- Titre du projet
- Skull trait interactions in extinct rodents
- Descriptif du projet
- To date, no comprehensive study has explored the potential synergistic interactions between the different components of the mammalian masticatory apparatus. This project aims to fill this gap by providing a range of crucial data on the morphological integration of teeth, bones (and muscles) in rodents. The first step will consist of creating the most complete set of morphological data in a wide range of extant and extinct species. We will analyse rodent cranial and dental diagnostic features using a combination of classic comparative anatomy with traditional and geometric morphometric methods, and characterize patterns of variation in the masticatory apparatus with regard to several factors such as phylogeny, ecology, and allometry. In complement to the basic analysis of shape, we propose to pinpoint the interdependence of the different skull parts in order to test whether those factors are correlated with similarities in morphological integration.
Travaux réalisés par la plateforme AST-RX
