Basic Information

Email Address

• Email Address

  tomiya.susumu.8rkyoto-u.ac.jp

Professional Memberships

• To Present

  Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
• From Jul. 2023, To Present

  Mammalogical Society of Japan
• To Present

  PALAEONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN

Academic Degree

• Ph.D(バークレー校)(カリフォルニア大学)

Research History

• From 2022, To Present

  Kyoto University, Center for International Collaboration and Advanced Studies in Primatology, Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior, Program-specific Assistant Professor
• From 2019, To 2024

  Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music, Part-time Lecturer
• From 2017, To Present

  Field Museum of Natural History, Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Research Associate
• From 2013, To Present

  University of California Museum of Paleontology, Research Associate
• From 2019, To 2022

  Kyoto University, Primate Research Institute, Program-specific Assistant Professor
• From 2020, To Present

  Chukyo University, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Part-time Lecturer
• From 2017, To 2018

  Des Moines University, Department of Anatomy, Postdoctoral researcher
• From 2013, To 2016

  Field Museum of Natural History, Geology, Postdoctoral scholar
• From 2012, To 2013

  University of California, Berkeley, Department of Integrative Biology, Lecturer

Language of Instruction

• Japanese
• English

ID,URL

• ORCID ID

  0000-0001-6038-899X

• J-Global ID

  201901004126622059

• External link

  http://www.cicasp.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/people/susumu-tomiya#

Website(s) (URL(s))

• https://sites.google.com/view/susumutomiya
• http://www.cicasp.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/people/susumu-tomiya#

researchmap URL

• https://researchmap.jp/stomiya

Research

Research Topics, Overview of the research

• Research Topics

  Mammalian evolution and extinction

• Overview of the research

  I study the evolutionary history of mammals to better understand how their diversity is generated, maintained, or lost at various scales of time (hundreds to millions of years) and space (local to continental).

Research Interests

• evolutionary biology
• biodiversity
• paleontology
• mammalogy

Research Areas

• Life sciences, Biodiversity and systematics
• Life sciences, Evolutionary biology
• Natural sciences, Biogeoscience

Papers

• An early to middle Uintan (Ui1b–Ui2) mammalian fauna from the upper unit of the middle Eocene Adobe Town Member, Washakie Formation (Wyoming, U.S.A.)

  Steven M. McCarroll; Susumu Tomiya; Rachel H. Dunn; Shawn P. Zack; Melissa C. Wood; Bin Bai; William D. Turnbull; John J. Flynn

  Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 21 Nov. 2025, Peer-reviewed, Corresponding author

  
• An early nimravid from California and the rise of hypercarnivorous mammals after the middle Eocene climatic optimum

  Ashley W. Poust; Paul Z. Barrett; Susumu Tomiya

  Biology Letters, Oct. 2022, Peer-reviewed, Last author

  Access this paper :

  
• Utilizing inquiry-driven science outreach to curate Natural Trap Cave fossils and inspire the pursuit of STEM careers

  Cory M. Redman; Susumu Tomiya; Kathleen Bitterman; Kacia Cain; Julie A. Meachen

  Evolution: Education and Outreach, 16 Aug. 2021, Peer-reviewed

  
• Why aren't rabbits and hares larger?

  Susumu Tomiya; Lauren K Miller

  Evolution, 12 Mar. 2021, Peer-reviewed, Lead author, Corresponding author

  Access this paper :

  
• Carnivorous mammals from the middle Eocene Washakie Formation, Wyoming, USA, and their diversity trajectory in a post-warming world

  Susumu Tomiya; Shawn P. Zack; Michelle Spaulding; John J. Flynn

  Paleontological Society Memoir (Supplement to Journal of Paleontology 95), Mar. 2021, Peer-reviewed, Lead author, Corresponding author

  Access this paper :

  
• Reidentification of late middle Eocene "Uintacyon" from the Galisteo Formation (New Mexico, U.S.A.) as an early beardog (Mammalia, Carnivora, Amphicyonidae)

  Susumu Tomiya

  Breviora, May 2020, Peer-reviewed, Lead author, Corresponding author

  
• Postcranial diversity and recent ecomorphic impoverishment of North American gray wolves.

