Through the holistic study of major fossil localities, this axis will investigate key events in the evolution of organisms, linked to the conquest of completely new ecological niches, including the environmental causes, evolutionary processes, and morphological consequences.
Main research topics are:
Baleen whales (Mysticeti), the largest animals on earth, are a spectacular example of evolutionary adaptation and, as predators and nutrient distributors, a major component of the modern ocean ecosystem.
The return of tetrapods to a marine habitat constitutes one of the most significant ecological shifts, occurring multiple times during the last 250 million years. In the course of the evolution of marine tetrapod lineages, numerous behavioral and physiological changes are observed, accompanied by drastic morphological transformations.
The purpose of this project is to describe the endocranial casts (in silicone and virtual) of ornithopod dinosaurs from Europe and Asia, and establish comparisons with other archosaurs.
