Is adulthood just an illusion? The impact of size and ontogeny on suction feeding kinematics in the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum).
This blog post summarizes our recently published paper in Biology Open, in which we explored how size and developmental stage affected the feeding kinematics of larval, juvenile and adult Ambystoma mexicanum (axolotl). Peadomorphic species: are the adults just big larvae?…
The role of metamorphosis in morphological and functional diversity in Caudata
In our latest paper, we explore how variation in metamorphosis — the dramatic body transformation that some animals undergo — plays a major role in shaping lower jaw diversity among salamanders and newts. Metamorphosis is a spectacular developmental process, marked…
Lower jaw modularity in the African clawed frog and fire salamander
From CT scans of 100 lower jaws from African clawed frogs and fire salamanders, we answer the question of whether the amphibian lower jaw evolves as a single unit or evolves with different modules evolving in different ways.
How do we prepare specimens for scanning?
In order to observe the precise morphology of the head bones, we use a micro-computed tomography (micro-CT scanner). This is a 3D imaging technique using x-rays to see inside an object, slice by slice. For our project, we need to…
Cranial anatomy of a larval Shovelnose salamander (Desmognathus marmoratus)
Check out this interactive, labeled Sketchfab model of a larval Shovelnose salamander (Desmognathus marmoratus) cranial skeleton.
Metamorphosis shapes cranial diversity and rate of evolution in salamanders
Reconstructing the cranial evolution of the salamander using geometric morphometric data from 148 species, we demonstrate that life cycle influences cranial shape diversity and rate of evolution.
Salamander cranial landmark data
Geometric morphometric data from 148 salamander species collected from high-resolution 3D scans.
Cranial integration in the fire salamander, Salamandra salamandra (Caudata: Salamandridae)
Applying a high-dimensional geometric morphometric approach, we show that size has no significant effect on cranial shape in the Italian fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra giglioli).
Reconstructed meshes of Italian Fire Salamander crania (Salamandra salamandra gigliolii)
Segmented crania of 40 individual Italian Fire Salamanders (Salamandra salamandra gigliolii), reconstructed from micro CT scans.