E. Rayfield

Publications164
h-index41
Citations5,042
Highly Influential Citations287
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Patterns of morphospace occupation and mechanical performance in extant crocodilian skulls: A combined geometric morphometric and finite element modeling approach
TLDR
It is shown that biomechanical stress and the hydrodynamic properties of the skull show a strong relationship with the distribution of crocodilians in skull morphospace, whereas phylogeny and biogeography show weak or no correlation.
Finite Element Analysis and Understanding the Biomechanics and Evolution of Living and Fossil Organisms
TLDR
Finite element analysis has much potential in addressing questions of form-function relationships, providing appropriate questions are ask, and explicit hypothesis-testing bridges these two standpoints.
Cranial design and function in a large theropod dinosaur
TLDR
This work has generated the most geometrically complete and complex FEA model of the skull of any extinct or extant organism and used this to test its mechanical properties and examine, in a quantitative way, long-held hypotheses concerning overall shape and function.
Functional Evolution of the Feeding System in Rodents
TLDR
The results show that the morphology of the skull and masticatory muscles have allowed squirrels to specialise as gnawers and guinea pigs as chewers, but that rats are high-performance generalists, which helps explain their overwhelming success as a group.
Adaptive plasticity in the mouse mandible
TLDR
The results illustrate how environmentally driven plasticity can lead to adaptive functional changes that increase biomechanical efficiency of food processing in the face of an increased solicitation and emphasize that mandible shape and integration evolved as parts of a complex system including mechanical loading food resource utilization and possibly foraging behaviour.
The shapes of bird beaks are highly controlled by nondietary factors
TLDR
It is shown that beak and skull shapes in birds of prey (“raptors”) are strongly coupled and largely controlled by size, which means that, rather than being able to respond independently to natural selection, beak shapes are highly constrained to evolve in a particular way.
Finite element modelling of squirrel, guinea pig and rat skulls: using geometric morphometrics to assess sensitivity
TLDR
Which input parameters are most important when defining the FE models of rodent crania are elucidated, but also provide interesting glimpses of the biomechanical differences between the three skulls, which will be fully explored in future publications.
The Endocranial Anatomy of Therizinosauria and Its Implications for Sensory and Cognitive Function
TLDR
The anatomy of the olfactory apparatus and the endosseous labyrinth suggests that olfaction, hearing, and equilibrium were well-developed in therizinosaurians and might have affected or benefited from an enlarged telencephalon.
Inter-Vertebral Flexibility of the Ostrich Neck: Implications for Estimating Sauropod Neck Flexibility
TLDR
This study attempts to assess the effects of reconstructed soft tissues on sauropod neck flexibility through systematic removal of muscle groups and measures of flexibility of the neck in a living analogue, the ostrich, and finds that the ONP50 model may not be useful in determining neck function if considered in isolation from myological and other soft tissue data.
Pedal Claw Curvature in Birds, Lizards and Mesozoic Dinosaurs – Complicated Categories and Compensating for Mass-Specific and Phylogenetic Control
TLDR
It is concluded that there is no strong mass-specific effect on claw curvature; furthermore, correlations between claw geometry and behaviour are consistent across disparate clades.
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