Safiyyah Iqbal, PhD
I started studying for my Bachelor of Science at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2009, where I majored in Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences and thus became very interested in Palaeontology and Form and Function. I completed my BSc honours and MSc in Palaeontology under the supervision of Prof. Kristian Carlson and Prof. Fernando Abdala. Currently, I am completing my PhD in Palaeontology, under the supervision of Prof. Kristian Carlson, Prof. Fernando Abdala, Prof. Frank Kienhofer and Prof. Jonah Choiniere. I focus my research on understanding the form related to the function or vice versa of prehistoric species. This allows me to expand my abilities by studying a variety of species in different environments. My PhD thesis incorporates a modelling approach for researching postcranial functional morphology of Thrinaxodon liorhinus and more broadly cynodonts This proposed research builds on my honours and masters studies. As those two projects were the first attempt of using Geometric Morphometric statistical analyses to quantify fossoriality of the postcrania of Thrinaxodon. My PhD is a multidisciplinary approach combining Palaeontology and Mechanical Engineering by usage of Finite Element Analyses. Demonstration of successful usage of this method will facilitate its application in similar future studies of the evolution of limb postures.
Contact: [email protected]
I started studying for my Bachelor of Science at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2009, where I majored in Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences and thus became very interested in Palaeontology and Form and Function. I completed my BSc honours and MSc in Palaeontology under the supervision of Prof. Kristian Carlson and Prof. Fernando Abdala. Currently, I am completing my PhD in Palaeontology, under the supervision of Prof. Kristian Carlson, Prof. Fernando Abdala, Prof. Frank Kienhofer and Prof. Jonah Choiniere. I focus my research on understanding the form related to the function or vice versa of prehistoric species. This allows me to expand my abilities by studying a variety of species in different environments. My PhD thesis incorporates a modelling approach for researching postcranial functional morphology of Thrinaxodon liorhinus and more broadly cynodonts This proposed research builds on my honours and masters studies. As those two projects were the first attempt of using Geometric Morphometric statistical analyses to quantify fossoriality of the postcrania of Thrinaxodon. My PhD is a multidisciplinary approach combining Palaeontology and Mechanical Engineering by usage of Finite Element Analyses. Demonstration of successful usage of this method will facilitate its application in similar future studies of the evolution of limb postures.
Contact: [email protected]
Gina Viglietti, BSc Honours
The first "fossil" I found was a brick-encrusted block of cement that I dug up in the garden with my fathers' work tools at the age of five. I grew up being taken on trips to Namibia, the Karoo, and places along the South African coastline with my family. My parents did a lot to nurture my curiosity for the world, and worlds beyond it. During that time I took for granted that I would become a natural scientist, whether it was a paleontologist, a botanist, a marine biologist, or an astronomer. But life took me on another path for a while.
I attained a Bachelor of Arts in 2007, and for most of my twenties I worked as a freelance illustrator and visual development artist in games and animation. I always enjoyed being creative, however, after some years I found the life of an artist on its own unfulfilling. I realized I needed to find a way back onto the path I had truly always wanted to follow. In July 2016, I was given that opportunity by the Evolutionary Sciences Institute at the University of Witswatersrand where I am now an Honours candidate in Paleontology. My research involves studying the inner ear morphology of Prolacerta broomi. The morphology of the inner ear has proven to provide solid phylogenetic data. In collecting this data from Prolacerta specimens, with the help of CT scanning technology, I hope to decipher the phylogeny of the basal most archosauromorphs and their connection to the crownward nodes of the archosaur tree: the Crocodilia, Pterosauromorpha, Dinosauria, and Aves.
Contact: [email protected]
The first "fossil" I found was a brick-encrusted block of cement that I dug up in the garden with my fathers' work tools at the age of five. I grew up being taken on trips to Namibia, the Karoo, and places along the South African coastline with my family. My parents did a lot to nurture my curiosity for the world, and worlds beyond it. During that time I took for granted that I would become a natural scientist, whether it was a paleontologist, a botanist, a marine biologist, or an astronomer. But life took me on another path for a while.
