Bio
B.Sc., Integrated Sciences Program, University of British Columbia, 2003
Ph.D., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 2007
Dr. David C. Evans holds the Temerty Chair in Vertebrate Palaeontology and oversees dinosaur research at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). He is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto. David is an Ontario-born researcher who is recognized globally as an authority on the rich dinosaur fossil record of Canada, and on the mass extinction event that marked the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. As a curator, David helped develop the ROM's dinosaur galleries, and was Lead Curator of the major travelling exhibition Ultimate Dinosaurs. He has been featured on numerous television shows, and most recently, David was co-creator of the HISTORY series Dino Hunt Canada.
David’s research focuses on the evolution, ecology and diversity of dinosaurs, and their relationship to environmental changes leading up to the end Cretaceous mass extinction event. Active in the field, he has participated in expeditions all over the world, including the Africa, Mongolia, and Canada, and has helped discover 10 new dinosaur species in the last five years- including the remarkable horned dinosaur Wendiceratops from southern Alberta, and the wickedly armoured Zuul named after the Ghostbusters movie monster.
Latest Dinosaur Discoveries
Gobihadros mongoliensis
Tsogtbaatar, Weishampel, Evans, and Watabe 2019. Learn more here.
Albertavenator curriei (Troodontidae).
Evans, Cullen, Larson, and Rego 2017. Learn more here.
Zuul crurivastator (Ankylosauridae).
Arbour and Evans 2017. Learn more here.
Wendiceratops pinhornensis (Ceratopsidae).
Evans and Ryan 2015. Learn more here.
Mercuriceratops gemini (Ceratopsidae)
Ryan, Evans, Loewen and Currie 2014. Learn more here.
Acheroraptor temertyorum (Dromaeosauridae)
Evans, Currie and Larson 2013. Learn more here.
Acrotholus audeti (Pachycephalosauridae)
Evans, Schott, Larson, Brown, and Ryan 2013. Learn more here.
Albertadromeus syntarsus (Ornithopoda)
Brown, Evans, Ryan, and Russell 2013. Learn more here.
Unescoceratops koppelhusi (Ceratopsia)
Ryan, Evans, Currie, Brown, and Brinkman 2012. Learn more here.
Gryphoceratops morrisoni (Ceratopsia)
Ryan, Evans, Currie, Brown, and Brinkman 2012. Learn more here.
Xenoceratops foremostensis (Ceratopsia)
Ryan, Evans, and Shepherd 2012. Learn more here.
Exhibitions & Galleries
Temerty Gallery of the Age of Dinosaurs
Recent Scientific Publications
- 2019Campbell, J.A., M.J. Ryan, C.J. Schröder-Adams, R.B. Holmes, and D.C. Evans. 2019. Temporal range extension and evolution of the chasmosaurine ceratopsid ‘Vagaceratops’ irvinensis (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) in the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta. Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology 7:83–100. ISSN 2292-1389
- 2019Wosik, M., M. Goodwin, and D.C.Evans. 2019. Nestling-sized Hadrosaurine cranial material from the Hell Creek Formation of Northeastern Montana, USA, with an analysis of cranial ontogeny in Edmontosaurus annectens. PaleoBios, 36. ucmp_paleobios_44525External link, opens in a new tab
- 2019Tsogtbaatar, K., D. Weishampel, D.C. Evans, and M. Watabe. 2019. A New Hadrosauroid (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Late Cretaceous Baynshire Formation of the Gobi Desert (Mongolia). PLoS ONE 14(4): e0208480.External link, opens in a new tab
- 2019Cullen, T., F. Longstaffe, U. Wortmann, M. Goodwin, L. Huang, and D.C. Evans. 2019. Stable isotopic characterization of a coastal floodplain forest community: a case-study for isotopic reconstruction of Mesozoic vertebrate assemblages. Royal Society Open Science 6 (2): 181210.External link, opens in a new tab
- 2019Owusu Agyemang P., E.M. Roberts, R. Bussert, D.C. Evans, and J. Müller. 2019. U-Pb Detrital zircon constraints on the depositional age and provenance of the dinosaur-bearing Wadi Milk Formation of Sudan. Cretaceous Research, 97: 52-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2019.01.005External link, opens in a new tab
- 2019Reynolds, A.R., K.L. Seymour and D.C. Evans. 2019. Late Pleistocene records of felids from Medicine Hat, Alberta, including the first Canadian record of the sabre-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (early online). https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2018-0272External link, opens in a new tab
