Kelsey Jenkins

How does evolution take life from surviving to thriving? By building evolutionary trees and tracking how features evolve, I aim to reveal how animals adapted to new landscapes in the ancient past. I am particularly interested in the extinct ancestors of reptiles and mammals that lived in the Permian (299-252 million years ago), because as they first diversified across our planet, they evolved a suite of interesting adaptations, like the ability to hear airborne sounds and galloping posture.

• PhD, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, 2024
• MSc, Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, 2018
• BSc, Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, 2015

Paleozoic Tetrapods, Sensory Evolution, Phylogenetics

K.M. Jenkins, W. Foster, J.G. Napoli, D.L. Meyer, G.S. Bever, B-A.S. Bhullar. 2024. Cranial anatomy and phylogenetic affinities of Bolosaurus major, with new information on the unique bolosaurid feeding apparatus and evolution of the impedance-matching ear. The Anatomical Record: early view https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25546

K.M. Jenkins, C.J. Bell, P.J. Hancox, P.J. Lewis. 2024. A new species of Palacrodon and a unique form of tooth attachment in reptiles. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology: e2328658.

D.L. Meyer, C.D. Brownstein, K.M. Jenkins, J.A. Gauthier. 2023. A Morrison stem gekkotan reveals gecko evolution and Jurassic biogeography. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 290:20232284.

K.M. Jenkins, D.L. Meyer, B-A.S. Bhullar. 2023. Lost and Found: Redescription of Chamasaurus dolichognathus Williston 1911 from the Permo-Carboniferous of New Mexico. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 64:3-9.

E.G. Clark, K.M. Jenkins, C.R. Brodersen. 2023. Back to life: Techniques for developing high-quality 3D reconstructions of plants and animals from digitized specimens. PlosOne 18:e0283027.

K.M. Jenkins, DL. Meyer, P.J. Lewis, J.N. Choiniere, B-A.S. Bhullar. 2022. Re-description of the early Triassic diapsid Palacrodon from the lower Fremouw formation of Antarctica Journal of Anatomy 241:1441-1458.

K.M. Jenkins, B-A.S. Bhullar. 2022. Tooth implantation and attachment in Scoloparia glyphanodon (Parareptilia: Procolophonidae). Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 63:27-30.

K.M. Jenkins, D.E.G. Briggs, J. Luque. 2022. The unique visual system of a Cretaceous crab. iScience 25:103579.

P.M. Monarrez, J.B. Zimmt, A.M. Clement, W. Gearty, J.J. Jacisin III, K.M. Jenkins, K.M. Kusnerik, A.W. Poust, S.V. Robson, J.A. Sclafani, K.T. Stilson, S.D. Tennakoon, C.M. Thompson. 2021. Our past creates our present: A brief overview of racism in Western paleontology. Paleobiology 48:173-185.

C.J. Bell, W. Godwin, K.M. Jenkins, P.J. Lewis. 2020. First fossil manatees in Texas, USA: Trichechus manatus bakerorum in the Pleistocene beach deposits along the Gulf of Mexico. Palaeontologia Electronica 23:a47.

K.M. Jenkins and J.O. Shaw. 2020. Bite force data suggests relationship between acrodont tooth implantation and strong bite force. PeerJ 8:e9468.

K.M. Jenkins, M.E.H. Jones, T. Zikmund, A. Boyde, J.D. Daza. 2017. A review of tooth implantation among rhynchocephalians (Lepidosauria). Journal of Herpetology 51:300-306.