dr Sergi López-Torres
Research interests
- Evolution of mammals
- Primate Origins
- Paleoecology and functional morphology of fossil Euarchontoglires
Didactics
- Seminars in Paleobiology
- Field Paleobiology
- History of Life
- Human Origins
- Zoology
Research projects
ongoing projects
- Ancestral behaviour and evolutionary origins of lorises (Primates, Mammalia): new insights into their sensory evolution and dietary reconstruction of fossil forms (principal investigator, NCN OPUS-23)
- Living on the edge: the Miocene primates from Poland in the context of the Eastern Paratethys (principal investigator, Arthur James Boucot Research Grant)
previous projects
- Exploring the deep nodes of Euarchontoglires: anagalids and their implications for the early evolution of Glires and Euarchonta (principal investigator, Kalbfleisch Postdoctoral Research Fellowship)
- The Paromomyidae (Primates, Mammalia): Systematics, Evolution, and Ecology (PhD thesis, University of Toronto Fellowship)
Internships
- 2019-2020 American Museum of Natural History
- 2017-2019 Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences
Collaborations
- American Museum of Natural History (USA)
- Duke University (USA)
- Duquesne University (USA)
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (Spain)
- Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)
- Northwestern University (USA)
- Royal Tyrrell Museum (Canada)
- Université de Montréal (Canada)
- University of California, Riverside (USA)
- University of Toronto (Canada)
- University of Washington (USA)
Publications
Žliobaitė, Indrė; Fortelius, Mikael; Bernor, Raymond L.; Ostende, Lars W. Hoek; Janis, Christine M.; Lintulaakso, Kari; Säilä, Laura K.; Werdelin, Lars; Casanovas-Vilar, Isaac; Croft, Darin A.; Flynn, Lawrence J.; Hopkins, Samantha S. B.; Kaakinen, Anu; Kordos, László; Kostopoulos, Dimitris S.; Pandolfi, Luca; Rowan, John; Tesakov, Alexey; Vislobokova, Innessa; Zhang, Zhaoqun; Aiglstorfer, Manuela; Alba, David M.; Arnal, Michelle; Antoine, Pierre-Olivier; Belmaker, Miriam; Bilgin, Melike; Boisserie, Jean-Renaud; Borths, Matthew R.; Cooke, Siobhán B.; Dam, Jan A.; Delson, Eric; Eronen, Jussi T.; Fox, David; Friscia, Anthony R.; Furió, Marc; Giaourtsakis, Ioannis X.; Holbrook, Luke; Hunter, John; López-Torres, Sergi; Ludtke, Joshua; Minwer-Barakat, Raef; Made, Jan; Mennecart, Bastien; Pushkina, Diana; Rook, Lorenzo; Saarinen, Juha; Samuels, Joshua X.; Sanders, William; Silcox, Mary T.; Vepsäläinen, Jouni The NOW Database of Fossil Mammals Book Chapter In: Casanovas-Vilar, Isaac; Ostende, Lars W. Hoek; Janis, Christine M.; Saarinen, Juha (Ed.): Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems: 25 Years of the NOW Database of Fossil Mammals, pp. 33–42, Springer International Publishing, Cham, 2023, ISBN: 978-3-031-17491-9. López-Torres, Sergi; Bertrand, Ornella C.; Lang, Madlen M.; Fostowicz-Frelik, Łucja; Silcox, Mary T.; Meng, Jin Cranial endocast of Anagale gobiensis (Anagalidae) and its implications for early brain evolution in Euarchontoglires Journal Article In: Palaeontology, vol. 66, no. 3, pp. e12650, 2023. López-Torres, Sergi; Bhagat, Raj; Bertrand, Ornella C.; Silcox, Mary T.; Fostowicz-Frelik, Łucja Locomotor behavior and hearing sensitivity in an early lagomorph reconstructed from the bony labyrinth Journal Article In: Ecology and Evolution, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. e9890, 2023. Silcox, Mary T.; López-Torres, Sergi Primate Origins: The Earliest Primates and Euprimates and Their Role in the Evolution of the Order Book Chapter In: Chapter 22, pp. 365-380, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2023, ISBN: 9781119828075. Silcox, Mary T; Bertrand, Ornella C; Harrington, Arianna R; Lang, Madlen M; Martin-Flores, Gabriela A San; López-Torres, Sergi Early Evolution of the Brain in Primates and Their Close Kin Book Chapter In: Dozo, María Teresa; Paulina-Carabajal, Ariana; Macrini, Thomas E; Walsh, Stig (Ed.): Chapter 12, pp. 457–506, Springer Cham, Switzerland, 2023, ISBN: 978-3-031-13983-3. Scott, Craig S; López-Torres, Sergi; Silcox, Mary T; Fox, Richard C New paromomyids (Mammalia, Primates) from the Paleocene of southwestern Alberta, Canada, and an analysis of paromomyid interrelationships Journal Article In: Journal of Paleontology, pp. 1–22, 2023. López-Torres, Sergi Primate Evolution and the Emergence of Humans (Vertebrate Life 11th ed.) Book Chapter In: Pough, Harvey; Bemis, William E.; McGuire, Betty Anne; Janis, Christine M. (Ed.): Chapter 24, pp. 557-585, Oxford University Press, New York, 11, 2022, ISBN: 978-0197564882. Grau-Camats, Montserrat; Bertrand, Ornella C; Prieto, Jérome; López-Torres, Sergi; Silcox, Mary T; Casanovas-Vilar, Isaac A Miopetaurista (Rodentia, Sciuridae) cranium from the Middle Miocene of Bavaria (Germany) and brain evolution in flying squirrels Journal Article In: Papers in Palaeontology, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. e1454, 