  Tomiya S; Meachen JA

  Biology letters, Jan. 2018, Peer-reviewed, Lead author, Corresponding author

  
• Whence the beardogs? Reappraisal of the Middle to Late Eocene 'Miacis' from Texas, USA, and the origin of Amphicyonidae (Mammalia, Carnivora)

  Susumu Tomiya; Zhijie Jack Tseng

  ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE, Oct. 2016, Peer-reviewed, Lead author, Corresponding author

  
• Body Size and Extinction Risk in Terrestrial Mammals Above the Species Level

  Susumu Tomiya

  AMERICAN NATURALIST, Dec. 2013, Peer-reviewed, Lead author, Corresponding author

  
• New carnivoraforms (Mammalia) from the middle Eocene of California, USA, and comments on the taxonomic status of 'Miacis' gracilis

  Susumu Tomiya

  Palaeontologia Electronica, 2013, Peer-reviewed, Lead author, Corresponding author

  
• A New Basal Caniform (Mammalia: Carnivora) from the Middle Eocene of North America and Remarks on the Phylogeny of Early Carnivorans

  Susumu Tomiya

  PLOS ONE, Sep. 2011, Peer-reviewed, Lead author, Corresponding author

  
• Has the Earth's sixth mass extinction already arrived?

  Anthony D. Barnosky; Nicholas Matzke; Susumu Tomiya; Guinevere O. U. Wogan; Brian Swartz; Tiago B. Quental; Charles Marshall; Jenny L. McGuire; Emily L. Lindsey; Kaitlin C. Maguire; Ben Mersey; Elizabeth A. Ferrer

  NATURE, Mar. 2011, Peer-reviewed

  
• The educational values of the University of California Museum of Paleontology

  Tomiya, Susumu; Swartz, Brian A.; Batavia, Mariska

  University Museums and Collections Journal, 11 Feb. 2011, Peer-reviewed, Lead author, Corresponding author

  
• A report on late Quaternary vertebrate fossil assemblages from the eastern San Francisco Bay region, California

  Susumu Tomiya; Jenny L. McGuire; Russell W. Dedon; Seth D. Lerner; Rika Setsuda; Ashley N. Lipps; Jeannie F. Bailey; Kelly R. Hale; Alan B. Shabel; Anthony D. Barnosky

  PaleoBios, 19 Oct. 2011, Peer-reviewed, Lead author, Corresponding author

  

Misc.

• Giant mustelids (Mammalia, Carnivora) from the lower member of the Irrawaddy Formation (upper Neogene) of Myanmar

  Tomiya, Susumu; Grohé, Camille; Longue, Morgane; Egi, Naoko; Thaung-Htike; Zin-Maung-Maung-Thein; Takai, Masanaru

  Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 2025 Program Guide, 2025, Peer-reviewed, Lead author, Corresponding author

  
• A nimravid fossil from the Eocene of California and the rise of hypercarnivorous carnivoramorphans

  Susumu Tomiya; Paul Z. Barrett; Ashley W. Poust

  日本古生物学会第 2022年年会予稿集, Jul. 2022, Lead author, Corresponding author

  
• An early nimravid (Carnivoramorpha) from the Eocene of California reveals a rapid dispersal of the hypercarnivorous guild

  Ashley W. Poust; Susumu Tomiya

  Meeting Program and Abstracts, 80th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Oct. 2020, Peer-reviewed

  
• Carnivorous mammals from the middle Eocene Washakie Formation, Wyoming, U.S.A., and their diversity trajectory in a post-warming world

  Susumu Tomiya; Shawn P. Zack; Michelle Spaulding; John J. Flynn

  Meeting Program and Abstracts, 79th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Oct. 2019, Peer-reviewed, Lead author, Corresponding author

  
• Correction to 'Postcranial diversity and recent ecomorphic impoverishment of North American gray wolves'.

