Publications
Here you will find publications in peer reviewed journals (since the initiation of the lab in September 2014) by any researcher affiliated to the Nyakatura Lab. To find previous publications please refer to links provided on the lab member’s portrait page.
Lab members highlighted.
Cover Photo: Giraffe in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, in August 2015. (See pages 641–655). Photo Credit: John A. Nyakatura
Cover: L. Eigen et al., ‘Ontogeny of a tessellated surface: carapace growth of the longhorn cowfish Lactoria cornuta.
Cover: J. Wölfer and colleagues, ‚Femoral morphology of sciuromorph rodents in light of scaling and locomotor ecology‘
Cover: Photomontage of OroBOT and reconstructed Orobates pabsti by Jonas Lauströer, Amir Andikfar and John A. Nyakatura; photo of OroBOT from Tomislav Horvat and Kamilo Melo.
2023
Surapaneni VA, Schindler M, Ziege R, de Faria LC, Wölfer J, Bidan CM, Hollen FH, Amini S, Hanna S, Dean MN. 2023. Groovy and Gnarly: Surface Wrinkles as a Multifunctional Motif for Terrestrial and Marine Environments. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 62 (3), 749-761. article
Merten LJF, Manafzadeh AR, Herbst EC, Amson E, Tambusso PS, Arnold P, Nyakatura JA. 2023 The functional significance of aberrant cervical counts in sloths: insights from automated exhaustive analysis of cervical range of motion. Proc. R. Soc. B 290: 20231592. article
Alfieri F, Botton-Divet L, Wölfer J, Nyakatura JA & Amson E. 2023. A macroevolutionary common-garden experiment reveals differentially evolvable bone organization levels in slow arboreal mammals. Communications Biology 6, no 995. article
2022
Berghäuser T, Nyakatura JA, & Wölfer J. 2022. Evolution of gliding in squirrel-related rodents (Mammalia: Sciuromorpha) did not induce a new optimum on the cortical thickness of the scapular glenoid fossa. The Anatomical Record, 1–13. article
Alfieri F, Botton-Divet L, Nyakatura JA, Amson E. 2022. Integrative Approach Uncovers New Patterns of Ecomorphological Convergence in Slow Arboreal Xenarthrans. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 29, 283-312. article
Eigen L, Baum D, Dean MN, Werner D, Wölfer J & Nyakatura JA. 2022. Ontogeny of a tessellated surface: Carapace growth of the longhorn cowfish Lactoria cornuta. Journal of Anatomy, 00, 1–16. article
Scheidt A, Ditzel PC, Geiger SM, Wagner FC, Mülling CKW, Nyakatura JA. 2022. A therian mammal with sprawling kinematics? Gait and 3D forelimb X-ray motion analysis in tamanduas. Journal of Experimental Biology 225. article
Löffler L, Wölfer J, Gavrieli F, Nyakatura JA. 2022. Computational Modeling of Gluteus Medius Muscle Moment Arm in Caviomorph Rodents Reveals Ecomorphological Specializations. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.806314. article
2021
Botton-Divet L & Nyaktura JA. 2021. Vertical clinging and leaping induced evolutionary rate shifts in postcranial evolution of tamarins and marmosets (Primates, Callitrichidae). BMC Ecology and Evolution 21, 132. article
Berles P, Heymann EW, Golcher F, Nyakatura JA. 2021. Leaping and differential habitat use in sympatric tamarins in Amazonian Peru. Journal of Mammalogy 103(1), 146-158. article
Picht T, Calvé M, Tomaselle R, Feonja LS, Gholami MF, Bruhn M, Zwick C, Rabe JP, Müller-Birn C, Vajkoczy P, Sauer IM, Zachow S, Nyakatura JA, Ribault P, Pulvermüller F. 2021. Letter: A Note on Neurosurgical Resection and Why We Need to Rethink Cutting. Neurosurgey, doi: 10.1093/neuros/nyab326. article
Zwafing M, Lautenschlager S, Demuth OE, Nyakatura JA. 2021. Modeling Sprawling Locomotion of the Stem Amniote Orobates: An Examination of Hindlimb Muscle Strains and Validation Using Extant Caiman. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.659039. article
