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Narimane Chatar

@narimanechatar.bsky.social
241 followers 118 following 73 posts

Postdoc at UC Berkeley | Crazy cat lady interested in fossil carnivorans 🦁🐻🦦 | Biomechanics & morphometrics 🦾📊 | PhD'23 from Université de Liège | She/her 🇧🇪🇲🇦

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Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · 21h
OK here are the 3 other #CROCOLOCOEVO jobs available; deadline 23 October; interview around 30 October. 3 year contracts, full tme. The postdocs might be extendable by +2 years. Research Technician - jobs.rvc.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx... (1/2)
jobs.rvc.ac.uk
Job Opportunity at the RVC: Research Technician
This is a fixed-term, full-time position for 36 months.Applicants should ideally be able to commence by 1 December 2026, although some flexibility may be possible. The role will be based in person at ...
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
So happy to have been invited by Rex Mitchell for this little chat about our recent tooth paper in @science.org (doi.org/10.1126/scie...) for his YouTube channel, @theskullywaglab.bsky.social, check it out 🤩: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TmK... #SciComm #ScienceCommunication #AcademicChatter
youtube.com
Skullywag Chats #2 | Dr Narimane Chatar | Teeth, Macroevolutionary ratchets, Saber-tooths
YouTube video by The Skullywag Lab
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Alessandro Chiarenza @macroecoevoale.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
How do you take the temperature of a T. rex 66 million years too late? Time machine? Impossible. Billionaire’s dinosaur island? Risky. Geochemistry? Much safer 🦖🌡️ Our new Science Advances paper adds evidence for an endothermic, “warm-blooded” T. rex, link to the paper 🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scia...
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
New paper out in Integrative and Comparative Biology (@sicbjournals.bsky.social) lead by @morganefo.bsky.social ! 🥳Morgane investigated the shape variation throughout the life cycle of the Alpine newts using GMM on skulls and mandibles🦎 doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
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Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Another big potential #FishJob Curator of Fishes (or Mammals, but let it be ichthyology) at the American Museum of Natural History careers.amnh.org/postings/4925
careers.amnh.org
Assistant Curator/Assistant Professor, Vertebrate Zoology
The Division of Vertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) seeks an outstanding tenure-track Assistant Curator/Assistant Professor in either the Department of Ichthyology or M...
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Paul Z. Barrett PhD @nimravenous.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Happy to announce the publication of our article in Nature Ecology & Evolution on adaptive zone evolution in terrestrial mammal carnivores. Over the next few days, I’ll share the major results—and by extension, take you on a tour of carnivore evolution. (rdcu.be/6okG1hVhvtHa) 1/n
rdcu.be
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Journal of Anatomy @journalofanatomy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Congratulations to the authors on this excellent new contribution to our understanding of proboscidean biomechanics! 🐘
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
New #OpenAccess paper out in @journalofanatomy.bsky.social 🤩 In this study lead by MSc student @paleonico.bsky.social; we investigate compressive loading in proboscidean 🐘 (elephants & their extinct relatives) using FEA and highlight different mechanical strategies 🦾 doi.org/10.1111/joa....
