Masaya Iijima

Profile Information

Affiliation: Visiting Researcher, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo

Degree: PhD(Hokkaido University)

J-GLOBAL ID: 201901004559288021
researchmap Member ID: B000348889

External link: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Masaya_Iijima

Research Interests

Research Areas

Research History

Apr, 2024 - Present

Visiting Researcher, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo
Dec, 2023 - Mar, 2024

JSPS Cross-Border Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Nagoya University Museum
Jan, 2022 - Dec, 2023

JSPS Cross-Border Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College
Jun, 2019 - Dec, 2021

JSPS Cross-Border Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University
Apr, 2019 - May, 2019

JSPS Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Nagoya University Museum
May, 2018 - Mar, 2019

CPSF International Exchange Fellowship Program Research Fellow, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Hefei University of Technology

Committee Memberships

Nov, 2025 - Present

Associate Editor, Historical Biology
Feb, 2024 - Present

Board of Reviewers, The Anatomical Record

Papers

Biomechanical simulations of hindlimb function in Alligator provide insights into postural shifts and body size evolution

Iijima M., Blob RW, Hutchinson JR

Science Advances, 11(43) eadx3811, 2025 Peer-reviewedLead authorCorresponding author
Crocodyliform remains from the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Tamagawa Formation, northeastern Japan with preliminary dietary reconstruction through dental microwear texture analysis

Kubo T., Usami K., Hirayama R., Iijima M., Winkler DE, Ito A., Uno H., Miyata S., Kubo MO

Cretaceous Research, 176 106197, 2025 Peer-reviewed
A new hupehsuchian (Reptilia: Ichthyosauromorpha) with widely spaced autopodium from the marine Lower Triassic of South China

Qiao Y., Iijima M., Liu J.

Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 23(1) 2560884, 2025 Peer-reviewed
Variations in humeral and femoral strains across body sizes and limb posture in American alligators

Iijima M., Munteanu VD, Blob RW

Journal of Experimental Biology, 227 jeb249211, 2024 Peer-reviewedLead authorCorresponding author
Forelimb muscle activation patterns in American alligators: insights into the evolution of limb posture and powered flight in archosaurs

Iijima M, Mayerl CJ, Munteanu VD, Blob RW

Journal of Anatomy, 244 943-958, 2024 Peer-reviewedLead authorCorresponding author
A new hupehsuchian (Reptilia: Ichthyosauromorpha) from the Lower Triassic of South China with implications for the evolution of polydactyly

Qiao Y, Motani R, Iijima M, Liu J

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 43 e2279530, 2023 Peer-reviewed
Scaling of gait, limb posture, forces, and inertial properties in terrestrial locomotion of American alligators across a thousand-fold increase in body mass

Iijima M, Darlington J, Munteanu VD, Vliet KA, Blob RW

Integrative & Comparative Biology, 63 664-680, 2023 Peer-reviewedInvitedLead authorCorresponding author
A globally distributed durophagous marine reptile clade supports the rapid recovery of pelagic ecosystems after the Permo-Triassic mass extinction

Qiao Y, Liu J, Wolniewicz AS, Iijima M, Shen Y, Wintrich T, Li Q, Sander PM

Communications Biology, 5 1242, 2022 Peer-reviewed
Controlled feeding experiments with juvenile alligators reveal microscopic dental wear texture patterns associated with hard-object feeding

Winkler DE, Iijima M, Blob RW, Kubo T, Kubo MO

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10 957725, 2022 Peer-reviewed
Anatomy informs geology: hydrodynamic dispersal of alligator bones, with implications for taphonomic interpretations of fossil deposits of crocodylians, dinosaurs, and other morphologically novel taxa

Blob R, Espinoza IZG, Iijima M

The Anatomical Record, 306 1618-1630, 2022 Peer-reviewedInvited
An intermediate crocodylian linking two extant gharials from the Bronze Age of China and its human-induced extinction

Iijima M, Qiao Y, Lin W, Peng Y, Yoneda M, Liu J

Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 289 20220085, 2022 Peer-reviewedLead author
Ontogenetic changes in limb posture, kinematics, forces and joint moments in American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)

Iijima M, Munteanu VD, Elsey RM, Blob RW

Journal of Experimental Biology, 224 jeb242990, 2021 Peer-reviewedLead authorCorresponding author
Function of the crocodilian anterior cruciate ligaments

Suzuki D, Yamakawa S, Iijima M, Fujie H

Journal of Morphology, 282 1514-1522, 2021 Peer-reviewed
Taxonomic overview of Neogene crocodylians in Myanmar

Iijima M, Takai M, Nishioka Y, Thaung-Htike, Zin-Maung-Maung-Thein, Egi N, Kusuhashi N, Tsubamoto T, Kono RT, Hirayama R

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 41 e1879100, 2021 Peer-reviewedLead authorCorresponding author
Intervertebral joint polarity reversions in extant and extinct crocodylians

Iijima M, Kubo T

Acta Zoologica, 102 386-393, 2021 Peer-reviewedLead authorCorresponding author
Vertebrae-based body length estimation in crocodylians and its implication for sexual maturity and the maximum sizes

Iijima M, Kubo T

Integrative Organismal Biology, 2 obaa042, 2020 Peer-reviewedLead authorCorresponding author
The largest hupehsuchian (Reptilia, Ichthyosauromorpha) from the Lower Triassic of South China indicates early establishment of high predation pressure after the Permo-Triassic mass extinction

Qiao Y, Iijima M, Liu J

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 39 e1719122, 2020 Peer-reviewed
The Muensterelloidea - phylogeny and character evolution of Mesozoic stem octopods

Fuchs D, Iba Y, Heyng A, Iijima M, Klug C, Larson N, Schweigert G

Papers in Palaeontology, 6 31-92, 2020 Peer-reviewed
Allometric growth of limb and body proportions in crocodylians

Iijima M, Kubo T

Journal of Zoology, 309 200-211, 2019 Peer-reviewedLead authorCorresponding author
Discovery of a crocodyliform tooth from the upper Eocene Ergilin Dzo Formation, Mongolia

Iijima M, Tsubamoto T, Tsogtbaatar Kh, Chinzorig Ts, Baasankhuu S

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 64 775-778, 2019 Peer-reviewedLead author

Books and Other Publications

Encyclopedia of Paleontology

(Role: Contributor, Origin and Evolution of Crocodyliformes)

Maruzen, Jan, 2023 (ISBN: 9784621307588)

Professional Memberships

Research Projects

Disentangling coordinated diversity dynamics of higher vertebrate taxa associated with forest loss

Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research (B)), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Oct, 2022 - Mar, 2027

Tomiya S, Iijima M, Nishioka Y, Takai M
Development of a paleodietary reconstruciton method for crocodilians through feeding experiments and its application to extinct crocodillians

Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Exploratory, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Jun, 2022 - Mar, 2024

Kubo T, Hirayama R, Kubo MO, Iijima M
Size-dependent changes in limb posture of sprawling animals: implication for the evolution of body size

Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, CPD, Japan Society for Promotion of Science, Apr, 2019 - Mar, 2024

Iijima M
Systematics and evolution of Asian Cenozoic crocodylians

General Program (64th), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, 2018 - 2019

Iijima M
Exploring the evolution of feeding morphofunction in crocodylians

Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, DC2, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Apr, 2015 - Mar, 2017

Masaya Iijima

Profile Information

Research Interests

Research Areas

Research History

Committee Memberships

Papers

Books and Other Publications

Professional Memberships

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