Alistair Evans - Home Page
I am currently doing a PhD in functional morphology at Monash University,
Melbourne, Australia.
Research
My main research focus is the function of mammalian teeth. My PhD project
investigates the interaction between tooth shape and function in microbats,
but includes examining many insectivorous and carnivorous tooth forms.
3-D teeth
In order to further investigate tooth shape, I have developed methods for
three-dimensional imaging of small mammalian teeth using fluorescence confocal
microscopy.
Journal
of Microscopy supplementary material
Front cover of Journal of Microscopy, November 2001:
VRML reconstruction of upper second molar of Chalinolobus gouldii
from a laser confocal microscope scan.
Tooth function and modelling
Another line of enquiry is 3-D virtual modelling of tooth shape using virtual
reality modelling language (VRML).
Virtual reality models from ideal teeth paper
Publications
Refereed Papers
Evans AR and Sanson GD (in press) The tooth of perfection: functional
and spatial constraints on mammalian tooth shape. Biological Journal
of the Linnean Society. Supplementary material
Evans AR, Harper IS and Sanson GD (2001) Confocal imaging, visualization
and 3-D surface measurement of small mammalian teeth. Journal of Microscopy
204(2),
108-118. Supplementary
material
Evans AR and Sanson GD (1998) The effect of tooth shape on the
breakdown of insects. Journal of Zoology 246(4), 391-400.
Book Chapter
Evans AR (in press) Quantifying the relationship between form and
function and the geometry of the wear process in bat molars. In Functional
and Evolutionary Ecology of Bats: Proceedings of the 12th International
Bat Research Conference. Eds Z Akbar, GF McCracken and TH Kunz. (Oxford
University Press: New York)
Conference Abstracts
Evans AR (2001) Understanding bat molar function from first principles.
Abstracts of the 12th International Bat Research Conference, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, 4-9 August 2001. Bat Research News 42(3), 98.
Evans AR (2000) Applications of confocal microscopy to functional
morphology: the effect of diet and wear on tooth sharpness and function
in two microchiropterans Chalinolobus gouldii and C. morio.
Abstracts of the 9th Australasian Bat Conference, Tocal, Australia, 25-28
April 2001. Bat Research News 41(2), 44.
Evans AR, Harper IS and Sanson GD (1999) Methods of digital measurement
of tooth surface and occlusion. 12th International Conference on 3D
Image Processing in Microscopy, 11th International Conference on Confocal
Microscopy, 11-15 April 1999, EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany.
Hobbies
Singing
VoiceBox - eight voice male a cappella group, performing
modern pop songs (Queen, Beatles, Beach Boys, Sting, TISM) back to Tallis,
Palestrina and Gregorian chant.
Monash University
Choral Society
Babirra Musical Theatre
Piano and trumpet
An editor of The
Victorian Naturalist, a journal on the natural history of Victoria,
Australia, published since 1884
Photography
Contact info
Email me at alistair.evans@sci.monash.edu.au.
Last updated 14 November 2002.
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