My name is Spencer Pevsner. I’m a PhD student studying paleontology in Roger Benson’s and Erin Saupe’s labs at the University of Oxford as part of the Environmental Research DTP.
I am particularly interested in studying functional morphology and biomechanics with an eye towards overlooked taxa and anatomical elements. At the moment, my research focuses on evolutionary trends in the tails of the non-mammalian synapsids (the precursors to modern mammals), and how these variable structures may have been used in locomotion.
Between graduating from the University of Bristol with my Master’s and starting my PhD, I spent time working at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Canadian Fossil Discovery Center, doing collections work and prospecting for fossils, respectively.
University of Bristol
I earned my Master of Science (MSc) degree in Palaeobiology With Distinction from the University of Bristol, where I wrote a Master’s thesis on the evolution of multituberculate mandibles. I am currently in the process of publishing the results of this research.
Published Research
I have published two papers in scientific journals, and I served as lead author on one of them. More information on my publications can be found here.
University of Chicago
I earned dual Bachelor of Science (BSc) degrees in Biological Sciences and Geophysical Sciences from the University of Chicago. There, I wrote a senior thesis on the evolution of locomotion in marsupials. An extension of that research focusing on the influence of developmental constraints in marsupial locomotion has since been published.