- 2019Drysdale, E.T., F. Therrien, D.K. Zelenitsky, D.B. Weishampel, and D.C. Evans. 2019. Description of juvenile specimens of Prosaurolophus maximus (Hadrosauridae: Saurolophinae) from the Upper Cretaceous Bearpaw Formation of southern Alberta, Canada, reveals ontogenetic changes in crest morphology. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, e1547310.External link, opens in a new tab
- 2018Bell, P., D.C. Evans, D.A. Eberth, F. Fanti, K. Tsogtbaatar, and M. Ryan. 2018. Sedimentological and Taphonomic Observations on the “Dragon’s Tomb” Saurolophus (Hadrosauridae) bonebed, Nemegt Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Mongolia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 494: 75-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.11.034External link, opens in a new tab
- 2018Campbell J.A., M.J. Ryan, C.J. Schröder-Adams, D.C. Evans, and R.B. Holmes. 2018. New insights into chasmosaurine (Dinosauria: Ceratopsidae) skulls from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) of Alberta, and an update on the distribution of accessory frill fenestrae in Chasmosaurinae. PeerJ, 6:e5194External link, opens in a new tab
- 2018Chiba, K., M. Ryan, F. Fanti, M. Loewen, and D.C. Evans. 2018. New material and systematic re-evaluation of Medusaceratops lokii (Dinosauria, Ceratopsidae) from the Judith River Formation (Campanian, Montana). Journal of Paleontology, 92(2): 272-288. doi:10.1017/jpa.2017.62External link, opens in a new tab
- 2018Evans, D.C., S. Hyashi, K. Chiba, M. Ryan, P. Currie, Y.-N. Lee, K. Tsogtbaatar, and M. Watabe. 2018. Morphology and osteohistology of new specimens of Pachycephalosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Nemegt Formation, Mongolia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 494: 121-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.11.029External link, opens in a new tab
- 2017Arbour, V. and D. C. Evans. 2017. A new ankylosaurine dinosaur from the Judith River Formation of Montana, USA, based on an exceptional skeleton with soft tissue preservation. Royal Society Open Science 4: 161086External link, opens in a new tab
- 2017Evans, D. C., Cullen, T., Larson, D.W., and A. Rego. 2017. A new species of troodontid theropod (Dinosauria: Maniraptora) from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Maastrichtian) of Alberta, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences: 54(8): 813-826
- 2017Chiba, K., M.J. Ryan, F. Fanti, M.A. Loewen, and D.C. Evans. 2018. New material and systematic re-evaluation of Medusaceratops lokii (Dinosauria: Ceratopsidae) from the Judith River Formation (Campanian, Montana). Journal of Paleontology 92(2):272-288
- 2017Mann, A., D. Rudkin, D. C. Evans, and M. LaFlamme. 2017. A large onychodontiform (Osteichthyes: Sarcopterygii) apex predator from the Eifelian-aged Dundee Formation of Ontario, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. doi: 10.1139/cjes-2016-0119External link, opens in a new tab
- 2016Larson, D.W., C. M. Brown, and D. C. Evans. Dental Disparity and Ecological Stability in Bird-like Dinosaurs prior to the End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction. Current Biology: doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.03.039External link, opens in a new tab
- 2016Cullen, T. and D. C. Evans. 2016. Palaeoenvironmental drivers of vertebrate community composition in the Belly River Group (Campanian) of Alberta, Canada, with implications for dinosaur biogeography. BMC Ecology 16:52. doi: 10.1186/s12898-016-0106-8External link, opens in a new tab
- 2016LeBlanc, A., R. R. Reisz, D. C. Evans, and A. Bailleul. 2016. Ontogeny Reveals Function and Evolution of the Hadrosaurid Dinosaur Dental Battery. BMC Evolutionary Biology 16: 152. doi:10.1186/s12862-016-0721-1External link, opens in a new tab
- 2016Mallon J. C., C. J. Ott, P. L. Larson, E. M. Iuliano, and D. C. Evans. 2016. Spiclypeus shipporum gen. et sp. nov., a Boldly Audacious New Chasmosaurine Ceratopsid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Judith River Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Campanian) of Montana, USA. PLoS ONE 11(5): e0154218. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0154218External link, opens in a new tab
