Dr Imran Rahman
Principal Researcher
Summary
My research is broadly concerned with the origin and early evolution of animals. I focus on a pivotal interval in Earth’s history, the late Ediacaran–Cambrian (~571 to 485 million years ago), which saw the initial radiation of large and complex multicellular eukaryotes (Ediacara biota) and the diversification of animal phyla (Cambrian ‘explosion’). I employ an interdisciplinary approach, combining cutting-edge imaging and modelling methods with palaeontological data, to decipher the fossil record of animal evolution. My work uses high-resolution tomographic techniques to study extinct species digitally and in three dimensions. Additionally, I use computer simulations of fluid flow to explore the function of ancient organisms.Current work is focused on the systematics and evolution of early echinoderms, the hydrodynamics and ecology of Ediacaran marine communities, and the phylogeny of Cambrian deuterostomes.
Qualifications
Degrees
- MSc Evolutionary Genetics & Genomics, University of Manchester, United Kingdom, 2009 - 2010
- PhD Palaeontology, Imperial College London, United Kingdom, 2005 - 2009
- MSci Palaeobiology, University College London, United Kingdom, 2001 - 2005
Academic
- Principal Researcher, Natural History Museum, United Kingdom, 2021 - ongoing
- Museum Research Fellow, University of Oxford, Museum of Natural History, United Kingdom, 2017 - 2021
- 1851 Research Fellow, University of Oxford, Museum of Natural History, United Kingdom, 2016 - 2016
- 1851 Research Fellow, University of Bristol, School of Earth Sciences, United Kingdom, 2014 - 2015
- NERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Bristol, School of Earth Sciences, United Kingdom, 2012 - 2013
- NERC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Birmingham, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, United Kingdom, 2011 - 2012
Highlighted publications
- Gutarra S, Mitchell EG, Dunn FS, Gibson BM, Racicot RA, Darroch SAF, Rahman IA (2024) Ediacaran marine animal forests and the ventilation of the oceans. Current Biology 34, 2528 - 2534.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.04.059
- Mussini G, Smith MP, Vinther J, Rahman IA, Murdock DJE, Harper DAT, Dunn FS (2024) A new interpretation of Pikaia reveals the origins of the chordate body plan. Current Biology 34, 2980 - 2989.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.026
- Rahman IA, Zamora S (2024) Origin and Early Evolution of Echinoderms. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 52, 295 - 320. doi: 10.1146/annurev-earth-031621-113343
- Wang Z, Davies NS, Liu AG, Minter NJ, Rahman IA (2024) Identifying signatures of the earliest benthic bulldozers in emergent subaerial conditions during the colonization of land by animals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 291, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2024.1629
- Li Y, Dunn FS, Murdock DJE, Guo J, Rahman IA, Cong P (2023) Cambrian stem-group ambulacrarians and the nature of the ancestral deuterostome. Current Biology 33, 2359 - 2366.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.048
Highlighted publications
- Gutarra S, Mitchell EG, Dunn FS, Gibson BM, Racicot RA, Darroch SAF, Rahman IA (2024) Ediacaran marine animal forests and the ventilation of the oceans. Current Biology 34, 2528 - 2534.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.04.059
- Mussini G, Smith MP, Vinther J, Rahman IA, Murdock DJE, Harper DAT, Dunn FS (2024) A new interpretation of Pikaia reveals the origins of the chordate body plan. Current Biology 34, 2980 - 2989.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.05.026
- Rahman IA, Zamora S (2024) Origin and Early Evolution of Echinoderms. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 52, 295 - 320. doi: 10.1146/annurev-earth-031621-113343
- Wang Z, Davies NS, Liu AG, Minter NJ, Rahman IA (2024) Identifying signatures of the earliest benthic bulldozers in emergent subaerial conditions during the colonization of land by animals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 291, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2024.1629
- Li Y, Dunn FS, Murdock DJE, Guo J, Rahman IA, Cong P (2023) Cambrian stem-group ambulacrarians and the nature of the ancestral deuterostome. Current Biology 33, 2359 - 2366.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.048