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Nicolas Wagner @paleonico.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Excited to share my new first-authored paper, now published in the @journalofanatomy.bsky.social! 🐘🦴 Using FEA, we reveal distinct biomechanical strategies in proboscidean humeri: robust forms better resist multidirectional stresses, while slender forms favour near-axial loading. 10.1111/joa.70234
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Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
#ICVM2027 @isvmorph.bsky.social is shaping up! 11 Symposia and 3 Workshops are now formally accepted! This will be a don't-miss conference! More details: www.isvm-icvm.org
Symposia:
1.	Secondary aquatic amniotes through deep time: evolution, ecology, and preservation
2.	Building movement: muscle-bone interactions across vertebrate taxa
3.	Giants and dwarfs: the impact of extreme body size change
4.	Paleo-evo-devo: integrating evolution, development, and the fossil record
5.	Integrating approaches to study the repeated evolution of burrowing in vertebrates
6.	The vertebrate skull as a multifunctional structure
7.	Evodevo on fish & chicks: from Halifax and Nova Scotia to the rest of the world
8.	Ecological and developmental morphology of vertebrate teeth
9.	Fish morphology across deep time illuminated by traditional and cutting-edge methods: a symposium honoring the contributions of John G. Maisey
10.	Evolving in TREE dimensions: new perspectives on arboreal adaptations in tetrapods
11.	Functional adaptive landscapes: combining morphology, function, and evolutionary theory

Workshops:
1.	Functional adaptive landscapes: combining morphology, function, and evolutionary theory
2.	Biomechanical analyses in MATLAB
3.	Regionalization in serially homologous structures using morphoregions
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Didier B. Dutheil @didierdutheil.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
⚠️ "New article alert: The rise of carnivoran mammals in Europe through the lens of body mass". By @val-fisch.bsky.social, Floréal Solé, Kevin Le Verger, Bastien Mennecart, Melvin Vankelst, @narimanechatar.bsky.social, Robert P. Speijer, Stéphane Peigné & Thierry Smith ➡️ doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
It's a very good problem to have I would say 😂
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Chris Law @chrislaw.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
New pre-print testing if bats, carnivorans, & primates occupying equivalent dietary niches evolved convergent mandible shapes & shared adaptive zones! Short answer: no. With @mberthaume.bsky.social, @savannahecobb.bsky.social, & @sesantana.bsky.social www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-1...
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Changes in predator size and diversity coincides with 🔥and 🧊 events around 40 and 34mya. This challenges a competition-driven explanation based largely on N. American fossils and suggest that 🌡️ shaped the rise of today’s dominant predators differently across continents 🧵 9/9
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
The long standing hypethsis? competition took out hyaenodonts, but this was mainly based on North American data. Using body-mass estimates for 155 European fossil species spanning much of the Palaeogene, this new study decipher the competition dynamics between carnivores 🧵8/9
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Our modern🦦🦝🐻🦁🐺 and their ancestors (Carnivoramorpha) once shared the planet with other large meat-eating groups, e.g. hyaenodonts, that have since then vanished. Hyaenodonts were once the top predators of their ecosystems but disappeared while carnivoramorphans thrived🧵7/9
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
hen, another study co-lead by @val-fisch.bsky.social and Floréal Solé deciphers the evolution of carnivorous mammals 🐺🦁🦝🦦 doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... 🧵6/9
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
This highlights that the many-to-one topography behaviour weakens the quality of ecomorphological inference at higher taxonomic scales. Our results reframe the context in which each method is most appropriately applied🧵5/9
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Our results also highlight different convergence signals in between the two methods, with stronger signals for omnivory, insectivory and frugivory in HD3DGM while the only convergent diet was the frugivory catgory in topographic methods🧵4/9
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
The new HD3DGM protocol, improved by Melvin was shown to better capture the subtle ecological and phylogenetic signals present in the dentition of extant carnivorans, particularly at higher taxonomic levels 🧵3/9
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
First of all: massive congrats to PhD student Melvin Vankelst for his first first-author paper just out in ProcB 👏 In this study we looked into the ecomorphological signal in the lower carnassial of extant carnivorans, comparing HD3DGM and topographic methods🧵2/9
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Amazing day for carnivorous mammal enthusiasts out there 🐺🦁🐻🦝🦦two new papers out in @royalsociety.org 🥳: Vankelst et al 2026 in Proceedings B doi.org/10.1098/rspb... and @val-fisch.bsky.social & Solé et al. 2026 in Biology Letters doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... More details below👇🧵1/9
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Prof. Valentin Fischer @val-fisch.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
New paper by Ph.D. student Melvin Vankelst in Proc B. We modified our semi-automated high density 3D geometric morphometrics protocol to fit carnivoran molars, and test the shape-diet links of these teeth. Check it out! @universitedeliege.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
royalsocietypublishing.org
Decoupling geometry and topography reveals contrasting ecomorphological signals in carnivoran carnassial teeth
Abstract. The lower carnassial tooth (m1) is a key innovation underlying the ecological diversification of Carnivora. However, their exceptionally diverse
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Prof. Valentin Fischer @val-fisch.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Second paper out today on fossil carnivorans, this time in Biology Letters @royalsocietypublishing.org. We looked at the evolution of the body mass of carnivorous mammals throughout the Paleogene, comparing the patterns in Europe vs USA 1/3
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Z. Jack Tseng @tsengzj.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
New paper out on dietary signals in tooth topography vs morphometrics, first-authored by the impressive Melvin Vankelst in the @val-fisch.bsky.social lab! FAVE Lab had the pleasure of hosting Melvin for this and other research activities during a semester-long visit earlier in the year.
