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About

Yaser Saffar Talori is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of paleontology and robotics, whose work has fundamentally advanced our understanding of the origin of avian flight. His primary research areas include dinosaur locomotion, biomechanics, and bio-inspired robotics, with a specific focus on the small theropod dinosaur *Caudipteryx*. Talori’s major contribution lies in his innovative use of physical robotic models to test hypotheses about the evolution of flapping flight. His most cited work (2018, 16 citations) demonstrated that *Caudipteryx*’s winged forelimbs could generate small aerodynamic forces during rapid terrestrial running, challenging assumptions about the passive role of proto-wings. He further validated these findings by constructing a bionic flapping mechanism (2020, 9 citations) that quantified lift and thrust, and by developing a full-body *Caudipteryx* robot (2022) to reconstruct the kinematics of early flight attempts. Talori’s interdisciplinary approach—merging fossil evidence with engineering—has provided the first experimental proof that cursorial flapping could have been a key transitional stage in the evolution of powered flight. His work has been widely cited by paleontologists and roboticists alike, establishing him as a leading voice in the field of dinosaur-inspired robotics.