Dr Alistair Evans - Researcher Profile

Biography

Alistair works in the School of Biological Sciences at Monash University as a ARC Australian Research Fellow, Monash Research Fellow

Alistair’s research areas of interest are:

•functional morphology, particularly of mammalian teeth
•3D imaging and analysis
•morphological evolution
•evolution and development (evo-devo)
•body mass evolution
•evolutionary rates

Please see my website for more information: http://users.monash.edu.au/~arevans/

Keywords

Functional morphology, Evolution, 3D imaging and analysis

Qualifications

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (SCIENCE)

Institution: Monash University

Year awarded: 2003

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONS)

Institution: Monash University

Year awarded: 1996

Publications

Book Chapters

Hernesniemi, E., Giaourtsakis, I.X., Evans, A.R., Fortelius, M., 2011, Rhinocerotidae, in Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context Volume 2: Fossil Hominins and athe Associated Fauna, eds Terry Harrison, Springer, USA, pp. 275-294.

Evans, A.R., 2006, Quantifying relationships between form and function and the geometry of the wear process in bat molars, in Functional and Evolutionary Ecology of Bats, eds Akbar Zubaid, Gary F McCracken, and Thomas H Kunz, Oxford University Press, Inc., New York USA, pp. 93-109.

Journal Articles

Wilson, G.P., Evans, A.R., Corfe, I.J., Smits, P., Fortelius, M., Jernvall, J., 2012, Adaptive radiation of multituberculate mammals before the extinction of dinosaurs, Nature [P], vol 483, issue 7390, Nature Publishing Group, London England, pp. 457-460.

Smits, P., Evans, A.R., 2012, Functional constraints on tooth morphology in carnivorous mammals, BMC Evolutionary Biology [P], vol 12, issue 146, BioMed Central Ltd, London England, pp. 1-11.

Perdomo, G.D., Evans, A.R., Maraun, M., Sunnucks, P., Thompson, R., 2012, Mouthpart morphology and trophic position of microarthropods from soils and mosses are strongly correlated, Soil Biology and Biochemistry [P], vol 53, Elsevier, USA, pp. 56-63.

Jones, D., Evans, A.R., Rayfield, E., Siu, K.K.W., Donoghue, P.C.J., 2012, Testing microstructural adaptation in the earliest dental tools, Biology Letters [P], vol 8, issue 6, Royal Society Publishing, London England, pp. 952-955.

Evans, A.R., Jones, D.O., Boyer, A.G., Brown, J., Costa, D.P., Morgan, E.S.K., Fitzgerald, E., Fortelius, M., Gittleman, J.L., Hamilton, M., Harding, L., Lintulaakso, K., Lyons, K., Okie, J.G., Saarinen, J., Sibly, R., Smith, F., Stephens, P., Theodor, J., Uhen, M.D., 2012, The maximum rate of mammal evolution, Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America [P], vol 109, issue 11, National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC USA, pp. 4187-4190.

Jones, D.O., Evans, A.R., Siu, K.K.W., Rayfield, E.J., Donoghue, P.C.J., 2012, The sharpest tools in the box? Quantitative analysis of conodont element functional morphology, Proceedings of the Royal Society - Biological Sciences (Series B) [P], vol 279, issue 1739, Royal Society, London England, pp. 2849-2854.

Evans, A.R., 2012, What very big teeth you have "Mammal Teeth: Origin, Evolution, and Diversity", BioScience [P], vol 62, issue 1, University of California Press, United States, pp. 95-97.

Eronen, J., Evans, A., Fortelius, M., Jernvall, J., 2011, Genera are often better than species for detecting evolutionary change in the fossil record: A reply to Salesa et al, Evolution; international journal of organic evolution [P], vol 65, issue 5, Wiley-Blackwell, Malden USA, pp. 1514-1516.

Skinner, M., Evans, A., Smith, T., Jernvall, J., Tafforeau, P., Kupczik, K., Olejniczak, A., Rosas, A., Radovcic, J., Thackeray, F., Toussaint, M., Hublin, J., 2010, Brief communication: Contributions of enamel-dentine junction shape and enamel deposition to primate molar crown complexity, American Journal of Physical Anthropology [P], vol 142, issue 1, Wiley-LISS, Hoboken NJ USA, pp. 157-163.

Boyer, D., Evans, A., Jernvall, J., 2010, Evidence of dietary differentiation among late paleocene-early eocene plesiadapids (mammalia, primates), American Journal of Physical Anthropology [P], vol 142, issue 2, Wiley-LISS, Hoboken NJ USA, pp. 194-210.

Smith, F., Boyer, A., Brown, J., Costa, D., Dayan, T., Ernest, S., Evans, A., Fortelius, M., Gittleman, J., Hamilton, M., Harding, L., Lintaakso, K., Lyons, K., McCain, C., Okie, J., Saarinen, J., Sibly, R., Stephens, P., Theodor, J., Uhen, M., 2010, The evolution of maximum body size of terrestrial mammals, Science [P], vol 330, issue 6008, American association for the advancement of science, Washington DC USA, pp. 1216-1219.

