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My past projects have included fossil horses and pinnipeds, but most of my research has focused on fossil cetaceans (the ancient ancestors of modern whales, dolphins, and porpoises). For my doctoral work, I studied an enigmatic group of fossil whales from the middle Eocene of Pakistan called remingtonocetids. My research focused on their postcranial skeleton and utilized multivariate statistical analyses and three-dimensional multibody dynamic models to test hypotheses of vertebral function. In 2009, I spent two months on a paleontological dig in Egypt, where I helped to excavate the skeletons of fossil basilosaurid whales at Wadi Al-Hitan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Egypt's western desert.

My current scientific research focuses on the transition from foot-powered to tail-powered swimming in the earliest fossil cetaceans. I work in zoological and paleontological research collections at museums to assess how structural changes in the vertebral column, pelvis, and hind limb of early whales facilitated increasingly efficient modes of swimming as they adapted for life in water. In recent years, I have also engaged in scholarship at the interface of evolutionary science and Christian faith, including an interdisciplinary project exploring the theological ramifications of pre-human animal death and suffering that are a part of the evolutionary process.

Select Publications

RM Bebej. 2026. What are vestigial structures? Evidence for evolution explained. .

KM Smith, AK Hastings, RM Bebej, MD Uhen. 2022. Biogeographic, stratigraphic, and environmental distribution of Basilosaurus (Mammalia, Cetacea) in North America with a review of the late Eocene shoreline in the southeastern coastal plain. .

RM Bebej. 2022. Evolutionary theodicies, humility, and hope. .

RM Bebej. 2021. A sea of gifts: caring for marine creatures. .

RM Bebej. 2020. Defending the tale of the whale. .

RM Bebej. 2019. Biological death: part of God's "good" creation? .

RM Bebej, KM Smith. 2018. Lumbar mobility in archaeocetes (Mammalia: Cetacea) and the evolution of aquatic locomotion in the earliest whales. .

PD Gingerich, K Heissig, RM Bebej, W von Koenigswald. 2017. Astragali of Pakicetidae and other early-to-middle Eocene archaeocetes (Mammalia, Cetacea) of Pakistan: locomotion and habitat in the initial stages of whale evolution. .

RM Bebej, IS Zalmout, AA Abed El-Aziz, MSM Antar, PD Gingerich. 2015. First remingtonocetid archaeocete (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the middle Eocene of Egypt with implications for locomotion and biogeography in early cetacean evolution. .

RM Bebej, M ul-Haq, IS Zalmout, PD Gingerich. 2012. Morphology and function of the vertebral column in Remingtonocetus domandaensis (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the middle Eocene Domanda Formation of Pakistan. .

AR Wood, RM Bebej, CL Manz*, DL Begun, PD Gingerich. 2011. Postcranial functional morphology of Hyracotherium (Equidae, Perissodactyla) and locomotion in the earliest horses. .

RM Bebej. 2009. Swimming mode inferred from skeletal proportions in the fossil pinnipeds Enaliarctos and Allodesmus (Mammalia, Carnivora). .

Teaching

In my classes, we focus a lot on details. Whether we are discussing the potential pathways of individual neurons in the sympathetic nervous system, the array of physiological mechanisms that work together to combat a decrease in blood pressure, or the various theological implications of evolutionary theory, I encourage students to resist the urge to oversimplify. The bodies we inhabit are incredibly complex, and so is the world we live in. I push students to honor that complexity by digging into the details, giving them a richer appreciation for how their bodies move, hear, and breathe, but also helping them to see that a deep and nuanced understanding of the world is necessary to cope with many of the complicated issues we are dealing with in the 21st century.

• American Scientific Affiliation
• Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

• 2023, American Scientific Affiliation Fellow
• 2020, ÐßÐßÊÓƵ Advising and Mentoring Award
• 2018-2019, Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford (SCIO) visiting scholar in science and religion
• 2017, ÐßÐßÊÓƵ College Professor of the Year (presented by ÐßÐßÊÓƵ College K4L: Student Alumni Association)
• 2011, University of Michigan Ermine Cowles Case Student Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Attainment in Research
• 2009, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Peter Olaus Okkelberg Award
• 2009, University of Michigan Rackham Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award
• 2005, ÐßÐßÊÓƵ College Bernard J Ten Broek Excellence in Biological Research Award

Grants

• 2023, ÐßÐßÊÓƵ Beverly Klooster Biology Department Endowment ($2000)
• 2018, Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford (SCIO) Interdisciplinary Seminars in Science and Religion: Bridging the Two Cultures of Science and the Humanities II (£11,500)
• 2015, ÐßÐßÊÓƵ College Alumni Association Faculty Research Grant ($2000)
• 2013, ÐßÐßÊÓƵ College Alumni Association Faculty Research Grant ($1800)