Cassius Morrison

"Little is known of either clade’s neurocranial anatomy, despite this having the potential to unlock key information on the biology and ecology of extinct species. "

PhD project title:

The palaeoneurology and palaeoecology of British theropod dinosaurs: behavioural and phylogenetic implications.

 

Cassius Morrison

Project description:

Mesozoic theropods occupied a wide range of ecological niches and biomes. The European genera of the widespread Megalosauridae are often thought to have been terrestrial apex predators, although they also inhabited coastal environments, with some evidence for piscivory based on fossilized stomach contents. Members of their close relatives, Spinosauridae, had adaptations for semi-aquatic or fully aquatic lifestyles. During the Jurassic and Cretaceous, Britain’s environmental changes resulted in abundant marine, lagoonal, and fluvial facies, with both clades found within the British fossil record. 


Little is known of either clade’s neurocranial anatomy, despite this having the potential to unlock key information on the biology and ecology of extinct species. Micro-CT scanning and segmentation will be used to reconstruct the neurocranial and endocast anatomy of at least one megalosauroid and one spinosaurid from Britain. Analysis and comparison of their neurocranial anatomy with other theropod species will help to identify neurological adaptations for a semi-aquatic or aquatic lifestyle, allowing exploration into their roles in palaeoecosystems. The aquatic or semi-aquatic lifestyle of spinosaurids has been linked to their dispersal, distribution, and extinction. I will evaluate whether these adaptations prevented them from adapting and surviving the early Late Cretaceous sea regressions, irrespective of their broad geographical distribution. The findings from this project will also help to provide new and refined characters in phylogenetic analysis that will help resolve the relationships of theropods, as well as the evolution of their neurology.

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