  Tomiya S; Meachen JA

  Biology letters, Feb. 2019, Peer-reviewed

  
• Morphological variations in the limb bones of late-Quaternary gray wolves in North America

  Susumu Tomiya; Julie Meachen

  日本古生物学会第 168 回例会予稿集, 2019

  
• Research experience in paleontology changes attitudes, improves science communication, and inspires high school students to pursue STEM careers

  Kathleen Bitterman; Susumu Tomiya; Cory M. Redman; Kacia Cain; Julie A. Meachen

  Meeting Program and Abstracts, 78th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2018, Peer-reviewed

  
• Diversity and turnover of carnivorous mammals from the middle Eocene Washakie Formation, Wyoming, U.S.A.

  Susumu Tomiya; Shawn P. Zack; Michelle Spaulding

  Programs and Abstracts, 76th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2016, Peer-reviewed

  
• Evolution of maximum body size in North American lagomorphs

  Susumu Tomiya; Lauren K. Miller

  Programs and Abstracts, 74th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2014

  
• Concordance and discordance of diversity dynamics across mammalian trophic groups in the middle Eocene of coastal southern California

  Susumu Tomiya

  Programs and Abstracts, 73rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2013, Peer-reviewed

  
• GENERIC DURATIONS OF TERRESTRIAL MAMMALS IN THE OLIGO-HOLOCENE OF NORTH AMERICA AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UTILITY OF BODY SIZE AS A PREDICTOR OF SUPRASPECIFIC EXTINCTION RISK

  Susumu Tomiya

  JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY, 2012, Peer-reviewed

  
• QUANTITATIVE INFERENCES ON MICROVERTEBRATE DEATH ASSEMBLAGES BASED ON RIGHT-LEFT DISPARITY OF SKELETAL PRESERVATION

  Susumu Tomiya

  JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY, 2011, Peer-reviewed

  
• BODY MASS AS A CORRELATE OF EXTINCTION RISK IN MAMMALS: A PHYLOGENETIC COMPARATIVE APPROACH TO THE FOSSIL RECORD

  Susumu Tomiya

  JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY, 2009, Peer-reviewed

  
• SUCCESSION OF MIDDLE EOCENE CARNIVOROUS MAMMALS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

  Susumu Tomiya

  JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY, Sep. 2008, Peer-reviewed

  
• QUANTIFYING THE EXTENT OF TIME-AVERAGING INTRODUCED BY RODENT BIOTURBATION IN MAMMAL-BEARING CENOZOIC SEDIMENTS

  Jenny Mcguire; Jessica Blois; Susumu Tomiya; Brian Sherrod; Anthony Barnosky

  JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY, Sep. 2008, Peer-reviewed

  

Presentations

• Giant mustelids (Mammalia, Carnivora) from the lower member of the Irrawaddy Formation (upper Neogene) of Myanmar

  Tomiya, Susumu; Grohé, Camille; Longue, Morgane; Egi, Naoko; Thaung-Htike; Zin-Maung-Maung-Thein; Takai, Masanaru

  Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 2025 Annual Meeting, 12 Nov. 2025

  
• 哺乳類化石から復元する環境史と生態史

  第 43 回（通算第 160 回）化石研究会総会・学術大会, 31 May 2025, Invited

  
• On the giant mustelids from the late Neogene of central Myanmar

  Susumu Tomiya

  2024 Annual Meeting of the Mammal Society of Japan, 09 Sep. 2024

  
• On the loss of forests and mammalian diversity dynamics in the middle Eocene of western North America

  Susumu Tomiya

  2023 Annual Meeting of the Mammal Society of Japan, 10 Sep. 2023

  
• Intra-ecoregional variations and covariations of limb morphology in the raccoon dog, Nyctereutes procyonoides (Mammalia, Carnivora), inform approaches to historical ecomorphology and ecometrics

