Marek, Ryan
(2020)
The surrogate arm : functional morphology of the avian cervical column.
PhD thesis, University of Liverpool.
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Abstract
The avian neck allows the head to perform a variety of tasks that would be carried out by the forelimbs in other vertebrates, as the forelimbs are primarily adapted for flight in birds. This has created a strong additional selection pressure on the cervical column and has resulted in the evolution of a vast array of neck morphologies throughout extant birds. This diversity is most evident in the large variation observed in vertebral counts of the neck, and the lack of known homology between species with differing cervical counts has hindered research into morphological variation of the avian cervical spine. The lack of quantitative assessment of this variation has stunted our understanding of how the neck became such an integral component of avian biology. Recent work has shown that Hox gene patterning is conserved within the neck across Aves and that five cervical regions exist within the avian spine, and homologous interspecific comparisons can now be made by comparing aspects of regional morphology. Iterating on previous work, this thesis uses 3D geometric morphometrics as a proxy to delineate and analyse these cervical regions within extant birds. Here I use a holistic approach to understand functional ... (continues)
| Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
|---|---|
| Divisions: | Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Life Courses and Medical Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Mar 2020 14:44 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Oct 2024 21:31 |
| DOI: | 10.17638/03076439 |
| Supervisors: |
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| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3076439 |
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