Anne S. Schulp

I am a vertebrate palaeontologist, researcher with Naturalis, and professor of vertebrate palaeontology at Utrecht University. I am also honorary curator of palaeontology at Teylers Museum in Haarlem.

My research focuses mainly on tetrapods from the Age of Dinosaurs; I have a particular interest in dinosaurs, mosasaurs and fossil trackways. I currently work on T. rex, Triceratops, and the Morrison Formation of North America, on the Triassic fauna of Winterswijk (the Netherlands), and on mosasaurs from Angola. The application of new technologies, and particularly cross-pollinations from other fields in science have my special interest.

Public engagement and exhibition development are very close to my heart. In recent years I was responsible for the content development of the new dinosaur and human evolution galleries at Naturalis, and, more recently, the temporary exhibition on the Triceratops herd.

Publications

My publications are listed here at Utrecht University, here at Naturalis, and here in Google Scholar.

Team

PhD candidates

Pasha van Bijlert

Following a BSc and MSc project on dinosaur locomotion, Pasha is now working on his PhD project with me on various applications of musculoskeletal modeling, in emus, horses, and various dinosaurs alike. His new MuSkeMo workflow is now available for everyone to use, and soon we expect some new applications specifically on dinosaurs.

 >UU homepage >Naturalis homepage

Isaak Eijkelboom

Isaak is a vertebrate palaeontologist whose (NWO-funded) PhD project focuses on fossil remains from the late Quaternary found on Dutch beaches. These include bones from the woolly mammoth that lived in the Netherlands during the last Ice Age, about 40.000 years ago. By combining computer vision (AI) and citizen science, his project aims to uncover more about life during the last Ice age. >UU homepage >Naturalis homepage

Parto Shahroudi

Can we put AI image recognition to good use in paleontology? New developments in computer vision could unlock secrets from larger data sets, and help putting citizen science-derived data to better use. Image data from oervondstchecker.nl and from Isaak’s project are feeding into Parto’s computer vision model. Her thesis project is primarily housed at Tilburg University (with Eric Postma), involves collaborations with Naturalis and UU, and is part of the NWO-funded HAICUproject. >Tilburg homepage

Niklas Hohmann

How does the rock record preserve –and modify!– information on evolutionary history? Niklas tries to find out by modeling a range of geological processes from mixing of sediments to the architecture of carbonate platforms and how this impacts the fossil record. With Emilia Jarochowska as the main promotor, this ERC-funded project already resulted in an interactive web application that demonstrates how variable sedimentation rates distort the evolutionary record. >UU homepage

Arthur Maréchal

What happened to the rich marine fauna at Bentiaba, Angola, during the last few million years of the Cretaceous? Arthur works on that question at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, where I serve as his “remote” PhD supervisor. The rise and diversification of mosasaurs, the geochemistry of the Mid-Maastrichtian event, diversity of sharks, and a curious marine crocodile are topics he is currently working on. >FCT NOVA homepage

Laura Rooney

Based at the Childrens’ Museum of Indianapolis, Laura Rooney aims, as an external PhD with me, to expand our knowledge of the life, behaviour and all other aspects of the biology of Allosaurus – the apex predator of the Jurassic of North America. Applying histology, stable isotope geochemistry, and biomechanical analyses we hope to get to know the new allosaur at TCM up close and personal in years to come.

Tim Rietbergen

Bat biologist, palaeontologist, and wildlife crime specialist with the national police, Tim recently also started a project as an external PhD candidate on the evolution of bats – a PhD with me and Dr. Nancy Simmons as supervisors. Recent publications include work on Eocene Green River bats, and upcoming work includes material from Gargano. 

Jonathan Wallaard

Based at the Oertijdmuseum in Boxtel, where he is a senior curator, Jonathan is an external PhD with us at UU, working on Neogene decapod crustaceans. The evolution and distribution of decapods in the Mediterranean has his special interest. Quite a few chapters have been published already, but there is much more to follow in years to come. >UU homepage

Postdoc projects

Universiteit Twente

Supported by an NWO XS grant to-, and in collaboration with Mark van der Meijde and his team at Universiteit Twente, we try to apply recent innovations in Ground Penetrating Radar, combined with Thermal Imaging into imaging the dinosaur bones still buried at the Jurassic Mile excavation.

