User:Wis
From Animal Simulation Laboratory Wiki
Bill Sellers
Contents |
Brief History
- 2005 Lecturer in Integrative Vertebrate Biology, Manchester
- 2001 Lecturer in Human Biology, Loughborough
- 1995 Lecturer in Anatomy, Edinburgh
- 1992 PhD Mechanics of Leaping in Prosimian Primates, Liverpool
- 1986 BA Zoology, Cambridge
Overview
I am a computational zoologist interested in the use of numerical techniques for investigating morphological, physiological and ecological factors in vertebrate evolution. I have a background in palaeoanthropology and scientific industrial experience in computer modelling and image analysis. I run the Animal Simulation Laboratory based at the University of Manchester with current external funding for two postdocs and two PhD students. I am on the editorial boards of Folia Primatologia and the Journal of Anatomy and I am a member of the EPSRC grant review college. I am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and have recently taken over as Programme Director of Zoology at Manchester. I am currently teaching biomechanics and evolutionary courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Research Interests
- Evolution of Vertebrate Locomotion
- Agent-Based Modelling
- Biomechanics (both laboratory and field based)
- Comparative Functional Anatomy
Current PI Grants
- Size dependent energetics of bipedal locomotion. Leverhulme Trust 2008-2010 £143k
- Hominoid energetics: could load carriage have driven the early adoption of bipedal locomotion in human evolution. NERC 2006-2009 £181k
Research
I run the Animal Simulation Laboratory and whilst much of the novelty of the work I do is in the areas of simulation and high performance computing I also do experimental and observational work in both field and zoo settings. I have considerable experience in 3D imaging, filming and other motion capture techniques, as well as field based data logging and general electronics. I work on a range of vertebrates: particularly primates but more recently also including bats, dinosaurs, birds and even carnivores. I am particularly interested in questions relating to the evolution of vertebrates and I believe that appropriately validated in silico experimentation has great potential as a technique for exploring evolutionary processes and investigating animal interactions.
There are a number of specific areas that I am currently working in:
Animal Locomotion: I am running a new Leverhulme Trust funded project looking at the effects of body size on the costs of terrestrial locomotion in vertebrates. This involves both experimental determination of mechanical and metabolic energy costs and computer simulation of locomotion to investigate the detailed mechanisms of energy saving and efficiency gain that can be used to minimise energy cost and maximise performance. I am also involved in a number of collaborative projects: looking at the locomotion of orangutans in collaboration with Professor Robin Crompton (University of Liverpool), Dr Susannah Thorpe (University of Birmingham), and Dr Roland Ennos (Faculty of Life Science) funded by NERC; looking at predator-prey interactions between sifakas and fossas with Professor Robin Crompton (University of Liverpool) funded by the Leverhulme Trust; looking at the role of ancillary structures in bat flight with Dr Jonathan Codd (Faculty of Life Science) funded by BBSRC. I am also seeking funding to look at predator-prey interactions between cormorants and various fish species with Professor Graham Martin and Dr Susannah Thorpe (University of Birmingham).
Palaeoanthropology: Human and more general primate evolution is characterised by changes in locomotor habit that are poorly understood and the ongoing focus of this work is to investigate the origins of human locomotor habits: upright walking and endurance running. I am currently in charge of a NERC project looking at the possible importance of carrying in the evolution of upright bipedalism. This project combines zoo based behavioural analysis with experimental and computer simulation work on on the effects of additional mass on the kinematics and energetics of walking in a range of living and fossil hominoids. In a separate Leverhulme Trust funded project in collaboration with Professor Robin Crompton (University of Liverpool) I am using computer models to re-analyse the the 3.5 million year old Laetoli hominin footprint trails.
Dinosaur Gait Modelling: As part of a large multidisciplinary team with Dr Phil Manning and Dr Roy Wogelius (School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences), Dr Lee Margetts (Manchester Computer Science), Dr Paul Mummery (Schools of Materials) and Professor Kent Steven (University of Oregon, USA), I am working on a number of projects linked to recreating the gaits of dinosaurs to aid understanding of the musculoskeletal physiology and locomotor abilities of extinct animals. Techniques include musculoskeletal reconstruction, multibody dynamic modelling, finite element analysis. The Dinosaur Mummy Project documentary show-cased this element of the Manchester research programme on the Dino-Autopsy documentary transmitted at in December 2007. The FEA/MBDA link is the subject of a Microsoft sponsored Dorothy-Hodgkins PhD; the soft and hard tissue analysis the subject of a successful Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron beam time request.
