012-12-19)
Lautenschlager, S., E. J. Rayfield, Perle A., L.
E. Zanno, and L. M. Witmer. 2012. The
endocranial anatomy of Therizinosauria and its
implications for sensory and cognitive function.
PLOS ONE 7(12): e52289.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052289.
Download a PDF of the article from the
WitmerLab site
Check out the YouTube video |
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Feature article in
Perspectives magazine.
Ohio
University's award-winning research magazine
Perspectives ran a feature article entitled
"Digital Dinosaurs" on Witmer and the latest
research directions in WitmerLab (2012-11-29).
Read the "Digital Dinosaurs" article in
Perspectives written by Adam Liebendorfer
(PDF)
(Webpage) Read the
whole Fall/Winter 2012 issue of Perspectives
online or as a
PDF. |
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The Visible Interactive
Ostrich. An
open-access, freely downloadable resource for
education and research. This
website presents 3D PDFs and movies of the
3D anatomical structure of the head and skull of
the ostrich, Struthio camelus. (2012-10-01)
Check out the
WitmerLab
Visible Interactive Ostrich site |
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The Visible Interactive
Iguana. An
open-access, freely downloadable resource for
education and research. This
website presents 3D PDFs and movies of the
3D anatomical structure of the head and skull of
the green iguana,
Iguana iguana. (2012-09-27)
Check out the
WitmerLab
Visible Interactive Iguana site
|
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The Visible Interactive
Rhino.
An
open-access, freely downloadable resource for education and research. This
website presents CT scan data, 3D PDFs, movies,
and behind-the-scenes photo albums. This work
derives from our efforts to help the veterinary
treatment of rhinos injured in horn-poaching
incidents in South Africa.
(2012-09-20)
Check out the
WitmerLab
Visible Interactive Rhino site
Support the conservation effort of rhinos at the
Kariega Game Reserve's site |
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Feeding biomechanics in
the sauropod dinosaur Diplodocus. An
article appeared in Naturwissenschaften that
uses engineering approaches such as finite
element analysis (FEA) to explore the feeding
behavior of the Jurassic sauropod
dinosaur Diplodocus. (2012-07-16)
Young, M. T., E. J. Rayfield, , C. M. Holliday,
L. M. Witmer, D. J. Button, P. Upchurch, and P.
M. Barrett. 2012. Cranial biomechanics of
Diplodocus (Dinosauria, Sauropoda): testing
hypotheses of feeding behaviour in an extinct
megaherbivore. Naturwissenschaften.99:637643. |
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Welcome to Don Cerio who
joins the lab as a new doctoral student. Don
graduated from Cornell University in 2009, after
which he was a research assistant in Kim
Bostwick's lab at Cornell and later a research
assistant at the University of Tennessee at
Knoxville. Welcome, Don! Exciting times ahead!
(2012-07-09) |
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Anatomy of the muscular
system of dinosaurs.
An article appeared in the 2nd edition of The
Complete Dinosaur that discusses the anatomy
and controversies surrounding the muscles of
dinosaurs (2012-07-06)
Dilkes, D. W., J. R. Hutchinson, C. M.
Holliday, and L. M. Witmer. 2012. Reconstructing
the musculature of dinosaurs. Pp. 150190 In M.
K. Brett-Surman, T. R. Holtz, and J. O. Farlow
(eds.) The Complete Dinosaur, 2nd Edition.
Indiana University Press, Bloomington. |
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Joe Daniel officially
became Joseph C. Daniel, PhD! He
successfully defended, revised, and submitted
his doctoral dissertation, entitled "Heads and
Skulls as Sediment Sorters: An Actualistic,
CT-Based Study in Taphonomy." He is now a Gross
Anatomy Instructor at the University of Arkansas
for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.Here is his
email
address. Well
done, Joe! (2012-05-23) |
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WitmerLab doctoral
students successfully leaped important hurdles!
Ashley Morhardt passed her Written and Oral
Comprehensive Exams
Jason Bourke passed his
Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Defense
(2012-05-03) |
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Braincase, endocast, and
inner ear of a basal sauropod dinosaur. An
article appeared in PLoS ONE
that presents new data on the basal eusauropod
dinosaur Spinophorosaurus from the
Jurassic of Niger. (2012-01-17)
Knoll, F., L. M. Witmer, F. Ortega, R. C.
Ridgely, and D. Schwarz-Wings. 2012. The
braincase of the basal sauropod dinosaur
Spinophorosaurus and 3D reconstructions of
the cranial endocast and inner ear. PLoS ONE
7(1): e30060. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030060.
