Emily Rayfield
| Emily Rayfield | |
|---|---|
| Born | Northallerton |
| Residence |
England  |
| Nationality |
British  |
| Fields | Palaeontology |
| Institutions | University of Bristol |
| Alma mater | Cambridge University |
| Doctoral advisor | David B. Norman |
| Doctoral students | Stephanie Pierce, Sandra Jasinoski, Mark Young, Jen Bright |
| Notable awards | Hodson Fund of the Palaeontological Association, Lyell Fund of the Geological Society of London |
Emily Rayfield is a British palaeontologist, who is a Reader in Palaeobiology in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol.[1]
Her research primarily 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 hyoptheses. This paper was the first use of FEA on a three-dimensional structure in palaeontology (in collaboration with CT scanning), and spurred the current trend of 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 quantitately compare cranial biomechanics.[5]
References
- ↑ Dr Emily Rayfield: Earth Sciences: University of Bristol
- ↑ 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. Nature 409: 1033-1037.
- ↑ Rayfield, E. J. 2007. Finite element analysis in vertebrate morphology. Annual Reviews in Earth and Planetary Sciences 35: 541–576.
- ↑ Rayfield, E. J. 2004. Cranial mechanics and feeding in Tyrannosaurus rex. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences 271: 1451-1459.
- ↑ Rayfield, E. J. 2005. Aspects of comparative cranial mechanics in the theropod dinosaurs Coelophysis, Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 144 (3): 309–316.