- 200 years
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- About us
https://webcdn.mmu.ac.uk/profiles/img/profile-images/1charlotte-brassey-crop-145x145-5811d7bb5a5ce.png
I am a lecturer in Zoology at Manchester Metropolitan University.
My research interests straddle the fields of functional morphology, comparative anatomy, palaeontology and 3D imaging, including:
I teach comparative anatomy on the following units: 1st Year Comparative Anatomy and Physiology; 3rd Year Vertebrate Evolution.
I teach reproductive biology and sexual selection theory on the following units: 1st Year Comparative Anatomy and Physiology; 2nd Year Sex and Survival; MSc Animal Behaviour
I have a BSc in Geography and Geology from the University of Manchester (2009) and a PhD in Animal Biology from the University of Manchester.
2016 - 2016 BBSRC Future Leader Fellow, University of Manchester
2015 - 2016 BBSRC-funded Research Technician, University of Manchester
2014 - 2015 Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Natural History Museum, London
BSc Biology, Zoology, Wildlife Biology, Animal Behaviour
MSc Zoo Conservation Biology, Animal Behaviour
Callum McLean (PhD Student) 2016-ongoing: The biomechanics of predatory structures in arthropods
Emma Clear (PhD Student) 2018-ongoing: Reproductive biomechanics and mechanisms of sexual selection in mustelid mammals
My research is highly interdisciplinary, spanning taxonomic groups and geologic time periods, seeking to address questions of form and function using 3D imaging and computational simulation approaches. During my fellowship, I will be focusing on the evolution of mammalian genitalia. In several groups of mammals, males possess a bone within the penis called the baculum. Whilst many hypotheses have been put forward to explain this structure, rigorous biomechanical analyses have been lacking. In some species, females also possess an analogous bone, although its occurrence and potential function is even more mysterious. I will be combining traditional anatomy, phylogenetics, high-resolution CT imaging and engineering simulations to investigate the evolution of these enigmatic structures.
K. Connah, B. Michael, C. Brassey (2022). MiTiSegmenter: Software for high throughput segmentation and meshing of microCT data in microtiter plate arrays. MethodsX. 9, pp.101849-101849.
E. Clear, RA. Grant, M. Carroll, CA. Brassey (2022). A Review and Case Study of 3D Imaging Modalities for Female Amniote Reproductive Anatomy. Integrative and Comparative Biology. pp.icac027-icac027.
MF. Arslan, A. Haridis, PL. Rosin, S. Tari, C. Brassey, et al. JD. Gardiner, A. Genctav, M. Genctav. (2022). SHREC’21: Quantifying shape complexity. Computers & Graphics. 102, pp.144-153.
C. McLean, R. Garwood, C. Brassey (2021). Assessing the patterns and drivers of shape complexity in the amblypygid pedipalp. Ecology and Evolution. 11(15), pp.10709-10719.
CJ. McLean, RJ. Garwood, CA. Brassey (2020). Sexual dimorphism in the size and shape of the raptorial pedipalps of Giant Whip Spiders (Arachnida: Amblypygi). Journal of Zoology. 310(1), pp.45-54.
JD. Gardiner, J. Behnsen, CA. Brassey (2018). Alpha shapes: determining 3D shape complexity across morphologically diverse structures. BMC evolutionary biology. 18(1), pp.184-184.
CJ. McLean, RJ. Garwood, CA. Brassey (2018). Sexual dimorphism in the Arachnid orders. PeerJ. 6,
C. Brassey, J. Gardiner, A. Kitchener (2018). Testing hypotheses for the function of the carnivoran baculum using finite-element analysis. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 285(1887),
N. D'Cruze, B. Singh, A. MOOKERJEE, D. Macdonald, K. Hunter, et al. C. Brassey, R. Jennifer, S. Megson, DP. Megson, G. Fox, J. Louies, RS. Sharath. (2018). What’s in a name? Wildlife traders evade authorities using code words. Oryx. 52(1), pp.13-15.
CA. Brassey, S. Maidment, P. Barrett (2017). Muscle moment arm analyses applied to vertebrate paleontology: a case study using Stegosaurus stenops Marsh, 1887. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 37(5),
CA. Brassey, T. O'Mahoney, A. Chamberlain, W. Sellers (2017). A volumetric technique for fossil body mass estimation applied to Australopithecus afarensis. Journal of Human Evolution. 115, pp.47-64.
W. Sellers, S. Pond, CA. Brassey, P. Manning, K. Bates (2017). Investigating the running abilities of Tyrannosaurus rex using stress-constrained multibody dynamic analysis. PeerJ. 5,
KE. Peyer, C. Brassey, K. Rose, WI. Sellers (2017). Locomotion pattern and foot pressure adjustments during gentle turns in healthy subjects. Journal of Biomechanics. 60, pp.65-71.
CA. Brassey (2017). Body mass estimation in paleontology: a review of volumetric techniques. The Paleontological Society Papers. 22, pp.133-156.