- 2016Cullen, T. M., F. Fanti, M. J. Ryan, C. Capobianco, and D. C. Evans. 2016. A vertebrate microsite spanning the marine-terrestrial transition in the Foremost Formation of Alberta, Canada, and the use of faunal assemblage data in palaeoenvironmental interpretations. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 444:101-114. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.12.015External link, opens in a new tab
- 2016VanBuren, C. and D. C. Evans. 2016. Evolution and Function of anterior cervical vertebral fusion in tetrapods. Biological Reviews. doi: 10.1111/brv.12245External link, opens in a new tab
- 2016Goodwin, M. and D. C. Evans. 2016. Early expression of squamosal horns and parietal ornamentation confirmed by new end-stage juvenile Pachycephalosaurus fossils from the Upper Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation, Montana. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1078343
- 2015Brink, K. B., H. C. Maddin, R. R. Reisz, and D. C. Evans. 2015. Re-evaluation of the historic Canadian fossil Bathygnathus borealis from the Early Permian of Prince Edward Island. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences: 10.1139/cjes-2015-0100External link, opens in a new tab
- 2015Evans, D. C. and M. J. Ryan. 2015. Cranial Anatomy of Wendiceratops pinhornensis gen. et sp. nov., a Centrosaurine Ceratopsid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Oldman Formation (Campanian), Alberta, Canada, and the Evolution of Ceratopsid Nasal Ornamentation. PLoS ONE 10(7): e0130007. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130007External link, opens in a new tab
- 2015Chiba, K., M. J. Ryan, D. A. Eberth, D.Braman, Y. Kobayashi and D. C. Evans. 2015. Taphonomy of a Centrosaurus apertus (Dinsoauria: Ceratopsidae) bonebed from the Oldman Formation of Alberta, Canada. Palaios 30(9):655-667.doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2110/palo.2014.084External link, opens in a new tab
- 2015P. M. Barrett, D. C. Evans, and N. E. Campione. 2015. Evolution of dinosaur epidermal structures. Biology Letters. 20150229. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0229External link, opens in a new tab
- 2015VanBuren, C., N. E. Campione, and D. C. Evans. 2015. Head size, weaponry, and cervical adaptation: Testing craniocervical evolutionary hypotheses in Ceratopsia. Evolution 69(7):1728-1724. doi/abs/10.1111/evo.12693.External link, opens in a new tab
- 2015Brown, C. M., M. J. Ryan, and D. C. Evans. 2015. A census of Canadian Dinosaurs: more than a century of discovery. In All Animals are Interesting. (O. R. P. Bininda-Emonds, G. G. Powell, H. A. Jamniczky, A. M. Bauer, and J. Theodor, eds) BIS-Verlag der Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Oldenburg.
- 2015Evans, D. C., D. A. Eberth, and M. P. J. Ryan. 2015. Hadrosaurid (Edmontosaurus) bonebeds from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation at Drumheller, Alberta, Canada: Geology, preliminary taphonomy, and significance. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 52(8): 642-654. doi: 10.1139/cjes-2014-0184External link, opens in a new tab
- 2015Modesto, S. R. Reisz, M. MacDougall, D. Scott H.-D. Sues, and D. C. Evans. 2015. The oldest parareptile and the early diversification of reptiles. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1912External link, opens in a new tab
- 2015Brusatte, S. L., R. J. Butler, P. M. Barrett, M. T. Carrano, D. C. Evans, G. T. Lloyd, P. D. Mannion, M. A. Norell, D. J. Peppe, P. Upchurch, and T. E. Williamson. 2015. The extinction of the dinosaurs. Biological Reviews 90 (2): 628-642. DOI: 10.1111/brv.12128. doi/full/10.1111/brv.12128External link, opens in a new tab
- 2014Benson R. B. J., N. E. Campione, M. T. Carrano, P. D. Mannion, C. Sullivan, P. Upchurch, and D. C. Evans. 2014. Rates of dinosaur body mass evolution indicate 170 million years of sustained ecological innovation on the avian stem lineage, PLOS Biology 12(5): e1001853.External link, opens in a new tab
- 2013Evans, D. C., D. Larson, and P. J. Currie. 2013. A new dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) with Asian Affinities from the latest Cretaceous of North America. Naturwissenschaften 100 (11): 1041-1049.External link, opens in a new tab
- 2013Maddin, H. C., N. B. Frobisch, D. C. Evans, and A. R. Milner. 2013. Reappraisal of the Early Permian amphibamid Tersomius texensis and some referred material. Comptes Rendus Palevol.
