K. R. Caspar

How smart was T. rex? Testing claims of exceptional cognition in dinosaurs and the application of neuron count estimates in palaeontological research

This paper revisits neuron count estimates for dinosaurs, identifies flaws in previous analyses, and argues for more integrative approaches to reconstruct Mesozoic dinosaur biology.

Scleral appearance is not a correlate of domestication in mammals

This study investigates whether domestication correlates with conjunctival depigmentation in mammals and finds no significant difference between domesticated and wild species.

Perioral secretions enable complex social signaling in African mole-rats (genus Fukomys)

The paper investigates perioral glands in African mole-rats, showing they produce complex odor signals involved in social communication through histology, behavior, and metabolomics.

The evolution and biological correlates of hand preferences in anthropoid primates

This study analyzes hand preference data across 38 primate species to test evolutionary hypotheses about handedness, finding that human right-handedness is extreme and that hand preference strength varies with ecology and phylogeny.

Ocular pigmentation in humans, great apes, and gibbons is not suggestive of communicative functions - having an eye on the 'cooperative eye hypothesis'

This study compares ocular pigmentation in hominoids, finding no support for the cooperative eye hypothesis and suggesting gradual genetic changes rather than adaptive communication functions.

Eyes are essential for magnetoreception in a mammal

This study shows that enucleating mole-rats disrupts their magnetic compass orientation, supporting the hypothesis that their eyes are the magnetoreceptors.