I attained a Bachelor of Arts in 2007, and for most of my twenties I worked as a freelance illustrator and visual development artist in games and animation. I always enjoyed being creative, however, after some years I found the life of an artist on its own unfulfilling. I realized I needed to find a way back onto the path I had truly always wanted to follow. In July 2016, I was given that opportunity by the Evolutionary Sciences Institute at the University of Witswatersrand where I am now an Honours candidate in Paleontology. My research involves studying the inner ear morphology of Prolacerta broomi. The morphology of the inner ear has proven to provide solid phylogenetic data. In collecting this data from Prolacerta specimens, with the help of CT scanning technology, I hope to decipher the phylogeny of the basal most archosauromorphs and their connection to the crownward nodes of the archosaur tree: the Crocodilia, Pterosauromorpha, Dinosauria, and Aves.
Contact: [email protected]
Cory Dinter, MSc
Growing up in Utah, a state filled to the gills with rocks displaying over two billion years’ worth of geologic history, it came as no big surprise to anyone when I started studying palaeontology. I received my Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah in 2014 and have since moved on to pursue a graduate degree at The University of the Witwatersrand under the supervision of Professor Jonah Choiniere. My MSc project centralises around a basal sauropodomorph recently discovered from the lower Elliot Formation in South Africa and aims to sort the taxonomic affinity, taphonomy, and stratigraphic context for this early dinosaur with an overarching goal of adding to the understanding of life in the late Triassic.
Growing up in Utah, a state filled to the gills with rocks displaying over two billion years’ worth of geologic history, it came as no big surprise to anyone when I started studying palaeontology. I received my Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Utah in 2014 and have since moved on to pursue a graduate degree at The University of the Witwatersrand under the supervision of Professor Jonah Choiniere. My MSc project centralises around a basal sauropodomorph recently discovered from the lower Elliot Formation in South Africa and aims to sort the taxonomic affinity, taphonomy, and stratigraphic context for this early dinosaur with an overarching goal of adding to the understanding of life in the late Triassic.
Katherine Clayton, MSc
Through lithofacies description, ichno-studies and sauropodomorph fossils, and quantitative palaeoclimate reconstruction, our research team is exploring interaction between the terrestrial fauna and dynamic landscapes of the Karoo Basins. My project focuses on interpreting the palaeoenvironments of the Karoo Supergroup with a focus on the Triassic Elliot Formation, in the Lembombo-Tshipise basin. By comparing data collected in the Lebombo-Tshipise Basin to research published from the Main Karoo Basin, we can examine palaeoenvironment conditions and faunal distributions across South Africa during the Late Triassic dinosaurian radiation in Gondwana.
Contact: [email protected]
Through lithofacies description, ichno-studies and sauropodomorph fossils, and quantitative palaeoclimate reconstruction, our research team is exploring interaction between the terrestrial fauna and dynamic landscapes of the Karoo Basins. My project focuses on interpreting the palaeoenvironments of the Karoo Supergroup with a focus on the Triassic Elliot Formation, in the Lembombo-Tshipise basin. By comparing data collected in the Lebombo-Tshipise Basin to research published from the Main Karoo Basin, we can examine palaeoenvironment conditions and faunal distributions across South Africa during the Late Triassic dinosaurian radiation in Gondwana.
Contact: [email protected]
Casey Staunton, MSc
I have had an interest in the palaeontology and geology of our planet since I was a child and spent most of my time outside with my animals. Palaeontology combines the two things I find most interesting - geology and biology. My project focuses on basal sauropodomorpha, specifically, the changes that occur in the forelimb during ontogeny and the changes that occur as the animals move from a more bipedal posture to a quadrupedal one over evolutionary time.
