Interested in biomechanics and locomotion? Vertebrate anatomy? Birds and dinosaurs? Development and evolution?
Consider joining the Heers lab!
Dr. Ashley Heers
Development and Evolution of the Bird Body Plan
La Kretz Hall 316, [email protected]
Using birds and their dinosaur ancestors as a focal group, our research combines biological, paleontological, and engineering disciplines to explore how developmental and evolutionary transformations in anatomy influence(d) locomotion during the invasion of new environments — for example, the transition from terrestrial to aerial environments during developmental and evolutionary origins of flight.
What is the advantage of the rudimentary locomotor structures that we see in developing or evolving animals, such as the “protowings” of young birds or extinct dinosaurs? Questions like these are a long-standing challenge crucial to understanding vertebrate biology.
To explore such questions, our lab uses an arsenal of experimental, 3D visualization, and biomechanical modeling tools, such as:
Consider joining the Heers lab!
Dr. Ashley Heers
Development and Evolution of the Bird Body Plan
La Kretz Hall 316, [email protected]
Using birds and their dinosaur ancestors as a focal group, our research combines biological, paleontological, and engineering disciplines to explore how developmental and evolutionary transformations in anatomy influence(d) locomotion during the invasion of new environments — for example, the transition from terrestrial to aerial environments during developmental and evolutionary origins of flight.
What is the advantage of the rudimentary locomotor structures that we see in developing or evolving animals, such as the “protowings” of young birds or extinct dinosaurs? Questions like these are a long-standing challenge crucial to understanding vertebrate biology.
To explore such questions, our lab uses an arsenal of experimental, 3D visualization, and biomechanical modeling tools, such as:
- Photography and Videography
- CT imaging and Dissection
- Measurement of locomotor performance: force plates, kinematics (skeletal movements), aerodynamics, muscle physiology
- Exploration of behavior in zoos and in the field
- Putting it all together and applying findings to extinct dinosaurs: Musculoskeletal modeling and 3D animation