Emily Rayfield

Last updated

Emily Rayfield
Born
Nationality British Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Alma mater Oxford University Cambridge University
Awards
Scientific career
Fields Palaeontology
Institutions University of Bristol
Doctoral advisor David B. Norman

Emily Rayfield is a British palaeontologist, who is a Professor in Palaeobiology in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. [1]

Her research focuses on the functional anatomy of extinct vertebrates, especially dinosaurs, using computational methods such as finite element analysis (FEA). In the landmark paper Rayfield et al. (2001), [2] the skull of the theropod dinosaur Allosaurus was analysed using FEA in order to quantitatively assess different feeding hypotheses. This paper was the first use of FEA on a three-dimensional structure in palaeontology (in collaboration with CT scanning), and spurred interest in using CT-scanned skull FEA on feeding biomechanics in zoology and palaeontology. [3]

In addition, she helped elucidate the cranial biomechanics of the noted carnivorous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus using two-dimensional FEA. [4] This study was expanded upon in a comparative finite element analysis of 2D theropod skulls (namely Allosaurus Coelophysis and Tyrannosaurus), in order to quantitatively compare cranial biomechanics. [5]

Prof. Rayfield was President of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology from 2018 to 2020.

Honours and awards

Related Research Articles

<i>Allosaurus</i> Extinct genus of carnosaurian theropod dinosaur

Allosaurus is an extinct genus of large carnosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period. The name "Allosaurus" means "different lizard", alluding to its unique concave vertebrae. It is derived from the Greek words ἄλλος and σαῦρος. The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to this genus were described in 1877 by famed paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. As one of the first well-known theropod dinosaurs, it has long attracted attention outside of paleontological circles.

<i>Albertosaurus</i> Genus of bipedal predatory dinosaur

Albertosaurus is a genus of large tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in northwestern North America during the early to middle Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period, about 71 million years ago. The type species, A. sarcophagus, was apparently restricted in range to the modern-day Canadian province of Alberta, after which the genus is named, although an indeterminate species has been discovered in the Corral de Enmedio and Packard Formations of Mexico. Scientists disagree on the content of the genus and some recognize Gorgosaurus libratus as a second species.

<i>Tyrannosaurus</i> Genus of Late Cretaceous theropod

Tyrannosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The type species Tyrannosaurus rex, often called T. rex or colloquially T-Rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived throughout what is now western North America, on what was then an island continent known as Laramidia. Tyrannosaurus had a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids. Fossils are found in a variety of rock formations dating to the latest Campanian-Maastrichtian ages of the Late Cretaceous period, 72.7 to 66 million years ago. It was the last known member of the tyrannosaurids and among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyrannosauridae</span> Family of dinosaurs

Tyrannosauridae is a family of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that comprises two subfamilies containing up to thirteen genera, including the eponymous Tyrannosaurus. The exact number of genera is controversial, with some experts recognizing as few as three. All of these animals lived near the end of the Cretaceous Period and their fossils have been found only in North America and Asia.

<i>Tarbosaurus</i> Tyrannosaurid dinosaur genus from Late Cretaceous of Mongolia

Tarbosaurus is a genus of tyrannosaurine theropod dinosaur that lived in Asia about 70 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian age at the end of the Late Cretaceous period, considered to contain a single known species: Tarbosaurus bataar. Fossils have been recovered from the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia, with more fragmentary remains found further afield in the Subashi Formation of China.

<i>Giganotosaurus</i> Carcharodontosaurid dinosaur genus from the late Cretaceous period

Giganotosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Argentina, during the early Cenomanian age of the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 99.6 to 95 million years ago. The holotype specimen was discovered in the Candeleros Formation of Patagonia in 1993 and is almost 70% complete. The animal was named Giganotosaurus carolinii in 1995; the genus name translates to "giant southern lizard", and the specific name honors the discoverer, Ruben Carolini. A dentary bone, a tooth, and some tracks, discovered before the holotype, were later assigned to this animal. The genus attracted much interest and became part of a scientific debate about the maximum sizes of theropod dinosaurs.

<i>Coelophysis</i> Genus of theropod dinosaurs from the late Triassic

Coelophysis is a genus of coelophysid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 215 to 208.5 million years ago during the Late Triassic period from the middle to late Norian age in what is now the southwestern United States. Megapnosaurus was once considered to be a species within this genus, but this interpretation has been challenged since 2017 and the genus Megapnosaurus is now considered valid.

<i>Ceratosaurus</i> Genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period

Ceratosaurus was a carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic period. The genus was first described in 1884 by American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh based on a nearly complete skeleton discovered in Garden Park, Colorado, in rocks belonging to the Morrison Formation. The type species is Ceratosaurus nasicornis.

<i>Carcharodontosaurus</i> Genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur from the Cretaceous period

Carcharodontosaurus is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur that lived in North Africa from about 99 to 94 million years ago during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. Two teeth of the genus, now lost, were first described from Algeria by French paleontologists Charles Depéret and Justin Savornin as Megalosaurus saharicus. A partial skeleton was collected by crews of German paleontologist Ernst Stromer during a 1914 expedition to Egypt. Stromer did not report the Egyptian find until 1931, in which he dubbed the novel genus Carcharodontosaurus, making the type species C. saharicus. Unfortunately, this skeleton was destroyed during the Second World War. In 1995 a nearly complete skull of C. saharicus, the first well-preserved specimen to be found in almost a century, was discovered in the Kem Kem Beds of Morocco; it was designated the neotype in 1996. Fossils unearthed from the Echkar Formation of northern Niger were described and named as another species, C. iguidensis, in 2007.