Contact: [email protected]
I have had an interest in the palaeontology and geology of our planet since I was a child and spent most of my time outside with my animals. Palaeontology combines the two things I find most interesting - geology and biology. My project focuses on basal sauropodomorpha, specifically, the changes that occur in the forelimb during ontogeny and the changes that occur as the animals move from a more bipedal posture to a quadrupedal one over evolutionary time.
Contact: [email protected]
Christophe Hendrickx, Centre of Excellence and African Origins Platform Postdoctoral Fellow
My passion for dinosaurs and fossils started at an early age, at around six or seven years old, precisely when I opened, in my parent’s bedroom, the National Geographic of August 1978, and contemplated the double page illustration on the dinosaur diversity through time. I instantly wanted to become a palaeontologist the moment I was informed that there was a profession consisting of studying dinosaurs. Completing a BSc degree in geology at the University of Liège, Belgium, a Master in palaeobiology at the University of Bristol, England, and a PhD in vertebrate palaeontology at the New University of Lisbon, Portugal, allowed me to realize this dream of becoming a professional palaeontologist. My research project on meat-eating dinosaurs in Portugal lead to the discovery of embryos and adult material of Torvosaurus gurneyi, a cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex and one of the largest terrestrial predators from Europe. Currently, I am doing a postdoc at the University of the Witwatersrand, enjoying my time studying the evolution of the dentition in gomphodont cynodonts and theropod dinosaurs. This specialization in the teeth of carnivorous dinosaurs now allows me to identify with a high degree of confidence several isolated theropod teeth offered by my mother when I was a little boy more than twenty years ago! While theropod dinosaurs gave rise to birds, gomphodont cynodonts are one of the closest cousins of the ancestors of modern mammals, and investigating the evolution of their dentition is crucial for understanding their dietary preferences and their evolutionary success throughout the Triassic.
Contact: [email protected]
My passion for dinosaurs and fossils started at an early age, at around six or seven years old, precisely when I opened, in my parent’s bedroom, the National Geographic of August 1978, and contemplated the double page illustration on the dinosaur diversity through time. I instantly wanted to become a palaeontologist the moment I was informed that there was a profession consisting of studying dinosaurs. Completing a BSc degree in geology at the University of Liège, Belgium, a Master in palaeobiology at the University of Bristol, England, and a PhD in vertebrate palaeontology at the New University of Lisbon, Portugal, allowed me to realize this dream of becoming a professional palaeontologist. My research project on meat-eating dinosaurs in Portugal lead to the discovery of embryos and adult material of Torvosaurus gurneyi, a cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex and one of the largest terrestrial predators from Europe. Currently, I am doing a postdoc at the University of the Witwatersrand, enjoying my time studying the evolution of the dentition in gomphodont cynodonts and theropod dinosaurs. This specialization in the teeth of carnivorous dinosaurs now allows me to identify with a high degree of confidence several isolated theropod teeth offered by my mother when I was a little boy more than twenty years ago! While theropod dinosaurs gave rise to birds, gomphodont cynodonts are one of the closest cousins of the ancestors of modern mammals, and investigating the evolution of their dentition is crucial for understanding their dietary preferences and their evolutionary success throughout the Triassic.
Contact: [email protected]
Pia Viglietti, Centre of Excellence Palaeosciences Postdoctoral Fellow
As a 2nd year Geology undergraduate at the University of Cape Town, I got offered a summer job doing a fossil scoping study for the Karoo National Park. After realising my skill and passion for finding fossils, I decided to pursue an honours project with Professor Roger Smith based at Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town. This evolved into a Masters project where I investigated the origins of mysteriousLystrosaurus bonebeds preserved in rocks of the post-extinction world of the the earliest Triassic. This work instilled a passion for extinction events and I continued this work on the Permo-Triassic extinction event for my PhD working under Professor Bruce Rubidge at the Evolutionary Studies Institute where I investigated the events occurring in the Karoo Basin just prior to this major biotic catastrophe. For my postdoctoral studies I have joined Professor Jonah Choiniere's lab to help answer questions concerning another equally important extinction event preserved in the Karoo Basin at the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary. My multidisciplinary skills will be used to conduct a "palaeoinformatics" investigation which will incorporate a vast but dispersed database of Karoo vertebrate fossil spatial, temporal, and other metadata (e.g. morphometrics and taphonomy) into a large-scale database to statistically test a number of phylogenetic, palaeoecological, and palaeoenvironmental hypotheses related to the position of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, and its inferred effects on terrestrial tetrapod ecosystems.
