’21 MSc

Aaron studied pachycephalosaurs, many of which are characterized by a thick dome on top of their skulls. He employed scanning technology and thin-section analysis to explore the microstructure and growth of the dome. This could help resolve classification issues and may have also affected biomechanics. He became adept at prospecting from years of experience, with a particular eye for microfossils and—perhaps unsurprisingly—pachycephalosaurs.

Aaron is originally from Calgary, Alberta, and worked for several years at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. He received a BSc in Paleontology from the University of Alberta in 2018. His undergraduate research on drilling predation frequency in gastropod shells included empirical compaction tests and was published in 2018 in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. Upon completing his master’s research, he joined the Evans Lab at the University of Toronto.

 

LAB-RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Dyer, A.D., LeBlanc, A.R.H., Doschak, M.R., and Currie, P.J. 2021. Taking a crack at the dome: histopathology of a pachycephalosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) frontoparietal dome. Biosis: Biological Systems 2(2): 248–270. DOI: 10.37819/biosis.002.02.0101

 

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