Ancient Biomolecules: In collaboration with Dr Phil Manning and Dr Roy Wogelius (School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences), Uwe Bergmann (Stanford SLAC), Peter Larson (Black Hills Institute, SD), Tyler Larson (Yale) I am involved with a number of projects looking at the preservational processes and elemental composition of fossils. Current work is looking at Archaeopteryx lithographica and the “Dinosaur Mummy” skin samples using X-ray fluoroscopy and other techniques to identify endogenous and exogenous elements and compounds. A recent successful application for beam time at SLAC will look at Ediacaran fossils in an attempt to find out any additional information on these enigmatic creatures.
Polar Biology: In collaboration with Dr Jonathan Codd (Faculty of Life Science) and Professor Karl-Arne Stokke (University of Tromsø, Norway) we are working on a number of projects involving a variety of polar species including quadrupedalism in reindeer (subject of a Leverhulme Trust grant currently under review) and breathing mechanics in ptarmigan (funded by BBSRC). These projects take advantage of our expertise in physiology and biomechanics and make use of the facilities and animals available in the Department of Artic Biology at Tromsø. We are also looking at creating an EU International Training Network to expand this work and to encourage collaboration with other research groups interested in polar biology.
Publications in press
Sellers WI, Pataky TC, Caravaggi P, Crompton RH. Evolutionary robotic approaches in primate gait analysis. International Journal of Primatology. In Press
Watson JC, Payne R, Chamberlain AC, Jones R, Sellers WI. The kinematics of load carrying in humans and great apes: implications for the evolution of human bipedalism. Folia Primatologia. In Press.
Bates KT, Falkingham PL, Breithaupt BH, Hodgetts D, Sellers WI, Manning PL. How big was ‘Big Al’? Quantifying the effect of soft tissue and osteological unknowns on mass predictions for Allosaurus (Dinosauria:Theropoda). Palaeontologica Electronica. In Press
Sellers WI, Manning PL, Lyson T, Stevens K, Margetts L. Virtual palaeontology: gait reconstruction of extinct vertebrates using high performance computing. Palaeontologia Electronica. In Press
Bates KT, Manning P L, Sellers WI. Sensitivity analysis in evolutionary robotic simulations of bipedal dinosaur running. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. In Press.
Watson JC, Payne R, Chamberlain AC, Jones R, Sellers WI. The influence of load carrying on gait parameters in humans and apes: implications for the evolution of human bipedalism. In: Studying primate locomotion: linking in situ and ex situ research. Edited by Vereecke E, D’Août K. Springer, New York. In Press.
Hill RA, Logan BS, Sellers WI, Zappala J. An Agent-Based Model of Group Decision Making in Baboons. Modelling Natural Action Selection, Cambridge University Press. In Press.
Publications
Nudds RL, Codd JR, Sellers WI. Evidence for a Mass Dependent Step-Change in the Scaling of Efficiency in Terrestrial Locomotion. PLoS ONE 2009 4:e6927
Bates KT, Falkingham PL, Hodgetts D, Farlow JO, Breithaupt BH, O’Brien M, Matthews N, Sellers WI, Manning PL. Digital imaging and public engagement in palaeontology. Geology Today. 2009 95-100.
Manning PL, Morris PM, McMahon A, Jones E, Gize A, Macquaker JHS, Wolff G, Marshall J, Taylor KG, Lyson T, Gaskell S, Reamtong O, Sellers WI, van Dongen BE, Buckley M, Wogelius RA. Soft-Tissue Structure and Chemistry in a Mummified Hadrosaur from the Hell Creek Formation, North Dakota (USA). Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 2009 276:3429-3437.
Manning PL, Margetts L, Johnson MR, Withers P, Sellers WI, Falkingham PL, Mummery PM, Barrett PM, Raymont DR. Biomechanics of dromaeosaurid dinosaur claws: application of x- ray microtomography, nanoindentation and finite element analysis. Anatomical Record. 2009 292:1397-1405.
Bates KT, Manning PL, Hodgetts D, Sellers WI. Estimating Mass Properties of Dinosaurs Using Laser Imaging and 3D Computer Modelling. PLoS ONE 2009 4:e4532.
Kuntze G, Sellers WI, Mansfield NJ. Bilateral ground reaction forces and joint moments for lateral sidestepping and crossover stepping tasks. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 2009 8:1-8.
Gardiner JD, Dimitriadis G, Sellers WI, Codd JR. The aerodynamics of big ears in the brown long-eared bat Plecotus auritus. Acta Chiropterologica 2008 10:313-321.
Pataky TC, Caravaggi P, Savage R, Parker D, Goulermas JY, Sellers WI, Crompton RH. New insights into the plantar pressure correlates of walking speed using pedobarographic statistical parametric mapping (pSPM). Journal of Biomechanics 2008 41:1987-1994.