2022. Kraatz, Brian; Belabbas, Rafik; Fostowicz-Frelik, Lucja A; Ge, Deyan; Kuznetsov, Alexander N; Lang, Madlen; López-Torres, Sergi; Mohammadi, Zeinolabedin; Racicot, Rachel A; Ravosa, Matthew J; others, Lagomorpha as a model morphological system Journal Article In: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, vol. 9, pp. 366, 2021. Fostowicz-Frelik, Lucja; López-Torres, Sergi; Li, Qian Tarsal morphology of ischyromyid rodents from the middle Eocene of China gives an insight into the group’s diversity in Central Asia Journal Article In: Scientific reports, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 1-11, 2021. Schillaci, Michael A; Sutton, Logan D; Wichmann, Søren; López-Torres, Sergi Linguistic Clues to Kiowa-Tanoan Prehistory Journal Article In: Journal of the Southwest, vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 255–368, 2021. Selig, Keegan R; López-Torres, Sergi; Hartstone-Rose, Adam; Nash, Leanne T; Burrows, Anne M; Silcox, Mary T A novel method for assessing enamel thickness distribution in the anterior dentition as a signal for gouging and other extractive foraging behaviors in gummivorous mammals Journal Article In: Folia Primatologica, vol. 91, no. 4, pp. 365-384, 2020. López-Torres, Sergi; Bertrand, Ornella C; Lang, Madlen M; Silcox, Mary T; Fostowicz-Frelik, Lucja Cranial endocast of the stem lagomorph Megalagus and brain structure of basal Euarchontoglires Journal Article In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B, vol. 287, no. 1929, pp. 20200665, 2020. Burrows, Anne M; Nash, Leanne T; Hartstone-Rose, Adam; Silcox, Mary T; López-Torres, Sergi; Selig, Keegan R Dental signatures for exudativory in living primates, with comparisons to other gouging mammals Journal Article In: The Anatomical Record, vol. 303, no. 2, pp. 265-281, 2020. López-Torres, Sergi; Selig, Keegan R; Burrows, Anne M; Silcox, Mary T The Toothcomb of Karanisia clarki: Was this Species an Exudate-feeder? Book Chapter In: Nekaris, K A I; Burrows, Anne M. Editors (Ed.): Evolution, Ecology and Conservation of Lorises and Pottos, pp. 67–75, Cambridge University Press, 2020. López-Torres, Sergi; Silcox, Mary T What We Know (and Don’t Know) About the Fossil Records of Lorisids Book Chapter In: Nekaris, K A I; Burrows, Anne M. Editors (Ed.): Evolution, Ecology and Conservation of Lorises and Pottos, pp. 33–46, Cambridge University Press, 2020. Selig, Keegan R; López-Torres, Sergi; Sargis, Eric J; Silcox, Mary T First 3D dental topographic analysis of the enamel-dentine junction in non-primate euarchontans: Contribution of the enamel-dentine junction to molar morphology Journal Article In: Journal of Mammalian Evolution, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 587-598, 2019. López-Torres, Sergi Primate Evolution and the Emergence of Humans (Vertebrate Life 10th ed.) Book Chapter In: Pough, Harvey; Janis, Christine M. (Ed.): Chapter 26, pp. 519-552, Sinauer Associates/Oxford University Press, New York, 10, 2019, ISBN: 97816053566075. López-Torres, Sergi; Fostowicz-Frelik, Łucja A new Eocene anagalid (Mammalia: Euarchontoglires) from Mongolia and its implications for the group’s phylogeny and dispersal Journal Article In: Scientific Reports, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 13955, 2018. López-Torres, Sergi; Silcox, Mary T; Holroyd, Patricia A New omomyoids (Euprimates, Mammalia) from the late Uintan of southern California, USA, and the question of the extinction of the Paromomyidae (Plesiadapiformes, Primates) Journal Article In: Palaeontologia Electronica, vol. 21, no. 3, 2018. López-Torres, Sergi; Silcox, Mary T. The European Paromomyidae (Primates, Mammalia): taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeographic implications Journal Article In: Journal of Paleontology, vol. 92, no. 5, pp. 920-937, 2018, ISSN: 0022-3360. López-Torres, Sergi; Selig, Keegan R; Prufrock, Kristen A; Lin, Derrick; Silcox, Mary T Dental topographic analysis of paromomyid (Plesiadapiformes, Primates) cheek teeth: more than 15 million years of changing surfaces and shifting ecologies Journal Article In: Historical Biology, vol. 30, no. 1-2, pp. 76–88, 2018. Silcox, Mary T; López-Torres, Sergi Major questions in the study of primate origins Journal Article In: Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, vol. 45, pp. 113-137, 2017. Silcox, Mary T; Bloch, Jonathan I; Boyer, Doug M; Chester, Stephen GB; López-Torres, Sergi The evolutionary radiation of plesiadapiforms Journal Article In: Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 74-94, 2017. Prufrock, Kristen A.; López-Torres, Sergi; Silcox, Mary T.; Boyer, Doug M. Surfaces and spaces: troubleshooting the study of dietary niche space overlap between North American stem primates and rodents Journal Article In: Surface Topography: Metrology and Properties, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 024005, 2016. López-Torres, Sergi; Schillaci, Michael A; Silcox, Mary T Life history of the most complete fossil primate skeleton: exploring growth models for Darwinius Journal Article In: Royal Society open science, vol. 2, no. 9, pp. 150340, 2015. Marigó, Judit; Minwer-Barakat, Raef; Moyà-Solà, Salvador; López-Torres, Sergi First record of Plesiadapiformes (Primates, Mammalia) from Spain Journal Article In: Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 62, no. 3, pp. 429-433, 2012.2023
