Fins to Limbs: Investigating the Evolution of complex Limb Musculature. This application aims to investigates the basis of the fin-to-limb transition, an event that set the stage for the entire tetrapod radiation. This project expects to generate new knowledge concerning the natural history of vertebrates using a multidisciplinary approach that combines paleontology and embryology of unique Australian fauna. While the skeletal changes associated with the move from water to land have been investi ....Fins to Limbs: Investigating the Evolution of complex Limb Musculature. This application aims to investigates the basis of the fin-to-limb transition, an event that set the stage for the entire tetrapod radiation. This project expects to generate new knowledge concerning the natural history of vertebrates using a multidisciplinary approach that combines paleontology and embryology of unique Australian fauna. While the skeletal changes associated with the move from water to land have been investigated, little is known about the origin of tetrapod limb muscles. This proposal has as an expected outcome, a determination of how limb muscles arose during evolution. This knowledge should provide significant benefits by transforming our understanding of the origins of the tetrapod body plan and our own natural history.Read moreRead less
How are visual gene pathways lost and restored during reptile evolution? This project aims to investigate how complex traits are lost during evolution, and once lost if they can be regained. The project will use the diverse visual systems of snakes and lizards to shed light on the process of gene loss in degenerative lineages, and discover the mechanisms that compensate for gene losses in taxa with secondarily evolved visual capabilities- providing a case of evolutionary re-innovation in complex ....How are visual gene pathways lost and restored during reptile evolution? This project aims to investigate how complex traits are lost during evolution, and once lost if they can be regained. The project will use the diverse visual systems of snakes and lizards to shed light on the process of gene loss in degenerative lineages, and discover the mechanisms that compensate for gene losses in taxa with secondarily evolved visual capabilities- providing a case of evolutionary re-innovation in complex traits.Read moreRead less