Biography

I am a Postdoctoral Researcher in the gorup of Prof. Joyce, working on an SNSF funded project on turtle evolution. I did an undergraduate (B.Sc.) and Master's (M.Sc.) degree in Geological Sciences at the University of Munich (LMU & TUM). I finished my D.Phil at the University of Oxford in late 2018, and subsequently started in Fribourg in February 2019.

My research is focussed on the morphological evolution of turtles, and I use digital 3D anatomy and shape data to investigate the phylogeny of turtles, as well as form-function relationships and the patterns and pace of morphological change across ecological transitions. My D. Phil research was primarily focussed on transitions to marine lifestyles in turtles, which happened independently a few times across turtle phylogeny. I use phylogenies for reconstructing character evolution, for computing rates of evolution, and for dating the origins of modern turtle diversity.

Research and publications

• Publications

  Rollot Y., Evers S.W., Joyce W.G. 2021. A review of the carotid artery and facial nerve canal systems in extant turtles. PeerJ 8: e10475; doi: 10.7717/peerj.10475

   

  Ezcurra M.D., Nesbitt S.J., Bronzati M., Dalla Vecchia F.M., Agnolin F.L., Benson R.B.J., Brissón Egli F., Cabreira S.F., Evers S.W., Gentil A.R., Irmis R.B., Martinelli A.G., Novas F.E., Roberto da Silva L., Smith N.D., Stocker M.R., Turner A.H., Langer M.C. 2020. Enigmatic dinosaur precursors bridge the gap to the origin of Pterosauria. Nature 588: 445–449; doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-3011-4

   

  Evers S.W., Rollot Y., Joyce W.G.J. 2020. Cranial osteology of the Early Cretaceous turtle Pleurosternon bullockii (Paracryptodira: Pleurosternidae). PeerJ 8: e9454; doi: 10.7717/peerj9454

   

  Schade M., Rauhut O.W.M., Evers S.W. 2020. Neuroanatomy of the spinosaurid Irritator challengeri (Dinosauria: Theropoda) indicates potential adaptations for piscivory. Scientific Reports 10: 9269; doi: 10.1038/s4159-020-66261-w

   

  Ferreira G.S., Lautenschlager S., Evers S.W., Pfaff C., Kriwet J., Werneburg I. 2020. Feeding biomechanics suggests progressive correlation of skull architecture and neck evolution in turtles. Scientific Reports 10: 5505; doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-62179-5

   

  Evers S.W., Joyce W.G. 2020. A re-description of Sandownia harrisi (Testudinata: Sandownidae) from the Aptian of the Isle of Wight based on computed tomography scans. Royal Society Open Science 7: 191936; doi: 10.1098/rsos.191936

   

  Hermanson G., Iori F.V., Evers S.W., Langer M.C., Ferreira G.S. 2020. A small podocnemidoid (Pleurodira, Pelomedusoides) from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil, and the innervation and carotid circulation of side-necked turtles. Papers in Palaeontology 6(2): 329–347; doi: 10.1002/spp2.1300

   

  Evers S.W., Foth C, Rauhut O.W.M. 2020. Notes on the cheek region of the Late Jurassic theropod dinosaur Allosaurus. PeerJ 8: e8493; doi: 10.7717/peerj.8493

   

  Evers S.W., Wings O. 2020. Late Jurassic theropod dinosaur bones from the Langenberg Quarry (Lower Saxony, Germany) provide evidence for several theropod lineages in the central European archipelago. PeerJ 8: e8437; doi: 10.7717/peerj.8437

   

  Evers S.W., Neenan J.M., Ferreira G., Wernerburg I., Barrett P.M., Benson R.B.J. 2019. Neurovascular anatomy of the protostegid turtle Rhinochelys pulchriceps and comparisons of membranous and endosseous labyrinth shape in an extant turtle. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 187: 800–828; doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz063

   

  Foth C., Evers S.W., Joyce W.G., Valpato V.S., Benson R.B.J. 2019. Comparative analysis of the shape and size of the middle ear cavity of turtles reveals no correlation with habitat ecology. Journal of Anatomy XX: 1–20; doi: 10.1111/joa.13071

   

  Evers S.W., Barrett P.M., Benson, R.B.J. 2019. Anatomy of Rhinochelys pulchriceps (Protostegidae) and marine adaptation during the early evolution of chelonioids. PeerJ 7: e6811; doi: 10.7717/peerj.6811

   

  Evers S.W., Benson, R.B.J. 2019. A new phylogenetic hypothesis of turtles with implications for the number of evolutionary transitions to marine lifestyles supports an Early Cretaceous origin and rapid diversification of Chelonioidea. Palaeontology 62(1): 93–134; doi: 10.1111/pala.12384

   

  Ferreira G.S., Lautenschlager S., Langer M.C., Evers S.W., Rabi M., Werneburg, I. 2018. Biomechanical analyses suggest relation between neck-retraction and the trochlear mechanism in extant turtles. Turtle Evolution Symposium: 38–40.

   

  Carrano M.T., Loewen M.A., Evers S.W. 2018. Comment (Case 3506)–Conservation of Allosaurus Marsh, 1877 (Dinosauria, Theropoda): additional data in support of the proposed neotype for its type species Allosaurus fragilis Marsh, 1877. The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 75(1): 59–64

   

  Close R.A., Evers S.W., Alroy, J., Butler, R.J. 2018. How should we estimate diversity in the fossil record? Testing richness estimators using sampling-standardised discovery curves. Methods in Ecology and Evolition 9: 1386-1400; doi: 10.1111/2041-210X.12987

   

  Neenan J.M., Reich T., Evers S.W., Druckenmiller P.S., Voeten D.F.A.E., Choiniere J.N., Barrett P.M., Pierce S.E., Benson R.B.J. 2017. Evolution of the Sauropterygian Labyrinth with Increasingly Pelagic Lifestyles. Current Biology 27: 1-7; doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.10.069

   

  Evers S.W., Rauhut O.W.M., Milner A.C., McFeeters B., Allain, R. 2015. The morphology and systematic position of the theropod dinosaur Sigilmassasaurus from the ‘middle’ Cretaceous of Morocco. PeerJ 3:e1323; doi: 10.7717/peerj.1323

   

  Foth C., Evers S.W., Pabst B., Mateus O., Flisch A., Patthey M., Rauhut O.W.M. 2015. New insights into the lifestyle of Allosaurus (Dinosauria: Theropoda) based on another specimen with multiple pathologies. PeerJ 3:e940; doi: 10.7717/peerj.940

Teaching and courses

Show in course program