L. Mol, M. Gomez-Heras, CA. Brassey, O. Green, T. Blenkinsop (2017). The benefit of a tough skin: bullet holes, weathering and the preservation of heritage. Royal Society Open Science. 4,
S. Lautenschlager, CA. Brassey, DJ. Button, PM. Barrett (2016). Decoupled form and function in disparate herbivorous dinosaur clades. Scientific Reports. 6,
CA. Brassey, TG. O'Mahoney, AC. Kitchener, PL. Manning, WI. Sellers (2016). Convex-hull mass estimates of the dodo (Raphus cucullatus): Application of a CT-based mass estimation technique. PeerJ. 2016(1),
SCR. Maidment, C. Brassey, PM. Barrett (2015). The postcranial skeleton of an exceptionally complete individual of the plated dinosaur Stegosaurus stenops (Dinosauria: Thyreophora) from the upper jurassic morrison formation of Wyoming, U.S.A. PLoS ONE. 10(10),
CA. Brassey, JD. Gardiner (2015). An advanced shape-fitting algorithm applied to quadrupedal mammals: Improving volumetric mass estimates. Royal Society Open Science. 2(8),
KT. Bates, PL. Falkingham, S. Macaulay, C. Brassey, SCR. Maidment (2015). Downsizing a giant: Re-evaluating Dreadnoughtus body mass. Biology Letters. 11(6),
CA. Brassey, SCR. Maidment, PM. Barrett (2015). Body mass estimates of an exceptionally complete Stegosaurus (Ornithischia: Thyreophora): Comparing volumetric and linear bivariate mass estimation methods. Biology Letters. 11(3),
CA. Brassey, WI. Sellers (2014). Scaling of convex hull volume to body mass in modern primates, non-primate mammals and birds. PLoS ONE. 9(3),
CA. Brassey, RN. Holdaway, AG. Packham, J. Anné, PL. Manning, et al. WI. Sellers. (2013). More than one way of being a Moa: Differences in leg bone robustness map divergent evolutionary trajectories in Dinornithidae and Emeidae (Dinornithiformes). PLoS ONE. 8(12),
CA. Brassey, AC. Kitchener, PJ. Withers, PL. Manning, WI. Sellers (2013). The Role of Cross-Sectional Geometry, Curvature, and Limb Posture in Maintaining Equal Safety Factors: A Computed Tomography Study. Anatomical Record. 296(3), pp.395-413.
CA. Brassey, L. Margetts, AC. Kitchener, PJ. Withers, PL. Manning, et al. WI. Sellers. (2013). Finite element modelling versus classic beam theory: Comparing methods for stress estimation in a morphologically diverse sample of vertebrate long bones. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 10(79),
WI. Sellers, J. Hepworth-Bell, PL. Falkingham, KT. Bates, CA. Brassey, et al. VM. Egerton, PL. Manning. (2012). Minimum convex hull mass estimations of complete mounted skeletons. Biology Letters. 8(5), pp.842-845.
CA. Brassey, J. Behnsen, JD. Gardiner (2019). Quantifying Shape Complexity in the Carnivoran Baculum. In: JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY. pp.S88-S89.
CA. Brassey, AC. Kitchener, J. Behnsen, JD. Gardiner (2018). The Role of Sexual Selection in Shaping the Carnivoran Baculum. In: INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY. San Francisco, CA, 3/1/2018. pp.E281-E281.
CJ. McLean, RJ. Garwood, CA. Brassey (2018). A Geometric Morphometric Analysis of the Raptorial Appendage of the Whip Spider Damon variegatus (Arachnida, Amblypygi). In: INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY. San Francisco, CA, 3/1/2018. pp.E376-E376.
CA. Brassey, T. O'Mahoney, WI. Sellers (2015). A volumetric mass estimation technique for biological anthropology: 'Convex hull' scaling in modern primates and applications to fossil hominids. In: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY. St Louis, MO, 25/3/2015. pp.91-91.
2020 Royal Society Apex Award (£68,294.00) - Co-Investigator Remote scientific support for sustainable conservation of heritage damaged by explosives
2017 Leverhulme Research Project Grant (£199,745) - Co-Investigator Ballistic damage of stone heritage structures in conflict areas
2017 MMU Global Challenges Research Fund (£6320) - Principal Investigator The geomorphology and conservation of damaged heritage in modern conflict zones.
2015 BBSRC Future Leader Fellowship (£285,539) – Principal Investigator Bones of contention: The functional morphology and biomechanics of the mammalian os penis and os clitoridis.
2015 Jurassic Foundation (£2000) – Principal Investigator Forward dynamic analysis of stegosaur locomotion and associated trackway simulation.
2015 British Ornithological Society Small Grants (£1300) – Principal Investigator The anatomy and functional mechanics of cranial ornamentation in the Southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius).
2015 NERC Summer of Science Outreach Call (£4000) – Co-Investigator Kinect controlled dinosaur simulations for education and public outreach.
2013 PRACE European Distributed Computing Initiative (6 million core hours, notional value ~£75,000) – Co-investigator Gait generation optimization algorithms.
Grant and fellowship reviewer for UKRI, BBSRC, NERC and Leverhulme
Associate Editor for Proceedings of the Royal Society B