(8 MB PDF download includes an interactive 3D
PDF)
Check out the animation on YouTube
 |
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Congratulations to Eric Snively! Eric
successfully defended his masters thesis
entitled "Rigid Body Mechanics of Prey Capture
in Large Carnivorous Dinosaurs." Yes, Eric
Snively already had a PhD in Biology (2006), but
now also has a masters degree in Engineering,
working with the mechanical engineering and
bioengineering groups here at Ohio University.
(2011-11-18)
Visit Eric's webpage
Check out his master's thesis |
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Archaeopteryx skull
3D PDFs: a freely downloadable resource! We
scanned some of the skull casts of
Archaeopteryx that we have in our
Collection on the
OU΅CT and then made 3D PDFs to share with
the community. These were released on the 150th
anniversary of the naming of Archaeopteryx
lithographica. (2011-09-30)
Visit the Archaeopteryx 3D PDF website
Read the blog post over at Pick and Scalpel for
backstory and context |
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The brain and crazy-straw
nose of an armored dinosaur.
An article appeared in the Journal of Anatomy
that presents new data on the anatomy of the
nasal cavity, head vasculature, brain, and inner
ear of Euoplocephalus. (2011-09-29)
Miyashita, T., V. M. Arbour, L. M. Witmer, and
P. J. Currie. 2011. The internal cranial
morphology of an armoured dinosaur
Euoplocephalus corroborated by X-ray computed tomographic reconstruction.
Journal of Anatomy 219:661675.
Read the blog post over at Pick and Scalpel for
backstory and context |
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Dave Dufeau officially
became David L. Dufeau, PhD! He successfully
defended, revised, and submitted his doctoral
dissertation, entitled "The evolution of cranial
pneumaticity in Archosauria: patterns of
paratympanic sinus development." He is now a
Lecturer in the Integrative Anatomy program at
the University of Missouri. Here is his contact
information: Department of Pathology and
Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri,
M172 Medical Sciences Building, One Hospital
Drive, Columbia MO 65212, Phone: (573) 884-2361,
web,
email:
dufeaud@missouri.edu. Congratulations, Dave!
(2011-08-19) |
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3D Interactive Human
Anatomy. An open-access, freely downloadable
educational resource
was generated for medical students, other
health-related students, or any other interested
parties, providing labeled interactive movies
and 3D PDFs of upper extremity and skull
anatomy. (2011-08-06) |
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Archaeopteryx
knocked off its perch as the oldest bird. A News & Views piece appeared in
Nature to accompany the
article by
Xu et al. on a new fossil from China that
suggests that Archaeopteryx is no longer
an avialan but rather a basal deinonychosaur.
The N & V piece discusses the
significance of the finding for the origin and
early evolution of birds and what it means for
the iconic status of Archaeopteryx (2011-07-27)
Witmer, L. M. 2011. An icon knocked from its
perch. Nature 475:458459.
Read the blog post over at Pick and Scalpel that
provides more context. |
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WitmerLab doctoral
students successfully leaped important hurdles!
William Porter passed his Doctoral Dissertation
Proposal Defense
Jason Bourke passed his Written and Oral
Comprehensive Exams
(2011-05-16) |
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Juvenile Tarbosaurus
shows shifting tyrannosaur lifestyles: A new
article was published as the Feature Article in
the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology:
Download a PDF of the published article
Visit the
Project Page
Read the blog post over at Pick and Scalpel that
provides back story and context
(2011-05-09) |
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Young Scholars OHIO: WitmerLab once again hosted a
group of "profoundly gifted" students as part of
the Young Scholars OHIO program. This year we
had 15 students aged 611 from nine different
states. We put on a workshop on 2 May 2011 that
allowed the kids to work with our >70 skull
casts and to interact with all 10 WitmerLab
members to learn about the science of dinosaurs
and to assemble the "Field
Guide to the Dinosaurs of the WitmerLab." A
good time was had by al! (2011-05-03) |
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The Visible Interactive
Alligator, an
open-access, freely downloadable,
collaborative resource for education and
research from the WitmerLab at Ohio University
and the Holliday Lab at the University of
Missouri, launches.
Check out the
WitmerLab
Visible Interactive Alligator site
Check out the
Holliday Lab 3D Alligator site
Check out the
blog post over at Pick and Scalpel that
provides back story and technical details.
(2011-04-18) |
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Evolution of the
sense of smell in birds and other dinosaurs. A
new article was published in Proceedings of
the Royal Society B:
Download a PDF of the published article, along with the
Supplementary Information:
Zelenitsky, D. K., F. Therrien, R. C. Ridgely, A. R. McGee, and
L. M. Witmer. 2011. Evolution of olfaction in non-avian theropod
dinosaurs and birds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B
278:36253634.
