Research Project

For her BSc project, Hester is looking at the morphology of the Pan Troglodytes, Pongo pygmaeus and Gorilla gorilla craniofacial skeleton. The key aims of her study are to understand how facial orientation and positioning are related to a suite of integrated craniofacial features in the non-human primate, and the degree of inter- and intraspecific variation in facial orientation and its morphological correlates. 2D landmark coordinates were obtained from lateral radiographs of both adult and juvenile skulls. Hypotheses are assessed using geometric morphometric analysis and partial least squares analysis (PLS).

 

Hester is a medical student at the Hull York Medical School (HYMS) and is currently taking an intercalated BSc in Anatomy: Functional Morphology and Evolution 

 

This project is supervised by Dr. Samuel Cobb of the Functional Morphology and Evolution Research Unit of the Hull York Medical School (HYMS).

 

Research Interests

  • Growth and development of craniofacial skeleton

  • Developmental constraints and adaptation of the craniofacial skeleton in human evolution

  • Variation in the integrated craniomandibular skeleton

  • Facial orientation and integrated craniofacial morphology

  • Inter- and intraspecific variation in the craniofacial morphology of non-human primates