Also in this special issue, Tomlinson et al., tested whether calcaneal heel spurs strengthen the plantar fascia’s attachment to the heel. Avulsion frequency did not seem linked to the presence of spurs, suggesting they are unlikely to play a meaningful biomechanical function doi.org/10.1111/joa....

Our new paper is out in @journalofanatomy.bsky.social open access! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

This month’s issue of Journal of Anatomy is a standout special edition dedicated to the fibrous framework. We are celebrating the pioneering work of Professor Mike Benjamin, whose research transformed our understanding of connective tissue biology, particularly the part it plays in the enthesis.

New paper in @journalofanatomy.bsky.social with PAD Wise and AP Russell! We show that using morphological criteria to assign developmental stage provides more ossification sequence resolution than embryo size or developmental time (days). onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... #GeckoEvoDevo

Fresh Friday - Rhynchosaur dentition preserves plesiomorphic amniote tissues, challenging the idea of a “bone of attachment,” suggesting heterochronic shifts in mineralization helped drive gomphosis evolution across multiple amniote clades, including mammals, dinosaurs, and crocodylians

Cranial sutures are overlooked aspects of the mammal skull. Comparing postnatal trajectories in suture shape retrieves plateauing adult complexity for midline sutures. Despite distinct developmental strategies, marsupial and placental suture disparity were found to overlap. doi.org/10.1111/joa....

Now available! A new method paper by Rzepliński et al., utilises radiopaque contrast injected into peripheral nerves for subsequent CT scanning. The method produced excellent models of nerves leaving the specimens ready for further analysis: doi.org/10.1111/joa....

Our new issue! 🦇✨features a cover image from Carter's latest study. Tubercles on the bat pinna reduce drag before stall and increase lift after stall by generating streamwise vortices. These natural surface features likely improve aerodynamic efficiency. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14697580...

Also this month, Šulcová et al., studied how teeth attach to jaws across vertebrates. In veiled chameleons, firmly ankylosed teeth formed via a transient cell type at the tooth–bone interface showing both osteoblast- and odontoblast-like features. The authors call these theorised cells ankyloblasts

Also this month, Manson and @nathanj.bsky.social used finite element modelling informed by neonatal MRI data, to test whether simple mechanical deformation from brain and masticatory muscle growth can predict early cranial shape change, focusing on the basicranium and face doi.org/10.1111/joa....

📢 We’re now on LinkedIn! You can now find the Journal of Anatomy on LinkedIn, as well as here and all the usual places. We’ll continue showcasing the latest research in Development, Evolution and Function, so come find us here 👉 www.linkedin.com/company/jour...

We welcome 2026 with a focus on Dynamic Anatomy. This cover image from Crompton et al., features the pelvis of StW 572, an example of A. prometheus Their new analysis shows human-like pelvic traits and supports multiple modes of bipedalism in early hominins #Paleoanthropology #evolution

Seasons Greetings from all at Journal of Anatomy - watch this space in 2026 for plenty of exciting new findings from the world of anatomical research. We hope you have a peaceful and fulfilling festive period!

Predicting head injury in infants is complicated by large anatomical variability. This study analyzed skull thickness at 12,000+ locations in 266 infants (<12 mo) to identify age/sex-specific anatomical standards based on patterns of skull thickness distribution. doi.org/10.1111/joa....

@rjstrauch.bsky.social investigate the mandibular symphysis in whales. Toothed whales exhibited unfused, partially fused, or fully fused symphyses, while baleen whales evolved a decoupled, highly mobile symphysis that represents a novel condition unobserved in other mammalian clades.

This month's cover image comes from the work of @aaronhgriffing.bsky.social and colleagues, looking at the development of hemibacula. They’re chondroid-like, appear after sexual maturity, grow isometrically, and likely evolved via peramorphosis. Weird, wonderful genital bones!

🐘🦣 The vertebral column of elephants is a marvel of biological engineering. The remarkable functional morphology and intervertebral mobility of the elephant backbone is explored here, comparing it with that of other large herbivores and their extinct relatives 🐘🦣 doi.org/10.1111/joa....

