Emily Rayfield

Who is Emily Rayfield?

Emily Rayfield is a British palaeontologist, who is a Reader in Palaeobiology in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol.

Her research primarily focuses on the functional anatomy of extinct vertebrates, especially dinosaurs, using computational methods such as finite element analysis. In the landmark paper Rayfield et al., the skull of the theropod dinosaur Allosaurus was analysed using FEA in order to quantitatively assess different feeding hyoptheses. This paper was the first use of FEA on a three-dimensional structure in palaeontology, and spurred the current trend of CT-scanned skull FEA on feeding biomechanics in zoology and palaeontology.

In addition, she helped elucidate the cranial biomechanics of the noted carnivorous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus using two-dimensional FEA. This study was expanded upon in a comparative finite element analysis of 2D theropod skulls, in order to quantitately compare cranial biomechanics.