Christopher M. Smith
@csmithevoanatomy.bsky.social
Asst Prof @ Fairfield University | Evolutionary Anatomist👂 🧠 💀 | Board Certified Medical Illustrator | www.csmithevoanatomy.com
Pinned
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...
authors.elsevier.com/a/1kGFIAlZXX...
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
Today's bombshell in @nature.com by Lindsay Zanno & James Napoli @jgn-paleo.bsky.social (bit.ly/4qBE6ng) shows that putative juvvy T. rex fossils actually are Nanotyrannus. I reviewed the manuscript, so Nature invited me to write the News & Views commentary. Free link: rdcu.be/eNv94 🦖
October 30, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Today's bombshell in @nature.com by Lindsay Zanno & James Napoli @jgn-paleo.bsky.social (bit.ly/4qBE6ng) shows that putative juvvy T. rex fossils actually are Nanotyrannus. I reviewed the manuscript, so Nature invited me to write the News & Views commentary. Free link: rdcu.be/eNv94 🦖
New craniodentally associated P. boisei post crania! ✋ 🦶 from Koobi Fora 🔥 Congrats to carriemongle.bsky.social caleyorr.bsky.social et al!
Paranthropus boisei is a human fossil cousin w/ giant jaws and teeth that lived in East Africa ~2.6 to 1.3 million years ago. Whether it could make & use tools has been a paleoanthropological mystery since the 1960s. Our new paper describes the first firmly associated hand and foot. 1/
New fossils reveal the hand of Paranthropus boisei - Nature
Analyses of newly discovered hand and foot bones of a Paranthropus boisei specimen provide insight into possible tool use and other palaeobiology characteristics among Plio-Pleistocene hominin species...
www.nature.com
October 15, 2025 at 4:34 PM
New craniodentally associated P. boisei post crania! ✋ 🦶 from Koobi Fora 🔥 Congrats to carriemongle.bsky.social caleyorr.bsky.social et al!
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
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?...
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
October 2, 2025 at 7:42 AM
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?...
If only we could find the will to stop destroying the extraordinary natural world around us...
youtu.be/ClOMa_GufsA?...
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
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!
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...
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
July 17, 2025 at 12:52 PM
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!
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...
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
April 14, 2025 at 2:27 PM
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...
It was a pleasure to discuss how creativity can shape and enhance scientific exploration! www.nature.com/articles/s42...
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! 💀👂🧠
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! 💀👂🧠
April 7, 2025 at 3:10 PM
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! 💀👂🧠
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! 💀👂🧠
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
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/...
Read more about their exciting research on shark skeletal labyrinths here:
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
April 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
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/...
Read more about their exciting research on shark skeletal labyrinths here:
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
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...
human-fossil-record.org/index.php?/c...
April 1, 2025 at 3:00 PM
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...
human-fossil-record.org/index.php?/c...
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
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 🏺🧪
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
March 27, 2025 at 4:21 PM
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 🏺🧪
Excellent opportunity for any students interested in ear evolution! 👇👇
🧵 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
@ 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
March 20, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Excellent opportunity for any students interested in ear evolution! 👇👇
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
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...
@purgatoriidae.bsky.social
nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
March 13, 2025 at 1:37 PM
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...
@purgatoriidae.bsky.social
nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
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
March 11, 2025 at 11:44 PM
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/...
Fascinating new research from @a-urciuoli.bsky.social using the inner ear to dig deep into Neanderthal evolution. Check it out!!
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...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 21, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Fascinating new research from @a-urciuoli.bsky.social using the inner ear to dig deep into Neanderthal evolution. Check it out!!
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
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
paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.ph...
🏺🧪🦣
#paleoanthropology
January 24, 2025 at 8:42 PM
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
paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.ph...
🏺🧪🦣
#paleoanthropology
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
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/...
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
January 15, 2025 at 5:12 PM
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/...
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
🚨 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...
nature.com/articles/s41...
January 13, 2025 at 4:32 PM
🚨 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...
nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
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
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
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...