Rodent semicircular canal (SCC) shape and size reveal how they move! 🐀 Agile arboreal species have larger canals, while fossorial ones have smaller. SCC morphology helps predict locomotor behaviour and even reconstruct how fossil rodents moved 🦴 #Anatomy #Evolution #Rodents doi.org/10.1111/joa....

Striking diversity in the size, density, and distribution of taste papillae across 11 elasmobranch species reveals how sharks, skates, and rays taste their way to better feeding strategies. Atkinson & Collin, whose study graces our new cover, explain more: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14697580...

The hidden pattern of the primary teeth in an ancestral ray-finned fish provides a clue to how the strange lungfish dentition could have evolved simply by modifying the growth mode of bone. More information in this newly published piece from @uuvertpalaeo.bsky.social here: doi.org/10.1111/joa....

Continuing our celebration of #fossilfriday, Maíllo and colleagues perform osteohistology of an ornithopod from Aliaga (Spain), finding it matured at ~7 years and died aged 9–12. This first use of the three-front model in an #ornithopod reveals strong bone-to-bone variability doi.org/10.1111/joa....

Also in this month's #specialissue and celebrating #fossilfriday 🦴 is this paper from Chinsamy and Valenciano identifying multiple exostoses and an osteochondroma in a Pliocene canid 🐕🦊 from Langebaanweg, South Africa doi.org/10.1111/joa....

Introducing our latest special issue, From Fossil to Microscope: Unraveling the Tapestry of Tissue Anatomy through Paleohistology, with this wonderful cover image from @funstonpaleo.bsky.social et al., of compacted coarse cancellous bone from the early Palaeocene taeniodont, Conoryctes comma.

📰 Cranial scans in South Africans revealed higher facial asymmetry in female and Black individuals, especially in nasal and temporal regions. These shape shifts may not skew IDs but should be considered in anthropological analyses of ancestry, health, and human variation 📰:

Also in this edition, Enriquez et al., found that epidermal scale shapes and relative scale sizes are mostly retained through growth in both dinosaurs and modern reptiles, suggesting that the enlarged 'feature scales' of some dinosaurs were not used in visual displays: doi.org/10.1111/joa....

🚨New issue alert 🚨 with a cover image from Cerda et al. showing dental plate histology of †Ischyodus dolloi, revealing dental plates packed with tritors; hypermineralised structures made of whitlockin, a form of dentine far stronger than the usual material found in teeth doi.org/10.1111/joa....

The Weberian apparatus boosts hearing in otophysan fish via modified bones and ligaments. Using advanced imaging and histology, a study from @jakeleyhr.bsky.social and @remorphevolab.bsky.social reveals new insights into the elusive first intercostal ligament and its role in this acoustic system

🦷 A common embryological, developmental, and genetic background is shared between dentine and cortical bone. @mathilde-augoyard.bsky.social and team found coordinated variation between their volumes in human limb bones and teeth, suggesting shared factors influencing their postnatal development 🦴

We welcome Volume 247 with this fantastic image from work by Sosa et al. This study provides the first comprehensive description of the hindlimb musculature of the #Emperor #Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) across different ontogenetic stages. doi.org/10.1111/joa....

🦭🔥Hot off the press! 🔥🦭 Check out this exciting work from @robyngrant.bsky.social and colleagues looking at the wonderful world of whiskers! #anatomy #comparative #whiskers

Our @journalofanatomy.bsky.social paper of the year is "Microanatomy of the human tunnel of Corti structures and cochlear partition-tonotopic variations and transcellular signaling" by Giese et al.

🥳New issue means new cover image🥳 Ochronotic #pigmentation is shown within the perichondrium surrounding hyaline #cartilage from the secondary #bronchus of an individual with #alkaptonuria. Hughes et al.'s investigation of alkaptonuria, available now: doi.org/10.1111/joa....

Our latest paper on fibulas 🦴 has finally a home in the @journalofanatomy.bsky.social! We studied trabecular architecture to check if it records arboreal habits 🌳 in #primates 🐒🦧🦍... (1/2) 🧪 #science 🏺 #BioAnth dx.doi.org/10.1111/joa....