- 2013Evans, D. C., T. E. Williamson, M. Loewen and J. Kirkland. 2013. 20. Review of pachycephalosaurian dinosaurs from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah. pp. 482-487. In At the top of Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of southern Utah (A. Titus and M. A. Loewen, eds), Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
- 2013Gates, T., E. Lund, C. Boyd, D. D. DeBlieux, A. Titus, D. C. Evans, M. Getty, J. I. Kirkland and J. Eaton. 2013. 19. Ornithopod dinosaurs from the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah and their role in paleobiogeographic and macroevolutionary studies. pp. 463-481. In At the top of Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of southern Utah (A. Titus and M. A. Loewen, eds), Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
- 2013Evans, D. C., R. Schott, D. Larson, C. M. Brown, and M. J. Ryan. 2013. The oldest North American pachycephalosaurid and the hidden diversity of small-bodied ornithischian dinosaurs. Nature Communications 4:1828. doi:10.1038/ncomms2749External link, opens in a new tab
- 2013Mallon, J. C., D. C. Evans, M. J. Ryan, and J. S. Anderson. 2013. Feeding height stratification among the herbivorous dinosaurs from the Dinosaur Park Formation (upper Campanian) of Alberta, Canada. BMC Ecology 2013, 13:14 doi:10.1186/1472-6785-13-14External link, opens in a new tab
- 2013McGarrity, C. T., N. E. Campione, and D. C. Evans. 2013. Cranial anatomy and variation in Prosaurolophus maximus (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 167(4): 531-568.External link, opens in a new tab
- 2013Brown, C. M., D. C. Evans, M. J. Ryan, and A. P. Russell. 2013. New data on the diversity and abundance of small-bodied ornithopods (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Belly River Group (Campanian) of Alberta. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33(3):1–26. [Feature Article].External link, opens in a new tab
- 2013Eberth, D. A., D. C. Evans, D. Brinkman, F. Therrien, D. H. Tanke, and L. Russell. 2013. Dinosaur Biostratigraphy of the Edmonton Group (Upper Cretaceous), Alberta, Canada: Evidence for Climate Influence. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 50(7): 701-726. Doi: 10.1139/cjes-2012-0185External link, opens in a new tab
- 2013Brown, C. M., D. C. Evans, N. E. Campione, L. J. O’Brien, and D. A. Eberth (In press, available online). Evidence for Taphonomic Size Bias in a Model Mesozoic Terrestrial Alluvial-Paralic System. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 372:108–122. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.06.027External link, opens in a new tab
- 2013Campione, N. E., K. Brink, E. Freedman, C. T. McGarrity, and D. C. Evans. 2013. ‘Glishades ericksoni‘, an indeterminate juvenile hadrosaurid from the Two Medicine Formation of Montana: implications for hadrosauroid diversity in the latest Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) of western North America. Paleodiversity and Paleoenvironments 93(1):65-75. DOI 10.1007/s12549-012-0097-1External link, opens in a new tab
- 2013Brown, C. M., H. Giacomini, N. E. Campione, L. O’Brien, M. Vavrek, and D. C. Evans. 2013. Ecological modelling, size distributions, and taphonomic size bias in dinosaur faunas: a comment on Codron et al., 2012. Biology Letters 9 (1): 20120582.External link, opens in a new tab
- 2012Ryan, M. J., D. C. Evans, and K. Shepherd. 2012. A new ceratopsid from the Foremost Formation (middle Campanian), Alberta. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 49: 1251–1262.External link, opens in a new tab
- 2012Larson, D. W., N. R. Longrich, D. C. Evans, M. J. Ryan 2012. A new species of Neurankylus from the Milk River Formation (Cretaceous: Santonian) and a revision of N. eximius. Pp. 389-405 In: Morphology and Evolution of Turtles. Springer-Vrlag, Berlin.
