Prof. Christine Böhmer

Biomechanical limits of hopping in the hindlimbs of giant extinct kangaroos - Scientific Reports The locomotor abilities of animals depend upon their body size. Today, kangaroos are the largest hopping mammals, but some of their Pleistocene relatives were larger still—more than twice as heavy as ...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Using 3D vertebral models and Autobend, this study by Esteban et al shows pinnipeds have highly mobile spines, especially in the lumbar region. Different families reveal distinct flexibility patterns tied to swimming style and land locomotion. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Excellent write-up in Science by Ann Gibbons of the exciting new Ileret Homo material: ]
www.science.org/content/arti...
Check out the original AR article by Frederick Grine and colleagues here:
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

🦕A nearly complete titanosaur axis from Upper Cretaceous São José do Rio Preto Fm reveals rare cervical data, complex internal pneumaticity & affinities w/colossosaurians—highlighting overlooked phylogenetic value of axial elements
Navarro et al.: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Top predators: Enormous #shark remains from northern #Australia push back the earliest appearance of gigantic lamniforms by ~15 Ma.

Bazzi et al 2025 Communications Biology
Early gigantic lamniform marks the onset of mega-body size in modern shark evolution

doi.org/10.1038/s420...

🦎✨ New research delivers the 1st full 3D anatomical atlases of the veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus)! Open-access atlases + lesson plans offer powerful new tools for studying reptile evolution and teaching comparative anatomy.
Leavey et al.: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

The holotype of Galesphyrus, an articulated skeleton of a small stem reptile preserved as a mold. It is beautifully preserved, but decided to lose it’s skull prior to discovery

A diagram showing the evolutionary relationships of early reptiles found in this study. Importantly, this study places Galesphyrus as sister to Millerettidae + Neodiapsida, reconciling postcrania and cranial data for support of Parapleurota!

Buffa et al.’s paper on the enigmatic Permian reptile 🦎 Galesphyrus and the origin of Neodiapsida is out in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology! Read the thread 👇 for some important takeaways from our study

@valentinbuffa.bsky.social

#Paleontology #Reptile #Permian

doi.org/10.1080/1477...

Dinosaur skull geometry does not follow functional optimisation trends but facilitates adaptability Dinosaurs exhibited a remarkable array of skull shapes and sizes. However, the geometry of the cranial skeleton and its different functional units (rostrum, orbital region, braincase) has not been qua...

Dinosaur skull geometry does not follow functional optimisation trends but facilitates adaptability: iScience www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Can hybridization explain the evolution of plumage patterns in black-and-white wagtails? A reticulated phylogeny provides extra challenges to answer this question.

New story on the Avian Hybrids blog!

Can hybridization explain the evolution of plumage patterns in black-and-white wagtails?
avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/c...

Based on the Systematic Biology paper by Loïc Rancilhac and his colleagues | #ornithology

Optic nerves of adult #chameleons are proportionally long and have a unique coiled path allowing independent #eye movement.

Collins et al 2025 Scientific Reports. A new twist in the evolution of chameleons uncovers an extremely specialized optic nerve morphology.  doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Viviparous reproduction in #anurans - a extremely rare trait.

Thrane et al 2025 Vertebrate Zoology. Museomics and integrative taxonomy reveal three new species of glandular viviparous tree #toads (Nectophrynoides) in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains (Anura: Bufonidae)

doi.org/10.3897/vz.7...

A glimpse into a vanished ecosystem: reconstructing diet and palaeoenvironment of Palaeoloxodon from the Pleistocene of Taiwan | Royal Society Open Science Palaeoloxodon is the largest known terrestrial mammal in the history of Taiwan. However, little is known about the palaeoecology and palaeoenvironment of these extinct proboscideans. In this study, we...

A glimpse into a vanished ecosystem: reconstructing diet and palaeoenvironment of Palaeoloxodon from the Pleistocene of Taiwan

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Great expectations: altricial developmental strategies are associated with more flexible evolution of limb skeleton proportions in birds | royalsocietypublishi... | Proceedings of the Royal Society B | #ornithology 🪶

Morphological Evolution in Island Birds Is Associated With More Terrestrial Lifestyles and a Lower Number of Raptors and Intra‐Family Competitors | onlinelibrary.wiley.... | Global Ecology and Biogeography | #ornithology #RaptorResearch 🪶

Study on high-altitude #birds with increased hemoglobin-oxygen affinity shows that adaptive solutions are contingent on prior evolutionary history.

Natarajan et al (2016) @science.org Predictable convergence in hemoglobin function has unpredictable molecular underpinnings
doi.org/10.1126/scie...

Behavioral #plasticity: First documentation of systematic predation on #bats by #rats.