Visit the
Project Page
Find out the back story in Witmer's blog post
at Pick and Scalpel
(2011-04-13) |
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Dinosaur limb cartilage: Casey Holliday and other past and present
WitmerLab members published an article in the
open-access, freely available online journal PLoS ONE:
Holliday, C. M., R. C. Ridgely, J. C. Sedlmayr,
and L. M. Witmer. 2010. Cartilaginous epiphyses
in extant archosaurs and their implications for
reconstructing limb function in dinosaurs. PLoS
ONE 5(9): e13120.
Download a PDF of the article with Supporting
Information
Find out the back story on Witmer's blog post on
Pick-and-Scalpel
Visit Casey Holliday's site at the University of
Missouri for even more resources
(2010-09-30) |
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Terror Birds! A new article was published
in the open-access, freely available online
journal PLoS ONE:
Degrange, F. J., C. P. Tambussi, K. Moreno, L.
M. Witmer, and S. Wroe. 2010. Mechanical
analysis of feeding behavior in the extinct
"terror bird" Andalgalornis steulleti
(Gruiformes: Phorusrhacidae). PLOS ONE 5(8):
e11856. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.001185
Visit the Project Page for a Common Language
Summary, PDF download of the article, and other
content
Visit a page with Additional Resources, such as
news releases, images, movies, animations, and
more
Visit the WitmerLab Facebook page for a photo
album
(2010-08-18) |
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ICVM-9 Uruguay: Larry Witmer, Dave Dufeau, and WitmerLab alumnus
Casey Holliday attended and gave platform
presentation at the 9th International Congress
of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM) in Punta del
Este, Uruguay. The program is available for
download
here. Witmer was installed as President of
the International Society of Vertebrate
Morphology at the Congress. (2010-08-04) |
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Bird beak evolution: Tobin Hieronymus (NEOUCOM) and Larry Witmer
published an article on bird beak evolution in
the Auk, the major ornithological journal
in North America. This article derives from one
of the chapters from Tobin's doctoral
dissertation research done in our lab. Download
the PDF below. (2010-08-04)
Hieronymus, T. L. and L. M. Witmer. 2010.
Homology and evolution of avian compound
rhamphothecae. Auk 127:590604. |
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We welcome Ashley Morhardt to Ohio University
and the WitmerLab as our newest doctoral
student. Ashley received her Masters degree In
Matt Bonnan's lab at Western Illinois
University. Welcome, Ashley! (2010-07-21) |
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WitmerLab members paused for a group photo,
expertly arranged and photographed by Amy
Martiny, leading to a major update of the
WitmerLab Group Shots webpage.
(2010-07-08) |
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The Young Scholars OHIO program brought about 35 profoundly gifted students
aged 616 from 10 states across the country to Ohio
University for a range of enrichment programs. WitmerLab
hosted nine of these students on 17 May 2010 for a
workshop wherein the students worked with the
50+ dinosaur skull casts in the lab and
WitmerLab staff and grad students to learn how
paleontologists "flesh out" out the past. In
addition to discovering the diversity and drama
of dinosaur evolution, the students created this
Field Guide to the Dinosaurs of the WitmerLab.
(2010-05-18) |
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The
OU Student Research and Creative Activity Expo
was held on 13 May 2010, and WitmerLab people
again made a great showing with
Dave Dufeau,
William Porter, and Jason Bourke all
presenting posters and
Ryan Ridgely again judging the competition
(but not in our category). William won two
awards and Dave won a Sigma-Xi award. Well done,
team! Go visit our
Facebook album with photos of the Expo.
(2010-05-14) |
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Congratulations go to WitmerLab doctoral student
William Porter
who passed his Written and
Oral Comprehensive Exam yesterday. A major
hurdle successfully leapt! Well done, William!
(2010-05-12)
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First-year WitmerLab grad student Jason Bourke
just was granted a 3-year
National Science Foundation Graduate Research
Fellowship for his project "Nasal cavity
shape in dinosaurs and their relatives and its
impact on inferences of airflow and physiology
based on a novel computational technique." Check
out
OU's news release. Keep an eye out for this
project as the years go on. Well done, Jason!
(2010-04-16) |
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We've finally updated our
Facilities page. Check it out to find out
what we have to offer in the way of space,
equipment, and other resources. The page has
some pretty
spectacular panoramic images, as well as
"virtual reality tours" (QTVR), of lab
spaces. (2010-03-18) |
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Abstract Abstracts word clouds of WitmerLab
articles. Check out our
Facebook page album.
A word cloud is a visual display that uses the
relative size of a word as a measure of its
frequency of use in a document (common words
are ignored). It provides a remarkably
interpretable view of what the document is
about. For a scientific article, its akin to
the opening summary or Abstract, but in an
artistically abstract form --- so, Abstract
Abstracts. We used the free online app Wordle (http://www.wordle.net/).
