Background:
Approximately fifty lineages of amniotes have become aquatic through time, most famously today’s whales and the extinct marine reptiles of the Mesozoic. In these groups, the pelvic girdle adapted to swimming and reproduction in water, but little is known about these evolutionary trajectories. This is especially true for plesiosaurs, an iconic group with no modern analogues or descendants. Through this project, you will map changes in the pelvic girdle in plesiosaurs throughout their evolution.
Research aims:
Map morphological changes in fossil plesiosaur pelvic girdles through time
Find possible causes for the observed changes
Method:
This project will use data from museum collections in Norway and other places in Europe, in addition to the scientific literature. You will collect shape data and statistically evaluate changes through time, as well as data on articulations and muscle attachments to assess biomechanics of plesiosaur hips.
The project is part of the research at the Natural History Museum.