Morphological and genetic complexity, dispad in vertebrates, alongside an understanding of underlyinrity, and diversity in the evolution of tetrapods.

The aim is to understand how morphological complexity and disparity has evolved in vertebrates, alongside an understanding of underlying genomic processes. This will be achieved using morphological character data (discrete and morphometric) and open-source genomic data from existing databases. Additional morphological data will be collated as necessary as the project progresses. We will use museum curated osteological and fossil material, and the project does not implicate the use of any living organisms. We will also produce supertree phylogenies by synthesising large numbers of published trees.

Completion of this work will aid in understanding of global biodiversity patterns, with applications in future study of evolution, ecology, and conservation. This is directly relevant to NERC GW4+ DTP's Living World research theme.