(2010-03-15) |
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Biological Illustrations as Art Danette Pratt,
scientific illustrator in the medical school and
friend of the WitmerLab, has a long overdue
showing of her wonderful work (Trisolini
Gallery, Ohio Univ. 18 Feb 3 Apr 2010). Our
Facebook page album emphasize the work she
has done with our lab, but the scope of her
talents has to be witnessed firsthand. Weve
published several of her illustrations, and this
exhibit includes some stunning pieces Danette
did for the
Clifford & Witmer (2004) moose nose paper.
(2010-03-02) |
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We welcome
Eric Snively, PhD, to Ohio University and
the WitmerLab! Eric got his PhD in 2006 at the
University of Calgary with Tony Russell and then
went on to a postdoc with Philip Currie at the
University of Alberta. He now joins the
WitmerLab to work on the evolution of feeding
mechanics in dinosaurs and other archosaurs
while simultaneously getting additional training
in the
OU Biomedical Engineering program with
John Cotton, PhD. Welcome Eric!
(2010-01-30) |
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We're proud to report that lab alumnus Tobin
Hieronymus, who got his PhD here in 2009, just
accepted a great tenure-track Assistant
Professorship at the Northeastern Ohio
Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) in
Rootstown. He's currently a postdoctoral fellow
at NEOUCOM and starts the new job in July.
Congratulations, Tobin! (2010-01-14) |
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Witmer presented the Annual Address (an invited
keynote speech) entitled "Digital dinosaurs:
Unlocking the riddles of the past using advanced
3D imaging," at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the
Palaeontological Association held at the
University of Birmingham, England, on Dec 14,
2009. The abstract can be read in the
downloadable program
PDF. (2009-12-22) |
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The
Discovery Channel aired two series that
featured Witmer and research from the lab:
1. "Clash of the Dinosaurs" (premiere 6 Dec
2009):
Witmer appeared on the first three of the four
episodes and spoke about lab research on brain,
inner ear, and airway structures and their
implications for behavior and physiology,
drawing on recent lab publications on
sauropods,
tyrannosaurs,
hadrosaurs, and
ankylosaurs.
view video clips of the show on Discovery's
site
2. "Monsters Resurrected: Biggest Killer Dino"
(premiere 6 Dec 2009)
Witmer spoke on the brain, skull structure, and behavior of
the theropod dinosaur Spinosaurus
view video clips of the
show on Discovery's
site
(2009-12-22) |
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Launch of the
WitmerLab Online Skull Cast Photo Project
Our collection of fossil skull casts has become
a critical local resource for research and
outreach. Given that the previous online photo
database was among the most visited part of the
WitmerLab site, yet was almost a decade old, we
undertook a new project to overhaul the site
with new photos at higher resolution and better
production values. Click
Collections at left. This new project is
largely the work of lab grad student Amy
Martiny. The project is ongoing, and ultimately
hundreds of photos will be available.
Notification of updates will be made on our
WitmerLab Facebook page (become a fan to
receive notifications automatically).
(2009-11-16) |
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Witmer was invited to lead a discussion on
Fleshing Out Dinosaur Evolution as part of the
Science Cafι series sponsored by Sigma Xi
and ONCA on 14 Oct 2009. WitmerLab members moved
15-20 skull casts and other specimens from the
lab to OUs Front Room. It was free and open to
the university community and public. It was well
attended with good discussions about the science
of dinosaur research, evolution, and the role
that dinosaurs can play in society. (2009-11-09) |
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The
National Geographic Channel aired three
television shows that featured Witmer and
research from the lab:
1. "Bizarre
Dinosaurs" (premiere 11 Oct 2009): Witmer
spoke specifically about Nigersaurus, but
also other dinosaurs
Nigersaurus Project Page on this site
see behind the scenes pictures from the shoot
wallpapers from Nat Geo site shot in the WitmerLab:
Majungasaurus skull,
albatross dissection
new animation of Nigersaurus on
3D Viz page,
YouTube,
Facebook
2. "Prehistoric
Predators: Razor Jaws" (premiere 12 Oct
2009): Witmer spoke about the creodont
Hyaenodon
wallpapers from Nat Geo site shot while CT
scanning:
Witmer positioning Hyaenodon,
Hyaenodon skull
animation of Hyaenodon skull and brain
cast on
3D Viz
page,
YouTube,
Facebook
3. "Prehistoric
Predator: Killer Pig" (premiere 12 Oct
2009): Witmer spoke about the entelodont
Archaeotherium
animation of Archaeotherium skull and
brain cast on
3D
Viz page,
YouTube,
Facebook
(2009-11-07) |
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A News & Views piece appeared in
Nature to accompany the article by
Hu et al. on a dramatic new specimen of the
Jurassic troodontid theropod dinosaur
Anchiornis. The New & Views piece is largely
concerned with the implications of this find for
the debates on avian origins and on the origin
of flight in that Anchiornis bears long
feathers on not only its arms and tail, but also
its legs and feet. (2009-09-30)
Witmer, L. M. 2009. Palaeontology: feathered
dinosaurs in a tangle. Nature
461:601602. |
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Acclaimed artist Mark Dion collaborated with the
OU School of Art for a special exhibit at the
Kennedy Museum of Art called Collections
Collected. We were honored to be among
the collections sampled by Dion for the exhibit.
