Graduate Student

Isaac Magallanes is a 3rd year graduate student in the Committee on Evolutionary Biology (CEB). He received his both his bachelor’s science degree at California State University, Fullerton and his master’s degree at the University of Florida in the Geological Sciences. Isaac is interested in studying the evolutionary patterns of mammalian tooth morphology. In particular, he is interested in studying potential shifts in the functional relationship between the tooth-crown and root structures across key morphological transitions, like the advent of the tribosphenic in therian mammals. For his research, Isaac uses geometric morphometrics and 3D visualization software to compare morphological variation and functional diversity between modern therian taxa and their non-therian predecessors.

Graduate Student

Peishu is a third-year PhD student in the Luo lab. He is broadly interested in the functional basis underlying major macroevolutionary transitions. For his dissertation research, Peishu focuses on the evolution and biomechanics of the hyoid apparatus and surrounding musculature in mammals. His research utilizes linear morphometrics, diceCT and the XROMM workflow to study the morphological disparity of hyoids in primates and other mammals, and how such disparity may translate to variation in 3D hyoid kinematics and bolus propulsion mechanisms during swallowing. Before joining the Luo lab, Peishu has conducted research on the dental topography of extinct South American stem platyrrhines, the skeletal anatomy of newborn ursids, and the igneous petrology of Hawaiian basalts.

Peishu Li’s CV