Her research focuses on the functional anatomy of extinctvertebrates, especially dinosaurs, using computational methods such as finite element analysis (FEA). In the landmark paper Rayfield et al. (2001),[2] the skull of the theropod dinosaurAllosaurus was analysed using FEA in order to quantitatively assess different feeding hypotheses. This paper was the first use of FEA on a three-dimensional structure in palaeontology (in collaboration with CT scanning), and spurred interest in using CT-scanned skull FEA on feeding biomechanics in zoology and palaeontology.[3]
In addition, she helped elucidate the cranial biomechanics of the noted carnivorous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus using two-dimensional FEA.[4] This study was expanded upon in a comparative finite element analysis of 2D theropod skulls (namely AllosaurusCoelophysis and Tyrannosaurus), in order to quantitatively compare cranial biomechanics.[5]
^Rayfield, E. J., Norman, D. B., Horner, C. C., Horner, J. R., Smith, P. M., Thomason, J. J. and Upchurch, P. 2001. Cranial design and function in a large theropod dinosaur. Nature409: 1033-1037.
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Rayfield, E. J. 2007. Finite element analysis in vertebrate morphology. Annual Reviews in Earth and Planetary Sciences35: 541–576.
^Rayfield, E. J. 2004. Cranial mechanics and feeding in Tyrannosaurus rex. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B-Biological Sciences271: 1451-1459.
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Rayfield, E. J. 2005. Aspects of comparative cranial mechanics in the theropod dinosaurs Coelophysis, Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society144 (3): 309–316.
