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Christine Janis

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Christine Janis
Janis with a cast of the skull of the "marsupial lion" Thylacoleo carnifex, Natural History Museum, London (photograph by Elsa Panciroli)
Born
Christine Marie Janis
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge (1973)
Harvard University (1979)
Known forMammalian evolution; ungulate dentition; hypsodonty index; mammalian locomotion
AwardsGeorge Gaylord Simpson Prize (1985)
Romer-Simpson Medal (2024)
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2025)
Scientific career
FieldsPalaeontology, Vertebrate palaeontology, Evolutionary biology
InstitutionsBrown University
University of Bristol

Christine Marie Janis is a British–American palaeontologist whose work focuses on mammalian evolution. She is Professor Emerita of Biology at Brown University and Honorary Professor in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol.[1] Her research examines the evolution of mammalian diet and locomotion, particularly in relation to climatic and environmental change during the Cenozoic.

Janis’s research has addressed mammalian herbivory, limb biomechanics, and locomotor evolution, with a focus on ungulates, carnivorans, and macropodoid marsupials (kangaroos). She has received several professional honors, including the George Gaylord Simpson Prize and the Romer-Simpson Medal. She is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Early life and education

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Janis earned a bachelor's degree in Natural Sciences (Zoology) from the University of Cambridge in 1973, and a PhD in Organismal Biology (Vertebrate Paleontology) from Harvard University in 1979.[2]

Academic career

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Janis joined Brown University in 1983, where she served as assistant professor, associate professor, and professor of biology until her retirement in 2016, when she was appointed Professor Emerita.[2]

She was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago from 1994 to 1996, and held Benjamin Meaker Fellowships at the University of Bristol in 2001 and 2008. Since 2015 she has been Honorary Professor in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol.[3] She has also served as an honorary research associate at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.[4]

Since 2019, Janis has been a member of the advisory board of the NOW (New and Old Worlds) Database of Fossil Mammals, a global resource for documenting Cenozoic mammalian occurrences and supporting macroevolutionary and palaeoecological research.[5]

Scientific contributions

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Janis’s research examines the evolution of Cenozoic mammals, with particular attention to relationships between morphology, behaviour, and environmental change. Her work integrates fossil evidence with functional and biomechanical analyses to reconstruct diet, locomotion, and ecological adaptation in both living and extinct mammals. Much of her research focuses on ungulates, carnivorans, and macropodoid marsupials (kangaroos).

Janis’s first publication addressed competition between horses and ruminant artiodactyls,[6] a topic she continued to investigate later in her career and revisited in recent work on the drivers of late Cenozoic equid evolution.[7]

She has contributed to research on mammalian herbivory through analyses of dental morphology and wear, particularly in relation to the evolution of hypsodont (high-crowned) cheek teeth. This work includes quantitative studies of dental traits in living ungulates and examinations of the relationships between tooth form, feeding ecology, palaeoenvironmental reconstruction,[8] and adaptive responses to increasingly abrasive diets.[9] Janis has also conducted research on ruminant artiodactyl systematics[10] and on patterns of Cenozoic mammalian evolution in relation to climate change.[11][12] Her work has contributed to broader analyses of how long-term environmental change is associated with mammalian diversity and ecological specialisation.[13][14]

From the 1990s onward, Janis published extensively on mammalian locomotion and limb biomechanics, demonstrating how limb proportions, joint morphology, and scaling relationships can be used to infer locomotor behaviour in extinct mammals.[15][16] This research has provided a functional framework for interpreting postcranial fossil material across a range of mammalian groups.

Her publications also include studies of the predatory behaviour of marsupial carnivores, incorporating biomechanical and functional analyses that have been reported in popular science media.[17][18]

In more recent research, Janis has examined the evolution of horse locomotion, particularly hypotheses concerning the evolution of a single functional toe in modern horses.[19][20][21][22] She has also contributed to research on kangaroo locomotion, proposing that extinct short-faced giant kangaroos (sthenurines) used bipedal walking rather than hopping. This interpretation was later supported by fossil trackway evidence.[23][24][25] Beyond mammals, Janis has published on the palaeobiology of other fossil vertebrates, including early vertebrates, early tetrapods, dinosaurs, Mesozoic mammals, and the timing of divergence among placental mammal lineages.[26][27][28]

Honors and awards

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Books

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Janis has authored and edited several widely used textbooks and edited volumes on vertebrate evolution and mammalian palaeontology. These include seven editions of Vertebrate Life (1998–2023),[35] with Harvey Pough as senior author, and two volumes of the reference work Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America (1998,[36] 2008),[37] for which she served as senior editor.

Personal life

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In addition to her research on fossil horses, Janis has been a life-long equestrian. She was married to palaeontologist Jack Sepkoski (1948–1999).[38]

Public engagement

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Janis has contributed to public understanding of science through radio and television appearances, including participation in BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time.[39] She served as a scientific advisor for the Netflix documentary series Life on Our Planet (2023), and has provided extensive advisory input for a forthcoming BBC television series on evolution.[40]

