Dr. Thomas Püschel

Biography

Thomas joined the University of Oxford as an Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography in 2023. He completed his PhD in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Manchester in 2018 and holds an MSc from the University of York, as well as an undergraduate degree in Biological Anthropology from the University of Chile. Previously, he was a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Oxford and later a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Reading. His research interests lie in identifying key adaptations that define stages in primate and human evolution, integrating biological anthropology, palaeontology, and evolutionary biology while utilizing cutting-edge informatic techniques to analyze various types of data, including genetic, anatomical, and ecological information. Thomas is a member of the Palaeo-Primate project, which involves an annual fieldwork season in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. His work focuses on the morphological innovations in the human lineage, primate phylogenetics, and adaptive evolution, employing a range of methods such as statistical modeling, 3D morphometrics, and phylogenetic comparative analysis.

Research Interests