Former PhD’s 

Dr. Jimmy de Rooij (2024)

Jimmy’s PhD was instrumental to the development of the ‘Triceratops – the herd’-exhibition at Naturalis. His PhD thesis is available here. Already published chapters include his work on the histology, on the stable isotope geochemistry, and quantitative work on bone surface roughness. Following his PhD, Jimmy landed a position as the curator of natural history at the Bastei museum in Nijmegen.

Dr. Michael Polcyn (2024)

Based at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA, Mike Polcyn did his PhD with me on aspects of mosasaur morphology, phylogeny and palaeobiology. Published chapters of his thesis include descriptive work on early mosasaurs, and studies on feeding behaviourand geochemistry. Evolution and feeding adaptations of globidensine mosasaurs have our special attention. >SMU webpage >Publications

Guest researchers / correspondents 

Dr. Femke Holwerda

My collaborations with Femke mainly focus on mosasaur ecology. Our 2D microwear work on Carinodens explored the feeding habits of this diminutive shell-crushing mosasaur, a project followed by our exploration of 3D microwear of the entire Maastricht mosasaur fauna. Following her postdoc at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, we continue work on mosasaur feeding ecology using 2D and 3D microwear and geochemistry.

Dr. Dylan Bastiaans

Former MSc student, former Naturalis fossil preparator, meanwhile with a PhD from Zürich, and now curator at the Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht and assistant professor at Maastricht University, Dylan Bastiaans is still very much involved in all things mosasaur and Triceratops.

Dr. Pim Kaskes

Former MSc student Pim Kaskes moved on to a PhD and a postdoc and lecturer position at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and now he moved on to the Natural History Museum in London. He is still involved in our work on the geological context of the Triceratops and T. rex discoveries.

Dr Michael Polcyn

Long-time collaborator in all things mosasaur, and recent PhD alumnus at UU, Mike now remains connected as a guest researcher with me at UU. We work together on the phylogeny of globidensine mosasaurs, and we are both founding members of the PaleoAngola project.

Current MSc and BSc projects (selection)

Daan vd Elzen

Working on a double MSc in both Veterinary Science as well as Earth Sciences, Daan van der Elzen is on her way to become a paleopathology specialist. During her BSc she already studied the jaw infection of T. rex RGM.792000; she is now working on Triceratops pathologies, building amongst others on super-hi-res synchrotron imaging acquired under the hospitality of the Brookhaven National Laboratories.

Ivo vd Beek

Following projects on the vertebrate fauna of the Triassic of Winterswijk, Ivo now explores the microvertebrates of the Morrison Formation we recovered from the Jurassic Mile excavation. Co-supervised by Yanell Braumuller and me, we are looking forward to learning more about the smaller vertebrates of the Jurassic Mile.

Jonas Hakkens

An early whale from the Teylers collection was part of Jonas’ first MSc thesis project. He explored the morphology and taxonomic affinities of “Hydrarchos”. This thesis project has just been accepted for publication (link to follow once published), and he is now gearing up for a project on climate during the Maastrichtian.

MBO and HBO and VWO projects

I occasionally welcome students from professional universities, secondary vocational education and high schools (the latter for their “Profielwerkstuk” projects). Recent student projects included paleoart projects, 3d modeling, and biomechanics of mosasaurs, such as Joël Börter’s paleo-art project in collaboration with the Zürcher Hochschule, Ydnas Louisa’s work on Mosasaurus3D, and high school students David van der Mark& Wietse ten Hoor who chose to explore a somewhat controversial claim on the acceleration of mosasaurs made in a popular scientific documentary. Applying a full package of high school physics, muscle reconstructions and fluid dynamics, they looked at the ambush performance of these large marine reptiles – and proved the documentary wrong.