Surface scans capture rotator cuff volume across hominoids; origin areas predict muscle size, paving the way for improved reconstructions. van Beesel, Melillo, and Vereecke's latest publication is now available in @journalofanatomy.bsky.social

Available 🎉 NOW 🎉 @KaratagOzan used CT to examine infraorbital canal (IOC) types & sinonasal variations. The authors measured IOC length, septum, dOI, Haller cells, sinus opacities, & dehiscence, showing that pre-op IOC imaging is key to avoiding iatrogenic injury doi.org/10.1111/joa....

Little data is available on the #muscle properties and architecture of bat flight muscles. @acsharp.bsky.social and colleagues show that the Egyptian fruit #bat pectoralis is optimised for power, and the elbow flexion/extension group is optimised for high forces with large PCSA and short fibres

This month sees a Special Issue of @journalofanatomy.bsky.social, with a specific focus on Biomedical Imaging in Comparative Anatomy. The cover image shows the wing muscles of the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus), from @acsharp.bsky.social and colleagues, which is included in this issue.

New study from Cruz-Montecinos et al., used ultrasonography to examine sex-specific differences in rectus femoris muscle quality in children. The results showed distinct patterns in tissue composition, potentially reflecting intramuscular fat and connective tissue. doi.org/10.1111/joa....

@yohanpochatcot.bsky.social studied the variation of the morphology of the endosseous labyrinths of extant crocodiles & showed that its morphology is mainly related to the size of the specimen (allometry) and is probably due to changes in braincase conformation.

Also from @tissueengdublin.bsky.social, we see how matrix proteins including laminin-1, fibronectin, and collagen-IV enhance neural cell growth & drive changes at both the whole-cell and nanoscale levels. These insights can help inform the design of biomaterial scaffolds! 🧠🔬

Also this month, researchers @uniofnottingham.bsky.social studied the role of CDK13 in heart development. With high-resolution imaging (HREM), they found a range of CHDs in developing mouse hearts at E15.5, giving new insights into how this gene impacts heart formation. 🧬💖

The cover of volume 246, Issue 4 features this image from Szabó et al.,'s recent paper on chronic silencing of subsets of cortical layer 5 pyramidal neurons and their effect on parvalbumin interneurons and the perineuronal nets. It can be read here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14697580...

Uterine contractions are key to #menstruation & #fertility. This study from @ABI_Bioeng shows #micro-CT can quantify musculature in the non-pregnant rat #uterus, offering insights into contractile activity & 3D virtual histology. doi.org/10.1111/joa....

👂For these articles, and to read further about the amazing anatomical adaptations exhibited in the ear and in sound production, follow the link here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14697580... 👂

Cochlear analysis of Kekenodon onamata, a late Oligocene stem whale, suggests they specialised in low-frequency hearing, a trait of raptorial feeding in fossil whales. Low-frequency hearing may be characteristic of raptorial macrophagous fossil cetaceans @joshcorrie @Blogozoic

🦴 Ear region is a treasure trove for studying evolution! 🐐 The structure of the bony labyrinth shows that Eotragus species are stem Bovidae, while the newly discovered Pusillutragus montrealensis represents a more advanced form from @museumtoulouse and @mennecart_b

This month, we see the release of Special issue on Anatomical Variations in Hearing and Sound Production in Amniotes. Our cover is from Racicot et al., ‘Variation in whale (Cetacea) inner ear anatomy reveals the early evolution of ‘specialized’ high frequency hearing sensitivity’

🦕🚨New paper alert 🚨 @paleovidal.bsky.social and team found that sauropods have a variety of tail shapes, which may have influenced their functions beyond tail/neck balance. Distinct titanosaur tail shapes could have seen the tail used as a fifth limb in a potential pentapodal posture! 🦕

🦌 Back scattered electron imaging in SEM found winter rest lines forming in reindeer cementum when matrix deposition stops, but mineralization continues similarly to maturation in bone, with multiple tidemark lines akin to calcified articular cartilage🦌 doi.org/10.1111/joa....

🌟 New issue out now! 🌟with the cover image showing Simomylodon uccasamamensis! 🦥 Quiñones' study reveals insights into the morphology & growth of this #Pliocene #sloth from Argentina's Puna Plateau. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14697580...