Robert Brocklehurst
@docrobbrock.bsky.social
Postdoctoral researcher at UML | Vertebrate evolution | Form and function | he/ him
New paper (with @konowlab.bsky.social)! Muscle force varies with length, but how does this affect muscle function in life?
Combining live animal and muscle prep data, we found rat jaw muscles routinely operate at long, forceful (potentially unstable) lengths. rdcu.be/eNIQk
Combining live animal and muscle prep data, we found rat jaw muscles routinely operate at long, forceful (potentially unstable) lengths. rdcu.be/eNIQk
Rat superficial masseter operates at long lengths during biting
Scientific Reports - Rat superficial masseter operates at long lengths during biting
rdcu.be
October 31, 2025 at 8:33 PM
New paper (with @konowlab.bsky.social)! Muscle force varies with length, but how does this affect muscle function in life?
Combining live animal and muscle prep data, we found rat jaw muscles routinely operate at long, forceful (potentially unstable) lengths. rdcu.be/eNIQk
Combining live animal and muscle prep data, we found rat jaw muscles routinely operate at long, forceful (potentially unstable) lengths. rdcu.be/eNIQk
Reposted by Robert Brocklehurst
Reposted by Robert Brocklehurst
Great new paper just dropped! A really comprehensive look at how mammals and their ancestors moved from sprawling to upright stances... but not in the straightforward way you might think! Congratulations to all the authors! 🎉
I'm so excited to share my latest paper out now! How did the ancestors of mammals make the switch from sprawling to upright, taking over the world in the process? Spoiler alert; it's complicated! journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Adaptive landscapes unveil the complex evolutionary path from sprawling to upright forelimb function and posture in mammals
The ‘sprawling-to-parasagittal’ postural transition is a key part of mammalian evolution from non-mammalian synapsids. This study uses evolutionary adaptive landscapes to reveal parasagittal postures ...
journals.plos.org
June 25, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Great new paper just dropped! A really comprehensive look at how mammals and their ancestors moved from sprawling to upright stances... but not in the straightforward way you might think! Congratulations to all the authors! 🎉
I'm so excited to share my latest paper out now! How did the ancestors of mammals make the switch from sprawling to upright, taking over the world in the process? Spoiler alert; it's complicated! journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Adaptive landscapes unveil the complex evolutionary path from sprawling to upright forelimb function and posture in mammals
The ‘sprawling-to-parasagittal’ postural transition is a key part of mammalian evolution from non-mammalian synapsids. This study uses evolutionary adaptive landscapes to reveal parasagittal postures ...
journals.plos.org
June 25, 2025 at 12:36 PM
I'm so excited to share my latest paper out now! How did the ancestors of mammals make the switch from sprawling to upright, taking over the world in the process? Spoiler alert; it's complicated! journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
Reposted by Robert Brocklehurst
How did our mammalian #posture arise from our sprawling #synapsid ancestors? @docrobbrock.bsky.social &co reveal #parasagittal postures in stem therians, implying that synapsids evolved & radiated with distinct forelimb trait combinations for most of their history @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4loAHoy
June 25, 2025 at 9:29 AM
How did our mammalian #posture arise from our sprawling #synapsid ancestors? @docrobbrock.bsky.social &co reveal #parasagittal postures in stem therians, implying that synapsids evolved & radiated with distinct forelimb trait combinations for most of their history @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4loAHoy
Reposted by Robert Brocklehurst
Oh look! Me and @nhcooper123.bsky.social have done a podcast!
For each episode we scour the @nhm-london.bsky.social's collections for weird and fun specimens that fit the theme, and then ramble to each other about them.
So if that's your bag, give it a listen! 🎉
For each episode we scour the @nhm-london.bsky.social's collections for weird and fun specimens that fit the theme, and then ramble to each other about them.
So if that's your bag, give it a listen! 🎉
Our first episode is PERFECT. m.youtube.com/playlist?lis... Do you like our choices? What would you have chosen? 🦋🪲🐢🐙🦈🐆🦜
The 'Perfect' Specimen - YouTube
Does the perfect museum specimen exist? What’s the squishiest? The most exuberant? Or even the most noxious? We’re taking a look through 80 million specimens...
m.youtube.com
May 29, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Oh look! Me and @nhcooper123.bsky.social have done a podcast!
