Vivian Allen

PhD, MSc, BA

Viv_geerf1Dr Vivian Allen left the RVC in January  2018 and remains a collaborator on the DAWNDINOS project.

As a research scientist he is a specialist in computerised methods for studying the evolution of locomotion. After a BSc in Archaeology and Geology and an MSc in Palaebiology at the University of Bristol, Vivian completed a PhD in the biomechanics of dinosaur locomotion under Prof John Hutchinson in 2011. Prior to joining the DAWNDINOS team he  worked on the biomechanics of sprawling locomotion in lizards and crocodiles at the Unversity of Jena, and on the function and evolution of sesamoids bones in birds at the RVC.

Selected publications:

  1. Hutchinson, J.R. and Allen, V., 2009. The evolutionary continuum of limb function from early theropods to birds. Naturwissenschaften, 96(4), pp.423-448.
  2. Allen, V., Paxton, H. and Hutchinson, J.R., 2009. Variation in center of mass estimates for extant sauropsids and its importance for reconstructing inertial properties of extinct archosaurs. The Anatomical Record, 292(9), pp.1442-1461.
  3. Allen, V., Bates, K.T., Li, Z. and Hutchinson, J.R., 2013. Linking the evolution of body shape and locomotor biomechanics in bird-line archosaurs. Nature, 497(7447), pp.104-107.
  4. Allen, V., Molnar, J., Parker, W., Pollard, A., Nolan, G. and Hutchinson, J.R., 2014. Comparative architectural properties of limb muscles in Crocodylidae and Alligatoridae and their relevance to divergent use of asymmetrical gaits in extant Crocodylia. Journal of anatomy, 225(6), pp.569-582.