Narimane Chatar@NarimaneChatar

MSCA Fellow @UCBerkeley & @InfoUMA | Interested in fossil carnivorans🦁🐻🦦 | Biomechanics & morphometrics 🦾📊 | PhD'23 @UniversiteLiege | She/her🇧🇪🇲🇦

 Berkeley, CA
Joined November 2017
387 Photos and videos
Excited to share our latest study highlighted on the cover of @ScienceMagazine🥳Combining a 3D dataset of 250 taxa, 3D modelling & printing and material testing; we deciphered the form-function relationship in the lower🦷of mammals 1/16🧵science.org/doi/10.1126/scie…
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TheSkullywagLab@TheSkullywagLab
Sep 23
Ahoy there Skullywags! In the latest episode of Skullywag Chats, I team up with @NarimaneChatar from @UCBerkeley to discuss an evolutionary pattern she and her team discovered in the molars of meat-munching mammals #skull #science #💀 piped.video/6TmKAKhag7w?si=td2n… via @YouTube

Skullywag Chats #2 | Dr Narimane Chatar | Teeth, Macroevolutionary ratchets, Saber-tooths

In this episode of Skullywag Chats, I catch up with Dr Narimane Cha...

youtube.com
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So happy to have been invited by @DRexMitchell for this little chat about our recent tooth paper in @ScienceMagazine (doi.org/10.1126/science.aee3…) for his YouTube channel, The Skullywag Lab, check it out 🤩: piped.video/watch?v=6TmKAKha… #SciComm #ScienceCommunication #AcademicChatter

Performance trade-offs define a fundamental dental dichotomy in mammals

Teeth define mammalian evolution, and one of many adaptive dental breakthroughs in crown mammals is the tribosphenic molar: a tooth with a dual shearing-crushing function, often considered a key...

science.org
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Narimane Chatar retweeted
Alessandro Chiarenza@AAlechiarenza
Sep 16
How do you take the temperature of a T. rex 66 million years too late? Time machine? Impossible. Billionaire’s dinosaur island? Risky. Geochemistry? Much safer 🦖🌡️ Our new @ScienceAdvances paper adds evidence for an endothermic, “warm-blooded” T. rex 🔗 doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aeb76…
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Journal of Anatomy@JournalofAnat
Sep 9
Congratulations on this excellent new contribution to our understanding of proboscidean biomechanics! 🐘
Narimane Chatar@NarimaneChatar
Sep 8
New OA paper out in @JournalofAnat 🐘 In this study lead by MSc student Nicolas Wagner; we investigate compressive loading in proboscidean (elephants & their extinct relatives) using FEA and highlight different mechanical strategies 🦾 doi.org/10.1111/joa.70234
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New OA paper out in @JournalofAnat 🐘 In this study lead by MSc student Nicolas Wagner; we investigate compressive loading in proboscidean (elephants & their extinct relatives) using FEA and highlight different mechanical strategies 🦾 doi.org/10.1111/joa.70234
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Robert Sanders@bobthesciguy
Jul 30
A new paper by @UCBerkeley @NHMLA researchers uncovers the events that primed the mammalian exchange between North and South America ~3MYA news.berkeley.edu/2026/07/30…

North and South America weren’t always connected, but their mammals still found a way to intermin...

Before the Panamanian land bridge formed about 3 million years ago, mammals on the two continents were isolated — or so biologists thought. New fossils show that they found ways to mix long before...

news.berkeley.edu
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Davide Tamagnini@DavideTamagnin4
Aug 5
doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2026.04… Our new paper on carnassial evolution is out!! 🥳🥳🥳

Decoupling geometry and topography reveals contrasting ecomorphological signals in carnivoran...

