Associate Professor, Division of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Aichi Gakuin University
Education 2007 BSc (in Agricultural Science) Department of Agriculture, KyotoUniversity 2009 MSc Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University 2013 PhD (in Science) Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University
Past position 2009 -2011 Research Assistant (Kyoto University global COE program)
2011 - 2013 Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
2013 - 2015 Postdoctoral Researcher in the Primate Research Insitute, Kyoto
University
2015-2017 Senior Assistant Professor (Lecturer), College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences, Mie University
Grants Mishima-Kaiun Memorial Foundation (2009–2011) Grant for Overseas Reserach Trip from The Kyoto University Foundation (2010) Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) (2011–2013) Narishige Zoological Science Award (2014)
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science)
(2016–2019)
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (Japan Society for the Promotion
of Science) (2019–2022)
Awards
Young Scientist Initiative Award 2019 (The Society of Evolutionary
Studies, Japan)
Young Scientist Award 2016 (The Mammalogical Society of Japan) Best Poster Presentation Award (The 2010 Annual Meeting of the Mammalogical Society of Japan) Affiliation
29) Harano T., Asahara M*. (2024)
Evolution of tooth morphological complexity and its association with the position of tooth eruption in the jaw in non-mammalian synapsids. PeerJ 12: e17784.
28) Harano T., Asahara M*. (2023)
Revisiting the evolutionary trend toward the mammalian lower jaw in non-mammalian
synapsids in a phylogenetic context. PeerJ 11: e15575.
27) Asahara M*, Obayashi Y, Katsuta A, Kamigaki A, Ikeda T (2023)
A case of predation of Japanese eastern mole Mogera imaizumii by an American bull frog Rana (Aquarana) catesbeiana.
Honyurui Kagaku (Mammalian science) 63: 1. [in Japanese]
25) Harano T*.,Asahara M*. (2022) Correlated evolution of craniodental morphology and feeding ecology in carnivorans: a comparative analysis of jaw lever arms at tooth positions. Journal of Zoology 318: 135-145.
24) Asahara M*., Obayashi Y., Suzuki A., Kamigaki A., Ikeda T. (2020)
Sexual dimorphism in external morphology of the American bullfrog Rana (Aquarana) catesbeiana and the possibility of sex determination based on tympanic membrane/eye
size ratio The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science 82: 1160-1164.
23) Wolsan M*., Suzuki S., Asahara M., Motokawa M. (2019)
Dental integration and modularity in pinnipeds. Scientific Reports 9: 4184.
22) Saito K., Takahashi K*., Huang B., Asahara M., Kiso H., Togo Y., Tsukamoto H., Mishima S., Nagato M., Iida M., Tokita Y., Asai M., Shimizu A., Komori T., Harada H*., MacDougall M., Sugai M., Bessho K*. (2018)
Loss of Stemness, EMT, and supernumerary tooth formation in Cebpb-/- Runx2
+/- murine incisors. Scientific Reports 8: 5169
21) Asahara M*., Takai M. (2017) Estimation of diet in extinct raccoon dog species by the molar ratio method. Acta Zoologica 98: 292–299.
-> Please check commentary: Asahara and Takai (2019) Acta Zoologica and Bartolini Lucenti (2019) Acta Zoologica
20) Asahara M*., Nishioka Y. (2017) Geographic variation of absolute and relative lower molar sizes in the Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata: Primates, Mammalia). Zoological Science 34: 35–41.
19) Asahara M*. (2017)
Geographic variation of absolute and relative lower molar sizes in
two closely related species of Japanese field mice ( Apodemusspeciosus and Apodemusargenteus: Muridae, Rodentia). Zoological Science 34: 26–34.
18) Lau ACC., Asahara M*., Han SY., Kimura J*. (2017)
Geographic variation of craniodental morphology of the Eurasian Otter
( Lutralutra) in East Asia. The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science 79: 144–152.
17) Asahara M*. (2016) The origin of the lower fourth molar in canids, inferred by individual variation. PeerJ 4: e2689.
*Featured in Science: The platypus's sixth sense cost it its teeth. Science 354 (6309): 192. *Featured in the other media: My Navi News (Japan), Nikkei Shinbun (Japan), Mainichi Shinbun (Japan), Sankei Shinbun (Japan), Chunichi Shinbun (Japan), and several other newspapers. Cosmos (Australia), Today's Science (USA), Folha de S.Paulo (Brazil), Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau (Germany)
15) Lau ACC., Asahara M., Han SY., Kimura J*. (2016) Sexual dimorphism of the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra ) in South Korea: craniodental geometric morphometry. The Journal of Veterinary Medical Science 78: 1007–1011.
13) Saito K*., Takahashi K., Asahara M., Kiso H., Togo Y., Tsukamoto H., Huang B., Sugai M., Shimizu A., Motokawa M., Slavkin HC., Bessho K. (2016) Effect of Usag-1 and Bmp7 deficiencies on murine tooth morphogenesis. BMC Developmental Biology 16: 14.
12) Asahara M*., Chang C-H., Kimura J., Son NT., Takai M. (2015) Re-examination of the fossil raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) from the Penghu channel, Taiwan, and an age estimation of the Penghu fauna. Anthropological Science 123: 177–184.
11) Wolsan M*., Suzuki S., Asahara M., Motokawa M. (2015) Tooth size variation in pinniped dentitons. Plos One 10: e0137100.
10) Asahara M*. (2014) Evolution of relative lower molar sizes among local populations of the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in Japan. Mammal Study 39: 181–184.
9) Asahara M*. (2014) Shape variation in the skull within and between wild populations of the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in Japan. Mammal Study 39: 105–113.
8) Nishizawa H*., Asahara M., and Kamezaki N. (2013) Ontogenetic scaling of the humerus in sea turtles and its implications for locomotion. Zoological Science 30: 211–216.
7) Asahara M*. (2013) Shape Variation in the Skull and Lower Carnassial in a Wild Population of Raccoon Dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides ). Zoological Science 30: 205–210.
6) Asahara M*. (2013) Unique inhibitory cascade pattern of molars in canids contributing to their potential to evolutionary plasticity of diet. Ecology and Evolution 3: 278–285.
5) Asahara M*., Kryukov A., and Motokawa M. (2012) Dental anomalies in the Japanese mole Mogera wogura from northeast China and the Primorsky region of Russia. Acta Theriologica 57: 41–48.
4) Nishizawa H*., Asahara M., Kamezaki N., and Arai N. (2010) Differences in the skull morphology between juvenile and adult green turtles: Implications for the ontogenetic diet shift. Current Herpetology 29: 97–101.
3) Motokawa M*., Zhang H., Pei J., Asakawa M., Asahara M., Wen WJ., Liu C., Mahmut H., Wu X., and Buhe A. (2010) Small mammals collected from Qinghai Province, China. Biogeography 12: 29–37.
2) Suzuki S*, Asahara M, Wu Y, Li Y, Harada M, and Motokawa M. (2010) Collecting records of mammals in Mt Wasamata and Mt Daifugen, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Bulletin of the Biogeographical Society of Japan 64: 3–11. (in Japanese)
1) Asahara M., Uesugi R., and Osakabe Mh*. (2008).
Linkage between one of polygenic hexythiazox-resistance genes and
an etoxazole-resistance gene in the two-spotted spider mite (Acari: Tetranychidae).
Journal of Economic Entomology 101: 1704–1710.
Other publications
3) Asahara M*., and Takai M. (2019) Dietary transition in the Nyctereutes sinensis and Nyctereutes procyonoides lineage during the Pleistocene. Acta Zoologica 100: 216–217.