Emma Dunne

I am a paleobiologist and my research focuses on understanding the drivers that shaped patterns of evolution and biodiversity through geological time. I am particularly interested in the macroevolution of vertebrates, such as dinosaurs and other reptiles, and uses a broad range of computational and quantitative tools. Some of my current work includes investigating how past climate change played a role in dinosaur evolution and examining how fossil record (sampling) biases impact our understanding deep-time biodiversity patterns.

I am also interested in the intersection between paleontological research and society, especially the historical and socio-economic context of fossil collecting and study. I co-founded and now co-lead the Pal(a)eoscientometrics Research Collective, a transdisciplinary international group of academics and allied workers that conducts data-driven analyses of how ethical issues, socio-economic factors, and the legacy of colonialism influence paleontological research.

At the Geozentrum Nordbayern, I work as a lecturer and researcher, and I also coordinate the MSc program in Paleobiology. For more information, see our dedicated webpage here.

PhD Quantitative Paleobiology – University of Birmingham (2019)
MSc Taxonomy and Biodiversity – Imperial College London (2015)
BA(Mod.) Natural Sciences (Zoology) – Trinity College Dublin (2014)

Journal Articles

Dowding E., Dunne E., Collins KS., Cryer K., De Baets K., Dimitrijevic D., Edie SM., Finnegan S., Kießling W., Lintulaasko K., Liow LH., Little H., Na L., Peters SE., Renaudie J., Saupe EE., Seuß B., Sessa JA., Smith J., Uhen MD., Williams JW., Kocsis Á.:
The billion-dollar case for sustaining palaeontology’s digital databases
In: Nature Ecology & Evolution (2026)
ISSN: 2397-334X
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-026-02985-8
Dowding E., Dunne E., Collins KS., Cryer K., De Baets K., Dimitrijevic D., Edie SM., Finnegan S., Kießling W., Lintulaakso K., Liow LH., Little H., Na L., Peters SE., Renaudie J., Saupe EE., Seuß B., Sessa JA., Smith JA., Uhen MD., Williams JW., Kocsis Á.:
The billion-dollar case for sustaining palaeontology’s digital databases
In: Nature Ecology & Evolution 10 (2026), p. 594–605
ISSN: 2397-334X
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-026-02985-8
Dunne E., Chattopadhyay D., Dean CD., Dillon EM., Dowding E., Godoy PL., Smith JA., Raja NB.:
Data equity in paleobiology: progress, challenges, and future outlook
In: Paleobiology 51 (2025), p. 237-249
ISSN: 0094-8373
DOI: 10.1017/pab.2024.61
Foffa D., Dunne E., Chiarenza AA., Wynd BM., Farnsworth A., Lunt DJ., Valdes PJ., Nesbitt SJ., Kligman BT., Marsh AD., Parker WG., Butler RJ., Fraser NC., Brusatte SL., Barrett PM.:
Climate drivers and palaeobiogeography of lagerpetids and early pterosaurs
In: Nature Ecology & Evolution (2025)
ISSN: 2397-334X
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02767-8
Paiva ALS., Godoy PL., Dunne E., Farnsworth A., Valdes PJ., Lunt DJ., Klein W., Langer MC., Hsiou AS.:
The role of climate on the emergence of giant caimanines (Crocodylia, Alligatoroidea) from the Miocene western Amazonian region
In: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 656 (2024), Article No.: 112582
ISSN: 0031-0182
DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112582
Moreno R., Dunne E., Mujal E., Farnsworth A., Valdes PJ., Schoch RR.:
Impact of environmental barriers on temnospondyl biogeography and dispersal during the Middle–Late Triassic
In: Palaeontology 67 (2024), Article No.: e12724
ISSN: 0031-0239
DOI: 10.1111/pala.12724