  Susumu Tomiya; Morgane C. Longue; Julie A. Meachen

  2nd Asian Palaeontological Congress, 05 Aug. 2023

  
• A nimravid fossil from the Eocene of California and the rise of hypercarnivorous carnivoramorphans

  Susumu Tomiya; Paul Z. Barrett; Ashley W. Poust

  2022 Annual Meeting of the Paleontological Society of Japan, 02 Jul. 2022

  
• Carnivorous mammals from the middle Eocene Washakie Formation, Wyoming, U.S.A., and their diversity trajectory in a post-warming world

  Tomiya, S; S.P. Zack; M. Spaulding; J. J. Flynn

  79th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Oct. 2019

  
• Morphological variations in the limb bones of late-Quaternary gray wolves in North America

  Susumu Tomiya; Julie Meachen

  168th Regular Meeting, Paleontological Soceity of Japan, 26 Jan. 2019

  
• Morphological integration of deciduous and permanent dentitions in carnivorans

  Susumu Tomiya; Dana M. Reuter; R. Ben Sulser

  11th International Congress on Vertebrate Morphology, 2016, Invited

  

Books and Other Publications

• Encyclopedia of Primatology

  Susumu Tomiya, Contributor, The origin and evolution of Strepsirrhini

  Maruzen Publishing, Jul. 2023

  Find Kyoto University's collection of books :

  
• Encyclopedia of Primatology

  Susumu Tomiya, Contributor, The era of primate evolution

  Maruzen Publishing, Jul. 2023

  Find Kyoto University's collection of books :

  
• Foundations of paleoecology : classic papers with commentaries

  Lyons, S. Kathleen; Behrensmeyer, Anna K.; Wagner, Peter J., Contributor, Commentary on An Approach to the Paleoecology of Mammals (Shotwell, 1955)

  The University of Chicago Press, 2019

  Find Kyoto University's collection of books :

  

Media Coverage

• Where's my horse-sized rabbit?

  Phys.org, Apr. 2021, Internet

  

External funds: Kakenhi

• Disentangling coordinated diversity dynamics of vertebrate higher taxa under forest loss

  Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research (B))

  Medium-sized Section 17:Earth and planetary science and related fields

  Kyoto University

  富谷 進

  From 07 Oct. 2022, To 31 Mar. 2027, Granted

  脊椎動物;多様性;化石記録;疎林化;環境変動;森林減少;脊椎動物相変遷;新生代;北アメリカ;東南アジア

  https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-22KK0048/
• Illuminating the phylogeny and evolution of early carnivorans

  Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

  Basic Section 17050:Biogeosciences-related

  Kyoto University

  富谷 進

  From 01 Apr. 2023, To 31 Mar. 2027, Granted

  食肉目;系統進化;形態進化;古第三紀;進化;系統分類;化石

  https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-23K03562/

Education

Teaching subject(s)

• From 01 Apr. 2025, To 31 Mar. 2026

  ILAS Seminar

  Z001, Spring, Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2025, To 31 Mar. 2026

  Fundamental Lecture in Comparative Animal Behavior

  9629, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 1
• From 01 Apr. 2025, To 31 Mar. 2026

  Fundamental Primate Evolution and Phylogeny

  9638, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 1
• From 01 Apr. 2025, To 31 Mar. 2026

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication B

  9709, Fall, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2025, To 31 Mar. 2026

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication A

  9708, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2025, To 31 Mar. 2026

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication D

  9711, Fall, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2025, To 31 Mar. 2026

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication C

  9710, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2024, To 31 Mar. 2025

  ILAS Seminar

  Z001, Spring, Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2024, To 31 Mar. 2025

  Fundamental Primate Evolution and Phylogeny

  9638, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 1
• From 01 Apr. 2024, To 31 Mar. 2025

  Fundamental Lecture in Comparative Animal Behavior

  9629, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 1
• From 01 Apr. 2024, To 31 Mar. 2025

