Christine Marie Janis is a British

palaeontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

who specialises in mammals. She is currently based at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

Background

Janis earned a bachelor's degree in Natural Sciences and Zoology from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, and a PhD in Vertebrate Paleontology from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. She has held positions as a researcher and lecturer at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

, Cambridge, the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educationa ...

in the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, the

, and

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. In 1985 Janis was awarded the George Gaylord Simpson Prize for Paleontology (Yale University, USA) and was elected Fellow of the Paleontological Society in 2007. Janis attributes her interest in palaeontology to seeing ''

Fantasia Fantasia may refer to: Film and television * ''Fantasia'' (1940 film), an animated musical film produced by Walt Disney ** '' Fantasia 2000'', a sequel to the 1940 film * ''Fantasia'' (2004 film), a Hong Kong comedy film * ''Fantasia'' (201 ...

'' as a child. She was married to fellow palaeontologist

Jack Sepkoski Joseph John Sepkoski Jr. (July 26, 1948 – May 1, 1999) was a University of Chicago paleontologist. Sepkoski studied the fossil record and the diversity of life on Earth. Sepkoski and David Raup produced a new understanding of extinction events ...

(1948-1999).

Scientific contributions

Janis is best known for her contributions to the study of

ungulates Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Euungulata ("true ungulates"), which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. Once part of the clade "Ungulata" along with the clade Paenungulata, "Ungulata" has since been determined to b ...

(hoofed mammals). As well as a large scientific publication list, Janis has contributed widely to textbooks and popular articles. Her earlier publications examine mammal teeth. For example, ungulate teeth changed from low crowned teeth to high crowned

hypsodont Hypsodont is a pattern of dentition characterized by with high crowns, providing extra material for wear and tear. Some examples of animals with hypsodont dentition are cows and horses; all animals that feed on gritty, fibrous material. The oppos ...

teeth, as they evolved to adapt to a grassland diet, and this is correlated with changes in their digestion and can be used in their taxonomy. She created the Hipsodonty Index, broadly used in mammal paleontology. Her work on the evolution of horns in

won her the Simpson Prize in 1985.Janis, C. 1982. Evolution of horns in ungulates: ecology and paleoecology. Biological Reviews, 57(2), pp.261-318 In the 1990s, Janis switched focus from teeth to the biomechanics of locomotion. She has produced seminal works on the relationships between the lengths of limb bones in running mammals and their locomotion. Latterly Janis has worked closely with her students and close colleagues to explore locomotion in various mammal groups, including

camels A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide ...

, various carnivores, and marsupials.Figueirido, B.and C. M. Janis(2011). The predatory behaviour of the thylacine: Tasmanian tiger or marsupial wolf? Biology Letters 7:937-940. Among Janis's publications are the co-authored textbooks ''Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. Vol. 2: Small Mammals, Edentates, and Marine Mammals'' and ''Vertebrate Life''.

Affiliations

Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (USA)
The Paleontological Society (USA)
The Palaeontological Association (UK)
GRIPS (Greater Rhode Island Paleontological Society) charter member.
Society for the Study of Mammalian Evolution (president)
Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
National Center for Science Education

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janis, Christine Living people British palaeontologists Alumni of the University of Cambridge Harvard University alumni Academics of the University of Bristol British women paleontologists Year of birth missing (living people) Oregon State University faculty University of Chicago faculty Brown University faculty