Contact: [email protected]
As a 2nd year Geology undergraduate at the University of Cape Town, I got offered a summer job doing a fossil scoping study for the Karoo National Park. After realising my skill and passion for finding fossils, I decided to pursue an honours project with Professor Roger Smith based at Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town. This evolved into a Masters project where I investigated the origins of mysteriousLystrosaurus bonebeds preserved in rocks of the post-extinction world of the the earliest Triassic. This work instilled a passion for extinction events and I continued this work on the Permo-Triassic extinction event for my PhD working under Professor Bruce Rubidge at the Evolutionary Studies Institute where I investigated the events occurring in the Karoo Basin just prior to this major biotic catastrophe. For my postdoctoral studies I have joined Professor Jonah Choiniere's lab to help answer questions concerning another equally important extinction event preserved in the Karoo Basin at the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary. My multidisciplinary skills will be used to conduct a "palaeoinformatics" investigation which will incorporate a vast but dispersed database of Karoo vertebrate fossil spatial, temporal, and other metadata (e.g. morphometrics and taphonomy) into a large-scale database to statistically test a number of phylogenetic, palaeoecological, and palaeoenvironmental hypotheses related to the position of the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, and its inferred effects on terrestrial tetrapod ecosystems.
Contact: [email protected]
James Neenan, NRF Postdoctoral Fellow
I am fascinated by the interplay of form and function in both extinct and living animals, particularly with regards to major habitat transitions. After my undergraduate and master’s studies at University College London and the University of Bristol, respectively, I moved to the University of Zurich for my doctorate. Here I studied the evolutionary relationships and cranial anatomy of a group of sauropterygian marine reptiles called placodonts with the use of CT scanning and 3D reconstruction. I carried on this theme during my postdoctoral work at the University of Oxford, where I examined how increasingly aquatic lifestyles and gross anatomical changes affect inner ear geometry across Sauropterygia.
Here at the Choiniere Lab, I am continuing my research into how differing locomotor modes and lifestyles influence inner ear geometry using a wider variety of taxonomic groups that include dinosaurs and crocodylians.
Contact: [email protected]
I am fascinated by the interplay of form and function in both extinct and living animals, particularly with regards to major habitat transitions. After my undergraduate and master’s studies at University College London and the University of Bristol, respectively, I moved to the University of Zurich for my doctorate. Here I studied the evolutionary relationships and cranial anatomy of a group of sauropterygian marine reptiles called placodonts with the use of CT scanning and 3D reconstruction. I carried on this theme during my postdoctoral work at the University of Oxford, where I examined how increasingly aquatic lifestyles and gross anatomical changes affect inner ear geometry across Sauropterygia.
Here at the Choiniere Lab, I am continuing my research into how differing locomotor modes and lifestyles influence inner ear geometry using a wider variety of taxonomic groups that include dinosaurs and crocodylians.
Contact: [email protected]
Blair McPhee, Postdoctoral Fellow, PhD
I have always had an interest in the natural history of the planet. Recently, this interest saw me move from an undergraduate background in archaeology (completing my bachelors degree at the University of Auckland, New Zealand) to completing a Masters in dinosaur palaeontology at the University of the Witwatersrand. This project represented a comprehensive description and phylogenetic analysis of the important transitional sauropodomorph Antetonitrus ingenipes. For my ensuing PhD I hope to delve deeper into the Triassic-Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa. This formation captures a pivotal period of the Mesozoic in which many of the major dinosaur groups underwent the dramatic radiation and diversification that would culminate in the dinosaur Golden Age of the later Jurassic.