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Only 2 days left to submit your abstract! 🚨 Submit to the 'The Future of the Fossil Record: Developments, Trends and Innovative Approaches in Paleontology' session here : agu.confex.com/agu/agu26/pr...
static.klipy.com
Cat Typing on Laptop
ALT: Cat Typing on Laptop
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I have to say it: technically with our 🦷 paper (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and Jack's Gabi paper (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) 50% of the Science covers from July are from our lab 😎🔥
static.klipy.com
Barack Obama's Iconic Mic Drop
ALT: Barack Obama's Iconic Mic Drop
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Science Magazine @science.org · 30/07/2026
Research on the fossil record of mammals in Mexico suggests that the geographic region acted as a biodiversity “holding pen” for 10 million years. Learn more this week in Science: scim.ag/4xhNmQ9
A three-dimensional rendering shows the land bridge connection between North and South America. Research on the fossil record of mammals in Mexico suggests that the geographic region acted as a biodiversity “holding pen” for 10 million years, buffering the pace of both northward and southward movements of mammal species leading up to the Great American Biotic Interchange.

Illustration: C. Bickel and V. Penney/Science. Data: NASA Blue Marble Imagery, August 2026; B. Tozer, D. T. Sandwell, W. H. F. Smith, C. Olson, J. R. Beale, P. Wessel, Global bathymetry and topography at 15 arc sec: SRTM15+ (2019), distributed by OpenTopography, https://doi.org/10.5069/G92R3PT9, accessed 24 June 2026
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Z. Jack Tseng @tsengzj.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Here is @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social Bob Sanders' write-up of our Great American Biotic Interchange work: news.berkeley.edu/2026/07/30/n...
news.berkeley.edu
North and South America weren’t always connected, but their mammals still found a way to intermingle - Berkeley News
Before the Panamanian land bridge formed about 3 million years ago, mammals on the two continents were isolated — or so biologists thought. New fossils show that they found ways to mix long before tha...
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Massive congrats to @tsengzj.bsky.social & colleagues for this new piece of research highlight the role of México as a holding pen for faunal exchanges during the GABI starting 10 mya 😱 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Z. Jack Tseng @tsengzj.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Exhilarated to share a 2nd @science.org cover article this month from our lab @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social! A collaboration with US & Mexico colleagues on the role of a Mexican biogeographic holding pen in shaping the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI)(1/11) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Cover of Science magazine for July 30, 2026. Caption from Science reads: A three-dimensional rendering shows the land bridge connection between North and South America. Research on the fossil record of mammals in Mexico suggests that the geographic region acted as a biodiversity “holding pen” for 10 million years, buffering the pace of both northward and southward movements of mammal species leading up to the Great American Biotic Interchange.
