Dr Phil Manning

Dr Phil Manning heads the Palaeontology Research Group in the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences (SEAES) at the University of Manchester. Dr Manning is also a Research Fellow at the Manchester Museum and a Research Associate at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (Colorado, USA). His research includes international collaboration with projects in Europe, New Zealand and North America. Research partners include Yale (New Haven, USA), Stanford University (Stanford Linear Accelerator, USA), The Black Hills Institute (Hill City, USA), University of Oregon (Eugene, USA), Denver Museum of Natural History (Denver, USA), Amherst College (Amherst, USA), University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA), Marmarth Research Foundation (Marmarth, USA), The Mammoth Site (Hot Springs, USA), American Museum of Natural History (New York, USA), University of Copenhagen (Denmark), Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain), The Natural History Museum (London), University of Cambridge (Earth Sciences), University of Liverpool (Earth and Ocean Sciences), Manchester Metropolitan University (Environmental and Geographical Sciences) and the Dinosaur Isle Museum (Isle of Wight).

Research successes of the group have attracted worldwide attention and as a result members have been invited to travel to give presentations spanning the globe from New York to Patagonia. By approaching vertebrate and invertebrate palaeontology from a multidisciplinary approach we have been able to develop new, and adapt existing techniques, in the analysis of vertebrate locomotion, biomechanics, palaeobiology, proteomics and musculoskeletal form & function in extinct vertebrates. Dr Manning's primary research interests include: vertebrate ichnology, vertebrate biomechanics, locomotion and finite element modelling, palaeopathology, arthropod palaeoecology, structural biomaterials, biomolecules in the fossil record, dinosaur taphonomy and soft-tissue preservation.

The palaeontology research group spans several University departments and faculties at Manchester and works in collaboration with individuals and research groups both nationally and internationally. The focus for research at Manchester is to develop a specialist group that integrates disciplines to solve key questions in the palaeobiology and locomotion of extinct vertebrates. Whilst quite diverse, the current research themes all contribute towards this aim.

Academic collaboration

The current research programme in vertebrate palaeontology was started in October 2000. In this time we have forged many international research collaborations that have resulted in publications and grants. The research group is currently capacity building within the new research areas to ensure a sustainable programme at the University of Manchester (see below).

• National Geographic Dinosaur Mummy Project: Sediment geochemistry and taphonomic controls on dinosaur soft-tissue preservation. Co-workers on this project include: The Marmarth Research Foundation (USA), Yale University (USA), Department of Computer Science (University of Oregon, USA), Earth and Ocean Sciences (University of Liverpool), Environmental and Geographical Sciences (Manchester Metropolitan University), School of Chemistry (University of Manchester), the School's Basin Studies, Physics and Chemistry of Minerals and the Fluids Research Groups (University of Manchester) and the Faculty of Life Sciences (University of Manchester). A key objective for this research is to understand the processes that lead to such unique soft-tissue preservation in the fossil record. The fossil remains of large vertebrates that preserve soft-tissues are very rare so there are few analogous studies available for comparison. The research project has led to innovative use of large-scale, high-resolution CT scanning, not undertaken on an object of this size before. This has led to several technological advances in CT scanning by the Boeing/NASA/Manchester team. The novel application of musculoskeletal data to dinosaur locomotion has opened a large area of research, hitherto constrained by using the indirect approach of extant species as locomotor analogues for bipedal dinosaurs. The new approach developed by the Manchester team provides a direct approach using data derived from the fossil, which is then tested using models derived from and ground-truthed by extant analogues. The Dinosaur Mummy Project has also led to fruitful collaboration with the Wolfson Molecular Imaging centre, where we have successfully recovered potential breakdown products of dinosaur skin and tendon which has been verified by imaging (FTIR, CL, ESEM & BSEM) and analytical (XRD, MALDI-TOF and GCMS) techniques and is the subject of a paper currently in review.
• Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC) Palaeontology Project: A team from Manchester (myself, Dr Roy Wogelius and Nick Edwards (PhD student)) have joined an international consortium of researchers who have been allocated nine weeks beam time at the Stanford University Linear Accelerator Centre (USA). The project is to run for three years (from Dec. 2007) and is to explore elemental mapping and subsurface texture mapping of biological structural materials (extant and extinct). The Stanford team is headed by Professor Uwe Bergmann.  A key member of the team (Dr Roy Wogelius) has been invited to undertake his sabbatical year (2008-2009) working at SLAC and further developing research and potential grant applications with Uwe Bergmann and his team. 
• Fumanya Dinosaur Trackway LiDAR Project: The use of LiDAR, 3D digital mapping, of outcrops in the field. Current research collaboration include Consorci Ruta Minera (Barcelona) and the University of Barcelona, whom we are developing a 3D digital map of a large outcrop of dinosaur trackways (circa 3000+) in the Spanish Pyrenees (see Publications). Fieldwork also includes LiDAR digital outcrop surveys of Lance and Hell Creek Formations in Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota, working with the Marmarth Research Foundation (North Dakota). The LiDAR digital outcrop scans are helping constrain gait patterns in locomotor models being developed with Dr William Sellers, as part of a wider thrust in research towards a better understanding of the locomotion of extinct vertebrates. The next stage of the research programme has just begun, with another grant being applied for with the Institut Català de Paleontologia (Barcelona). We intend to survey an additional eleven track sites on the Iberian Peninsula as part of a broader public outreach programme, whilst retaining research goals (additional to those published and in press).