The fascination of the exhibit goes well beyond
just seeing our stuff included in the
installation, as we marveled at the sometimes
arresting alliance of our materials with
surprising partners. The exhibit is fractal,
offering varied impressions and details from a
distance and up close. A sense gained by close
inspection of an individual object often changes
when seen in the context of adjacent objects.
(2009-09-18) |
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"MegaBeasts: Terror Bird" featured
Witmer and his lab's research on terror birds. It was produced by
Creative
Differences and aired on the
Discovery Channel on 13 September 2009. (2009-09-14) |
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|
A paper appeared in the
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology on
the evolution of the braincase and
orbitotemporal region of crocodyliforms. Click
the link to go to Casey Holliday's page to
download the PDF and other content.
(2009-09-12)
Holliday, C. M. and L. M. Witmer. 2009. The
epipterygoid of crocodyliforms and its
significance for the evolution of the
orbitotemporal region of eusuchians. Journal
of Vertebrate Paleontology 29:715733.
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Four papers by current WitmerLab members and
recent alumni were published in the latest issue
of the
Anatomical Record: "Special Issue:
Unearthing the Anatomy of Dinosaurs"
Available below are PDFs of the papers.
Witmer, L. M.
and R. C. Ridgely. 2009. New insights into the brain,
braincase, and ear region of tyrannosaurs, with implications for
sensory organization and behavior. Anatomical Record
292:12661296.
Evans, D., L. M. Witmer, and R. C. Ridgely.
2009.
Endocranial anatomy of lambeosaurine dinosaurs: a sensorineural
perspective on cranial crest function. Anatomical Record
292:13151337.
Hieronymus, T. L., L. M. Witmer, D. H. Tanke, and P. J.
Currie. 2009. The facial integument of centrosaurine
ceratopsids: morphological and histological correlates of novel
skin structures. Anatomical Record 292:13701396.
Holliday, C. M. 2009. New insights into dinosaur
jaw muscle anatomy. Anatomical Record
292:12461265.
Stay tuned for Project Pages with additional
content. (2009-08-28) |
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A
paper was published in November 2008 on imaging
brain and inner ear structure in archosaurs,
emphasizing a modern-day crocodile and
owl, as well as such dinosaurs as sauropods and
T. rex A nice PDF finally is available:
Witmer, L. M., R.
C. Ridgely, D. L. Dufeau, and M. C. Semones. 2008. Using CT to peer
into the past: 3D visualization of the brain and ear regions of
birds, crocodiles, and nonavian dinosaurs. Pp. 6788 in H.
Endo and R. Frey (eds.), Anatomical Imaging: Towards a New
Morphology. Springer-Verlag, Tokyo.
Stay tuned for a Project Page with a Common
Language Summary, movies, 3D PDFs, and other
content. (2009-07-29) |
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Ohio University's alumni magazine
Ohio Today ran an infographic in the
Summer 2009 issue on the research in the Witmer
Lab. Grad student Joe Daniel is also pictured.
Click the image at right for a
JPG image of the
infographic. For a PDF, click here for a
larger or a
smaller version. Photo credit goes to John
Sattler & Neil Ever Osborne (OU-COM), and
layout/text credit goes to Mariel Jungkunz and
Sarah McDowell (OU). (2009-07-01) |
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Joe Daniel got a job! He is now a Gross
Anatomy Instructor at the University of Arkansas
for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. It's not
currently a tenure-track position, but could
become tenure-track once he puts the finishing
touches on his dissertation here. The position
also makes Joe the only employed vertebrate
paleontologist at an academic institution in the
state of Arkansas. Here is his
new email
address. Well
done, Joe! (2009-06-17) |
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Dave Dufeau received a highly competitive
Ohio University Student Enhancement Award (a
grant) for his doctoral research, as well as
winning First-Place in the Ohio University
Student Research and Creative Activity Expo
held at the Convocation Center on 14 May 2009.
Good job, Dave! (2009-05-27) |
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A
"WitmerLab at Ohio University" Facebook page
is launched, presenting less formal content than
this "official" OU site, such as photos of lab
activities, random images and outtakes, fun
animations, etc. You don't have to be a Facebook
member to view the page and most of its content,
but if you want to submit content, comment, see
fan-contributed content, participate in
discussions, etc., you'll need to be a FB member
and a "fan" of the page. (2009-03-26) |
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A News & Views piece appeared in
Nature to accompany the article by
Zheng et al. on a new Liaoning
heterodontosaurid preserved with integumentary
filaments. The New & Views piece is largely
concerned with the implication of this find for
the debate on the evolution of feathers in
dinosaurs. (2009-03-19)
Witmer, L. M. 2009. Dinosaurs: Fuzzy origins for
feathers. Nature 458:293295.