Eigen L & Nyakatura JA. 2021. Architectural properties of the musculoskeletal system in the shoulder of two callitrichid primate species derived from virtual dissection. Primates, doi: 10.1007/s10329-021-00917-7. article
Fukushima T, Siddall R, Schwab F, Toussaint SLD, Byrnes G, Nyakatura JA, Jusufi A. 2021. Inertial Tail Effects during Righting of Squirrels in Unexpected Falls: From Behavior to Robotics. Integrative and Comparative Biology, doi: 10.1093/icb/icab023. article
Wölfer J, Aschenbach T, Michel J, Nyakatura JA. 2021. Mechanics of Arboreal Locomotion in Swinhoe’s Striped Squirrels: A Potential Model for Early Euarchontoglires. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.636039. article
Müller, MA, Mertan LJF, Böhmer C, Nyakatura JA. 2021. Pushing the boundary? Testing the functional elongation hypothesis‘ of giraffe’s neck. Evolution, doi:10.1111/evo.14171. article
Alfieri F, Nyakatura JA, Amson E. 2021. Evolution of bone cortical compactness in slow arboreal mammals. Evolution, doi:10.1111/evo.14137. article
2020
Granatosky MC, McElroy EJ, Lemelin P, Reilly SM, Nyakatura JA, Andrada E, Kilbourne BM, Allen VR, Butcher MT, Blob RW, Ross CF. 2020. Variation in limb loading magnitude and timing in tetrapods. Journal of Experimental Biology 223. article
Nyakatura JA & Wölfer J. 2020. Funktionelle Morphologie als Brücke zwischen Bionik- und Phylogenieforschung? In: Phylogenie, Funktionsmorphologie und Bionik. Schriften zum 60. Phylogenetischen Symposium in Tübingen. Publisher: Scidinge Hall Verlag, Tübingen.
2019
Nyakatura JA. 2019. Making use of a track-trackmaker association: locomotor inference of an early amniote with help of „fossilized behaviour“. Hallesches Jahrbuch für Geowissenschaften 46, 67-75. article
Mielke M, Nyakatura JA. 2019. Bone microstructure in finite element modeling: the functional role of trabeculae in the femoral head of Sciurus vulgaris. Zoomorphology 138, 535-547. article
Wölfer J, Nyakatura JA. 2019. Weighing homoplasy against alternative scenarios with the help of macroevolutionary modeling: A case study on limb bones of fossorial rodents. Ecology and Evolution 9, 11025-11039. article
Scheidt A, Wölfer J, Nyakatura JA. 2019. The evolution of femoral cross-sectional properties in sciuromorph rodents: Influence of body mass and locomotor ecology. Journal of Morphology 280, 1156-1169. article
Wölfer J, Amson E, Arnold P, Botton-Divet L, Fabre AC, van Heteren AH, Nyakatura JA. 2019. Femoral morphology of sciuromorph rodents in light of scaling and locomotor ecology. Journal of Anatomy 234, 731-747. article
Nyakatura JA. 2019. Early primate evolution: insights into the functional significance of grasping from motion analyses of extant mammals. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 127, 611-631. article
Wölfer J, Arnold P, Nyakatura JA. 2019. Effects of scaling and locomotor ecology suggest a complex evolution of scapular morphology in sciuromorph rodents. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 127, 17-196. article
Nyakatura JA, Baumgarten R, Baum D, Stark H, Youlatos D. 2019. Muscle internal structure revealed by contrast-enhanced μCT and fibre recognition: The hindlimb extensors of an arboreal and a fossorial squirrel. Mammalian Biology 99, 71-80. article
Nyakatura JA, Melo K, Horvat T, Allen VR, Andikfar A, Andrada, E, Arnold P, Lauströer J, Hutchinson JR, Fischer MS, Ijspeert AJ. 2019. Reverse-engineering the locomotion of a stem amniote. Nature 565 (7739): 351-356. article
2018
Böhmer C, Amson E, Arnold P, van Heteren AH, Nyakatura JA. 2018. Homeotic transformations reflect departure from the mammalian ‘rule of seven’cervical vertebrae in sloths: inferences on the Hox code and morphological modularity of the mammalian neck. BMC Evolutionary Biology 18 (1), 84 article
