Research

I am broadly interested in neurological evolution in archosaurs. I use computed tomography (CT) scanning to produce high-resolution 3D digital reconstructions of crocodylian skulls, and bird/bird-line dinosaur brains to identify evolutionary trends in these groups. Read more about these projects below and [click here] for recent publications.

[crocodylian skull picture]

crocodylian skull text

[avian brains pic]

avian brain text

Recent Publications

*Indicates a mentored student. Please contact me for access if you're interested in reading a paper behind a paywall.

Natale Castillo, M.I.*, Gold, M.E.L. A new 3-dimensional, CT-based, cranial model of hatchling Gavialis gangeticus. (In prep.)

Vasquez, T.*, Gignac, P., Gold, M.E.L. Tumor or Hemorrhage?: Differential Diagnosis of an Unknown Mass Within the Brain of a Budgerigar. (In prep.)

Balanoff, A., Ferrer, E., Saleh, L., Gignac, P., Gold, M.E.L, Marugán-Lobón, J., Norell, M., Ouellette, D., Salerno, M., Watanabe, A., Wei, S., Bever, G., Vaska, P. Quantitative functional imaging of the pigeon brain: implications for the evolution of avian powered flight. In review, Proceedings B (Sept. 2023).

Dewar, E., Gold, M.E.L., Dwyer, H. 2022. Teaching writing skills in online paleontology and evolution courses. Frontiers in Education/Higher Education 7:876875. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.876875

Watanabe, A., Balanoff, A.M., Gignac, P. M., Gold, M.E.L., Norell, M. (2021). Novel neuroanatomical integration and scaling define avian brain shape evolution and development. eLife 10:e68809.

Ksepka, D.T., Balanoff, A.M., Smith, A., Bever, G.S., S. Bhullar, B-A.S., Bourdon, E., Braun, E.L., Burleigh, G., Clark, J.A., Colbert, M.W., Corfield, J.R., Degrange, F.J., De Pietri, V.L., Early, C.M., Field, D.J., Gignac, P.M., Gold, M.E.L., Jarvis, E.D., Kimball, R.T., Kawabe, S., Lefebvre, L., Marguán-Lobón, J., Morhardt, A., Norell, M.A., Ridgely, R.C., Scofield, P., Tambussi, C.P., Torres, C.R., van Tuinen, M., Walsh, S.A., Watanabe, A., Witmer, L.M., Wright, A.K., Zanno, L.E., Smaers, J.B. (2020) Tempo and pattern of avian brain size evolution. Current Biology, 30: 1–11. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.03.060 (journal cover)

Gold, M.E.L., Watanabe, A. (2018). Flightless birds are not neuroanatomical analogs of nonavian dinosaurs. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 18, 190. doi.org/10.1186/s12862-018-1312-0

Gold, M.E.L., Norell, M. A., Budassi, M., Vaska, P., Schulz, D. (2018). Rapid 18F-FDG uptake in brain of awake, behaving rat and anesthetized chicken has implications for behavioral PET studies in species with high metabolisms. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 12, 112. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00115/full

Laing, A.M., Doyle, S., Gold, M.E.L., Nesbitt, S.J., O’Leary, M.A., Turner, A.H., Wilberg, E.W., Poole, K.E. (2017). Giant taxon-character matrices: the future of morphological systematics. Cladistics: 1-3. doi: 10.1111/cla.12197.

Gold, M.E.L., Schulz, D., Budassi, M., Vaska, P., Gignac, P., Norell, M.A. (2016b). Flying starlings, PET and the evolution of volant dinosaurs. Current Biology 26: R265-R267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.02.025

Gold, M.E.L., Bourdon, E., Norell, M.A. (2016). The First Endocast of the Extinct Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) and an Anatomical Comparison with Close Relatives (Columbiformes). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 977: 950-953. doi: 10.1111/zoj.12388

Watanabe, A., Gold, M.E.L., Brusatte, S.L., Benson, R.B.J., Choiniere, J., Davidson, A., Norell, M.A. (2015). Vertebral pneumaticity in the ornithomimosaur Archaeornithomimus (Dinosauria: Theropoda) revealed by computed tomography imaging and reappraisal of axial pneumaticity in Ornithomimosauria. PLoS ONE 10(12): e0145168. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0145168.

Gold, M.E.L., Brochu, C.A., Norell, M.A. (2014). A total evidence approach to the Gavialis problem using geometric morphometric data from the braincase and eustachian systems. PloS ONE 9 (9): e105793. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105793

Gold, M.E.L., Brusatte, S.L, Norell, M.A. (2013). The cranial pneumatic sinuses of the tyrannosaurid Alioramus (Dinosauria: Theropoda) and the evolution of cranial pneumaticity in theropod dinosaurs. American Museum Novitates 3790: 1-46. https://doi.org/10.1206/3790.1