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Tobin Hieronymus successfully defended his
doctoral dissertation on 13 February 2009, with
a presentation entitled "Morphology and
evolution of skin-related features in amniotes."
His doctoral committee included Audrone
Biknevicius, Pat O'Connor, Steve Reilly, Alycia
Stigall, and Larry Witmer. (2009-02-16) |
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Katie Burns joins the lab for an eight-week
internship. Katie is a high-school senior at
Linworth Alternative Program in Columbus,
Ohio. Her internship (called a
Walkabout) allows her to participate in what
goes on a scientific research lab. She is doing
a variety of tasks, such as learning
computer-based 3D visualization techniques. It
turns out she has special gifts for painting
dinosaur casts, as well evidenced by the
finished Gorgosaurus she's holding in the
picture. (2009-02-16) |
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Article on research in the Witmer Lab appears in
the
Columbus Dispatch, with quotes from Matt
Carrano, Chris Brochu, and Jeff Wilson.
(2009-02-09) |
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Article on the inner ears, hearing, & behavior appears in
the
Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Walsh, S. A., P. M. Barrett, A. C. Milner, G. Manley, and L. M.
Witmer. 2009. Inner ear anatomy is a proxy for deducing auditory
capability and behaviour in reptiles and birds. Proceedings
of the Royal Society B doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.1390.
Click the link to view a common-language summary and download the article. (2009-01-14) |
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Article on the cranial kinesis in dinosaurs appears in
the
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
Holliday, C. M. and L. M. Witmer. 2008. Cranial kinesis in
dinosaurs: intracranial joints, protractor muscles, and their
significance for cranial evolution and function in diapsids.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28:10731088.
View a common-language summary and images and download the article
on
Casey Holliday's page (2009-01-11) |
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Article on the air spaces in the heads of
dinosaurs and their relatives appears in
a special issue of The Anatomical Record
Witmer, L. M., and R. C. Ridgely. 2008.
The paranasal air sinuses of predatory and armored dinosaurs
(Archosauria: Theropoda and Ankylosauria) and their contribution
to cephalic architecture. Anatomical Record 291:13621388.
Click the link to view a common language summary, images,
movies, 3D PDFs, and other links and to download the article
(2008-11-05 & 2008-11-19) |
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Larry Witmer, Ryan Ridgely, Dave Dufeau, and
Taka Tsuihiji participated in several talks at
the SVP symposium entitled "New
Directions in the Study of Fossil Endocasts: a
Symposium in Honor of Harry J. Jerison,"
organized by Grant Hurlburt and Mary Silcox held
on Thursday, October 16, 2008, at the 68th
Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate
Paleontology. (2008-10-21) |
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A talk at the Annual Meeting of the
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) in
Cleveland, Ohio, was selected to be presented at
the SVP press conference. Click the link below
to go to a
page created for the media and to view the
conference abstract, images, 3D animations, and
several news reports.
David Evans, Lawrence Witmer, Ryan Ridgely, John
Horner. Endocranial anatomy of lambeosaurine
dinosaurs: Implications for cranial crest
function and evolution.
Check out the
YouTube version of the animation. (2008-10-19) |
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Article on the brain endocast and inner ear of
the horned dinosaur Pachyrhinosaurus
appears in
NRC Canada Monograph
Witmer, L. M., and R. C. Ridgely. 2008.
Structure of the brain cavity and inner ear of
the centrosaurine ceratopsid Pachyrhinosaurus
based on CT scanning and 3D visualization. Pp.
117144 in P. J. Currie (ed.), A New Horned
Dinosaur From an Upper Cretaceous Bone Bed in
Alberta. National Research Council Research
Press, Ottawa.
Click the link to view a
common language summary, images, movies, 3D PDFs, and other links and to
download the article (2008-10-02) |
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Tobin Hieronymus accepted a postdoctoral
position at the Northeastern Ohio Universities
College of Medicine in September. He will defend
his dissertation here at OU later this fall
(...so we're not ready to bid him farewell just
yet, although we miss him already).