Mielke M, Wölfer J, Arnold P, van Heteren AH, Amson E, Nyakatura JA. 2018. Trabecular architecture in the sciuromorph femoral head: allometry and functional adaptation. Zoological Letters 4 (1), 10 article
Montañez‐Rivera I, Nyakatura JA, Amson E. Bone cortical compactness in ‘tree sloths’ reflects convergent evolution. Journal of Anatomy doi.org/10.1111/joa.12873 article
Mielke F, Schunke V, Wölfer J, Nyakatura JA. 2018. Motion analysis of non-model organisms using a hierarchical model: Influence of setup enclosure dimensions on gait parameters of Swinhoe’s striped squirrels as a test case. Zoology 129: 35-44. article
Mielke F, Amson E, Nyakatura JA. 2018. Morpho-Functional Analysis Using Procrustes Superimposition by Static Reference. Evolutionary Biology, 1-13 article
Casper MO, Nyakatura JA, Pawel A, Reimer C, Schubert T, Lauschke M. 2018. The movement-image compatibility effect: embodiment theory interpretations of motor resonance with digitized photographs, drawings, and paintings. Frontiers in Psychology 9, 991 article
Amson E, Nyakatura JA. 2018. Palaeobiological inferences based on long bone epiphyseal and diaphyseal structure-the forelimb of xenarthrans (Mammalia). bioRxiv, 318121 (peer reviewed preprint; PCI paleontology). article
2017
Amson E, Arnold P, van Heteren AH, Canoville A, Nyakatura JA. 2017. Trabecular architecture in the forelimb epiphyses of extant xenarthrans (Mammalia). Frontiers in Zoology 14(1), 52 article
Bargo MS, Nyakatura JA. 2017. Morphology and Evolution of the Xenarthra: an Introduction. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 1-3 article
Amson E, Nyakatura JA. 2017. The postcranial musculoskeletal system of xenarthrans: insights from over two centuries of research and future directions. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 1-26 article
Gaudin TJ, Nyakatura JA. 2017. Epaxial Musculature in Armadillos, Sloths, and Opossums: Functional Significance and Implications for the Evolution of Back Muscles in the Xenarthra. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 1-8 article
Krings M, Nyakatura JA, Boumans MLLM, Fischer MS, Wagner H. 2017. Barn owls maximize head rotations by a combination of yawing and rolling in functionally diverse regions of the neck. J Anat. doi: 10.1111/joa.12616 article
Amelung KM, Stach T. 2017. Viren visualisieren. Notizen zu David S. Goodsells Wissenschafts-Illustrationen und ihrer Verwendung in der Molekularbiologie zwischen Bildmodell und Spur, in: Bettina Bock von Wülfingen (Hg.): Spuren. Erzeugung des Dagewesenen. (Band 13, Bilderwelten des Wissens), Berlin: De Gruyter article
Nyakatura JA. 2017. Beschreibung, Experiment, Modell. Zum Spurenlesen in paläobiologischer Forschung am Beispiel einer funktionsmorphologischen Studie. Bildwelten des Wissens 13:12-23. article
Arnold P, Amson E, Fischer MS. 2017. Differential scaling patterns of vertebrae and the evolution of neck length in mammals. Evolution. doi: 10.1111/evo.13232 article
De los Arcos S, Partarrieu D, Carrillo-Briceño JD, Amson E. 2017. The southernmost occurrence of the aquatic sloth Thalassocnus (Mammalia, Tardigrada) from two new Pliocene localities in Chile. Ameghiniana. doi : 10.5710/AMGH.29.12.2016.3004 article
Aguirre-Fernández G, Carrillo-Briceño JD, Sánchez R, Amson E, Sánchez-Villagra MR. 2017. Fossil Cetaceans (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Neogene of Colombia and Venezuela. J Mamm Evol 24:71–90. article
Rosin S, Nyakatura JA. 2017. Hind limb extensor muscle architecture reflects locomotor specialisations of a jumping and a striding quadrupedal caviomorph rodent. Zoomorphology, 1-11 article
