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Reconstructing dinosaur evolution and their ecological roles in Mesozoic ecosystems

DINOSAUR PALAEONTOLOGY

Home > Fieldwork & Research > Dinosaur Palaeontology​

Non-avian dinosaurs flourished throughout the Mesozoic era, which spanned over 160 million years. They were the most ecologically dominant and diverse group of terrestrial vertebrates of their time.

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They evolved a remarkable diversity of morphologies, diets, locomotion strategies, and ecological niches, coexisting with pterosaurs, early birds, mammaliaforms, and other organisms to form the complex terrestrial ecosystems of the Mesozoic. Because modern birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs, studying dinosaur evolution is also essential for understanding the origins of many avian traits seen today.

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The Centre’s scientist has years of experience in dinosaur palaeontology research. Using comparative anatomy, functional morphology, palaeoecological analysis, and digital modelling, we investigate dinosaurs’ evolutionary relationships, anatomy, behaviours, and ecological adaptations, as well as the morphological and functional transitions that occurred during the evolution from dinosaurs to birds. We also explore the interactions between dinosaurs and Mesozoic environments, the evolution of the terrestrial ecosystems they inhabited, and the profound impacts of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction on dinosaurs and the broader history of life on Earth.

PUBLICATIONS

  • Direct evidence of carnivory in the early-diverging Alvarezsaurian Bannykus. 2025. The Innovation Geoscience, 3(3), pp.100143-1.

  • New sauropod remains from the middle Jurassic Dongdaqiao Formation of Qamdo, eastern Tibet. 2023. Palaeoworld, 33(3), pp.744-752.

  • A new subadult specimen of oviraptorid Yulong mini (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Luanchuan, central China. 2022. Cretaceous Research, 138, p.105261.

  • Cranial muscle reconstructions quantify adaptation for high bite forces in Oviraptorosauria. 2022. Scientific Reports, 12(1), p.3010.

  • Macroevolutionary trends in theropod dinosaur feeding mechanics. 2022. Current Biology, 32(3), pp.677-686.

  • An exquisitely preserved in-ovo theropod dinosaur embryo sheds light on avian-like prehatching postures. 2022. IScience, 25(1).

  • Relatively low tooth replacement rate in a sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Ruyang Basin of central China. 2021. PeerJ, 9, p.e12361.

  • Functional morphology of the oviraptorosaurian and scansoriopterygid skull. 2020. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 440(1), pp.229-250.

  • The fossil record of Mesozoic and Paleocene pennaraptorans. 2020. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 440(1), pp.37-96.

  • Pennaraptoran systematics. 2020. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 440(1), pp.7-36.

  • The skull evolution of oviraptorosaurian dinosaurs: the role of niche partitioning in diversification. 2020. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 33(2), pp.178-188.

  • Functional anatomy of a giant toothless mandible from a bird-like dinosaur: Gigantoraptor and the evolution of the oviraptorosaurian jaw. 2017. Scientific reports, 7(1), p.16247.

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