Gloza-Rausch et al 2025 Global Ecology and Conservation. Active predation by brown #rats on #bats at urban mass hibernacula in Northern #Germany: Conservation and one health implications

doi.org/10.1016/j.ge...

New #AmniotaLab research!
Faysal Bibi and Jean-Renaud Boisserie describe a fossil buffalo from Ethiopia, revealing how early members of the lineage evolved into today’s African buffalo 🐃

paleo.peercommunityin.org/PCIPaleo/art...

Why extant, not extinct?
A new JSP paper by Sorbelli 𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭. describes an extinct 𝙇𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙖 species (Anura: Discoglossidae) from the Early Pleistocene of the Apennine Peninsula—offering fresh clues on how the genus survived in Eurasia.

Read more: buff.ly/NGVelt5 #Paleosky @amniotalab.bsky.social

The vivid colours of the gemstone ammolite (Placenticeras meeki), perfectly preserved in its original form. Credit: Hiroaki Imai.

A paper in Scientific Reports presents the origins of vivid colours within the gemstone ammolite — a rare type of brightly coloured fossilised ammonite shell. go.nature.com/48OT5DX #Paleosky ⚒️ 🧪

Remarkable #cancer resistance of the bowhead #whale arises from its enhanced ability to maintain genome integrity through enhanced DNA repair.

Firsanov et al 2025 @nature.com Evidence for improved DNA repair in long-lived bowhead whale

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Front cover of Journal of Experimental Biology, volume 228, issue 20, published October 2025. The image, by Zirk Janssen Wildlife Photography, shows a pair of giraffes, with the giraffe on the left leaning its head down to touch the bottom of the neck of the giraffe on the right.

Issue 20 has closed and issue 21 is open

journals.biologists.com/jeb/issue/22...

The front cover showing two giraffes accompanies Seymour and Snelling's Theory & Modelling article discussing how the animals' long legs have raised their hearts to reduce the cost of pumping blood to their heads

Unusual low-risk/high-gain strategy in small #bats: Short search and pursuit times with high hunting success rates and targeting prey approaching their own body size of 30 g.

Baier et al 2025 @currentbiology.bsky.social Extreme hunting efficiency in a carnivorous bat

doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

🦣 New discoveries at Mammoth Site USA: 2 foot elements— “predigit” & fused sesamoids—found 1st time in extinct elephants. Long known in modern elephants they reveal ancient adaptations for supporting massive land giants
Gardner et al anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#FossilFriday

PG-18: turtles reach adult shell shapes at about 65% maximum carapace length - Swiss Journal of Palaeontology Ontogenetic shell shape changes of turtles are often only documented for individual species. It is currently unclear how shell shape changes during ontogeny across species, if there are common trends,...

New paper by Guilherme Hermanson & me out: we explore ontogenetic shell shape change in turtles to check if there is a size threshold at which turtles reach adult shapes. This started for a different (in prep) study & was a fun little project w preliminary data

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Multitaxic #dinosaur footprint assemblage from Dinosaur Park Formation incl. ceratopsid and ankylosaurian tracks

Bell et al 2025 @plosone.org
A ceratopsid-dominated tracksite from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian) at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Artwork by Gabriel Ugueto

I am proud and grateful to present a dream project today in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Meet #Mirasaura grauvogeli, a #wonderreptilewith skin appendages that rival feathers and hairs, challenging our view of reptile #evolution🪶🦎

Long-bone microanatomy in elephants: microstructural insights into gigantic beasts Abstract. One of the greatest challenges of terrestrial locomotion is resisting gravity. The morphological adaptive features of the limb long-bones of exta

Oh! Another paper! From @camillebader.bsky.social Camille Bader's PhD, with Alexandra Houssaye @houssayecnrs.bsky.social. Elephant limb bone microanatomy reflects bone function and posture.
Paper:
academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
Tons of CT scan DICOM files:
figshare.com/articles/dat...

Enlargement of sternum traits facilitated the evolution of powered flight in birds 🧪⚒️

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How femoral morphology informs our understanding of the evolution of ornithopod locomotion and body size Ornithopoda is one of the three main ornithischian dinosaur clades in which secondary quadrupedality is represented. However, when it evolved from obligate bipedality remains controversial. Indeed, t....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Origins and Diversification of the Caatinga Dry Forest Endemic Avifauna Aim Understanding the geographic origin of lineages is critical to comprehending their biogeographical and evolutionary histories and the historical connections among biomes. In northeastern Brazil,...

Have you ever wondered about the origin of birds restricted to specific regions? Led by doctoral student Hevana Lima, we attempt to unravel the origins of birds endemic to the Caatinga dry forests in Brazil. Check our ms out! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...