• Dromaeosaur Claws: Dromaeosaur limb mechanics and the functional morphology of pedal digit II. This work has been part-funded by the BBC. Co-workers on this project include: The Natural History Museum (London), Pennicott & Payne Ltd. (London), The Peabody Museum (Yale University, New Haven, USA), Schools of Materials (University of Manchester), School of Biological Sciences (University of Manchester), Manchester Computing Centre (University of Manchester) and The Manchester Museum (University of Manchester). Preliminary studies using mechanical models of dromaeosaur limb, foot and claw function are being approached from a structural biomaterials perspective. The early physical models were constructed from ‘best-fit’ materials constrained by the EPB. The project is now developing finite element models, from high-resolution CT data taken from fossil claws, with mechanical properties reconstructed from extant EPB materials. The project aims to validate results from the earlier mechanical models. An MSc student from the FLS Biomechanics programme will be jointly supervised by Dr Paul Mummery (Materials Science) and Dr Manning from January 2008.
• Theropod dinosaur respiratory system: anatomy and functional morphology. Co-workers on this project include: Institute of Zoology at the University of Bonn (Germany), The Black Hills Institute of Geological Research (South Dakota, USA), Department of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the American Museum of Natural History, New York (USA), Faculty of Life Sciences (University of Manchester) and The Manchester Museum (University of Manchester). Several research groups have studied the respiratory biology of theropod dinosaurs, but the Manchester team is focusing on the role of the hitherto overlooked uncinate processes in respiration. Preliminary work has developed a geometric model that indicates the uncinate processes act as levers to improve the mechanical advantage for the forward rotation of the dorsal ribs and therefore lowering the sternum during respiration in birds. These findings are now being applied to the musculoskeletal models being constructed (in collaboration with Dr William Sellers) for theropod dinosaurs to evaluate impact upon locomotor efficiency. 
• Dinosaur gait modeling: In collaboration with Dr William Sellers (Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester) and Professor Kent Steven (University of Oregon, USA), we are developing a set of biorealistic reference gaits for dinosaurs, optimising for efficiency and performance over a range of speeds that can be used to aid understanding of the musculoskeletal physiology and locomotor abilities of extinct animals. There is significant cross-over between the structural biomaterials and FEA dinosaur track research programme, given the three will eventually integrate to hopefully provide more robust locomotary models for extinct (and extant) vertebrates. We are currently investigating the effects of elastic storage in bipedal locomotion. This project uses a new simulation engine (Open Dynamics Engine [ODE]) which is a bit faster and a lot more stable and results so far are very encouraging. We have also incorporated a high quality output mechanism allowing us to produce stills and animations at arbitrarily high resolutions. Currently we are working with various dinosaur reconstructions but there is scope for work on other bipeds such as birds, humans and early human fossils. Much of this work is either published or in-press, with several publications in preparation. The Dinosaur Mummy Project documentary show-cased this element of the Manchester research programme on the Dino-Autopsy documentary transmitted at in December 2007.
• Endocranial XRT Studies of fossil vertebrates: The fossil skulls are vertebrates are often rare and composed of dense material unsuitable for medical imaging techniques. The School of Materials (University of Manchester) possesses a high-resolution, computerised tomography and digital radiography system (HMXST 225), employing a microfocus X-ray source (5μm focal spot size) capable of tube potentials up to 225kV. The high-resolution X-Ray computer tomography (XRT) allows non-destructive imaging of internal structure and architecture of relatively dense fossils. One line of research currently being pursued is endocranial XRT studies. Working with Dr Kenneth Carpenter (Denver Museum), Tyler Lyson (Yale and the Marmarth Research Foundation) and The Manchester Museum (University of Manchester) we are using XRT to image the internal microstructure of pachycephalosaur skull domes. Previous studies on the internal structure of the thickened dome above the braincase of pachycephalosaurs have relied upon physical sectioning of skulls, the non-invasive techniques being employed by the Manchester team will enable the generation of high-resolution 3D models of the cortical and cancellous bone elements of each skull. The study is part of an on-going research theme on the mechanical behaviour of structural biomaterials in the fossil record.
• Pathology of dinosaur bone: reviewing the pathologies from a Tenontosaurus tilletti specimen (Cloverly Formation, Montana). The specimen shows examples of physical trauma (tendon avulsion) with accompanying infection. The use of non-invasive, XRT imaging techniques are providing new information on the response of dinosaur bone to trauma. Members of the research team include Emma Schachner (PhD student) and Prof. Peter Dodson at the University of Pennsylvania (USA), Prof. Whitey Hagadorn (Amherst College, MA, USA), Dr Paul Mummery and Dr Sam McDonald at the Schools of Materials (University of Manchester) with assistance from colleagues at The Manchester Museum (University of Manchester). This research area has great potential for future development as project work within the FLS Biomechanics MSc programme. The recovered CT data is also being used to develop a FEA-based application (working with Dr Lee Margetts, Manchester Computer Science) to help understand the behaviour of bone during loading and failure. Combined with the locomotion, safety factor, track and CT research, the dinosaur bone pathology research dovetails with the existing and proposed research programmes.

Palaeontology

Verterbrate palaeontology and biomechanics

Modules Supervised

• [EART 20112] Vertebrate Palaeontology and Evolution

Modules Taught

• [EART 10012] Field Course to Devon