@inbook{Žliobaitė2023,
title = {The NOW Database of Fossil Mammals},
author = {Indrė Žliobaitė and Mikael Fortelius and Raymond L. Bernor and Lars W. Hoek Ostende and Christine M. Janis and Kari Lintulaakso and Laura K. Säilä and Lars Werdelin and Isaac Casanovas-Vilar and Darin A. Croft and Lawrence J. Flynn and Samantha S. B. Hopkins and Anu Kaakinen and László Kordos and Dimitris S. Kostopoulos and Luca Pandolfi and John Rowan and Alexey Tesakov and Innessa Vislobokova and Zhaoqun Zhang and Manuela Aiglstorfer and David M. Alba and Michelle Arnal and Pierre-Olivier Antoine and Miriam Belmaker and Melike Bilgin and Jean-Renaud Boisserie and Matthew R. Borths and Siobhán B. Cooke and Jan A. Dam and Eric Delson and Jussi T. Eronen and David Fox and Anthony R. Friscia and Marc Furió and Ioannis X. Giaourtsakis and Luke Holbrook and John Hunter and Sergi López-Torres and Joshua Ludtke and Raef Minwer-Barakat and Jan Made and Bastien Mennecart and Diana Pushkina and Lorenzo Rook and Juha Saarinen and Joshua X. Samuels and William Sanders and Mary T. Silcox and Jouni Vepsäläinen},
editor = {Isaac Casanovas-Vilar and Lars W. Hoek Ostende and Christine M. Janis and Juha Saarinen},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17491-9_3},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-17491-9_3},
isbn = {978-3-031-17491-9},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-08-09},
urldate = {2023-01-01},
booktitle = {Evolution of Cenozoic Land Mammal Faunas and Ecosystems: 25 Years of the NOW Database of Fossil Mammals},
pages = {33–42},
publisher = {Springer International Publishing},
address = {Cham},
abstract = {NOW (New and Old Worlds) is a global database of fossil mammal occurrences, currently containing around 68,000 locality-species entries. The database spans the last 66 million years, with its primary focus on the last 23 million years. Whereas the database contains recordsNOW Databaserecords from all continents, the main focus and coverage of the database historically has been on Eurasia. The database includes primarily, but not exclusively, terrestrial mammals. It covers a large part of the currently known mammalian fossil record, focusing on classical and actively researched fossil localities. The database is managed in collaboration with an international advisory board of experts. Rather than a static archive, it emphasizes the continuous integration of new knowledge of the communityNOW Databasedatacuration in, data curationDatacuration, and consistencyNOW Databaseconsistency of scientific interpretations. The database records species occurrences at localities worldwide, as well as ecologicalEcological characteristics of fossil species, geological contextsGeologic/geologicalcontext of localities and more. The NOW database is primarily used for two purposes: (1) queries about occurrences of particular taxa, their characteristics and properties of localities in the spirit of an encyclopedia; and (2) large scale research and quantitative analyses of evolutionary processes, patterns, reconstructing past environments, as well as interpreting evolutionary contexts. The data are fully open, no logging in or community membership is necessary for using the data for any purpose.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
@article{https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12650,
title = {Cranial endocast of Anagale gobiensis (Anagalidae) and its implications for early brain evolution in Euarchontoglires},
author = {Sergi López-Torres and Ornella C. Bertrand and Madlen M. Lang and Łucja Fostowicz-Frelik and Mary T. Silcox and Jin Meng},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/pala.12650},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12650},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-06-01},
urldate = {2023-06-01},
journal = {Palaeontology},
volume = {66},
number = {3},
pages = {e12650},
