Dr Tom Fletcher

I'm a Visual Effects Researcher and Scientific Consultant for Silverback Films in Bristol working on wildlife documentary films. As an Homorary Research Fellow I continue to collaborate with members of the Centre for Palaeobiology Research. I specialise in the hydrodynamics of fossil and living fishes mainly sharks and their relatives.

By examining the fundamental physical processes affecting fish locomotion we can fine tune our own technology and seek novel solutions that nature has been perfecting for millions of years. I work in the new field of 'palaeobiomimetics' which uses the wealth of biodiversity in the fossil record for biomimetic inspiration.

Lloyd C. J., Peakall J., Burns A., Keevil G., Dorrell R., Wignall P., and Fletcher T. M. (2021) Hydrodynamic efficiency in sharks: the combined role of riblets and denticles. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics 16.

Li Y., Williams M., Harvey T. H., Wei F., Zhao Y., Guo J., Gabbott S., Fletcher T. M., Hou X. and Cong P. (2020). Symbiotic fouling of Vetulicola, an early Cambrian nektonic animal. Nature Communications Biology 3, 1-9.

Murphy P., McLeod G. and Merrick-Fletcher T. (2015) Bridging the gap between laboratory and field based teaching and learning in the geosciences. Teaching Earth Sciences 40.

Fletcher T.M., Altringham J.D., Peakall J., Wignall P.B. and Dorrell R.M. (2014) Hydrodynamics of fossil fishes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281, 20140703.

Fletcher, T.M., Janis, C.M., and Rayfield, E.J. (2010) Finite Element Analysis of Ungulate Jaws: Can mode of digestive physiology be determined? Palaeontologia Electronica 13, 15p.

Shark Hydrodynamics and Biology