University of Hull

Faculty Member, Hull York Medical School

About

My research is primarily concerned with functional morphology of the Eutheria, the placental mammals, concentrating in particular on cranial morphology. I am interested in how the form of the skull and other cranial structures vary between different eutherian groups, and whether this variation can be ascribed to function or phylogenetic history. My research has touched on all members of the Eutheria, but groups of particular interest are the rodents and the Afrotheria, the grouping of endemic African mammals that includes elephants, manatees and dugong, hyraxes, tenrecs, golden moles, elephant-shrews and the aardvark.

Previous work has studied the mosaic of bones found in the orbital region of placental mammals, and has examined the correlation between the different bone patterns and the variation in the arrangement and relative proportions of the masticatory muscles.

Research in collaboration with Nathan Jeffery (funded by the BBSRC) has investigated the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) in placental mammals. The vestibulo-ocular reflex is the system of compensatory movements of the muscles of the eyeballs in response to perception of movement of the head by the semicircular canals of the inner ear. Our research investigated the orientations of the canals and muscles in adult specimens of a wide range of mammals using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Current research, in collaboration with Nathan Jeffery, Emily Rayfield and Michael Fagan, examines the biomechanics of gnawing and chewing in three species of rodent: squirrels, rats and guinea pigs, using the technique of finite element analysis. We hope to investigate whether cranial morphology is driven by muscle architecture, and whether particular rodents are better at feeding at the incisors or the molars. This research is funded by NERC.

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