abstract = {Abstract Anagalids are an extinct group of primitive mammals from the Asian Palaeogene thought to be possible basal members of Glires. Anagalid material is rare, with only a handful of crania known. Here we describe the first virtual endocast of an anagalid, based on the holotype of Anagale gobiensis (AMNH 26079; late Eocene, China), which allows for comparison with published endocasts from fossil members of modern euarchontogliran lineages (i.e. primates, rodents, lagomorphs). The endocast displays traits often observed in fossorial mammals, such as relatively small petrosal lobules and a low neocortical ratio, which would be consistent with previous inferences about use of subterranean food sources based on heavy dental wear. In fact, Anagale gobiensis has the lowest neocortical ratio yet recorded for a euarchontogliran. This species was olfaction-driven, based on the relatively large olfactory bulbs and laterally expansive palaeocortex. The endocast supports previous inferences that relatively large olfactory bulbs, partial midbrain exposure and low encephalization quotient are ancestral for Euarchontoglires, although the likely fossorial adaptations of Anagale gobiensis may also partly explain these traits. While Anagale gobiensis is a primitive mammal in many aspects, some of its derived endocranial traits point towards a new, different trajectory of brain evolution within Euarchontoglires.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
@article{LopezE&E2023,
title = {Locomotor behavior and hearing sensitivity in an early lagomorph reconstructed from the bony labyrinth},
author = {Sergi López-Torres and Raj Bhagat and Ornella C. Bertrand and Mary T. Silcox and Łucja Fostowicz-Frelik},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ece3.9890},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9890},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-03-18},
urldate = {2023-03-18},
journal = {Ecology and Evolution},
volume = {13},
number = {3},
pages = {e9890},
abstract = {Abstract The structure of the bony labyrinth is highly informative with respect to locomotor agility (semicircular canals [SCC]) and hearing sensitivity (cochlear and oval windows). Here, we reconstructed the agility and hearing sensitivity of the stem lagomorph Megalagus turgidus from the early Oligocene of the Brule Formation of Nebraska (USA). Megalagus has proportionally smaller SCCs with respect to its body mass compared with most extant leporids but within the modern range of variability, suggesting that it was less agile than most of its modern relatives. A level of agility for Megalagus within the range of modern rabbits is consistent with the evidence from postcranial elements. The hearing sensitivity for Megalagus is in the range of extant lagomorphs for both low- and high-frequency sounds. Our data show that by the early Oligocene stem lagomorphs had already attained fundamentally rabbit-like hearing sensitivity and locomotor behavior, even though Megalagus was not a particularly agile lagomorph. This is likely because Megalagus was more of a woodland dweller than an open-habitat runner. The study of sensory evolution in Lagomorpha is practically unknown, and these results provide first advances in understanding the primitive stages for the order and how the earliest members of this clade perceived their environment.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
@inbook{Sergi2023,
title = {Primate Origins: The Earliest Primates and Euprimates and Their Role in the Evolution of the Order},
author = {Mary T. Silcox and Sergi López-Torres},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119828075.ch22},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119828075.ch22},
isbn = {9781119828075},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-03-15},
urldate = {2023-03-15},
pages = {365-380},
publisher = {John Wiley & Sons, Ltd},
chapter = {22},
abstract = {This chapter provides an overview of the fossil record for the key early euprimate groups, and for the plesiadapiforms, and discusses how this record relates to Primate Origins and to the origins of Strepsirrhini and Anthropoidea. Adapis was the first fossil primate to be named, although the reference in its name to Apis, the sacred Egyptian bull, implies some initial confusion about its identity. Primitive adapoids and omomyoids are very similar dentally, although adapoids do possess two apparently derived features of the dentition that allows them to be distinguished. Traditionally, omomyoids have been viewed as tarsier-like, in contrast to the lemur-like adapoids. The endocasts of plesiadapiforms indicate that the brain had not yet evolved a euprimate-like expansion of the neocortex, with notably larger olfactory bulbs relative to the overall size of the brain compared to even the most primitive euprimates.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
@inbook{Silcox_Bertrand_Harrington_Lang_SanMartin-Flores_Lopez-Torres_2023,
title = {Early Evolution of the Brain in Primates and Their Close Kin},
author = {Mary T Silcox and Ornella C Bertrand and Arianna R Harrington and Madlen M Lang and Gabriela A San Martin-Flores and Sergi López-Torres},
editor = {María Teresa Dozo and Ariana Paulina-Carabajal and Thomas E Macrini and Stig Walsh},
url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-13983-3_12},
isbn = {978-3-031-13983-3},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-01-01},
