A common tool in the engineering field for solving complicated real world physical problems, this simulation technique is gaining interest among comparative biologists and paleontologists who are studying questions regarding form and function of organisms.

I am using finite element modeling in my research to determine the morphological and biomechanical changes that occurred throughout the craniodental evolution of the hyena and dog families.

Finite element modeling allows me to gage the capability of living and extinct hyenas to crack bones with their skulls. I use exceptionally preserved fossil skulls as templates for the computer models,

with the aid of computer tomography (CT), the complex shape of the skull is replicated and then reproduced digitally,

after touching up incomplete regions and building realistic parameters of the skull model, it is ready to be analyzed. This example shows the cranium of Ictitherium being stressed as it uses its carnassial tooth (left fourth premolar).

Projects:

More resources regarding this tool in evolutionary biology can be found at the web site of the Biomesh laboratory at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.