Arenas-Castro H., Berdejo-Espinola V., Chowdhury S., Rodríguez-Contreras A., James AR., Raja NB., Dunne E., Bertolino S., Emidio NB., Derez CM., Drobniak SM., Fulton GR., Francisco Henao-Diaz L., Kaur A., Kim CJ., Lagisz M., Medina I., Mikula P., Narayan VP., O’Bryan CJ., Ying Oh RR., Ovsyanikova E., Pérez-Hämmerle KV., Pottier P., Powers JS., Rodriguez-Acevedo AJ., Rozak AH., Sena PH., Sockhill NJ., Tedesco AM., Tiapa-Blanco F., Tsai JS., Villarreal-Rosas J., Wadgymar SM., Yamamichi M., Amano T.:
Academic publishing requires linguistically inclusive policies
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 291 (2024), Article No.: 20232840
ISSN: 0962-8452
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2840
Schnetz L., Dunne E., Feichtinger I., Butler RJ., Coates MI., Sansom IJ.:
Rise and diversification of chondrichthyans in the Paleozoic
In: Paleobiology (2024)
ISSN: 0094-8373
DOI: 10.1017/pab.2024.1
Smith JA., Raja NB., Clements T., Dimitrijevic D., Dowding E., Dunne E., Gee BM., Godoy PL., Lombardi EM., Mulvey L., Nätscher P., Reddin CJ., Shirley B., Warnock R., Kocsis Á.:
Increasing the equitability of data citation in paleontology: capacity building for the big data future
In: Paleobiology (2023)
ISSN: 0094-8373
DOI: 10.1017/pab.2023.33
URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/increasing-the-equitability-of-data-citation-in-paleontology-capacity-building-for-the-big-data-future/5DE206ED3B51F7064E8FD60CA77E8D73
Dillon E., Dunne E., Womack T., Kouvari M., Larina E., Claytor JR., Ivkić A., Juhn M., Milla Carmona P., Robson SV., Saha A., Villafaña J., Zill M.:
Challenges and directions in analytical paleobiology
In: Paleobiology (2023)
ISSN: 0094-8373
DOI: 10.1017/pab.2023.3
Farnsworth A., Benson RBJ., Godoy PL., Greene SE., Valdes PJ., Lunt DJ., Butler RJ., Dunne E.:
Climatic controls on the ecological ascendancy of dinosaurs
In: Current Biology 33 (2023), p. 206-+
ISSN: 0960-9822
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.11.064
Dunne E., Thompson SE., Butler RJ., Rosindell J., Close RA.:
Mechanistic neutral models show that sampling biases drive the apparent explosion of early tetrapod diversity
In: Nature Ecology & Evolution (2023)
ISSN: 2397-334X
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02128-3
Lautenschlager S., Aston RF., Baron JL., Boyd JR., Bridger HW., Carmona VE., Ducrey T., Eccles O., Gall M., Jones SA., Laker-Mchugh H., Lawrenson DJ., Mascarenhas KJ., Mcschnutz E., Quinn JD., Robson TE., Stöhr PW., Strahl EJ., Tokeley RR., Weston F., Wallace KJ., Whitehouse T., Bird CM., Dunne E.:
Orbit size and estimated eye size in dinosaurs and other archosaurs and their implications for the evolution of visual capabilities
In: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 43 (2023), Article No.: e2295518
ISSN: 0272-4634
DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2023.2295518
Dunne E., Raja NB., Stewens PP., Zin-Maung-Maung-Thein ., Zaw K.:
Ethics, law, and politics in palaeontological research: The case of Myanmar amber
In: Communications Biology 5 (2022), Article No.: 1023
ISSN: 2399-3642
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03847-2
Henderson S., Dunne E., Giles S.:
Sampling biases obscure the early diversification of the largest living vertebrate group
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 289 (2022), p. 20220916-
ISSN: 0962-8452
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0916
Henderson S., Dunne E., Fasey SA., Giles S.:
The early diversification of ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii): hypotheses, challenges and future prospects
In: Biological Reviews (2022)
ISSN: 1464-7931
DOI: 10.1111/brv.12907
Cisneros J., Raja Schoob NB., Ghilardi AM., Dunne E., Pinheiro F., Regalado Fernández OR., Sales M., Rodríguez-de la Rosa R., Miranda-Martínez A., González-Mora S., Bantim R., de Lima F., Pardo J.:
Digging deeper into colonial palaeontological practices in modern day Mexico and Brazil
In: Royal Society Open Science 9 (2022)
ISSN: 2054-5703
DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210898
Raja NB., Dunne E., Matiwane A., Khan TM., Nätscher P., Ghilardi AM., Chattopadhyay D.:
Author Correction: Colonial history and global economics distort our understanding of deep-time biodiversity (Nature Ecology & Evolution, (2021), 10.1038/s41559-021-01608-8)
In: Nature Ecology & Evolution (2022)
ISSN: 2397-334X
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01682-6
Foffa D., Dunne E., Nesbitt SJ., Butler RJ., Fraser NC., Brusatte SL., Farnsworth A., Lunt DJ., Valdes PJ., Walsh S., Barrett PM.:
Scleromochlus and the early evolution of Pterosauromorpha
In: Nature (2022)
ISSN: 0028-0836
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05284-x
Raja Schoob NB., Dunne E., Matiwane A., Khan TM., Nätscher P., Ghilardi AM., Chattopadhyay D.:
Colonial history and global economics distort our understanding of deep-time biodiversity
In: Nature Ecology & Evolution (2021)
ISSN: 2397-334X
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01608-8
Close R., Benson R., Alroy J., Carrano M., Cleary T., Mannion P., Dunne E., Uhen M., Butler R.:
The apparent exponential radiation of Phanerozoic land vertebrates is an artefact of spatial sampling biases
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 287 (2020)
ISSN: 0962-8452
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0372
Butler RJ., Sennikov AG., Ezcurra MD., Hedrick BP., Maidment SCR., Meade LE., Raven TJ., Gower DJ., Dunne E.:
Cranial anatomy and taxonomy of the erythrosuchid archosauriform ‘Vjushkovia triplicostata’ Huene, 1960, from the Early Triassic of European Russia
In: Royal Society Open Science 6 (2019), Article No.: 191289
ISSN: 2054-5703
DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191289
Close RA., Benson RBJ., Alroy J., Behrensmeyer AK., Benito J., Carrano MT., Cleary TJ., Dunne E., Mannion PD., Uhen MD., Butler RJ.:
Diversity dynamics of Phanerozoic terrestrial tetrapods at the local-community scale
In: Nature Ecology & Evolution 3 (2019), p. 590-597
ISSN: 2397-334X
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-0811-8
Dunne E., Close RA., Button DJ., Brocklehurst N., Cashmore DD., Lloyd GT., Butler RJ.:
Diversity change during the rise of tetrapods and the impact of the ‘carboniferous rainforest collapse’
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences 285 (2018), Article No.: 20172730
ISSN: 0962-8452
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2730
Brocklehurst N., Dunne E., Cashmore D., Frӧbisch J.:
Physical and environmental drivers of Paleozoic tetrapod dispersal across Pangaea
In: Nature Communications 9 (2018)
ISSN: 2041-1723
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07623-x

Book Contributions

Raja Schoob NB., Dunne E.:
Fossil Trafficking, Fraud, and Fakery
In: Naomi Oosterman, Donna Yates (ed.): Art Crime in Context, Springer, 2022, p. 61-79 (Studies in Art, Heritage, Law and the Market, Vol.6)
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-14084-6_5

Conference Contributions

Dunne E., Raja NB.:
Scientometric trends in Burmese amber research
Paleontological Association Annual Meeting (Online, 16. December 2020 - 18. December 2020)
Raja NB., Dunne E., Khan TM., Nätscher P.:
The overlooked realities of sampling bias
GSA Annual Meeting 2020 (Online, 26. October 2020 - 30. October 2020)
DOI: 10.1130/abs/2020AM-356351
URL: https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2020AM/webprogram/Paper356351.html

Miscellaneous

Dunne E., Raja Schoob NB., Stewens P.:
The Return of Fossils Removed Under Colonial Rule
(2022)
DOI: 10.4467/2450050XSNR.22.013.17026
URL: https://www.ejournals.eu/SAACLR/2022/2-2022/art/22616/

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Emma Dunne

Scientific career

Publications

Journal Articles

Book Contributions

Conference Contributions

Miscellaneous