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Lauren Sumner-Rooney @laurensr.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
📢 JOB ALERT! 📢 I am recruiting a 30-month postdoc to work on modelling the vision of trilobites @hfspo.bsky.social ! If you like 3D data, fossils, and functional morphology, this is the one for you! 📆Deadline 27. Aug Pls contact me with any Qs and share widely! www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
bristol.ac.uk
Details | Working at Bristol | University of Bristol
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Stephan Spiekman @stephanspiekman.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Excited to share our new paper in Science Advances! Led by Dr Wei Wang at #IVPP in Beijing, it presents a complete skeleton of #Austronaga, the most marine of all archosauromorphs. To boot, this fossil preserves the oldest complete digestive tract of any reptile! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Science Magazine @science.org · 16/07/2026
A new study in Science details how a dental tradeoff may have shaped mammalian carnivore evolution. Learn more in this week’s issue: scim.ag/4571LlU
The image shows skulls and lower jaws from several living and extinct mammal species, highlighting differences in size, shape, and feeding adaptations. Featured specimens include an extinct saber-toothed cat alongside extant species. This subset highlights specimens that were specialized in either crushing or slicing as well as a species of civet that was balanced in both functions.

Photo: Melvin Vankelst
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE for #AGU2026 COMING SOON (🗓️August 5 🗓️)! 🚨Don't forget to submit your abstract for our paleo session 🦖 The Future of the Fossil Record: Developments, Trends and Innovative Approaches in Paleontology 🔗 tinyurl.com/mtkyptc7 See y'all in San Francisco 🌉
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Eloy Gálvez López @eloygl.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Absolutely fantastic study. Neatly summarized by @narimanechatar.bsky.social in this thread, but go read the paper, it's also great.
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Amazing work by PhD student Romain Cottereau 😍 🐳 🐋
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Dr James Rule @palaeo-jrule.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Great new paper in Science from @narimanechatar.bsky.social and colleagues on morpho-functional divergences in the carnassial teeth of carnivores! 🦁 🐯 🐺 🦊 🦝 🧪 Check out the thread below!
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Universidad de Málaga @univmalaga.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
🔎 @narimanechatar.bsky.social se encuentra actualmente en la 🏛️ 🇺🇸 Universidad de Berkeley (California) con una #beca europea Marie Curie, pero arraigada al área de Paleontología de la UMA, institución a la que regresará en 2027 🔗 www.uma.es/sala-de-pren... #TalentoUMA
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Universidad de Málaga @univmalaga.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
👩‍🔬 Nuestra científica @narimanechatar.bsky.social lleva su #investigación a la portada de @science.org, una de las más prestigiosas del mundo. El equipo internacional, del que forma parte, ha descifrado la relación entre la forma y función en los 🦷 dientes inferiores de los mamíferos.
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Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Performance trade-offs define a fundamental dental dichotomy in mammals | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Performance trade-offs define a fundamental dental dichotomy in mammals
Teeth define mammalian evolution, and one of many adaptive dental breakthroughs in crown mammals is the tribosphenic molar: a tooth with a dual shearing-crushing function, often considered a key adapt...
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
thanks 🥰
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
In other words, the teeth that contributed to the evolutionary success of mammals also carried a hidden limitation: they could become highly effective at either slicing or crushing, but could rarely perform both functions optimally
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
This simplification seems difficult to reverse especially in hypercarnivorous species, specialised in cutting, embark on an evolutionary path from which it appears difficult to turn back and end up in a macroevolutionary ratchet
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
This constraint arise from the tribosphenic architecture itself and the talonid-trigonid structures: It is possible to achieve a tooth that is effective for grinding whilst retaining both regions, but to obtain a tooth that is effective for slicing, one of the regions tends to disappear
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
It is possible that few species actually require simultaneous optimization of both functions, but it also potentially arise from structural constraints: Features that improve slicing performance, reduce the surface area and structural robustness needed for crushing and conversely
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
The two most optimized species appear to be the spotted hyaena and Asian palm civet, which makes a lot of sense for the hyena, being an active hunter feeding on flesh but also known for its bone crushing abilities
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Finally, when looking at the trade off between the two function something became quickly evident: it is quite rare to find a tooth very efficient at both functions. Fewer than 1% our dataset sat on the Pareto font of optimality
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Narimane Chatar @narimanechatar.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
This was further supported by phylogenetic comparative methods: phylogenetic signal is consistently stronger in slicing metrics. In short, all efficient slicers look the same and are closely related
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