Tobin's new contact information: NEOUCOM,
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, 4209
State Rt. 44, Rootstown, OH 44272; office phone:
330-325-6635;
thieronymus@neoucom.edu
(2008-10-01). |
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We welcome new doctoral student
William
Porter to the lab! (2008-10-01) |
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Several episodes of "Jurassic
Fight Club" featured Witmer and his
lab's research on various dinosaurs. Jurassic
Fight Club is produced by
1080, Inc. and premiered on
History on 29 July 2008. (2008-09-02) |
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"Prehistoric Monsters Revealed" featured
Witmer and his lab's research on pterosaurs and
terror birds. It was a two-hour documentary
produced by
Workaholic Productions, Inc. that aired on
History on 28 July 2008. (2008-09-02) |
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Witmer and his lab's research were featured in
the
May 2008 issue of
Pen, a Japanese men's lifestyle
magazine. (2008-09-02) |
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WitmerLab YouTube Channel launched, posting
movies of Majungasaurus and
Nigersaurus. More to come! (2008-07-09) |
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Nigersaurus project page launched
with PDFs of the paper and figures, movies,
sound, and 3D PDFs. (2008-07-02) |
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Dave Dufeau received a substantial
Jurassic Foundation grant to fund his
doctoral research. (2008-07-02) |
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Ryan Ridgely received a well-deserved promotion
to Research Associate. (2008-07-02) |
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Taka Tsuihiji left the WitmerLab in late March
to start a new postdoc in Japan. We wish Taka
the best of luck. We miss him. Here is his new
contact information: Takanobu Tsuihiji, Ph.D.,
JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Geology,
National Museum of Nature and Science, 3-23-1
Hyakunin-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0073, Japan
(E-mail:
taka@kahaku.go.jp) (2008-07-02) |
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Justin Tickhill's Masters Thesis won a
prestigious international award. From the press
release: "The Networked Digital Library of
Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) consortium is
pleased to announce this year's award winners.
Justin Tickhill...was awarded the Innovative ETD
Award that recognizes student efforts in
transforming the genre of the print dissertation
through the use of innovative software to create
cutting edge ETDs." (2008-07-02)
Visit the
award-winning
Virtual Pig Head website! |
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Tobin Hieronymus has two papers published on
aquatic birds in the Thewissen & Nummela volume. (2008-01-24)
Hieronymus, T. L. 2008. Comparative anatomy
and physiology of chemical senses in aquatic
birds. In: Thewissen, J.G.M., and S. Nummela (eds),
Sensory Evolution on the Threshold, Adaptations
in Secondarily Aquatic Vertebrates. University
of California Press.
Thewissen, J. G. M., and T. L. Hieronymus.
2008. Evolutionary relationships of aquatic
birds. In: Thewissen, J.G.M., and S. Nummela (eds),
Sensory Evolution on the Threshold, Adaptations
in Secondarily Aquatic Vertebrates. University
of California Press.
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Dave Dufeau successfully passed his
Comprehensive Qualifying Examinations, and has
now fully advanced to PhD candidacy.
(2007-12-06) |
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Paper on the African sauropod dinosaur
Nigersaurus published in
PLoS ONE (2007-11-15)
Sereno, P. C., J. A. Wilson, L. M. Witmer, J. A.
Whitlock, A. Maga, O. Ide, and T. A. Rowe. 2007.
Structural extremes in a Cretaceous dinosaur.
PLoS ONE 2(11): e1230.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001230.
Click the link to view a common language
summary, images,
and other links and to download the paper |
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The abstracts of presentations at the 8th
International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology
(ICVM 8) in Paris were recently published
in the Journal of Morphology. WitmerLab
abstracts are below. (2007-11-15)
Hieronymus, T. L. and L. M. Witmer. 2007. Turtle
beaks, bird beaks, croc beaks? Parallel
evolution of rhamphothecae in Sauropsida.
Journal of Morphology 268(12):10831084.
Holliday, C. M. and L. M. Witmer. 2007. Cranial
kinesis in dinosaurs: significance for
functional inferences and evolution. Journal of
Morphology 268(12):10851086.
Ridgely, R. C. and L. M. Witmer. 2007. Gross
Anatomical Brain Region Approximation (GABRA): a
new technique for assessing brain structure in
dinosaurs and other fossil archosaurs. Journal
of Morphology 268(12):1124.
Tickhill, J. and L. M. Witmer. 2007. The Virtual
Pig Head: digital imaging in cephalic anatomy.
Journal of Morphology 268(12):1141.
Tsuihiji, T., M. Kearney, and O. Rieppel. 2007.
Dissociation between the axial myology and
osteology in the anterior precloacal region of
limb-reduced squamates including snakes. Journal
of Morphology 268(12):1142.
Witmer, L. M. and R. C. Ridgely. 2007. Evolving
an on-board flight computer: brain, ears, and
exaptation in the evolution of birds and other
theropod dinosaurs. Journal of Morphology
268(12):1150.