urldate = {2023-01-01},
pages = {457–506},
publisher = {Springer Cham},
address = {Switzerland},
chapter = {12},
abstract = {The interpretation of early primate endocasts can be framed around four critical questions: (1) What are accurate estimates of endocranial capacity for known euprimate specimens? (2) What does the available data for stem primates tell us with respect to the earliest phases of primate brain evolution? (3) How should relative brain size be assessed? and (4) What is the appropriate comparative context for interpreting fossil primate endocasts? The widespread availability of CT data has allowed for better estimates of endocranial volume (#1), and for more data from stem primates (#2). From these data it is clear that the earliest primates had brains that were little differentiated in terms of form or size from their ancestors, although there might have been some modest increase in the relative size of the neocortex. Major changes in shape occurred at the euprimate node, with expansions in the temporal and occipital lobes (reflected in an expanded neocortex), and a lack of expansion in the olfactory bulbs. The brain of early fossil euprimates nonetheless still displayed primitive features such as narrow frontal lobes. Questions #3 and #4 remain contentious, although a much-expanded comparative sample of fossil endocasts allows for new perspectives on these issues.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
@article{scott2023new,
title = {New paromomyids (Mammalia, Primates) from the Paleocene of southwestern Alberta, Canada, and an analysis of paromomyid interrelationships},
author = {Craig S Scott and Sergi López-Torres and Mary T Silcox and Richard C Fox},
url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/new-paromomyids-mammalia-primates-from-the-paleocene-of-southwestern-alberta-canada-and-an-analysis-of-paromomyid-interrelationships/85328AE223A9AE66A2948F6FB06712CD},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-01-01},
urldate = {2023-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Paleontology},
pages = {1--22},
publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2022
@inbook{Lopez_primates_2022,
title = {Primate Evolution and the Emergence of Humans (Vertebrate Life 11th ed.)},
author = {Sergi López-Torres},
editor = { Harvey Pough and William E. Bemis and Betty Anne McGuire and Christine M. Janis },
url = {https://global.oup.com/academic/product/vertebrate-life-9780197564882?cc=us&lang=en#},
isbn = {978-0197564882},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-10-01},
urldate = {2022-10-01},
pages = {557-585},
publisher = {Oxford University Press},
address = {New York},
edition = {11},
chapter = {24},
abstract = {Primates have been a moderately successful group for most of the Cenozoic, although since the end of the Eocene they have been largely confined to tropical latitudes (with the exception of humans). Primates include not only the anthropoids—the group of apes and monkeys to which humans belong—but also the prosimians, animals such as bush babies and lemurs, and earlier less derived forms known only from the fossil record. Molecular techniques show that chimpanzees are the closest extant relatives of humans, and both molecular data and the fossil record indicate that the separation of humans from the African great apes occurred about 6.6 Ma. Fossils of Australopithecus—the sister taxon to our own genus, Homo—clearly show that bipedal walking arose before the appearance of a large brain. A diversity of new fossils has shown that early human evolution was much more complex and diverse than previously thought.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
@article{grau2022miopetaurista,
title = {A Miopetaurista (Rodentia, Sciuridae) cranium from the Middle Miocene of Bavaria (Germany) and brain evolution in flying squirrels},
author = {Montserrat Grau-Camats and Ornella C Bertrand and Jérome Prieto and Sergi López-Torres and Mary T Silcox and Isaac Casanovas-Vilar},
doi = {10.1002/spp2.1454},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-07-25},
journal = {Papers in Palaeontology},
volume = {8},
number = {4},
pages = {e1454},
publisher = {Wiley Online Library},