However, the faunal contrast between the Late Triassic Lower Elliot Formation and the Early Jurassic Upper Elliot Formation remains to be systematically explored, as does its precise relationship to contemporary deposits in countries such as China, Germany, Argentina and North America. My project will ultimately aim to shed further light on the evolutionary histories and inter-dynamics of the tetrapod communities that existed at the highly-significant Triassic-Jurassic boundary.
Contact: [email protected]
I have always had an interest in the natural history of the planet. Recently, this interest saw me move from an undergraduate background in archaeology (completing my bachelors degree at the University of Auckland, New Zealand) to completing a Masters in dinosaur palaeontology at the University of the Witwatersrand. This project represented a comprehensive description and phylogenetic analysis of the important transitional sauropodomorph Antetonitrus ingenipes. For my ensuing PhD I hope to delve deeper into the Triassic-Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa. This formation captures a pivotal period of the Mesozoic in which many of the major dinosaur groups underwent the dramatic radiation and diversification that would culminate in the dinosaur Golden Age of the later Jurassic.
However, the faunal contrast between the Late Triassic Lower Elliot Formation and the Early Jurassic Upper Elliot Formation remains to be systematically explored, as does its precise relationship to contemporary deposits in countries such as China, Germany, Argentina and North America. My project will ultimately aim to shed further light on the evolutionary histories and inter-dynamics of the tetrapod communities that existed at the highly-significant Triassic-Jurassic boundary.
Contact: [email protected]
Nadia Afonso, BSc Honours student
Palaeontology is a new interest for me; it combines my interests in nature and anatomy. I recently graduated with an undergraduate BSc degree with majors in zoology and ecology. I first became interested in palaeontology when taking a functional anatomy course, learning how appendages had evolved over time to give animals the advantages they have today. During my honours year I hope to expand my knowledge on hominid evolution, evolution of mammal like reptiles, and contribute to the scientific community.
Contact: [email protected]
Palaeontology is a new interest for me; it combines my interests in nature and anatomy. I recently graduated with an undergraduate BSc degree with majors in zoology and ecology. I first became interested in palaeontology when taking a functional anatomy course, learning how appendages had evolved over time to give animals the advantages they have today. During my honours year I hope to expand my knowledge on hominid evolution, evolution of mammal like reptiles, and contribute to the scientific community.
Contact: [email protected]
Michelle Clack
My research entailed setting up a GIS database on the Stormberg Group dinosaur fossil collection that is housed at the Evolutionary Studies institute at the University of the Witwatersrand. This database is a follow up of work done by Merrill van der Walt on the Beaufort Group. This database is a resource for future studies on dinosaurs as it will be easy to access and easy to maintain as data capturing should be made simpler by the work I am doing on the database to make it user friendly. From this database I will also be interpreting distributional patterns in ArcGIS of the dinosaurs over the Stromberg Group and will do some interpretation on the effects that the Triassic-Jurassic extinction may have had on the taxa present. My goal would be that this database will also become something worth using to the extent that I'm hoping that it could help in predicting the possible areas where certain species could be found and thus saving time and money in the field.
Contact: [email protected]
My research entailed setting up a GIS database on the Stormberg Group dinosaur fossil collection that is housed at the Evolutionary Studies institute at the University of the Witwatersrand. This database is a follow up of work done by Merrill van der Walt on the Beaufort Group. This database is a resource for future studies on dinosaurs as it will be easy to access and easy to maintain as data capturing should be made simpler by the work I am doing on the database to make it user friendly. From this database I will also be interpreting distributional patterns in ArcGIS of the dinosaurs over the Stromberg Group and will do some interpretation on the effects that the Triassic-Jurassic extinction may have had on the taxa present. My goal would be that this database will also become something worth using to the extent that I'm hoping that it could help in predicting the possible areas where certain species could be found and thus saving time and money in the field.
Contact: [email protected]