EarlyVertEvo · Unravelling the scenario of early vertebrate evolution through computational analysis of the fossil record

Unravelling the scenario of early vertebrate evolution through computational analysis of the fossil record

Debate over the origin of vertebrate bodyplan has occupied biologists and palaeontologists alike for centuries but discussions around this topic have been hindered because living vertebrates are unrepresentative of the ancestral lineages in which the bodyplan was established. Major transitions in early vertebrate evolution have been correlated with a long-term ecological trend from suspension feeding towards increasingly active lifestyles. However, most previous morpho-functional interpretations largely rely on speculation and these ecological explanations of evolutionary events have generally been regarded as untestable as theories. The recent emergence of new virtual techniques in palaeobiology provides for the first time the opportunity to perform rigorous computational and physical examination to test these hypotheses. In this context, the overall aim of my research programme was the joint application of an array of state-of-the-art techniques in palaeobiology to fossil stem-gnathostomes in order to elucidate the ecological scenarios in which the major groups of vertebrates emerged and to shed light onto the underlying selective forces that drove the main evolutionary transitions of the group. The specific objectives of the project can be summarized as: - Summarizing and numerically describing the morphological diversity of early vertebrates within a phylogenetic and temporal framework on which to base evolutionary hypotheses regarding morphological disparity or functional and macroecological aspects. - Obtaining a comprehensive and representative collection of realistic 3D virtual models of early vertebrates on which to empirically test these hypotheses by means of computational techniques. - Assessing ecological and hydrodynamic aspects in early vertebrates by means of the novel application of CFD on this group. - Contextualizing these results within a macroevolutionary scenario in order to ascertain if the evolution of vertebrates was characterised by a trend towards increasingly active lifestyles (according to classical hypotheses) or if more complex evolutionary patterns took place.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз