Research interests

My research concerns the evolutionary development of teeth and jaw amongst early vertebrates, especially in placoderms (armored jawed fish). The morphology and histology of gnathal elements of placoderm fishes reveals a wealth of functional morphological and evolutionary developmetal information, lending to broad inner group comparisons and comparisons with very distantly related lineages or groups that may have few outward resemblances; together challenging the definition of 'true' teeth and shedding light on the evolution of teeth and jaw.

Areas of expertise: Early Vertebrate Evolution, Virtual Paleontology and Scientific Visualization. 

Recent publications

Hu,Y.-Z., Young, G.C.,Lu, J. (2019) The Upper Devonian tetrapodomorph Gogonasus andrewsae from Western Australia: Reconstruction of the shoulder girdle and opercular series using X-ray Micro-Computed Tomography. Palaeoworld.

Hu, Y.-Z., Young, G.C., Burrow, C., Zhu, Y.-A., Lu, J. (2018) Complex morphology of gnathal elements in an Early Devonian arthrodire revealed by high resolution XCT scanning. Palaeoworld, doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2018.12.003.

Hu,Y.-Z.,Lu, J.& Young, G.C. (2017) New findings in a 400 million-year-old Devonian placoderm sheds light on jaw structure and function in basal gnathostomes. Scientific Reports 7, doi:10.1038/s41598017-07674-y.

Burrow, C., Hu, Y.-Z. & Young, G.C. (2016) Placoderms and the evolutionary origin of teeth: a comment on Rucklin & Donoghue (2015). Biology Letters 12, doi:10.1098/rsbl.2016.0159.

King, B., Hu, Y.-Z. & Long, J. (2018) Electroreception in early vertebrates: survey, evidence and new information. Palaeontology, doi:10.1111/pala.12346. 

Lu, J., Young, G.C., Hu, Y.-Z., Qiao, T., Zhu, M. (2018) The posterior cranial portion of the earliest known Tetrapodomorph Tungsenia paradoxa and the early evolution of tetrapodomorph endocrania. Vertebrata PalAsiatica.

Biography

• July 2013- January 2018, Research Officer, Department of Applied Maths, RSPE, The Australian National University, Australia.
• August 2018- Present, Sessional Tutor, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of Canberra, Australia.
• November 2018- Present, Project Coordinator (digital and scientific visualization), R&D Department, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Science, China.

Outreach

Canberra Times 2017

Canberra Times 2016

ABC News 2016

Teaching

Business Statistics 

Chemistry 1

Introduction to Chemistry