Eronen, J., Evans, A., Fortelius, M., Jernvall, J., 2010, The impact of regional climate on the evolution of mammals: A case study using fossil horses, Evolution; international journal of organic evolution [P], vol 64, issue 2, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc, Malden Massachusetts USA, pp. 398-408.

Renvoise, E., Evans, A.R., Jebrane, A., Labruere, C., Laffont, R., Montuire, S., 2009, Evolution of mammal tooth patterns: New insights from a developmental prediction model, Evolution [P], vol 63, issue 5, Wiley, UK, pp. 1327-1340.

Plyusnin, I., Evans, A.R., Karme, A., Gionis, A., Jernvall, J., 2008, Automated 3D phenotype analysis using data mining, PLoS ONE [P], vol 3, issue 3, Public Library of Science, Berkley, CA, USA, pp. 1-9.

Evans, A.R., Fortelius, M., 2008, Three-dimensional reconstruction of tooth relationships during carnivoran chewing, Palaeontologia Electronica, vol 11, Coquina Press, Internet publication, pp. 1-11.

Evans, A.R., Wilson, G.P., Fortelius, M., Jernvall, J., 2007, High-level similarity of dentitions in carnivorans and rodents, Nature [E], vol 445, Nature Publishing Group, London, UK, pp. 78-81.

Kavanagh, K.D., Evans, A.R., Jernvall, J., 2007, Predicting evolutionary patterns of mammalian teeth from development, Nature [P], vol 449, issue 27, Nature Publishing Group, London, UK, pp. 427-432.

Evans, A.R., Sanson, G.D., 2006, Spatial and functional modeling of carnivore and insectivore molariform teeth, Journal of Morphology, vol 267, issue 6, Wiley-Liss, Hoboken USA, pp. 649-662.

Evans, A.R., Sanson, G.D., 2005, Biomechanical properties of insects in relation to insectivory: cuticle thickness as an indicator of insect 'hardness' and 'intractability', Australian Journal of Zoology, vol 53, issue 1, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood Vic Australia, pp. 9-19.

Evans, A.R., 2005, Connecting morphology, function and tooth wear in microchiropterans, Biological Journal Of The Linnean Society [P], vol 85, issue 1, Evolutionary Ecology Ltd, Tucson, Arizona, USA, pp. 81-96.

Evans, A.R., Sanson, G.D., 2005, Correspondence between tooth shape and dietary biomechanical properties in insectivorous microchiropterans, Evolutionary Ecology Research [P], vol 7, issue 3, Evolutionary Ecology Ltd, Arizona, USA, pp. 453-478.

Evans, A.R., Hunter, J., Fortelius, M., Sanson, G.D., 2005, The scaling of tooth sharpness in mammals, Annales Zoologici Fennici, vol 42, issue 6, Finnish Zoological Botanical Publishing Board, Univ Helsinki Finland, pp. 603-613.

Kangas, A.T., Evans, A.R., Thesleff, I., Jernvall, J., 2004, Nonindependence of mammalian dental characters, Nature [P], vol 432, Nature Publishing Group, London, UK, pp. 211-214.

Evans, A.R., Sanson, G.D., 2003, The tooth of perfection: functional and spatial constraints on mammalian tooth shape, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, vol 78, issue 2, Academic Press Ltd, London England, pp. 173-191.

Evans, A.R., Harper, I.S., Sanson, G.D., 2001, Confocal imaging, visualization and 3-D surface measurement of small mammalian teeth, Journal of Microscopy-Oxford, vol 204, issue Pt 2, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, England, UK, pp. 108-118.

Evans, A.R., Harper, I.S., Sanson, G.D., 2001, Confocal imaging, visualization and 3-D surface measurement of small mammalian teeth, Journal of Microscopy, vol 204, issue 2, Blackwell Sciences, Oxford UK, pp. 108-119.

Evans, A.R., Sanson, G.D., 1998, The effect of tooth shape on the breakdown of insects, Journal of Zoology, vol 246, The Zoological Society of London, London UK, pp. 391-400.

Conference Proceedings

Evans, A.R., Fortelius, M., Jernvall, J., Eronen, J.T., 2005, Dental Ecomorphology of extant European carnivorans, Current Trends in Dental Morphology Research, University of Lodz Press, Lodz, Poland, pp. 223-232.

Other

Evans, A.R., Harper, I.S., Sanson, G.D., 1999, Methods of digital measurement of tooth surface and occlusion (Abstract), Focus on Microscopy. 12th Int Conf on 3D Image Processing in Microscopy and 11th Int Conf on Confocal Microscopy. EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany, 11-15 April 1999.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Evolution of feeding behaviour in Pinnipeds.

Supervisors:

Evans, A (Main).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

New insights into the natural history of the Squalodontidae (Odontoceti) using modern phylogenetic,.

Supervisors:

Evans, A (Main).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Patterns and Evolution of Macropodid Tooth Development.

Supervisors:

Evans, A (Main).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

The functional morphology of varanid lizards.

Supervisors:

Mchenry, C (Main), Evans, A (Associate).

Completed Supervision

Student:

Smits, P.

Program of Study:

Quantifying phenotypic constraint and integration in morphological character data. (Masters) 2012.

Supervisors:

Evans, A (Main).