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Dr. Raul E. Diaz, Jr.
Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences
California State University, Los Angeles
Research Associate, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
“Resolving a paradox: how does vertebrate skull diversity arise when embryonic development is highly conserved?”
Abstract:
The vertebrate cranium is arguably the most architecturally complex part of the body and receives cellular contributions from all embryonic germ layers. The outer-most skeletal layer, the dermatocranium, which forms the flat bones of the skull, has been studied extensively for both extinct and extant lineages. Such broad comparative studies have, over the past century, supported the idea that lineage specific dermatocranial morphologies arise primarily from the differential loss of skull bones which has led to a more ‘simplified’ skull relative to ancestral tetrapods that present a greater number of distinct bones in the skull of adults (i.e, Williston’s Law). Herein I present the first systematic examination of the formation, fusion, and loss of dermatocranial skeletal elements across all major lineages of extant vertebrates using a phylogenetically comprehensive and ontogenetically rich series of embryos and adults.
For more information about Dr. Diaz's work.
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Seminar held in person only.