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication A

  9708, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2024, To 31 Mar. 2025

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication B

  9709, Fall, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2024, To 31 Mar. 2025

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication D

  9711, Fall, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2024, To 31 Mar. 2025

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication C

  9710, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2023, To 31 Mar. 2024

  ILAS Seminar

  Z001, Spring, Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2023, To 31 Mar. 2024

  Fundamental Primate Evolution and Phylogeny

  9638, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 1
• From 01 Apr. 2023, To 31 Mar. 2024

  Fundamental Lecture in Comparative Animal Behavior

  9629, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 1
• From 01 Apr. 2023, To 31 Mar. 2024

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication A

  9708, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2023, To 31 Mar. 2024

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication D

  9711, Fall, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2023, To 31 Mar. 2024

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication C

  9710, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2023, To 31 Mar. 2024

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication B

  9709, Fall, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2022, To 31 Mar. 2023

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication C

  9710, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2022, To 31 Mar. 2023

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication D

  9711, Fall, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2022, To 31 Mar. 2023

  Fundamental Primate Evolution and Phylogeny

  9638, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 1
• From 01 Apr. 2022, To 31 Mar. 2023

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication A

  9708, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From 01 Apr. 2022, To 31 Mar. 2023

  Fundamental Lecture in Comparative Animal Behavior

  9629, Spring, Graduate School of Science, 1
• From 01 Apr. 2022, To 31 Mar. 2023

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication B

  9709, Fall, Graduate School of Science, 2
• From Apr. 2019, To Mar. 2020

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication A

  Spring, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2019, To Mar. 2020

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication B

  Fall, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2019, To Mar. 2020

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication C

  Spring, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2019, To Mar. 2020

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication D

  Fall, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2019, To Mar. 2020

  Fundamental Lecture in Comparative Animal Behavior

  Spring, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2020, To Mar. 2021

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication A

  Spring, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2020, To Mar. 2021

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication B

  Fall, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2020, To Mar. 2021

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication C

  Spring, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2020, To Mar. 2021

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication D

  Fall, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2020, To Mar. 2021

  Fundamental Lecture in Comparative Animal Behavior

  Spring, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2021, To Mar. 2022

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication A

  Spring, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2021, To Mar. 2022

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication B

  Fall, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2021, To Mar. 2022

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication C

  Spring, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2021, To Mar. 2022

  CICASP Seminar in Science Communication D

  Fall, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2021, To Mar. 2022

  Fundamental Lecture in Comparative Animal Behavior

  Spring, 理学研究科
• From Apr. 2021, To Mar. 2022

  Fundamental Primate Evolution and Phylogeny

  Spring, 理学研究科

Academic, Social Contribution

Committee Memberships

• From 2023

  Editorial Board member: Cambridge Prisms: Extinction, Cambridge University Press

Academic Contribution

• Self-organized Session F23: The environmental history of Southeast Asia as told by fossil mammals

  Planning, management, etc., Panel moderator

  Mammal Society of Japan, From 09 Sep. 2024

  
• Self-organized Session F16: Paleomammalogy: How did past mammalian faunas change due to environmental transitions?

  Planning, management, etc.

  Mammal Society of Japan, From 10 Sep. 2023

  
• HIRAKU 3-Minute Thesis Competition (English division)

  Supervision (editorial)

  Home for Innovative Researchers and Academic Knowledge Users (leading organization: Hiroshima University), From 2021, To Present

  
• 79th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

  Panel moderator

  Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, From Oct. 2019

  

Social Contribution

• The World of Bones and the World of Living Things

  Performer

  Kyoto University, Kyoto University Academic Day 2025 @ Zest Oike, From 27 Sep. 2025

  
• 6度目の大量絶滅

  Lecturer

  日本モンキーセンター, 第63回京大モンキー日曜サロン, From 01 Nov. 2020