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Takuya Imai
- Profile
- Research Interest
- Selected Publications
- Social Activities
- Educational Activies
- Additional Information
Profile
| Affiliation | Institute of Dinosaur Research |
|---|---|
| Title | Associate Prof. |
| Room | (Extension) |
| t_imaiatfpu.ac.jp ( at = @ ) | |
| Website | https://idr-fpu.jimdofree.com/ |
| Education | Graduate School of Natural Science & Technology, Kanazawa University |
| Degree | Ph.D. (Natural Sciences) |
| Academic Societies | Palaeontological Society of Japan |
| Career | Researcher, Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum (concurrent) Researcher, Dinotech Lab, Research Institute for Earth Science Visualization Technology Co.,Ltd. (concurrent) Technical Manager, Dinosaur Institute, Inc. (concurrent) |
Research Interest
| Research Field | Reproductive biology of extinct reptiles and birds Taxonomy of primitive birds in the Mesozoic Vertebrate Taphonomy Virtual Paleontology |
|---|---|
| Research Summary | I primarily focus on the Lower Cretaceous fossil eggs from Japan. My studies extend beyond the ocean to the Lower Cretaceous deposits of southern China and northeastern Thailand, conducting fieldwork and examining fossil eggs collected in the region. My goal is to understand the evolution of amniotic eggs during the time. Upon the discovery of an Early Cretaceous bird skeleton from Fukui, I also began studying the taxonomy and phylogeny of primitive fossil birds of the time. The fossil record of these birds is very poorly known from Japan, and I conduct fieldwork in Fukui every year to find additional remains. The other interest of mine is vertebrate taphonomy, the study about processes of decomposition, deposition, fossilization, and collection of vertebrate remains. I’ve been investigating the vertebrate taphonomy of the Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry in Fukui, trying to reconstruct what was happening during the death of the dinosaurs collected from the quarry. More recently, I started promoting the paleontology education through virtual technologies. In particular, I’ve been trying to make the 3D object data collected by our institute publically available. Additionally, to facilitate industry-academic partnership in paleontology, I work closely with members of private organizations and established the Dinotech Lab and Dinosaur Institute. |
| Keywords | Dinosaurs, Eggs, Taphonomy, Virtual Paleontology |
Selected Publications
Imai, T., and Y. Azuma. 2014. THE OLDEST KNOWN AVIAN EGGSHELL, PLAGIOOLITHUS FUKUIENSIS, FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS (UPPER BARREMIAN) KITADANI FORMATION, FUKUI, JAPAN. Historical Biology 27:1090–1097.
Imai, T., D. Varricchio, J. Cahoon, and K. Plymesser. 2015. SEDIMENTOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF EGGSHELL TRANSPORT AND DEPOSITION: IMPLICATION AND APPLICATION TO EGGSHELL TAPHONOMY. Palaios 30:435–445.
Imai, T., P. Jintasakul, Y. Azuma, Y. Noda, and D. Chokchaloemwong. 2016. FIRST CONFIRMED FOSSIL TURTLE EGGSHELLS (OOGENUS TESTUDOOLITHUS) FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS OF THAILAND. Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum 15:1–6.
Azuma, Y., X.Xu, M. Shibata, S. Kawabe, K. Miyata, and T. Imai. 2016. A BIZARRE THEROPOD FROM THE EARLY CRETACEOUS OF JAPAN HIGHLIGHTING MOSAIC EVOLUTION AMONG COELUROSAURIANS. Scientific Reports 6:20478.
Jackson, F. D., W. Zheng, T. Imai, R. Jackson, and Jin X. 2018. FOSSIL EGGS ASSOCIATED WITH A NEOCERATOPSIAN (MOSAICERATOPS AZUMAI) FROM THE UPPER CRETACEOUS XIAGUAN FORMATION, HENAN PROVINCE, CHINA. Cretaceous Research 91:457–467.
Imai, T., Y. Tsukiji, and Y. Azuma. 2018. DESCRIPTION OF BIRD TRACKS FROM THE KITADANI FORMATION (APTIAN), KATSUYAMA, FUKUI, JAPAN WITH THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING TECHNIQUES. Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum 17:1–8.
Imai, T., Y. Azuma, S. Kawabe, M. Shibata, K. Miyata, M. Wang, and Z. Zhou. 2019. AN UNUSUAL BIRD (THEROPODA, AVIALAE) FROM THE EARLY CRETACEOUS OF JAPAN SUGGESTS COMPLEX EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF BASAL BIRDS. Communications Biology 2: 399.
Imai, T., Y. Azuma, and H. Yukawa. 2020. NEW EARLY CRETACEOUS DINOSAURIAN EGGSHELL MULTIFISSOOLITHUS SHIMONOSEKIENSIS (DINOSAURIA, DONGYANGOOLITHIDAE) FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS OF SHIMONOSEKI, YAMAGUCHI, SOUTHWESTERN JAPAN. Historical Biology: DOI: 10.1080/08912963.2020.1737682.
Hirokazu, Y., G. Sun, S. Suzuki, and T. Imai. 2020. REVISION OF THE NARIWA FLORA AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN TERRESTRIAL CLIMATE CHANGES DURING THE LATE TRIASSIC IN EAST ASIA. Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum 19.
Oyama, N., H. Yukawa, and T. Imai. 2021. NEW COCKROACH ASSEMBLAGE FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS KITADANi FORMATION, FUKUI, JAPAN. Palaeontographica Abteilung A: DOI:10.1127/pala/2021/0112.
4. Hattori, S., S. Kawabe, T. Imai, M. Shibata, K. Miyata, X. Xu, and Y. Azuma. 2021. OSTEOLOGY OF FUKUIVENATOR PARADOXUS: A BIZARRE MANIRAPTRAN THEROPOD FROM THE EARLY CRETACEOUS OF FUKUI< JAPAN. Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum 20: 1-82.
Community Engagement
Staff, Asia Dinosaur Association, Japan. 2016-
Researcher, Research Group for the Tetori Group Fossils, Hakusan. 2019-
Guest lecturer, The Open University of Japan. 2017-
Staff, International Symposium om Asian Dinosaurs 2014 in Fukui
Staff, 2016 Annual Meeting of Palaeontological Society of Japan
Educational Activites
| Classes | Dinosaur Paleontology, Life Science, Introduction to Earth Sciences |
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| Office Hour | Upon appointments |
| Available Topics | Reproduction of extinct oviparous amniotes (with focus on dinosaurs) Early Cretaceous basal birds Vertebrate Taphonomy |