Project Highlights:
- Use cutting edge approaches to analyse conodont feeding mechanisms and interpret the conodont fossil record in terms of their functional ecology and the differential evolutionary success and survival of ecological guilds
- Exploit the exceptionally good fossil record of conodonts to analyse major evolutionary drivers before, during and after major perturbations in the biosphere
- Opportunities to travel overseas to collect data from fossil collections
Overview:
The conodont fossil record is among the best of any organisms. The morphological complexity of the teeth of this long-lived group of primitive vertebrates and the rate at which they evolved have made them paramount tools for biostratigraphy, with millions of elements amassed in collections around the world. But the ecological signals entrained in their fossil record are only now starting to be decoded. It is becoming clear that conodonts were more significant components of Palaeozoic and Triassic marine ecosystems than previously thought, potentially outnumbering other fishes and sharks for much of their 300 million year range. Their dental morphology reflects a rich history of dietary adaptation, and the perception that conodonts were small, and restricted to low trophic levels, may be nothing more than a bias imposed by the processes used to extract them from rocks. This project will address major questions of conodont functional ecology through exploration and testing of a number of broad research themes and hypotheses.
Conodont elements generally outnumber the microvertebrate remains of fishes and sharks; how widespread and common is this pattern, and what are the biological, ecological and taphonomic drivers? Does the higher abundance of conodonts really mean they were dominant components of Palaeozoic marine ecosystems?
New techniques applied to conodonts, many pioneered in Leicester (see Further Reading) have demonstrated that wear and 3D dental topographic analysis provide powerful insights into feeding mechanisms and dietary changes through time (Figure 1). This provides new ecological perspectives on the conodont fossil record and the ecosystems they were part of, but much remains to be done, including:
- Assessing how the morphological details of complex P1 elements reflect trade-offs between adaptation to food processing and the constraints on occlusion;
- Quantifying the degree of functional convergence between the teeth and claws of extant animals and cone-shaped conodont elements – which dominate the early part of the conodont fossil record – to elucidate their functional disparity, evolution, and ecological role in Early Palaeozoic ecosystems;
- Applying similar approaches to understanding convergence and the biomechanics of conical feeding structures to fill the major gaps in our knowledge regarding the functional disparity of the conodont raptorial array of ‘ramiform’ elements, and its role of food acquisition.
Methodology:
Quantitative approaches lie at the core of this project, so you should be keen to engage with quantification of 3D structure, and computational/mechanical and statistical methods of analysis. Although a series of well-constrained analyses lie at its core, this project also offers scope for an excellent student to develop the research in new directions.
Dietary and functional analysis will be based largely on 3D morphological data: analysis of dental topography (Pineda-Munoz 2017; Stockey et al. 2021; see Figure 1); further development of techniques developed by Murdock and Donoghue (Murdock et al. 2013); and the application to conodonts of new approaches to functional and dietary analysis of conical structures (Evans et al. 2021; Fischer et al. 2022).
For more details of the CENTA consortium please see the CENTA website: www.centa.org.uk.
Entry requirements:
Applicants are required to hold/or expect to obtain a UK Bachelor Degree 2:1 or better in a relevant subject or overseas equivalent.
The University of Leicester English language requirements apply where applicable.
Application advice:
To apply please refer to
https://le.ac.uk/study/research-degrees/funded-opportunities/centa-phd-studentships
Project / Funding Enquiries to: [Email Address Removed] or [Email Address Removed]
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