Jordan Claytor is originally from Maryland and received his undergraduate degree in biology from Elon University. As an undergraduate, he did research investigating how anthropogenic noises impacted the behavior of bottlenose dolphins. His interest in dinosaurs and paleontology developed during an internship at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History studying landscape ecology using micro-vertebrate fossils. He was featured in the NOVA program, Dinosaur Apocalypse: The Last Day on PBS. His current research is on the evolution and ecology of early mammals using morphology independent methods to infer diet.