Dufeau, D. L. and L. M. Witmer. 2007. Ontogeny
and phylogeny of the tympanic pneumatic system
of crocodyliform archosaurs. This abstract was
somehow and regrettably omitted from the
Journal of Morphology abstract volume. |
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Taka Tsuihiji published a very important paper
in the Journal of Morphology
(2007-11-15):
Tsuihiji, T. 2007. Homologies of longissimus,
iliocostalis, and hypaxial muscles in the
anterior presacral region of extant Diapsida.
Journal of Morphology. 268:9861020. |
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The WitmerLab traveled to Austin, Texas, for the
annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate
Paleontology, and it was a very successful
meeting. Our abstracts are below. (2007-10-23)
Daniel, J. and L. M. Witmer. 2007. The role of
soft tissues in sediment infilling and
patterning: an actualistic study with ostrich heads. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
27(Supplement to 3):65A.
Dufeau, D. L. and L. M. Witmer. 2007. Ontogeny
and phylogeny of the tympanic pneumatic system
of crocodyliform archosaurs. Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology 27(Supplement to 3):70A.
Hieronymus, T. L. and L. M. Witmer. 2007.
Skinning dinosaurs: bony correlates and patterns
of cephalic skin evolution in Archosauria.
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27(Supplement
to 3):89A.
Holliday, C. M. and L. M. Witmer. 2007. The
epipterygoid of crocodyliforms and its
significance in the evolution of the
orbitotemporal region of eusuchians. Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology 27(Supplement to 3):90A.
Tsuihiji, T., M. Watabe, L. M. Witmer, T.
Tsubamoto, K. Tsogtbaatar. 2007. A juvenile
skeleton of Tarbosaurus with a nearly
complete skull and its implications for
ontogenetic change in tyrannosaurids. Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology 27(Supplement to
3):160A. |
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Justin Tickhill successfully defended his
masters thesis"The Virtual Pig Head: digital
imaging of cephalic anatomy"on 02 August 2007.
Justin's thesis took the unique form of a
website. Justin will remain here in Athens for
the next year or so before striking out for his
next endeavor. (2007-08-29)
Visit the
Virtual Pig Head website! |
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At the
8th International Congress of Vertebrate
Morphology in Paris, France, 1621 July,
2007, it was announced that Witmer was elected
President-Elect of the International Society of
Vertebrate Morphology. He will remain
President-Elect and a member of the Executive
Committee until the next ICVM (Uruguay 2010) at
which point he will become President.
(2007-08-03) |
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Skull of Majungasaurus paper published as
a Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir:
Sampson & Witmer
Click the link to view a
common language summary, images, and other links and to
download the paper (2007-06-29) |
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Newly available PDFs of older but often
requested papers. All are fully searchable, and
some have had better versions of the original
illustrations inserted.
Witmer 1999 The phylogenetic history of
paranasal air sinuses. in The Paranasal
Sinuses of Higher Primates. (4 MB)
Witmer 1997 The evolution of the antorbital
cavity of archosaurs... JVP Memoir 3.
(24 MB)
Witmer 1997 Craniofacial air sinus systems.
in The Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. (4 MB)
Witmer 1995 Homology of facial structures in
extant archosaurs... Journal of
Morphology. (5.5 MB)
Witmer 1995 The Extant Phylogenetic Bracket...
in Functional Morphology in Vertebrate
Paleontology (4 MB)
Witmer 1987 The nature of the antorbital fossa
of archosaurs... in SMTE4 Short Papers.
(1.2 MB)
see
Publications or
CV
for full citations. (2007-06-16) |
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Archosaur jaw muscle homology paper published in
the Journal of Morphology: Holliday &
Witmer Click the link to view a lay
abstract, images, and other links and to
download the paper (2007-06-10) |
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Rhino horn growth paper published in the
Journal of Morphology: Hieronymus, Witmer, &
Ridgely Click the link to view a common
language summary, images, and other links and to
download the paper (2006-10-31) |
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Flamingo vasculature paper published in
the Anatomical Record: Holliday, Ridgely,
Balanoff, & Witmer
Click the link to
view a common language summary, images, movies, and other
links and to download the paper (2006-10-30) |
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Casey Holliday finishes doctorate and
takes tenure-track job at the Joan C. Edwards
School of Medicine at Marshall
University (2006-07-01)
Update: Casey leaves Marshall for a new position
at the University of Missouri (2009-07-27) |
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Perspectives (Nov. 2012) featured the latest research
directions in the WitmerLab.
Perspectives (Nov. 2001) published a
nice overview of the philosophy, goals, approaches, and history
of research in the Witmer lab
Funding for projects in the Witmer Lab derive primarily from
grants to Witmer from the National Science Foundation (NSF) with
important support from Ohio University and the OU Heritage College of
Osteopathic Medicine
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note: Research
in the Witmer lab does not involve experimentation on live
animals. Specimens of modern animals used in research are
salvage specimens, obtained legally from commercial or
governmental sources. |
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