@nicoleackermans.bsky.social & Joy Reidenberg: doi.org/10.1002/ar.2...
January 7, 2025 at 2:30 PM
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
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
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
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...)
December 21, 2024 at 3:28 PM
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...)
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
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
🧪 🏺 #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
December 18, 2024 at 9:39 PM
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
🧪 🏺 #paleosky #anatomy #primates #anthropology #morphology #zoology #paleoanthropology #openscience
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...
authors.elsevier.com/a/1kGFIAlZXX...
December 14, 2024 at 2:14 PM
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...
authors.elsevier.com/a/1kGFIAlZXX...
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
Happy #ThinSectionThursday
Here is a side by side comparison of virtual histology from synchrotron tomography on the left and “traditional” histology from optical microscopy on the right. It’s sometimes hard to tell what’s a growth mark in virtual histology but with this, we can can train our 👀
Here is a side by side comparison of virtual histology from synchrotron tomography on the left and “traditional” histology from optical microscopy on the right. It’s sometimes hard to tell what’s a growth mark in virtual histology but with this, we can can train our 👀
December 5, 2024 at 3:37 PM
Happy #ThinSectionThursday
Here is a side by side comparison of virtual histology from synchrotron tomography on the left and “traditional” histology from optical microscopy on the right. It’s sometimes hard to tell what’s a growth mark in virtual histology but with this, we can can train our 👀
Here is a side by side comparison of virtual histology from synchrotron tomography on the left and “traditional” histology from optical microscopy on the right. It’s sometimes hard to tell what’s a growth mark in virtual histology but with this, we can can train our 👀
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
Where did our neck muscles come from?🧪
Here's our #evodevo #devbio deep dive feat. #zebrafish, mouse, axolotls, & more!
Led by Eglantine Heude & Tajbakhsh lab at Pasteur, the team at National Museum of Natural History France, & lab alumni Karin Prummel & Rob Lalonde.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here's our #evodevo #devbio deep dive feat. #zebrafish, mouse, axolotls, & more!
Led by Eglantine Heude & Tajbakhsh lab at Pasteur, the team at National Museum of Natural History France, & lab alumni Karin Prummel & Rob Lalonde.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Co-option of neck muscles supported the vertebrate water-to-land transition - Nature Communications
The evolutionary water-to-land transition involved the separation of the skull from the pectoral girdle, though these musculoskeletal changes have not been deeply characterised. Here they show that th...
www.nature.com
December 5, 2024 at 12:02 AM
Where did our neck muscles come from?🧪
Here's our #evodevo #devbio deep dive feat. #zebrafish, mouse, axolotls, & more!
Led by Eglantine Heude & Tajbakhsh lab at Pasteur, the team at National Museum of Natural History France, & lab alumni Karin Prummel & Rob Lalonde.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here's our #evodevo #devbio deep dive feat. #zebrafish, mouse, axolotls, & more!
Led by Eglantine Heude & Tajbakhsh lab at Pasteur, the team at National Museum of Natural History France, & lab alumni Karin Prummel & Rob Lalonde.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Christopher M. Smith
New paper! For all of you working with 3d scans (e.g. micro-CT, MRI), check out SPROUT, a rapid open-source tool for generating segmented and parcellated data, meaning your scans are separated into the individual elements without any manual labelling or training. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 24, 2024 at 1:09 PM
New paper! For all of you working with 3d scans (e.g. micro-CT, MRI), check out SPROUT, a rapid open-source tool for generating segmented and parcellated data, meaning your scans are separated into the individual elements without any manual labelling or training. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Thank you Dr. @claudiakrebs.bsky.social and Dr. Segun Oyedele for the wonderful opportunity to chat about the intersection of art and science/anatomy! Check out their BodyBanter podcast here!: bodybanter.ca
December 3, 2024 at 5:36 PM
Thank you Dr. @claudiakrebs.bsky.social and Dr. Segun Oyedele for the wonderful opportunity to chat about the intersection of art and science/anatomy! Check out their BodyBanter podcast here!: bodybanter.ca