Abstract
Developmental variation is one of the primary pathways of phenotypic diversification of species, but how shape is generated during development remains unresolved. In this project we will quantify the shape of specific bones and cartilages that make up the skull and facial skeleton through development and use mathematical models and morphometrics to try to predict how the unique faces observed in many different species of mammals evolved. The project combines developmental genetics (transgenic mice) with high-density imaging, morphometrics, and modeling and partners a developmental biologist (Prof Abigail Tucker) with a morphometrician and quantitative paleobiologist (Prof Anjali Goswami).
References
1. Anthwal, N., Peters, K., Tucker, A.S. (2015). Species-specific modification of mandible shape reveal independent mechanisms for growth and initiation of the coronoid. Evolution Development 14 (6): 35
2. Alfaqeeh, S., Oralova, V., Foxworthy, M., Matalova, E., Grigoriadis, A.E. Tucker, A.S. (2015) Root and eruption defects in c-fos mice are driven by loss of osteoclasts. Journal Dental Research 94 (12): 1724-31.
3. Bennett, C.V., Goswami, A. (2013) Statistical support for the hypothesis for developmental constraint in marsupial skull evolution. BMC Biology 11: 52.
4. A. Goswami, M. Randau, P.D. Polly, V. Weisbecker, C. V. Bennett, L. Hautier, and M.R. Sanchez-Villagra. (2016). Do high integration and developmental constraints limit the evolution of the marsupial cranium? Integrative and Comparative Biology, 56: 404-414.
5. A. Goswami, Finarelli, J.A. (2016). EMMLi: A Maximum likeliness approach to the analysis of modularity. Evolution, 70 (7): 1622-37.