Research
Research in the unit focuses on the functional, evolutionary and developmental bases of morphological variation in humans, primates and other mammals.
One major research strand in the unit aims to explain how skeletal and dental morphologies arise during evolution in terms of developmental processes and functional adaptations. The key underpinning technologies are geometric morphometrics, CT imaging, Finite Element Analysis, polarising and scanning electron microscopy. The advances in morphometrics that have arisen during this work are also being applied in functional studies and imaging.
Another focus of research in the unit is on biogeographic and temporal variation in modern and fossil primates, relating morphological variation and functional morphology to environmental change.
The work of the Functional Morphology and Evolution unit is directly applicable to the study of human evolution and the understanding of modern human biological variation. In addition, the unit's work has important medical applications through the use of morphometrics in CT, MR and other diagnostic imaging modalities and also in kinematic analyses of facial and body motion.
Visit the PEOPLE page for details of current research projects
We are grateful for the support we receive from the following
