Zoe Kulik

I am an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History and Field Museum of Natural History where I study the ways that growth and development shape our understanding of vertebrate evolution. My research uses bone histology to discover the growth patterns, ecology, and life history of the extinct relatives of mammals and reptiles. ​

Perhaps surprisingly, bones fossilize at microscopic levels, leaving the vascular and cellular networks intact. I combine traditional thin-section techniques and advanced imaging methods like micro-CT and synchrotron tomography to visualize these fossilized vascular and cellular networks, which reflect the rate at which bones originally grew.

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Currently, I am using bone histology and comparative anatomy to understand the origin of the synapsid lineage (mammals and their extinct relatives and ancestors) and the physiological and ecological evolution of "true" mammals to provide novel lines of evidence to inform the evolution of mammalian biology across geologic timescales.