- 2012Campione, N. E., and D. C. Evans. 2012. A universal scaling relationship between body mass and proximal limb bone dimensions in quadrupedal terrestrial tetrapods. BMC Biology 10:60 doi:10.1186/1741-7007-10-60 (free online access)External link, opens in a new tab
- 2012Mallon, J. C., D. C. Evans, M. J. Ryan, and J. S. Anderson. 2012. Megaherbivorous dinosaur turnover in the Dinosaur Park Formation (upper Campanian) of Alberta, Canada. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 350-352: 124-138. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.06.027,External link, opens in a new tab
- 2012Brink, K. J. Hawthorn, and D. C. Evans. (in press). New Occurrences Of Ichniotherium And Striatichnium From The Early Permian Kildare Capes Formation, Prince Edward Island, Canada: Palaeoenvironmental and Biostratigraphic Implications. Paleontology. (PALA-09-11-3226-OA) doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01178.x (available online)External link, opens in a new tab
- 2012Schott, R. K. and D. C. Evans. 2012. Squamosal ontogeny and variation in the pachycephalosaurian dinosaur Stegoceras validum from the Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta. Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology 32(4):903-913.
- 2012Vavrek, M. J., D. C. Evans, D. R. Braman, N. E. Campione, and G. D. Zazula. 2012. A Paleogene flora from the upper Bonnet Plume Formation of northeast Yukon Territory, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 49:(3) 547-558. doi 10.1139/e11-073External link, opens in a new tab
- 2012Folinsbee, K. E.and D. C. Evans. 2012. A protocol for temporally calibrating General Area Cladograms. Journal of Biogeography 39(4):688–697.External link, opens in a new tab
- 2012Ryan, M. J., D. C. Evans, P. J. Currie, C. M. Brown, and D. Brinkman. 2012. New leptoceratopsids from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. Cretaceous Research 35: 69-80.External link, opens in a new tab
- 2012Evans, D. C., M. J. Vavrek, D. R. Braman, N. E. Campione, T. A. Dececchi, and G. D. Zazula. 2012. Vertebrate Fossils (Dinosauria) from the Bonnet Plume Formation, Yukon Territory, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences: 49:(2) 396-411. 10.1139/e11-064External link, opens in a new tab
- 2012Reisz, R. R., D. C. Evans, E. M. Roberts, H. -D. Sues, and A. M. Yates. 2012. Oldest known dinosaurian nesting site and reproductive biology of the Early Jurassic sauropodomorph Massospondylus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109 (7): 2428-2433. Early Edition, Jan. 23, 2012.External link, opens in a new tab
- 2012Evans, D. C., Barrett, P. M, and Seymour, K. S. 2012. Revised identification of a reported Iguanodon-grade ornithopod tooth from the Scollard Formation, Alberta, Canada. Cretaceous Research 33 (1): 11-14.
- 2011Campione, N. E., and D. C. Evans. 2011. Cranial growth and variation in edmontosaurs (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae): Implications for latest Cretaceous megaherbivore diversity in North America. PLoS ONE 6(9): e25186. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0025186External link, opens in a new tab
- 2011Schott, R. K., D. C. Evans, M. B. Goodwin, C. M. Brown, J. R. Horner, and N. R. Longrich. 2011. Cranial ontogeny in Stegoceras validum (Dinosauria: Pachycephalosauria): a quantitative model of pachycephalosaur dome growth and variation. PLoS ONE 6(6): e21092. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021092External link, opens in a new tab
- 2011Evans, D. C., C. M. Brown, and M. J. Ryan and K. Tsogtbaatar. 2011. Cranial ornamentation and ontogenetic status of Homalocephale calathoceras (Ornithischia: Pachycephalosauria) from the Nemegt Formation, Mongolia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31(1): 84-92
- 2011Brink, K. S., D. K. Zelenitsky, D. C. Evans, F. Therrien, J. R. Horner. 2011. A sub-adult skull of Hypacrosaurus stebingeri (Ornithischia: Lambeosaurinae): Anatomy and Comparison. Historical Biology 23(1):63-7
Popular Publications
- 2012Evans, D. C., and M. Vavrek. 2012. Ultimate Dinos: Giants from Gondwana. ROM Press. (ISBN-10: 088854491X).External link, opens in a new tab
- 2010Evans, D. C. 2010. Hadrosaurid (Duck-billed) dinosaurs. McGraw Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology 2010: 171-173.
- 2007Brewster, H., J. Waddington, K. Seymour, and D. C. Evans. 2007. Breakout Dinosaurs! Codastat Canada Ltd. (ISBN: 097818050x)