Olivia Plateau

University of Cambridge | Cam · Field Palaeobiology Research Group

To date, several studies describe post-hatching ontogenetic variation in birds; however, none of these studies document and compare ontogenetic variation of the entire skull in multiple avian species. Therefore, we studied ontogenetic skull variation of two bird species with very different ecologies, Pica pica, and Struthio camelus, using μCT based...

We present in vivo observations of chicken embryo development which show that the early chicken embryo presents a principal structure made out of concentric rings and a secondary structure composed of radial sectors. During development, physical forces deform the main rings into axially directed, antero-posterior tubes, while the sectors roll up to...

Crown birds are subdivided into two main groups, Palaeognathae and Neognathae, that can be distinguished, among other means, by the organization of the bones in their pterygoidpalatine complex (PPC). Shape variation of the vomer, which is the most anterior part of the PPC, was recently analysed with help of geometric morphometrics to discover morph...

The degree of sutural closure between bones generally allows for the classification of skeleton maturity in tetrapods. In mammals, the sutural closure of skull bones was previously used as proxy to evaluate the ontogenetic stage of single individuals. However, due to temporal variation, this process can be only applied among mammalian subclades, bu...

The neck connects the head and the trunk and is the key structure allowing all movements of the head. The neck morphology of birds is the most variable among living tetrapods, including significant differences in the number and shape of the cervical vertebrae. Despite these differences, according to the literature, three morphofunctional regions (i...

In contrast to the vast majority of reptiles, the skulls of adult crown birds are characterized by a high degree of integration due to bone fusion, e.g., an ontogenetic event generating a net reduction in the number of bones. To understand this process in an evolutionary context, we investigate postnatal ontogenetic changes in the skulls of crown b...

Despite a diversity of about 10 000 extant species, the sophisticated avian ‘body plan’ has not much changed once it was achieved around 160 Ma after the origin of powered flight. All birds are bipedal having wings, a rigid trunk, a short and ossified tail, a three-segmented leg and digitigrade feet. The avian neck, however, has always been regarde...

We present new species of an enigmatic family of mammals, which is endemic to Europe, the Paroxyclaenidae: Merialus bruneti sp. nov., Fratrodon tresvauxi gen. et sp. nov., Paraspaniella gunnelli gen. et sp. nov., and Sororodon tresvauxae gen. et sp. nov. The fossils described come from six localities of the Ypresian of the Paris Basin (France): Pou...