abstract = {Flying squirrels (Sciurinae, Pteromyini) are the most successful group of gliding mammals. However, their fossil record mostly consists of isolated dental remains that provide very limited insights into their palaeobiology and evolution. The first skeleton of a fossil flying squirrel, belonging to the species Miopetaurista neogrivensis, has been described only recently. It presents all the diagnostic gliding-related postcranial features of its extant relatives and shows that this group has undergone very little morphological change for almost 12 myr. However, the associated cranium is badly crushed, and particular details of the cranial morphology cannot be described. Here, we describe a well-preserved cranium of the closely related Miopetaurista crusafonti from 12.5–12.0 Ma from Bavaria (Germany). Its cranial morphology is found to be almost identical to extant large flying squirrels, even in details such as the position of the foramina. The virtual endocast also shows close affinities to living large flying squirrels in morphology and in the relative volume of different brain regions, showing diagnostic features such as the size reduction of petrosal lobules and olfactory bulbs. However, the encephalization quotient (EQ) and neocortical ratio are lower than observed in extant flying squirrels. EQ is known to increase through time in squirrels, but might also be related to locomotion, given that arboreal and gliding squirrels display higher EQs than terrestrial ones. Because Miopetaurista was certainly a glider, its comparatively lower EQ and neocortical size support the existence of an independent trend of increasing EQ and neocortical complexity in this flying squirrel subclade.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2021
@article{kraatz2021lagomorpha,
title = {Lagomorpha as a model morphological system},
author = {Brian Kraatz and Rafik Belabbas and Lucja A Fostowicz-Frelik and Deyan Ge and Alexander N Kuznetsov and Madlen Lang and Sergi López-Torres and Zeinolabedin Mohammadi and Rachel A Racicot and Matthew J Ravosa and others},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
urldate = {2021-01-01},
journal = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution},
volume = {9},
pages = {366},
publisher = {Frontiers},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
@article{fostowicz2021tarsal,
title = {Tarsal morphology of ischyromyid rodents from the middle Eocene of China gives an insight into the group’s diversity in Central Asia},
author = {Lucja Fostowicz-Frelik and Sergi López-Torres and Qian Li},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
urldate = {2021-01-01},
journal = {Scientific reports},
volume = {11},
number = {1},
pages = {1-11},
publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
@article{schillaci2021linguistic,
title = {Linguistic Clues to Kiowa-Tanoan Prehistory},
author = {Michael A Schillaci and Logan D Sutton and Søren Wichmann and Sergi López-Torres},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
urldate = {2021-01-01},
journal = {Journal of the Southwest},
volume = {63},
number = {2},
pages = {255--368},
publisher = {The Southwest Center, University of Arizona},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2020
@article{selig2020novel,
title = {A novel method for assessing enamel thickness distribution in the anterior dentition as a signal for gouging and other extractive foraging behaviors in gummivorous mammals},
author = {Keegan R Selig and Sergi López-Torres and Adam Hartstone-Rose and Leanne T Nash and Anne M Burrows and Mary T Silcox},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
urldate = {2020-01-01},
journal = {Folia Primatologica},
volume = {91},
number = {4},
pages = {365-384},
publisher = {Karger Publishers},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
@article{lopez2020cranial,
title = {Cranial endocast of the stem lagomorph Megalagus and brain structure of basal Euarchontoglires},
author = {Sergi López-Torres and Ornella C Bertrand and Madlen M Lang and Mary T Silcox and Lucja Fostowicz-Frelik},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
urldate = {2020-01-01},
journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B},
volume = {287},
number = {1929},
pages = {20200665},
publisher = {The Royal Society},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
@article{burrows2020dental,
title = {Dental signatures for exudativory in living primates, with comparisons to other gouging mammals},
author = {Anne M Burrows and Leanne T Nash and Adam Hartstone-Rose and Mary T Silcox and Sergi López-Torres and Keegan R Selig},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
urldate = {2020-01-01},
journal = {The Anatomical Record},
volume = {303},
number = {2},
pages = {265-281},
publisher = {Wiley Online Library},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
@inbook{lópez-torres_selig_burrows_silcox_2020,
title = {The Toothcomb of Karanisia clarki: Was this Species an Exudate-feeder?},
author = {Sergi López-Torres and Keegan R Selig and Anne M Burrows and Mary T Silcox},
editor = {K A I Nekaris and Anne M.Editors Burrows},
doi = {10.1017/9781108676526.008},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {Evolution, Ecology and Conservation of Lorises and Pottos},
pages = {67–75},
publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
series = {Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
@inbook{lópez-torres_silcox_2020,
title = {What We Know (and Don’t Know) About the Fossil Records of Lorisids},
author = {Sergi López-Torres and Mary T Silcox},
editor = {K A I Nekaris and Anne M.Editors Burrows},