Watson JC, Payne RC, Chamberlain AT, Jones RT, Sellers WI. The energetic costs of load carrying and the evolution of bipedalism. Journal of Human Evolution 2008 54:675-683.
Sellers WI, Manning PL. Estimating dinosaur maximum running speeds using evolutionary robotics. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 2007 274:2711-2716.
Sellers WI, Hill RA, Logan BS. An agent-based model of group decision making in baboons. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 2007 362:1699-1710.
Crompton RH, Sellers WI. A consideration of leaping locomotion as a means of predator avoidance in prosimian primates. In: Primate Anti-Predator Strategies. Edited by Nekaris KAI, Gursky SL. New York: Springer 2007 127-145.
Sellers WI, Hill RA, Logan BS. Biorealistic Modelling of Baboon Foraging using Agent-Based Modelling. In Modelling Natural Action Selection: Proceedings of an International Workshop Edited by Bryson JJ, Prescott TJ, Seth AK. Edinburgh: AISB Press 2005 127-134.
Sellers WI, Paul GS. Speed potential of giant tyrannosaurs. Artificial Intelligence and the Study of Behaviour (AISB) Quarterly 2005 121:3.
Sellers WI, Cain GM, Wang W, Crompton RH. Stride lengths, speed and energy costs in walking of Australopithecus afarensis: using evolutionary robotics to predict locomotion of early human ancestors. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 2005 5:431-441.
Wang W, Crompton RH, Carey TS, Günther MM, Yu L, Savage R, Sellers WI. Comparison of inverse-dynamics musculo-skeletal models of AL 288-1 Australopithecus afarensis and KNM-WT 15000 Homo ergaster to modern humans, with implications for the evolution of bipedalism. Journal of Human Evolution 2004 47:453-478.
Sellers WI, Crompton RH. Automatic monitoring of primate locomotor behaviour using accelerometers. Folia Primatologia 2004 75:279-293.
Sellers WI, Dennis LA, Wang W, Crompton RH. Evaluating alternative gait strategies using evolutionary robotics. Journal of Anatomy. 2004 204:343-351.
Sellers WI, Crompton RH. Using sensitivity analysis to validate the predictions of a biomechanical model of bite forces. Annals of Anatomy 2004 186: 89-95.
Orton RJ, Sellers WI, Gerloff DL. YETI: Yeast Exploration Tool Integrator. Bioinformatics.2004 20:284-285.
Sellers WI, Dennis LA, Crompton RH. Predicting the metabolic energy costs of bipedalism using evolutionary robotics. Journal of Experimental Biology 2003 206:1127-1136.
Sellers WI, Orton R, Chamberlain A. Computer-aided visualisation of archaeological caves. Capra 3 available at - http://www.shef.ac.uk/~capra/3/sellers.html 2001.
Bard JBL, Gordon A, Sharp L, Sellers WI. Early nephron formation in the developing mouse kidney. Journal of Anatomy 2001 199:385-392.
Chamberlain AT, Sellers WI, Proctor C, Coard R. Cave detection in limestone using ground penetrating radar. Journal of Archaeological Science 2000 27:957-964.
Sellers WI, Chamberlain AT. Echoing the bats. Discovering Archaeology 1999 2:94-96.
MacLennan WJ, Sellers WI. Ageing through the ages. Proceedings of the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh 1999 29:71-75.
Sellers WI, Chamberlain AT. Ultrasonic cave mapping. Journal of Archaeological Science 1998 25:1-7.
Sellers WI, Chamberlain AT. Cave detection using ground penetrating radar. The Archaeologist 1998 31:20-21.
Sellers WI, Varley J, Waters S. Remote locomotor monitoring using accelerometers: a pilot study. Folia Primatologia 1998 69:82-85.
Sellers WI, Chamberlain AT. Ultrasonic cave mapping. Journal of the Cave Research Electronics Group 1997 28:18-19.
Sellers WI. A biomechanical investigation into the absence of leaping in the locomotor repertoire of the Slender Loris (Loris tardigradus). Folia Primatologia 1996 67:1-14.
Sellers WI, Crompton RH. A system for 2- and 3-D kinematic and kinetic analysis of locomotion, and its application to analysis of the energetic efficiency of jumping in prosimians. Zeitschrift für Morphologie und Anthropologie 1994 80:99-108.
Crompton RH, Sellers WI, Günther MM. Energetic efficiency and ecology as selective factors in the saltatory adaptation of prosimian primates. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 1993 254:41-45.
Crompton RH, Sellers WI. 3-D computer graphics in the study of adaptation. The Computer Bulletin 1990 2(5):10-13.
