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Kubo Lab
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A lab that explores the lives and evolution of extinct animals through the shapes of their bones and teeth.
AboutAbout the lab
Animal evolution and ecology explored through bones
Kubo Lab studies the relationship between body form (morphology) and way of life (ecology), using vertebrate bones as its main material.
The lab moves between ecology, morphology, anthropology, zooarchaeology, and paleontology, conducting research that cuts across these fields.
Its work centers on examining specimens at natural history museums in Japan and abroad and analyzing them in the lab, and members also join fieldwork to obtain new specimens.
Graduate students each work on their own separate topics, making this a lab with a high degree of independence.
Key terms
- paleoecology
- How extinct organisms lived: what they ate, and what kind of environment they lived in
- confocal laser scanning microscope
- A microscope that scans a specimen point by point with a laser, allowing fine surface irregularities to be measured in three dimensions
- Pleistocene
- The period from about 2.58 million to about 10,000 years ago, during which glacial and interglacial periods repeated
NewsLab news
A study on dental microwear in raccoon dogs from the Tohoku region was published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (PPP)
A paper on estimating the diets of the Amami rabbit and the Ryukyu long-furred rat was published in Mammal Study
A master's student won the Chair's Award of the Department of Natural Environmental Studies
A researcher and a doctoral student won Outstanding Presentation Awards at the annual meeting of the Mammal Society of Japan
A master's student won the Dean's Award of the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences
ResearchResearch themes
The lab uses vertebrate bones to clarify the relationship between ecology and morphology. It applies relationships found in living species to extinct species in order to reconstruct their paleoecology, and also works on new methods of morphological analysis.
*Illustrative imageExploring the relationship between ecology and morphology in living species
Focusing mainly on the sika deer, the lab compares populations from different regions whose ecology is known and examines how ecology corresponds to morphology. In particular, it has studied in detail the relationship between diet and shape.
*Illustrative imageExploring the lives and evolution of extinct species
Relationships found in living species are applied to extinct species to clarify their paleoecology. Targeting fossil deer of the Ryukyu Islands and Pleistocene mammals of the Japanese archipelago, the lab explores the environments of the time and evolution over long timescales.
*Illustrative imageNew methods of morphological analysis
The lab focuses on research that uses a confocal laser scanning microscope to quantify fine wear marks on teeth (dental microwear) and applies the results to reconstructing paleoecology. It has also tried this approach on reptiles such as dinosaurs, and makes use of CT scanning and 3D printers.
MembersFaculty
Kubo Lab's members consist of faculty, project researchers, visiting researchers, and doctoral and master's students.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorMugino KuboPublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Cenozoic Mammal Skulls ( )” Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China / CC0 (cropped)
- Exploring the relationship between ecology and morphology in living species: “Sika Deer, Nara, Japan” Jakub Hałun / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Exploring the lives and evolution of extinct species: “Cervus astylodon (cropped)” ★Kumiko★ from Tokyo, Japan / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- New methods of morphological analysis: ““The Skull of You” – MicroCT scan of a mouse skull” Tiffany Chern / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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