Dr Katrina Jones
PhD
Expertise
I study mammalian skeletal evolution and the impacts of adaptation and constraint during major ecological transitions using comparative anatomy, morphometrics, biomechanics, and evolutionary modelling.
Current positions
Royal Society Research Fellow
School of Earth Sciences
Contact
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Biography
I completed a Masters in Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge in 2008 and a PhD in Functional Anatomy and Evolution at Johns Hopkins University in 2014, working with Prof. Ken Rose. From 2015-2020, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University working with Dr. Stephanie Pierce. I conducted an NSF-funded postdoctoral project investigating the evolution of the spine in the synapsid forerunners of mammals.
Research interests
I study locomotor evolution in the mammalian skeleton and examine the impacts of adaptation and constraint during major ecological transitions e.g., origins of mammals, land-to-water, evolution of novel locomotor modes. I combine techniques from comparative anatomy and dissection, to morphometrics, biomechanics, and evolutionary modelling to understand the factors impacting morphological evolution and phenotypic diversity through time. My lab has a special focus on the axial skeleton, a critical but understudied component of the mammalian skeleton.