Dr Rafael Delcourt de Seixas Ferreira

Research Interests

Evolutionary palaeontologist, with diverse quantitative and qualitative skills. I am a global scientist with field experience in South America, North America and Asia. My research uses statistical, systematic and qualitative analyses to answer hypothesis driven questions about specialisation in theropod dinosaurs. I am focused on research about the morphological change of dinosaurs through geological time looking to understand how the species evolved, spread and lived. I work at both the species level and the higher macro-ecological levels comparing traits across many species. I have experience with and enjoy working in curatorship roles preparing fossils and attending field trips to discover new fossils.

Current Projects

My current project is focused on the evolution of the non-avian theropods. I intend to assess the disparity of non-avian theropods throughout the Mesozoic Era including the dawn of dinosaurs after the Triassic extinction. A series of more specific objectives form the structure of the project:

• Assess how the basal archosaurs were replaced by theropod dinosaurs and identify the anatomical traits that allowed it.
• Assess and quantify theropod morphological variety through the Mesozoic.
• Assess the relationships between the modular development and cranial/postcranial elements in theropods dinosaurs.
• Describe qualitatively the morphological traits which had more modifications along the different cladogenesis in theropods.

Publications

Delcourt, R. (2017). Revised morphology of Pycnonemosaurus nevesi Kellner & Campos, 2002 (Theropoda: Abelisauridae) and its phylogenetic relationships. Zootaxa 4276(1), 1-45.

Delcourt, R. (2017). A subadult maxilla of a Tyrannosauridae from the Two Medicine Formation, Montana, United States. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (São Paulo), 57(9), 113-118.

Grillo, O. N., & Delcourt, R. (2017). Allometry and body length of abelisauroid theropods: Pycnonemosaurus nevesi is the new king. Cretaceous Research, 69, 71-89.

Delcourt, R., & Grillo, O. N. (2014). On maniraptoran material (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Vale do Rio do Peixe Formation, Bauru Group, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia, 17(3), 307-316.

Delcourt, R., Azevedo, S. A. K. D., Grillo, O. N., & Deantoni, F. O. (2012). Biomechanical comments about Triassic dinosaurs from Brazil. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (São Paulo), 52(29), 341-347.

Delcourt, R., & de Azevedo, S. A. K. (2012). New information on the scapular musculature of Saturnalia tupiniquim (Dinosauria, Saurischia). Gaea: Journal of Geoscience, 8(1), 1.

Delcourt, R., & Siqueira, E. (2012). A importância da formação Tremembé, Bacia de Taubaté (SP), para o ensino de paleontologia. Revista Eletrônica de Biologia (REB). ISSN 1983-7682, 5(2), 73-82.