Coutier F, Hautier L, Cornette R, Amson E, Billet G. 2017. Orientation of the lateral semicircular canal in Xenarthra and its links with head posture and phylogeny. J Morph doi: 10.1002/jmor.20665. article
2016
Carrillo-Briceño JD, Amson E, Zurita A, Sánchez-Villagra MR. 2016. Hermann Karsten (1817–1908): a German naturalist in the Neotropics and the significance of his paleovertebrate collection. Foss Rec 20:21–36. article
Loscher DM, Meyer F, Kracht K, Nyakatura JA. 2016. Timing of head movements is consistent with energy minimization in walking ungulates. Proc R Soc B 283 (1843), 20161908. article
Amson E, Kolb C. 2016. Scaling effect on the mid-diaphysis properties of long bones—the case of the Cervidae (deer). Sci Nat 103:1–10. article
Nyakatura JA. 2016. Learning to move on land. Science 353 (6295), 120-121. article
Amson E, Carrillo JD, Jaramillo C. 2016. Neogene sloth assemblages (Mammalia, Pilosa) of the Cocinetas Basin (La Guajira, Colombia): implications for the Great American Biotic Interchange. Palaeontology 59:563–582. article
Amson E, Carrillo JD, Jaramillo C. 2016. 3D models related to the publication: Neogene sloth assemblages (Mammalia, Pilosa) of the Cocinetas Basin (La Guajira, Colombia): implications for the Great American Biotic Interchange. MorphoMuseuM 2: e3 article
Amson E, de Muizon C, Gaudin TJ. 2016. A reappraisal of the phylogeny of the Megatheria (Mammalia: Tardigrada), with an emphasis on the relationships of the Thalassocninae, the marine sloths. Zool J Linn Soc, doi: 10.1111/zoj.12450. article
Kilbourne BM, Andrada E, Fischer MS, Nyakatura JA. 2016. Morphology and motion: hindlimb proportions and swing phase kinematics in terrestrially locomoting charadriiform birds. J Exp Biol 219 (9), 1405-1416. article
2015
Nyakatura JA, Allen VR, Lauströer J, Andikfar A, Danczak M, Ullrich HJ, Hufenbach W, Martens T, Fischer MS. 2015. A three-dimensional skeletal reconstruction of the stem amniote Orobates pabsti (Diadectidae): Analyses of body mass, centre of mass position, and joint mobility. Plos one 10(9):e0137284 (20 pages). article
Andrada E, Haase D, Sutedja Y, Nyakatura JA, Kilbourne BM, Denzler J, Fischer MS, Blickhan R. 2015. Mixed gaits in small avian terrestrial locomotion. Scientific Reports 5:13636 (12 pages).
Nyakatura JA, Stark H. 2015. Aberrant back muscle function correlates with intramuscular architecture of dorsovertebral muscles in two-toed sloths. Mamm Biol 80:114-121. article
Hesse B, Nyakatura JA (shared first author), Fischer MS, Schmidt M. 2015. Adjustments of Limb Mechanics in Cotton-top Tamarins to Moderate and Steep Support Orientations: Significance for the Understanding of Early Primate Evolution. J Mamm Evol 22:435-450.
2014
Andrada E, Rode C, Sutedja Y, Nyakatura JA, Blickhan R. 2014. Trunk orientation causes asymmetries in leg function in small bird terrestrial locomotion. Proc Roy Soc B 281:1797 (9 pages). article
Ogihara N, Oku T, Andrada E, Blickhan R, Nyakatura JA, Fischer MS. 2014. Planar covariation of limb elevation angles during bipedal locomotion in common quails (Coturnix coturnix). J Exp Bio 217:3968-3973 article
Conference Contributions
De los Arcos S, Partarrieu D, Carrillo-Briceño JD, Amson E. Dos nuevas localidades con restos del perezoso marino Thalassocnus (Mammalia, Tardigrada) en sedimentos pliocenos de las Formaciones Coquimbo y Horcón, Chile norte y central. Oral presentation; V Simposio de Paleontología en Chile, Concepción, Chile.
Carrillo-Briceño JD, Amson E, Zurita A, Sánchez-Villagra MR. A taxonomic and geographic study of hermann karsten’s 19th century paleovertebrate collection from the northern neotropics. Poster; Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Salt Lake City, USA.
