| Unit name | Biomechanics and Functional Morphology |
|---|---|
| Unit code | EASCM0024 |
| Credit points | 10 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1B (weeks 7 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. Rayfield |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites | |
| Co-requisites | |
| School/department | School of Earth Sciences |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
Why are fossil animals shaped in a particular way? How does this relate to their behaviour? In this unit we will examine how biomechanical techniques and inference from living animals shape our understanding of form and function in fossils. Firstly, students will be introduced to biomechanical principles and techniques, and the issues of adaptation and constraint, before considering their application to problems of fossil animal function. Concepts of basic structural mechanics will be introduced along with an overview of the biology and functional morphology of the musculoskeletal system, including shape and scaling aspects. The practical application of biomechanics to fossil function will then be considered, focusing on a variety of topics such as feeding and cranial evolution (early tetrapods, lizards and snakes, dinosaurs, mammals), locomotion on land (dinosaurs, hominids and arthropods), in water (plesiosaurs) and air (insects, pterosaurs, birds), physiology (dinosaurian and mammalian endothermy) and fighting and display structures.