Coelurus is a genus of coelurosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period. The name means "hollow tail", referring to its hollow tail vertebrae. Although its name is linked to one of the main divisions of theropods (Coelurosauria), it has historically been poorly understood, and sometimes confused with its better-known contemporary Ornitholestes. Like many dinosaurs studied in the early years of paleontology, it has had a confusing taxonomic history, with several species being named and later transferred to other genera or abandoned. Only one species is currently recognized as valid: the type species, C. fragilis, described by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1879. It is known from one partial skeleton found in the Morrison Formation of Wyoming, United States. It was a small bipedal carnivore with elongate legs.

<i>Massospondylus</i> Sauropodomorph dinosaur genus from Early Jurassic South Africa and Botswana

Massospondylus was a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic. It was described by Sir Richard Owen in 1854 from remains discovered in South Africa, and is thus one of the first dinosaurs to have been named. Fossils have since been found at other locations in South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. Material from Arizona's Kayenta Formation, India, and Argentina has been assigned to the genus at various times, but the Arizonan and Argentinian material are now assigned to other genera.

<i>Proceratosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Proceratosaurus is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of England. It contains a single species. P. bradleyi, known from a mostly complete skull and lower jaws. Proceratosaurus was a small dinosaur, estimated to measure around 3 m (9.8 ft) in length. Its name refers to how it was originally thought to be an ancestor of Ceratosaurus, due to the partially preserved portion of the crest of Proceratosaurus superficially resembling the small crest of Ceratosaurus. Now, however, it is considered a coelurosaur, specifically a member of the family Proceratosauridae, and amongst the earliest known members of the clade Tyrannosauroidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allosauridae</span> Extinct family of theropod dinosaurs

Allosauridae is a family of medium to large bipedal, carnivorous allosauroid theropod dinosaurs from the Late Jurassic. Allosauridae is a fairly old taxonomic group, having been first named by the American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878. Allosaurids are characterized by an astragalus with a restriction of the ascending process to the lateral part of the bone, a larger medial than lateral condyle, and a horizontal groove across the face of the condyles.

<i>Piatnitzkysaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Piatnitzkysaurus is a genus of megalosauroid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 179 to 177 million years ago during the lower part of the Jurassic Period in what is now Argentina. Piatnitzkysaurus was a moderately large, lightly built, bipedal, ground-dwelling carnivore that could grow up to 6.6 m (21.7 ft) long.

<i>Effigia</i> Extinct genus of Archosaurs

Effigia was an extinct genus of shuvosaurid known from the Late Triassic of New Mexico, south-western USA. With a bipedal stance, long neck, and a toothless beaked skull, Effigia and other shuvosaurids bore a resemblance to the ornithomimid dinosaurs of the Cretaceous Period. However, shuvosaurids were not dinosaurs, but were instead a specialized family of poposauroid pseudosuchians, meaning that their closest living relatives are crocodilians.

<i>Erlikosaurus</i> Extinct genus of therizinosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous

Erlikosaurus is a genus of therizinosaurid that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period. The fossils, a skull and some post-cranial fragments, were found in the Bayan Shireh Formation of Mongolia in 1972, dating to around 96 million and 89 million years ago. These remains were later described by Altangerel Perle and Rinchen Barsbold in 1980, naming the new genus and species Erlikosaurus andrewsi. It represents the second therizinosaur taxon from this formation with the most complete skull among members of this peculiar family of dinosaurs.

<i>Marshosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Marshosaurus is a genus of medium-sized carnivorous theropod dinosaur, belonging to the Megalosauroidea, from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of Utah and possibly Colorado.

Feeding behaviour of <i>Tyrannosaurus</i>

The feeding behaviour of Tyrannosaurus rex has been studied extensively. The well known attributes of T. rex are often interpreted to be indicative of either a predatory or scavenging lifestyle, and as such the biomechanics, feeding strategies and diet of Tyrannosaurus have been subject to much research and debate.

References

  1. Dr Emily Rayfield: Earth Sciences: University of Bristol
  2. Rayfield, E. J., Norman, D. B., Horner, C. C., Horner, J. R., Smith, P. M., Thomason, J. J. and Upchurch, P. 2001. Cranial design and function in a large theropod dinosaur. Nature409: 1033-1037.
  3. Rayfield, E. J. 2007. Finite element analysis in vertebrate morphology. Annual Reviews in Earth and Planetary Sciences35: 541–576.
  4. Rayfield, E. J. 2004. Cranial mechanics and feeding in Tyrannosaurus rex. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences271: 1451-1459.
  5. Rayfield, E. J. 2005. Aspects of comparative cranial mechanics in the theropod dinosaurs Coelophysis, Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society144 (3): 309–316.
  6. "Medal and Award Winners List". Palaeontological Association. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  7. "Lyell Fund". Geological Society. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  8. "Bigsby Medal". Geological Society. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  9. "ZSL Scientific Medal Winners" (PDF). Retrieved 20 February 2024.