Nyakatura JA, Stark H. 2016. Architecture of dorsovertebral muscles corresponds with derived spine function in two toed sloths (Mammalia: Xenarthra). 11th International Conference on Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM), Washington DC, USA.
Amson E, Arnold P, Nyakatura JA. Bone internal microstructure of the forelimb of xenarthrans (Mammalia) – functional implications. Oral presentation; 11th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology, Washington DC, USA.
Coutier F, Hautier L, Cornette R, Amson E, Billet G. Head posture and orientation of the lateral semicircular canal in xenarthrans (Mammalia). Oral presentation; 11th International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology, Washington DC, USA.
Nyakatura JA. 2016. Measuring, visualizing, and reconstructing movement in functional morphology and paleobiology. FG “Visual Computing in Biology and Medicine”, spring meeting, Berlin, Germany.
Nyakatura JA. 2016. Funktionelle Morphologie der Wirbeltiere – Arbeitsprogramm und Anwendungsfelder. Form und Leben. Morphologie als Paradigma zwischen Philosophie und Wissenschaft. DFG-Netzwerktreffen „Morphologie als Paradigma”, Berlin, Germany.
Kolb C, Scheyer TM, Amson E, Veitschegger K, Forasiepi AM, Sánchez-Villagra MR. Bone and tooth microstructure in extinct and extant mammals and implications for growth and life history evolution, with an emphasis on cervids as a case study. Oral presentation. Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
De Los Arcos S, Partarrieu D, Carrillo-Briceño JD, Amson E. Nuevos registros del perezoso marino Thalassocnus (Mammalia, Tardigrada) en sedimentos pliocenos de las Formaciones Coquimbo y Horcón, en Chile norte y central. Oral presentation. Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Amson, E. 2016. Integrative functional anatomy of the forelimb of xenarthrans (armadillos, sloths, and anteaters). Network meeting of the Alexander von Humboldt foundation, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Nyakatura JA. 2015. (Re-)Konstruktion von Bewegung. Clustertagung des EXC Bild Wissen Gestaltung. Ein interdisziplinäres Labor. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin, Germany.
Nyakatura JA. 2015. Trace, Experiment, Inference: Images and the Generation of Knowledge in Paleobiology. Tagung Picturing the body in the laboratory – genesis and topicality of evidence-oriented imaging in institutions of the long 19th century and today. EXC Bild Wissen Gestaltung. Ein interdisziplinäres Labor, Berlin, Germany.
Nyakatura JA, KM Amelung. 2015. Das Bild als Werkzeug. Retreat des EXC Bild Wissen Gestaltung. Ein interdisziplinäres Labor. Schorfheide, Germany.
Other Publications
Amelung KM, Lauströer J, Andikfar A, Fischer MS. 2016. Gangart des Hundes. Aktivierung der Muskeln entgegen der Schwerkraft. In: Doll, Bredekamp, Schäffner (Eds.): Katalog zur Ausstellung „+ultra. gestaltung schafft wissen“, p. 244. In German.
Nyakatura JA. 2016. Objektbeschreibung: Proximales Ende eines Oberschenkelknochens. In: Doll, Bredekamp, Schäffner (Eds.): Katalog zur Ausstellung „+ultra. gestaltung schafft wissen“, p. 238. In German.
Nyakatura JA. 2016. Objektbeschreibung: Otto Fischer, Wilhelm Braune „Modell für den Gang des Menschen“. In: Doll, Bredekamp, Schäffner (Eds.): Katalog zur Ausstellung „+ultra. gestaltung schafft wissen“, p. 240. In German.
Nyakatura JA. 2016. Objetbeschreibung: Biorobitics Laboratory „Cheetah-cub-AL“. In: Doll, Bredekamp, Schäffner (Eds.): Katalog zur Ausstellung „+ultra. gestaltung schafft wissen“, p. 244. In German.
Nyakatura JA. 2015. Ein Faustkeil. In: Exzellenzcluster Bild Wissen Gestaltung. Ein Interdisziplinäres Labor (Hg.) „Das Präparat ist nicht sichtbar etikettiert.“ Bildbeschreibungen aus der Veranstaltung Lernen mit Horst Bredekamp. Pp: 62-65. In German.
