PhD: The evolution and function of the avian skull

There is still much to be deciphered about the evolution of the avian skull. The aim of this PhD project is to quantify the morphological and functional evolution of bird skulls to determine how size, phylogeny and feeding ecology relate to cranial evolution across avian clades. Sampling will involve collecting CT, laser scanning and microscribe data at the Natural History Museum London from a wide array of clades, including owls, clades with highly variable bills such as woodpeckers, toucans and hornbills, and clades who vary little in size, such as finches, to name but a few. To evaluate the extent to which morphology is underpinned by adaptation to feeding ecology, behaviour, morphological integration (e.g. allometric-size), and/or phylogenetic constraints, the project will utilize 3D shape analytical tools (Geometric Morphometrics, see Klingenberg 2010) and multivariate statistics, including phylogenetic data and phylogenetic comparative methods. Finite element modelling (Rayfield 2007) will be used to ascertain how form relates to function of the bird skull in different lineages.