Research Associate
Rex Mitchell
I’m a massive nerd for comparative anatomy, with a focus on bones; especially skulls. The interplay between various adaptations and constraints to musculoskeletal performance, and how trade-offs between these can mediate adaptation, niche dynamics, and diversity, are what really get my brain juices flowing. The primary methods I use to study this involve a combination of shape analysis (geometric morphometrics) and computational biomechanics (finite element analysis).
I completed my PhD in 2018 with the University of New England in Armidale, which involved assessing the relationships between skull shape, feeding biomechanics, and dietary ecology in marsupial herbivores. After holding two postdoctoral roles in the USA, involving primate feeding pathology and rodent developmental plasticity, I returned to Australia in 2021 for my current postdoctoral research position looking at the influence of body size and climate variation on skull shape in rock-wallabies of the genus Petrogale. I have also since secured CABAH funding for an additonal project involving feeding biomechanics and food material properties of bettongs and potoroos.
Twitter @DRexMitchell