ICREA Research Professor
Evolutionary Phenomics Research Group

(Terrassa, 1982)

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

2000: I started a degree in Biology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. I wanted to learn about the natural world. The same year, I fell in love with paleontological fieldwork.

2006: I started my PhD at the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont. The mission: Understanding the functional morphology and evolution of the ape hand, leading to the emergence of complex tool behaviors in humans. 

2010: I started my postdoc at the American Museum of Natural History (New York City). Since then, I have also worked at various prestigious US institutions (Stony Brook University, The George Washington University), expanding my international collaborative network of incredible, multidisciplinary colleagues. 

Besides specialized papers, I have published in some of the top general sciences journals, including Science, Nature Communications, and PNAS. As an ICREA research professor at the ICP, I want to advance my future research as an active member of the Catalan community. 

RESEARCH INTERESTS 

Human evolution. I study human origins within the broader context of ape evolution. I focus on the time when our earliest ancestors first diverged from apes towards the end of the Miocene ~7 million years ago. To accomplish this mission, I enlist different lines of evidence: 

Evolutionary phenomics. I am applying various analytical approaches (3D morphometrics, phylogenetic inference, evolutionary modeling) to the holistic study of organismic evolution from a deep-time perspective (including extinct and living species, especially humans and other primates). Now, I’d like to predict the future! 

Functional morphology. My colleagues and I use motion-capture tools to study the locomotion of wild animals in their natural environments. These data will allow us to predict locomotion in fossil species. 

Media science. My efforts range from publishing popular books to participating in documentaries, podcasts, and news articles, or designing a 3D virtual fossil exhibit for a museum.

ICREA profile: https://www.icrea.cat/community/icreas/4149/sergio-almecija/

Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Q7W-GwUAAAAJ&hl=en 

Personal webpage: https://www.sergioalmecija.com/

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.