PhD in Geological Sciences (UAB, 1983). He was researcher of the Institute of Paleontology of Sabadell. Currently, he is ICREA research professor at the Institut Català de Paleontologia M. Crusafont (CERCA program). He was the founder and first director of this institute (2006-2017). Science, Pnas, Tree, Proc. Royal Soc., between others. He has received several national and international awards. He participates in several national and international projects, among them the RHOI Project (Revealing Hominid Origin Initiative, NSF USA) and international projects (Leakey Foundation, Wenner-Gren foundation) as well as national projects (Mineco, Agaur). He and his team are responsible for the discovery and study of key fossil hominoid specimens such as the partial skeletons of Hispanopithecus laietanus, Pierolapithecus catalaunicusand Pliobates cataloniae, the best preserved of the whole Eurasian continent.  

Research interests

The main aim of my research is the study of the origin and evolution of hominoids (Primates) from a paleontological perspective. It forms part of a wider research scope, embracing the evolutionary history of primates including Paleogene and Pleistocene primates. A major goal is the study of the paradox existing between the ancestral crown-hominoid (and hominid) morphotypes reconstructed on the basis of derived features shared by extant taxa and the more primitive morphotype found in the fossil record. This suggests that homoplasy plays a role in hominoid evolution, suggesting that orthograde adaptations could be convergent in the three hominoid lineages, gibbons, orangutans and African Apes. Morphofunctional analysis of complex structures or the application of proteomics to fossil hominoids, would help to identify homoplastic characters. Field work on the Vallès-Penedès Neogene basin with the objective to increase the current hominoid fossil record, is a priority action of my research.