Zewdi Tsegai | Ape Move Lab

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Ape-Move Lab
University of Chicago
PI: Zewdi Tsegai

Zewdi J. Tsegai, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

ztsegai@uchicago.edu

I am a palaeoanthropologist and my research is primarily focused on understanding the evolution of bipedalism and reconstructing locomotion among early fossil human relatives (hominins). A key focus of my research has involved understanding how behaviour shapes the skeleton, and how we can use plastic features to reconstruct locomotor behaviour in the past. Key areas of ongoing research include the functional morphology of the foot, how the skeleton changes during growth, and intraspecific variability in internal bone morphology.

I joined the Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago in 2023, after having completed doctoral and post-doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig, Germany) and the University of Kent (Canterbury, UK).

Education and Training

2022 - 2023

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, UK

2018 - 2021

Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany

2018

Ph.D. Biology, Leipzig University and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany

2012

M.Sc. Human Evolution and Behaviour, University College London, UK

2009

B.A. Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK

Publications

2026

Swan KR, Ives R, Tsegai ZJ, Humphrey LT. 2026. Developmental differences in cortical bone structure in chimpanzee and human femora reflect early locomotor independence in humans. The Anatomical Record

Cazenave M, Pietrobelli A, Luková A, Bachmann S, Caruana MV, Clarke RJ, Dunmore CJ, Hammond AS, Heaton JL, Heile AJ, Hoffman J, Kuman K, Pahr DH, Smith CM, Stratford D, Synek A, Tsegai ZJ, Kivell TL, Pickering TR, Skinner MM. Swartkrans Paranthropus and Sterkfontein Australopithecus from southern Africa had different locomotor repertoires. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 123:(20)e2532193123

Pietrobelli A, Cazenave M, Synek A, Bachmann S, Skinner MM, Kivell TL, Tsegai ZJ. 2026. Integration of distal tibial shape and internal trabecular bone structure among catarrhine primates. Proc Biol Sci. 293(2069):20260126.

2025

Farrell HN, Schwartz R, Tsegai ZJ, Alemseged Z. 2025. Locomotor signals in the trabecular structure of the hominoid clavicle. Journal of Anatomy, 247, 284–303.

Spear JK*, Kuo S*, Gidmark NJ, Granatosky MC, Laird MF, Tsegai ZJ, Ward CV, Ross CF. 2025. Comparison of ankle dorsiflexion using XROMM and external angular kinematics in a quadrupedally walking macaque Journal of Experimental Biology 228 (17): jeb251088.

Natahi S, Neubauer S, Tsegai ZJ, Hublin J-J, Gunz P. Can cranial vault thickness explain endocranial shape differences between Neanderthals and present-day humans? 2025. Journal of Human Evolution 204:103683.

Swan KR, Tsegai ZJ, Ives R, Humphrey LT. 2025. Restructuring of cortical bone during growth and locomotor development of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). American Journal of Biological Anthropology 186: e25045.

2024

Lukova A, Dunmore CJ, Tsegai ZJ, Bachmann S, Synek A and Skinner MM. 2024. Technical Note: Does scan resolution or downsampling impact the analysis of trabecular bone architecture? American Journal of Biological Anthropology e25023.

Syeda SM, Tsegai ZJ, Cazenave M, Skinner MM, Kivell TL. 2024.Cortical bone architecture of hominid intermediate phalanges reveals functional signals of locomotion and manipulation. American Journal of Biological Anthropology 184(1), e24902.

2023

Syeda SM, Tsegai ZJ, Cazenave M, Skinner MM, Kivell TL. 2023. Cortical bone distribution of the proximal phalanges in great apes and its implications for reconstruction of manual behaviours. Journal of Anatomy 243, 707–728.

2022

Deckers K, Tsegai ZJ, Skinner MM, Zeininger A, Kivell TL. 2022. Ontogenetic changes to metacarpal trabecular bone in mountain and western lowland gorillas. Journal of Anatomy. 241(1):82-100.

2019

Colombo A, Stephens NB, Tsegai ZJ, Bettuzzi M, Morigi NB, Belcastro MG, Hublin J-J. 2019. Trabecular analysis of the distal radial metaphysis during the acquisition of crawling and bipedal walking in childhood: A preliminary study. BMSAP, 31(1-2), 43-51.

2018

Tsegai ZJ, Skinner MM, Pahr DH, Hublin J-J, Kivell TL. (2018). Ontogeny and variability of trabecular bone in the chimpanzee humerus, femur and tibia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 167(4), 713-736.

Tsegai ZJ, Skinner MM, Pahr DH, Hublin J-J, Kivell TL. 2018. Systemic patterns of trabecular bone across the human and chimpanzee skeleton. Journal of Anatomy, 232(4), 641-656.

2017

Tsegai ZJ, Skinner MM, Gee AH, Pahr DH, Treece GM, Hublin J-J, Kivell TL. 2017. Trabecular and cortical bone structure of the talus and distal tibia in Pan and Homo. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 163(4), 784-805.

Tsegai ZJ*, Stephens NB*, Treece GM, Skinner MM, Kivell TL, Gee AH. 2017. Cortical bone mapping: An application to hand and foot bones in hominoids. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 16(5-6), 690-701.

2015

Skinner MM, Stephens NB, Tsegai ZJ, Foote AC, Nguyen HN, Gross T, Pahr DH, Hublin J-J, Kivell TL. 2015. Human-like hand use in Australopithecus africanus. Science, 347(6220), 395-399.

Skinner MM, Stephens NB, Tsegai ZJ, Foote AC, Nguyen HN, Gross T, Pahr DH, Hublin J-J, Kivell TL. 2015. Response to Comment on “Human-like hand use in Australopithecus africanus”. Science, 348(6239), 1101 -1101.

2013

Tsegai ZJ, Kivell TL, Gross T, Nguyen HN, Pahr DH, Smaers JB, Skinner MM. 2013. Trabecular bone structure correlates with hand posture and use in hominoids. PLoS One, 8(11): e78781.

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