Christopher M. Smith

The human evolutionary story is full of oddities, and the Paranthropus group is extra fascinating! Today, we present new insights into their inner ear indicating that one species -Paranthropus robustus- may have indeed been doing something different! 1/5🧵 authors.elsevier.com/a/1kGFIAlZXXryj

📢 Call for Papers! We invite submissions for special issue “Development, Evolution & Comparative Anatomy of the Larynx.” This issue aims to highlight interdisciplinary work exploring the development, evolution & structure–function relationships across species 📅 Deadline: Sep 15

New issue! From evolution of eyes & ears to cutting-edge imaging of sensory anatomy, new research explores how vertebrate senses guide adaptive responses in a complex world. Shared theme: sensing cues in an expansive environment shaped vertebrate radiation anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494/2…

@BeaudetAmelie @CNRS @CNRSecologie @palevoprim @AgenceRecherche @WitsUniversity @DiamondLightSou Congratulations!

🧵Our latest #LittleFoot paper is out in #Palevol! A few words about the study and what we found👇

New paper out: Nanotyrannus is a different species, not a juvenile T. rex. Growth record of the throat bone in the original skull of Nanotyrannus shows this is a grown-up individual, rather than a growing teenager, that lived alongside the tyrant lizard. science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

Register for this month's Inspiring Scientific Curiosity & Discovery webinar, The Anatomy of Sabretooth Taxa! 📆 Wednesday, December 10th ⏰12:00 PM ET #Anatomy26 #anatomy #science #education #research #webinar #register

🧵New paper of our lab is out on The Anatomical Record dedicated to inner ear studies. If you are curious about how closely early Central European Neandertals resemble classic, Late Pleistocene Neandertals, check it out! doi.org/10.1002/ar.700… more in the🧵1/3

Thrilled to join @palevoprim with @FFyssen to continue my "healthy" obsession with early hominin brains with @Dr_Franck_Guy and @BeaudetAmelie. Thanks for the warm welcome!

My colleagues and I are proud to present such a useful tool (99.99% of the work by @sacatalano)

Excited to be a co-author on our new article “The First Million Years of Technology: The Lomekwian and the Early Oldowan” now published online in the Annual Review of Anthropology. Feel free to DM or email for a copy annualreviews.org/content/journa…

The final chapter of my PhD is finally published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution! Extremely proud of this culmination of years of work on the avian sternum, and grateful to everyone who contributed. Please reach out if you'd like a PDF 🎉 nature.com/articles/s4155…

@JGN_Paleo @Paleoartologist This so awesome!! Congrats James!!

Was the key to bird flight 'all in the wrist'? New research, published today in Nature, shows that important adaptations for flight in the wrists of modern birds were present in bird-like theropod dinosaurs . 🧵 Illustration by @Paleoartologist

New paper today about the evolution of the wrist along the dinosaur to bird transition: a bird-like configuration appeared in predatory dinosaurs first, as suggested by new exceptionally preserved hands of oviraptors and troodontids nature.com/articles/s4158…

'Embodied cognitive evolution and the limits of convergence' - paper by Louise Barrett and me just out: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs…. .

New special issue scrutinizes the roles of cartilage in cranial development. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494/2…

Just wrapped up an amazing few days at @MassEyeAndEar for the International Otopathology Society meeting. Grateful for the insights, connections, and inspiration!

doi.org/10.1038/s41467… A study of infant fossils from Ethiopia and South Africa reveals that facial differences among early Homo species were already present in infancy.

@AlexDeCasien Congratulations!!! 🎉

So honored (!) and excited to see everyone in Albuquerque next week 🥹 🧠 🧬 #OSSD2025

New paper from the lab: Our teeth arose as sensory organs on the outside of the body of ancient jawless fish.!! Congrats to Yara Haridy and the team! Open Access Paper: nature.com/articles/s4158… News and Views: nature.com/articles/d4158… Background and video: phys.org/news/2025-05-t…

Glad to share a new paper led by @yara_haridy and @NeilShubin Lab on the early evolution of teeth! Modern and fossil data point at an ancestrally sensorial function for the earliest dentine nature.com/articles/s4158…