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Mathew John Wedel
Summary
I am a vertebrate paleontologist, and my main areas of interest are sauropod dinosaurs and the evolution of pneumatic (air-filled) bones in dinosaurs and birds. I'm also interested in the evolution of heads and necks in vertebrates, and in the nervous systems of very large animals. I've been fortunate to coauthor three papers naming new dinosaurs: the sauropods Sauroposeidon (2000) and Brontomerus (2011), and the early horned dinosaur Aquilops (2014). I am currently an Associate Professor at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California, where I teach gross anatomy. In 2016 my book "The Sauropod Dinosaurs: Life in the Age of Giants", with artist and lead author Mark Hallett, was published by Johns Hopkins University Press.
In my spare time I enjoy stargazing, and I write the monthly Binocular Highlights column and the occasional feature article for Sky & Telescope magazine.
Anatomy & Physiology Evolutionary Studies Paleontology Taxonomy Zoology
Work details
Articles published in PeerJ
Ecological correlates to cranial morphology in Leporids (Mammalia, Lagomorpha)
Why sauropods had long necks; and why giraffes have short necks
Preprints
The neck of Barosaurus: longer, wider and weirder than those of Diplodocus and other diplodocines
Were the necks of Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus adapted for combat?
A variant nerve that mimics the left recurrent laryngeal nerve: a case study in human anatomy
Ecological correlates to cranial morphology in Leporids (Mammalia, Lagomorpha)
Academic Editor on
The origin of the lower fourth molar in canids, inferred by individual variation
Dental microwear reveals mammal-like chewing in the neoceratopsian dinosaur Leptoceratops gracilis
The identity of the South African toad Sclerophrys capensis Tschudi, 1838 (Amphibia, Anura)
Two new species of fossil Leggadina (Rodentia: Muridae) from Northwestern Queensland
Were early pterosaurs inept terrestrial locomotors?
Reviews submitted for articles published in PeerJ Note that some articles may not have the review itself made public unless authors have made them open as well.
The earliest known titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur and the evolution of Brachiosauridae
Pulmonary anatomy in the Nile crocodile and the evolution of unidirectional airflow in Archosauria