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Jaap Saers

J. Saers in the fossil hominin vault in Johannesburg

I am a biological anthropologist interested in the evolution and development of locomotion in modern humans, our living primate cousins, and our fossil relatives. Much of my work involves analysing changes in the size, shape, and density of bones with high resolution 3D imaging techniques.

Keywords

Human evolution, phenotypic plasticity, ontogeny, primates, trabecular bone, CT scanning

Dr. Jaap Saers

Marie Skłodowska–Curie Postdoctoral Fellow
Vertebrate Evolution Development and Ecology

Personal website
Researchgate
Mailto: firstname.lastname@naturalis.nl

52.200571113188, 0.12139677985033

Research
interests

  • The evolution and development of (human) locomotion
  • Links between form and function of bone
  • Phenotypic variation and variability

The most powerful insights that I have acquired during my work derive from evolutionary developmental biology. In the spirit of Dobzhansky, all aspects of human variation and evolution, from the fact that we get hiccups to the shape of our feet, make infinitely more sense in light of a comparative evolutionary and developmental context. As such, my research interests have varied from an initial interest in past human variation and skeletal biomechanics to evolutionary developmental biology. I currently combine these interests to study the evolution and development of locomotion in modern humans, living primates, and our fossil relatives.

A developmental series of human heel bones showing changes in the internal trabecular bone structure

Key
publications

  • Saers, J.P.P., Gordon, A.D., Ryan, T.M., Stock, J.T.  (2022). Trabecular bone ontogeny tracks neural development and life history among humans and non-human primates. Proceedings of the National Academy of sciences, 119, (49), e2208772119.
  • Nishimura, T., Tokuda, I., Miyachi, S., Dunn, J.C., Ishimura, K., Kaneko, A., Kinoshita, Y., Koda, H., Saers, J.P.P., Imai, H., Matsuda, T., Larsen, O., Jürgens, U., Hirabayashi, H., Kojima, S., Fitch, T. (2022). Evolutionary loss of complexity in the human vocal anatomy as an adaptation for human speech. Science. 377, (6607), 760-763.
  • Saers, J.P.P., Gordon, A.D., Ryan, T.M., Stock, J.T. (2022). Growth and development of trabecular structure in the calcaneus of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) reflects locomotor behavior, life-history, and neuromuscular development. Journal of Anatomy. DOI: 10.1111/(ISSN)1469-7580
  • Saers, J.P.P., DeMars, L.J., Stephens, N.B., Jashashvili, T., Carlson, K.J., Gordon, A.D., Ryan, T.M., Stock J.T. (2021). Combinations of trabecular and cortical bone properties distinguish various loading modalities between athletes and controls. American Journal of Biological Anthropology. 174, (3), 434-450.
  • DeMars, L.J., Stephens, N.B., Saers, J.P.P., Gordon, A.D., Ryan, T.M., Stock J.T. (2020). Using point clouds to investigate the relationship between trabecular bone phenotype and behavior: An example utilizing the human calcaneus. Journal of Human Biology. 33, 2, 1-16.
  • Saers, J.P.P., Ryan, T.M. & Stock, J.T. (2020). Baby steps: linking calcaneal trabecular bone ontogeny and the development of bipedal human gait. Journal of Anatomy. 236, 3, 474-492.
  • Saers, J.P.P., Cazorla-Bak, Y., Shaw, C.N., Stock, J.T. & Ryan, T.M. (2016). Trabecular bone structural variation throughout the human lower limb. Journal of Human Evolution. 97, 97–108.

All publications

Teaching
activities

 

Current teaching activities

Naturalis Biodiversity Center

  • Paleobiology - lectures (2023)

Past teaching activities

University of Cambridge - Biological Anthropology

  • B01 | Humans in biological perspective - lectures (2022)
  • B03 | Human Evolution - lectures and practicals (2021 & 2022)
  • B11 | Evolution of our species - lectures (2021 & 2022)
  • B18 | Decoding the skeleton - lecture (2019)
  • Small group supervisions (2015-2022)