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15
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Introduction
Current institution
Additional affiliations
June 2019 - present
August 2014 - July 2019
July 2012 - May 2014
Education
August 2014 - May 2019
August 2012 - May 2014
June 2005 - October 2007
Publications
Publications (15)
The origin of birds represents a pivotal transition in vertebrate evolution, marked by significant changes in both brain size and feeding biomechanics. The evolution of the avian skull involved dramatic modifications, such as a segmented palate and the development of powered cranial kinesis in neognath birds. Powered kinesis, the ability to move pa...
The divergent specializations of living archosaurs, crocodilians and birds, represent two of the great transformations in vertebrate evolution. Despite hailing from common ancestor with a tall skull, braced palate and relatively unspecialized jaw muscles, these two living clades followed disparate paths in cranial biomechanics and feeding functiona...
Comparing patterns of performance and kinematics across behavior, development and phylogeny is crucial to understand the evolution of complex musculoskeletal systems such as the feeding apparatus. However, conveying 3D spatial data of muscle orientation throughout a feeding cycle, ontogenetic pathway or phylogenetic lineage is essential to understa...
For many animals, touch is one of the most crucial senses, as it allows an animal to assess its surroundings, develop properly, and socialize. Remote touch is an essential part of avian survival, as it allows some families of birds to identify prey through changes in pressure. Some birds possess a sensitive bill tip organ filled with a large number...
Numerous vertebrates exhibit cranial kinesis, or movement between bones of the skull and mandible other than at the jaw joint. Many kinetic species possess a particular suite of features to accomplish this movement, including flexible cranial joints and protractor musculature. Whereas the musculoskeletal anatomy of these kinetic systems is well und...
The extinct nonavian dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex, considered one of the hardest biting animals ever, is often hypothesized to have exhibited cranial kinesis, or, mobility of cranial joints relative to the braincase. Cranial kinesis in T. rex is a biomechanical paradox in that forcefully biting tetrapods usually possess rigid skulls instead of skulls...
In contrast to humans and other mammals which have relatively few mobile cranial joints, most lizards exhibit cranial kinesis, intracranial movement between bones, which they inherited from their amniote ancestors. Although the tissue‐level structure of kinetic joints has been described, how these joints are loaded during feeding remains relatively...
Parrots occupy varied dietary niches that require an agile, mobilized but sturdy feeding apparatus. Cranial kinesis, flexibility among intracranial joints, has a central role in the unique feeding apparatus of parrots. Parrots possess a highly mobile, streptostylic quadrate that drives the kinetic assemblage by moving the rod‐like pterygoids. The p...
Table S3. Comparisons of iodine‐based contrast agents with alternatives commonly used in contrast‐enhanced μCT imaging.
Table S1. A Microsoft excel file containing the contents of Table 1 along with additional columns of specimen preparation and imaging parameters for readers to manipulate and use for comparing and contrasting various aspects of specimen affinities, sizes, preparation regimes, and μCT imaging.
Table S2. This sample reporting spreadsheet, or a modified version thereof, is intended to be helpful for ensuring the full documentation (and later reporting) of specimen storage, preparation, and CT‐scanning parameters at each stage of diceCT imaging research.
The avian feeding apparatus is a derived system of bony linkages spanned by numerous jaw muscles in a complex 3D environment. Tracking the evolution of jaw muscles among different clades of birds and their extinct dinosaur relatives remains challenging because of this complexity. Here we introduce novel means of mapping 3D jaw muscle resultants in...
Morphologists have historically had to rely on destructive procedures to visualize the three-dimensional (3-D) anatomy of animals. More recently, however, non-destructive techniques have come to the forefront. These include X-ray computed tomography (CT), which has been used most commonly to examine the mineralized, hard-tissue anatomy of living an...
