Evolution, morphology, and development of the pterygoid region in Testudines, focusing on Pleurodira

• Grant number: 14/25379-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: May 01, 2015
• End date: April 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Paleozoology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Max Cardoso Langer
• Grantee: Gabriel de Souza Ferreira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/03825-3 - The origin and rise of dinosaurs in Gondwana (late Triassic - early Jurassic), AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/03934-2 - Evolution and development of the jaw adductor chamber in turtles, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Due to the great amount of anatomical changes in those animals, the Testudines (turtles and tortoises) offer an excellent opportunity for studying the body plan evolution in vertebrates. Besides its uncertain relationships among the Amniota, the relationships among the Testudines themselves remain also poorly resolved, which makes the knowledge about the different lineages morphologies essential to better understand the evolutionary history of this group. In this sense, the integrative approach of paleontology, comparative anatomy, and embryonic development, developed by the "Evo-Devo" research program, is promissing for the acknowledge of the patterns of morphological modifications in Testudines. Among the main lineages of Testudines, Pleurodira is the least studied, but recently it has received more attention from the researchers. Additionaly, competing hypothesis of the relationships of this lineage offers different models to understand its evolutionary history. Thus, this project aims to use soft tissue anatomy, histology, embryonic development, and paleontology to better understand the origin and establishment of the morphological patterns during the evolutionary history of Pleurodira. To accomplish this I will study fossils as well as embryonic development of the different taxa of the group, focusing on two structures of great interest for functional and taxonomic considerations on the pterygoid region, the different trochlear mechanisms of the M. adductor mandibulae externus, in Pleurodira and Cryptodira (the other great lineage of Testudines), and the cavum pterygoidei, a characteristic structure on the palatal region of Pan-Podocnemidae, one of the Pleurodira lineages. (AU)

Scientific publications

(12)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

EVERS, SERJOSCHA W.; NEENAN, JAMES M.; FERREIRA, GABRIEL S.; WERNEBURG, INGMAR; BARRETT, PAUL M.; BENSON, ROGER B. J.. Neurovascular anatomy of the protostegid turtle Rhinochelys pulchriceps and comparisons of membranous and endosseous labyrinth shape in an extant turtle. ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, v. 187, n. 3, p. 800-828, NOV 2019. (16/03934-2, 14/25379-5)

CARBONARO, FABIO AUGUSTO; LANGER, MAX CARDOSO; NIHEI, SILVIO SHIGUEO; FERREIRA, GABRIEL DE SOUZA; GHILARDI, RENATO PIRANI. Inferring ancestral range reconstruction based on trilobite records: a study-case on Metacryphaeus (Phacopida, Calmoniidae). SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 8, OCT 12 2018. (13/09683-3, 15/10788-0, 16/03934-2, 14/03825-3, 16/18275-4, 14/25379-5)

FERREIRA, GABRIEL S.; IORI, V, FABIANO; HERMANSON, GUILHERME; LANGER, MAX C.. New turtle remains from the Late Cretaceous of Monte Alto-SP, Brazil, including cranial osteology, neuroanatomy and phylogenetic position of a new taxon. PALAEONTOLOGISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT, v. 92, n. 3, p. 481-498, SEP 2018. (14/03825-3, 16/17116-0, 16/03373-0, 16/03934-2, 14/25379-5)

MARSOLA, JULIO C. A.; FERREIRA, GABRIEL S.; LANGER, MAX C.; BUTTON, DAVID J.; BUTLER, RICHARD J.. Increases in sampling support the southern Gondwanan hypothesis for the origin of dinosaurs. Palaeontology, v. 62, n. 3, p. 473-482, MAY 2019. (14/03825-3, 13/23114-1, 16/02473-1, 16/03934-2, 14/25379-5)

FERREIRA, GABRIEL S.; BRONZATI, MARIO; LANGER, MAX C.; STERLI, JULIANA. Phylogeny, biogeography and diversification patterns of side-necked turtles (Testudines: Pleurodira). ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE, v. 5, n. 3, MAR 2018. (14/25379-5, 14/03825-3, 16/03934-2)

GODOY, PEDRO L.; FERREIRA, GABRIEL S.; MONTEFELTRO, FELIPE C.; NOVA, BRUNO C. VILA; BUTLER, RICHARD J.; LANGER, MAX C.. Evidence for heterochrony in the cranial evolution of fossil crocodyliforms. Palaeontology, v. 61, n. 4, p. 543-558, JUL 2018. (14/03825-3, 16/03934-2, 14/25379-5)

FERREIRA, GABRIEL S.; RINCON, ASCANIO D.; SOLORZANO, ANDRES; LANGER, MAX C.. Review of the fossil matamata turtles: earliest well-dated record and hypotheses on the origin of their present geographical distribution. NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN, v. 103, n. 3-4, 2016. (14/03825-3, 12/11604-1, 14/25379-5)

HERMANSON, GUILHERME; FERREIRA, GABRIEL S.; LANGER, MAX C.. The largest Cretaceous podocnemidoid turtle (Pleurodira) revealed by an isolated plate from the Bauru Basin, south-central Brazil. HISTORICAL BIOLOGY, v. 29, n. 6, p. 833-840, 2017. (14/03825-3, 16/03373-0, 14/25379-5)

HERMANSON, G.; FERREIRA, G. S.; EVERS, S. W.; BENSON, R. B. J.; LANGER, M. C.. Skull Shape Relations to Ecological Preferences of Side-Necked Turtles (Testudines: Pleurodira). Journal of Morphology, v. 280, p. 1-pg., 2019-06-01. (14/25379-5, 14/03825-3)

HERMANSON, GUILHERME; IORI, V, FABIANO; EVERS, SERJOSCHA W.; LANGER, MAX C.; FERREIRA, GABRIEL S.. A SMALL PODOCNEMIDOID (PLEURODIRA, PELOMEDUSOIDES) FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS OF BRAZIL, AND THE INNERVATION AND CAROTID CIRCULATION OF SIDE-NECKED TURTLES. PAPERS IN PALAEONTOLOGY, v. 6, n. 2, FEB 2020. (14/03825-3, 14/25379-5, 16/03373-0)

FERREIRA, GABRIEL S.; BANDYOPADHYAY, SASWATI; JOYCE, WALTER G.. A taxonomic reassessment of Piramys auffenbergi, a neglected turtle from the late Miocene of Piram Island, Gujarat, India. PeerJ, v. 6, NOV 15 2018. (14/25379-5, 16/03934-2)

FERREIRA, GABRIEL S.; LAUTENSCHLAGER, STEPHAN; EVERS, SERJOSCHA W.; PFAFF, CATHRIN; KRIWET, JUERGEN; RASELLI, IRENA; WERNEBURG, INGMAR. Feeding biomechanics suggests progressive correlation of skull architecture and neck evolution in turtles. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 10, n. 1, MAR 26 2020. (16/03934-2, 14/25379-5, 19/10620-2)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

FERREIRA, Gabriel de Souza. Patterns of morphological evolution in the skull of turtles: contributions from digital paleontology, neuroanatomy and biomechanics. 2019. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC) Ribeirão Preto.