doi = {10.1017/9781108676526.005},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {Evolution, Ecology and Conservation of Lorises and Pottos},
pages = {33–46},
publisher = {Cambridge University Press},
series = {Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
2019
@article{selig2019first,
title = {First 3D dental topographic analysis of the enamel-dentine junction in non-primate euarchontans: Contribution of the enamel-dentine junction to molar morphology},
author = {Keegan R Selig and Sergi López-Torres and Eric J Sargis and Mary T Silcox},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
urldate = {2019-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Mammalian Evolution},
volume = {26},
number = {4},
pages = {587-598},
publisher = {Springer},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
@inbook{Lopez_primates_2019,
title = {Primate Evolution and the Emergence of Humans (Vertebrate Life 10th ed.)},
author = {Sergi López-Torres},
editor = { Harvey Pough and Christine M. Janis },
isbn = {97816053566075},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
pages = {519-552},
publisher = {Sinauer Associates/Oxford University Press},
address = {New York},
edition = {10},
chapter = {26},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
2018
@article{lopez2018newb,
title = {A new Eocene anagalid (Mammalia: Euarchontoglires) from Mongolia and its implications for the group’s phylogeny and dispersal},
author = {Sergi López-Torres and Łucja Fostowicz-Frelik},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-09-17},
urldate = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
volume = {8},
number = {1},
pages = {13955},
publisher = {Nature Publishing Group UK London},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
@article{lopez2018new,
title = {New omomyoids (Euprimates, Mammalia) from the late Uintan of southern California, USA, and the question of the extinction of the Paromomyidae (Plesiadapiformes, Primates)},
author = {Sergi López-Torres and Mary T Silcox and Patricia A Holroyd},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-09-01},
urldate = {2018-09-01},
journal = {Palaeontologia Electronica},
volume = {21},
number = {3},
publisher = {COQUINA PRESS C/O WHITEY HAGADORN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, AMHERST COLLEGE, DEPT~…},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
@article{10.1017/jpa.2018.10,
title = {The European Paromomyidae (Primates, Mammalia): taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeographic implications},
author = {Sergi López-Torres and Mary T. Silcox},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2018.10},
doi = {10.1017/jpa.2018.10},
issn = {0022-3360},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-05-09},
urldate = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Paleontology},
volume = {92},
number = {5},
pages = {920-937},
abstract = {Plesiadapiforms represent the first radiation of Primates, appearing near the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. Eleven families of plesiadapiforms are recognized, including the Paromomyidae. Four species of paromomyids from the early Eocene have been reported from Europe: Arcius fuscus Russell et al., 1967, Arcius lapparenti Russell et al., 1967, and Arcius rougieri Godinot, 1984 from France and Arcius zbyszewskii Estravís, 2000 from Portugal. Other Arcius specimens from the early Eocene are known from Masia de l’Hereuet (Spain), Abbey Wood (England), and Sotteville-sur-Mer (Normandy, France). A cladistic analysis of the European paromomyids has never previously been published. A total of 53 dental characters were analyzed for the four Arcius species and the specimens from Spain, England, and Normandy. The results of a parsimony analysis using TNT agree with previous conceptions of A. zbyszewskii as the most primitive member of the genus. Consistent with existing hypotheses, Arcius rougieri is positioned as the sister taxon of A. fuscus and A. lapparenti, and the results suggest that the fossil from Normandy is A. zbyszewskii. However, the English fossil pertains to a primitive lineage, rather than grouping with A. lapparenti as had been suggested; as such it is recognized here as a distinct species (Arcius hookeri new species). The Spanish fossils cluster together with the French species but do not show the previously proposed special relationship with A. lapparenti and are sufficiently distinct to be placed in a new species (Arcius ilerdensis). Arcius is recovered as monophyletic, which is consistent with a single migration event from North America to Europe around the earliest Eocene through the Greenland land bridge.UUID: http://zoobank.org/f4aac438-82d2-4a25-887b-3e0c072d87f6},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
@article{lopez2018dental,
title = {Dental topographic analysis of paromomyid (Plesiadapiformes, Primates) cheek teeth: more than 15 million years of changing surfaces and shifting ecologies},
