Hi!! My name is Steffi and I’m from London. I’ve been obsessed with animals and fossils forever, especially reptiles and birds. My research interests centre on evolutionary morphology, biomechanics and macroevolution. The thing I find most fascinating is to use the fossil record to try and understand the evolution of the incredible animal forms we see today and throughout the past.

I’m here at the MfN for a PhD on the evolutionary history of the Ibiza wall lizard Podarcis pityusensis, using fossil and modern specimens to study how climate changes, population dynamics and anthropogenic pressures have shaped morphology and development in this lineage. My love of animals led me to a Biological Sciences BA at Oxford University, where my final year project was 3D-modelling and describing a new species of Cambrian-era echinoderm. My love of fossils then led me to a Palaeobiology MSc at Bristol University, where my thesis project was studying constraints on mandible shape in the Paravian-bird lineage over the last 165 million years.

Therefore, I’ve been creeping into the ever-more-recent past throughout my research history, and I’ve been so lucky to study such amazing and diverse animal lineages; I can’t wait to spend the next few years with one of my life-long favourite animal groups, the lizards!!

Please email me if you’d like to know more!: stephanie.woodgate@mfn.berlin