Project D

Objectives

The overarching goal of Project D is to reconsruct life style and locomotion of temnospondyls confronting bone microanatomy, ichnofossils and paleoenvironmental data. More specific goals will be reached through 4 work packages:

• (a) Correlate bone microanato,y with ontogeny and life style.
• (b) Correlate track and trackway patterns with locomotion and life style.
• (c) Reconstruct the functional prevalence of autopodia through independent methods.
• (d) Identify plasticity associating bone microanatomy to specific habitat conditions.

Research Statements

Dr. Eli Amson
‍My research aims at understanding the evolutionary patterns and processes related to the adaptations of the skeleton. I am particularly interested in linking locomotion and life history to bone histology and microanatomy. In the context, of the Forschungsgruppe, within Project D, we will look at the bone microanatomy across the whole skeleton of key temnospondyl species at various ontogenetic stages and compare it to extant analogues such as salamanders.

Dr. Eudald Mujal Grane
‍My research is focused on the reconstruction of past ecosystems of tetrapods based on the stratigraphic, sedimentary and fossil records. I am particularly interested in the palaeoenvironmental distribution of tetrapod fossils, and especially on the track (ichnological) record. The study of fossil tracks also leads to analyses on the locomotion of the potential trackmakers. In the context of the Forschungsgruppe, and especially within Project D, we analyse the temnospondyl ichnological record to carry out detailed track-trackmaker correlation, decipher all potential locomotion styles and elucidate their palaeoenvironmental framework; regarding the latter, we also analyse the distribution and preservation (taphonomy) of body fossils in their sedimentary deposits.

(a)
Bone microanatoy and ontogeny

(b)
Trace fossils: locomotion and paleoenvironments

(c)
Body mass distribution and ichnology

(d)
Paleoenvironments and Salinity