References

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  1. ^ Bristol, University of. "Professor Christine Janis - School of Earth Sciences". www.bris.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b "Janis, Christine". Brown University.
  3. ^ "Professor Christine Janis". University of Bristol.
  4. ^ "Honorary Appointments". Field Museum.
  5. ^ "NOW - Fossil Mammal Database - Advisory Board". Nowdatabase.org.
  6. ^ Janis, Christine M. (1976). "The evolutionary strategy of the Equidae and the origins of rumen and cecal digestion". Evolution. 30 (4): 757–774. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1976.tb00957.x.
  7. ^ Janis, C. M.; Brown, S.; Benton, M. J.; Singh, S.; Silvestro, D. (2024). "Drivers of late Cenozoic equid evolution: The Bull of the Recent". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, SVP Program and Abstract Book: 283–284.
  8. ^ Janis, Christine M.; Fortelius, Mikael (1988). "On the Means Whereby Mammals Achieve Increased Functional Durability of Their Dentitions, with Special Reference to Limiting Factors". Biological Reviews. 63 (2): 197–230. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.1988.tb00630.x. ISSN 1469-185X.
  9. ^ Damuth, John; Janis, Christine M. (2011). "On the relationship between hypsodonty and feeding ecology in ungulate mammals, and its utility in palaeoecology". Biological Reviews. 86 (3): 733–758. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2011.00176.x. ISSN 1469-185X.
  10. ^ Janis, C.M., and K.M. Scott (1987). The interrelationships of higher ruminant families, with special emphasis on the members of the Cervoidea. American Museum Novitates 2893:1-85
  11. ^ Janis, C. M.; Damuth, J.; Theodor, J. M. (5 July 2000). "Miocene ungulates and terrestrial primary productivity: where have all the browsers gone?". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 97 (14): 7899–7904. doi:10.1073/pnas.97.14.7899. ISSN 0027-8424.
  12. ^ Figueirido, B.; Janis, C.M.; Pérez-Claros, J.A. (2011). "Cenozoic climate change influences mammalian evolutionary dynamics". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (3): 722–727. doi:10.1073/pnas.1110246108.
  13. ^ "Over 65 million years, North American mammal evolution has tracked with climate change". EurekAlert.
  14. ^ "Fossil dogs evolved alongside climate change". Phys.org.
  15. ^ Figueirido, Borja; Janis, Christine M. (23 December 2011). "The predatory behaviour of the thylacine: Tasmanian tiger or marsupial wolf?". Biology Letters. 7 (6): 937–940. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0364. ISSN 1744-957X.
  16. ^ Jones, B.; Janis, C.M. (2024). "Hop, walk or bound? Limb proportions in kangaroos and the probable locomotion of the extinct genus Protemnodon". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 31. doi:10.1007/s10914-024-09725-4.
  17. ^ "Extinct marsupial lion was no killer cat". Smithsonian Magazine.
  18. ^ "How marsupial predators killed their prey". BBC News.
  19. ^ Janis, Christine M.; Bernor, R. L. (2019). "The evolution of equid monodactyly: A review including a new hypothesis". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 7: 119. doi:10.3389/fevo.2019.00119.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  20. ^ Vincelette, A. R.; Renders, E.; Scott, K. M.; Falkingham, P. L.; Janis, Christine M. (2023). "Hipparion tracks and horses' toes: the evolution of the equid single hoof". Royal Society Open Science. 10 (3): 230358. doi:10.1098/rsos.230358.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  21. ^ "Why horses evolved a single toe". Phys.org.
  22. ^ "New scientific evidence overturns earlier theory on horse hoof evolution". Horse & Rider UK.
  23. ^ Janis, Christine M.; Buttrill, K.; Figueirido, B. (2014). "Locomotion in extinct giant kangaroos: were sthenurines hop-less monsters?". PLOS ONE. 9 (10): e109888. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0109888.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link) CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  24. ^ "Extinct giant kangaroos didn't hop – they walked". New Scientist.
  25. ^ "Giant kangaroos were more likely to walk than hop". The Conversation.
  26. ^ Salleh, Anna (25 April 2012). "Antacid armour key to tetrapod survival". ABC Science.
  27. ^ "Mammals Became More Terrestrial Towards End of Cretaceous Period, Study Shows". Sci.News. 2 April 2025.
  28. ^ "Dinosaurs and the rise of mammals". Silicon Republic.
  29. ^ "George Gaylord Simpson Prize | Yale Peabody Museum". Yale.edu.
  30. ^ "Fellows of the Paleontological Society". Paleontological Society.
  31. ^ "Faculty Teaching Award". Brown University.
  32. ^ "Roster of Honorary Members". Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
  33. ^ "Award Winners and Grant Recipients". Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
  34. ^ "Christine Marie Janis". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 21 October 2025.
  35. ^ Rubega, Margaret (December 1999). "Vertebrate Life. F. Harvey Pough , Christine M. Janis , John B. Heiser". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 74 (4): 478–479. doi:10.1086/394168. ISSN 0033-5770.
  36. ^ Novacek, Michael (September 2000). "Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. Volume 1: Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulatelike Mammals. Christine M. Janis , Kathleen M. Scott , Louis L. Jacobs". The Quarterly Review of Biology. 75 (3): 309–310. doi:10.1086/393518. ISSN 0033-5770.
  37. ^ Naish, Darren (March 2010). "C. M. Janis, G. F. Gunnell & M. D. Uhen (eds) 2008. Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. Volume 2: Small Mammals, Xenarthrans, and Marine Mammals". Geological Magazine. 147 (2): 317–317. doi:10.1017/S001675680900630X. ISSN 1469-5081.
  38. ^ Yoon, Carol Kaesuk. "J. John Sepkoski Jr., 50, Dies; Changed Field of Paleontology". NY Times.
  39. ^ "BBC Audio | In Our Time | The Evolution of Horses". Bbc.com.
  40. ^ "BBC reveal new Chris Packham-fronted series Evolution". Virgin Radio.