Abstract. The lower carnassial tooth (m1) is a key innovation underlying the ecological diversification of Carnivora. However, their exceptionally diverse

royalsocietypublishing.org
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Narimane Chatar retweeted
Chris Stringer
@ChrisStringer65
Aug 5
Ancient North American Mammals May Have Gathered in Mexico and Diversified Before Moving to South America, Priming Them to Thrive There smithsonianmag.com/smart-new…

Ancient North American Mammals May Have Gathered in Mexico and Diversified Before Moving to South...

An analysis of fossils from the country hints that animals from the north stayed in a "holding pen" between seven million and ten million years ago. The timeline might help explain why so many South...

smithsonianmag.com
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Our modern🦦🦝🐻🦁🐺 and their ancestors (Carnivoramorpha) once shared the planet with other large meat-eating groups, e.g. hyaenodonts, that have since then vanished. Hyaenodonts were once the top predators of their ecosystems but disappeared while carnivoramorphans thrived🧵7/9
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The long standing hypethsis? competition took out hyaenodonts, but this was mainly based on North American data. Using body-mass estimates for 155 European fossil species spanning much of the Palaeogene, this new study decipher the competition dynamics between carnivores 🧵8/9
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Changes in predator size and diversity coincides with 🔥and🧊events around 40 and 34mya. This challenges a competition-driven explanation based largely on N. American fossils and suggest that 🌡️shaped the rise of today’s dominant predators differently across continents 🧵 9/9
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Then, another study co-lead by @Val_Fisch & @FlorealSole deciphers the evolution of carnivorous mammals 🐺🦁🦝🦦 doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2026.03… 🧵6/9
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Our results also highlight different convergence signals in between the two methods, with stronger signals for omnivory, insectivory and frugivory in HD3DGM while the only convergent diet was the frugivory catgory in topographic methods🧵4/9
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This highlights that the many-to-one topography behaviour weakens the quality of ecomorphological inference at higher taxonomic scales. Our results reframe the context in which each method is most appropriately applied🧵5/9
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The new HD3DGM protocol, improved by Melvin was shown to better capture the subtle ecological and phylogenetic signals present in the dentition of extant carnivorans, particularly at higher taxonomic levels 🧵3/9
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Amazing day for carnivorous mammal enthusiasts out there 🐺🦁🐻🦝🦦two new papers out in @royalsociety 🥳: Vankelst et al 2026 in Proceedings B doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2026.04… and Fischer & Solé et al. 2026 in Biology Letters doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2026.03… More details below👇🧵1/9
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First first-author paper out for PhD student @melvinvankelst who deciphered the ecomorphological signal in the lower carnassial of extant carnivorans, comparing HD3DGM and topographic methods🧵2/9 doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2026.04…
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Only 2 days left to submit your abstract! Submit to the 'The Future of the Fossil Record: Developments, Trends and Innovative Approaches in Paleontology' session here : tinyurl.com/mtkyptc7

ALT Jim Carrey Reaction GIF

Narimane Chatar@NarimaneChatar
Jul 27
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE for #AGU2026 COMING SOON (🗓️August 5 🗓️)! 🚨Don't forget to submit your abstract for our paleo session 🦖 The Future of the Fossil Record: Developments, Trends and Innovative Approaches in Paleontology 🔗 tinyurl.com/mtkyptc7
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Narimane Chatar retweeted
Juan L. Cantalapiedra@singerstone
Jul 31
1/7 🦏🐘 Our latest paper just dropped in @NatureComms! A surprising discovery about the decline of Africa's megaherbivores. Why did the continent lose most of these giants? The answer isn't what most people assumed. [all photos my own] Thread 🧵👇 🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-7…
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Science Magazine
@ScienceMagazine
Jul 30
An analysis of fossil mammals suggests that Mexico served as a long-term evolutionary “holding pen” where North American species adapted and diversified for millions of years before sweeping into South America 2.8 million years ago. The findings in Science clarify the timing of one of Earth's most consequential migrations and may help explain why North American mammals were more successful migrants than those from South America. scim.ag/4fKB0ZF
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