For each episode we scour the @nhm-london.bsky.social's collections for weird and fun specimens that fit the theme, and then ramble to each other about them.
So if that's your bag, give it a listen! 🎉
For each episode we scour the @nhm-london.bsky.social's collections for weird and fun specimens that fit the theme, and then ramble to each other about them.
So if that's your bag, give it a listen! 🎉
New publication day! 🥳 Read all about arm joints in mammals and lizards - what they look like and how they move - with me, @l-fahn-lai.bsky.social and our co-authors. Out today in @jexpbiol.bsky.social
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article-...
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article-...
Relationship between joint shape and function as revealed through ex vivo XROMM
Summary: Experimental data measuring mobility across different types of limb joints in a mammal (opossum) and a reptile (tegu lizard) raise further questions on how well articular morphology predicts ...
journals.biologists.com
May 16, 2025 at 2:41 PM
New publication day! 🥳 Read all about arm joints in mammals and lizards - what they look like and how they move - with me, @l-fahn-lai.bsky.social and our co-authors. Out today in @jexpbiol.bsky.social
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article-...
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article-...
Reposted by Robert Brocklehurst
Announcing The first found, and most complete, #dinosaur skeleton from the Middle #Jurassic of Scotland! 📢🦖 So delighted to finally be able to share this great new fossil, published today! It was actually the first dinosaur found in #Scotland... thread 🧵 #OpenAccess #fossils doi.org/10.1017/S175...
March 6, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Announcing The first found, and most complete, #dinosaur skeleton from the Middle #Jurassic of Scotland! 📢🦖 So delighted to finally be able to share this great new fossil, published today! It was actually the first dinosaur found in #Scotland... thread 🧵 #OpenAccess #fossils doi.org/10.1017/S175...
Reposted by Robert Brocklehurst
The Elgol Dinosaur is out!
This is the first and most complete dinosaur skeleton from the Jurassic of Isle of Skye, Scotland. I got to work with the amazing @elsa-panciroli.bsky.social on bringing this early ornithischian back to life. #Sciart
Link to paper: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
This is the first and most complete dinosaur skeleton from the Jurassic of Isle of Skye, Scotland. I got to work with the amazing @elsa-panciroli.bsky.social on bringing this early ornithischian back to life. #Sciart
Link to paper: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
March 6, 2025 at 11:48 AM
The Elgol Dinosaur is out!
This is the first and most complete dinosaur skeleton from the Jurassic of Isle of Skye, Scotland. I got to work with the amazing @elsa-panciroli.bsky.social on bringing this early ornithischian back to life. #Sciart
Link to paper: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
This is the first and most complete dinosaur skeleton from the Jurassic of Isle of Skye, Scotland. I got to work with the amazing @elsa-panciroli.bsky.social on bringing this early ornithischian back to life. #Sciart
Link to paper: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Robert Brocklehurst
Just out of the oven! Today @migueldlm.bsky.social just published his first paper related to his PhD thesis! BFEX is a new Blender tool for making FEA more accessible for biologists and paleontologists! All using open and free software 😱
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
BFEX: A Toolbox for Finite Element Analysis With Fossils and Blender
We introduce BFEX, a Blender add-on for building Finite Elements Analysis for Fossils software. This approach streamlines the process of creating and visualizing FE models.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 7, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Just out of the oven! Today @migueldlm.bsky.social just published his first paper related to his PhD thesis! BFEX is a new Blender tool for making FEA more accessible for biologists and paleontologists! All using open and free software 😱
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Robert Brocklehurst
New research led by Spencer Hellert tests the idea that major radiations within synapsids are begun by small faunivores.
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Press release: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Press release: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
October 6, 2023 at 1:33 PM
New research led by Spencer Hellert tests the idea that major radiations within synapsids are begun by small faunivores.
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Press release: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Press release: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Reposted by Robert Brocklehurst
Exciting pair of muscle evolution companion papers just out! Bishop & Pierce describe the fossil record of appendicular muscle evolution in Synapsida on the line to mammals in forelimb & hindlimb
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
November 20, 2024 at 5:18 PM
Exciting pair of muscle evolution companion papers just out! Bishop & Pierce describe the fossil record of appendicular muscle evolution in Synapsida on the line to mammals in forelimb & hindlimb
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...