author = {Sergi López-Torres and Keegan R Selig and Kristen A Prufrock and Derrick Lin and Mary T Silcox},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
urldate = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Historical Biology},
volume = {30},
number = {1-2},
pages = {76--88},
publisher = {Taylor & Francis},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2017
@article{silcox2017major,
title = {Major questions in the study of primate origins},
author = {Mary T Silcox and Sergi López-Torres},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-05-24},
urldate = {2017-01-01},
journal = {Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences},
volume = {45},
pages = {113-137},
publisher = {Annual Reviews},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
@article{silcox2017evolutionary,
title = {The evolutionary radiation of plesiadapiforms},
author = {Mary T Silcox and Jonathan I Bloch and Doug M Boyer and Stephen GB Chester and Sergi López-Torres},
year = {2017},
date = {2017-04-21},
urldate = {2017-01-01},
journal = {Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews},
volume = {26},
number = {2},
pages = {74-94},
publisher = {Wiley Online Library},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2016
@article{Prufrock_2016,
title = {Surfaces and spaces: troubleshooting the study of dietary niche space overlap between North American stem primates and rodents},
author = {Kristen A. Prufrock and Sergi López-Torres and Mary T. Silcox and Doug M. Boyer},
url = {https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2051-672X/4/2/024005},
doi = {10.1088/2051-672X/4/2/024005},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-03-10},
urldate = {2016-03-10},
journal = {Surface Topography: Metrology and Properties},
volume = {4},
number = {2},
pages = {024005},
publisher = {IOP Publishing},
abstract = {Dental topographic metrics provide quantitative, biologically meaningful data on the three-dimensional (3D) form of teeth. In this study, three dental topographic metrics (Dirichlet normal energy (DNE), relief index (RFI), and orientation patch count rotated (OPCR)) are used to evaluate the presence of dietary niche overlap between North American plesiadapoid primates (Plesiadapidae, Carpolestidae, and Saxonellidae) and early rodents. Calculation of these metrics requires researchers to modify the 3D surface models of the teeth by cropping them to a region of interest and/or orienting them. The current study therefore also examines the error introduced by cropping and orientation, and evaluates the contribution of these metrics to the niche overlap hypothesis. Our results indicate that cropping creates significantly more variation in RFI than DNE. Furthermore, orientation is an even larger source of variation in the calculation of RFI than cropping. Orientation does not strongly influence OPCR values. However, none of these sources of error are significant enough to undermine the extent to which these metrics can speak to the niche overlap hypothesis. The DNE and RFI results suggest that carpolestids and saxonellids had very different molar morphologies from early rodents, and thus these groups were not adapted to consume the same resources. Some plesiadapids show similar levels of occlusal curvature, relief, and complexity to early rodents. The plesiadapid Chiromyoides, which has distinctively low cusps and weak shearing crest development, has molars that are the most rodent-like of all taxa compared. This suggests that Chiromyoides had a dietary niche that overlapped with early rodents and would have been the most likely to be competing over food resources. Results from the plesiadapoid-rodent dental topographic analysis highlight the utility of DNE for detecting more fine-scaled differences in occlusal surface morphology than OPCR, whereas RFI provided valuable data on the degree to which teeth were high crowned.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2015
@article{lopez2015life,
title = {Life history of the most complete fossil primate skeleton: exploring growth models for Darwinius},
author = {Sergi López-Torres and Michael A Schillaci and Mary T Silcox},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-01-01},
urldate = {2015-01-01},
journal = {Royal Society open science},
volume = {2},
number = {9},
pages = {150340},
publisher = {The Royal Society Publishing},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2012
@article{marigo2012first,
title = {First record of Plesiadapiformes (Primates, Mammalia) from Spain},
author = {Judit Marigó and Raef Minwer-Barakat and Salvador Moyà-Solà and Sergi López-Torres},
year = {2012},
date = {2012-01-01},
urldate = {2012-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Human Evolution},
volume = {62},
number = {3},
pages = {429-433},
publisher = {Academic Press},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}