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SUMMARY:Heads and shoulders: progress on the origin of the modern vertebra
 te body plan - Dr Martin D Brazeau\, Imperial College London
DTSTART:20230124T130000Z
DTEND:20230124T140000Z
UID:TALK194026@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Stephen Pates
DESCRIPTION:The origin of the jawed vertebrates remains one of the persist
 ent mysteries in vertebrate evolution. Jaws\, teeth\, and paired fins are 
 widely regarded as vertebrate ‘key innovations’\, but their origins re
 main poorly documented in the fossil record. We know that jawed vertebrate
 s originated more than 420 million years ago\, but no fossil intermediates
  between jawless and jawless vertebrates have ever been confidently identi
 fied. Despite remarkable and well-publicised discoveries in recent years\,
  almost none of these have been able to firmly bridge the gap between jawl
 ess vertebrate anatomy and modern jawed vertebrates. In this talk\, I will
  present a refreshed view of jawed vertebrate origins and the origins of p
 aired fins\, drawing on new fossil data and new interpretations. Debates a
 bout the origin of jaws and paired fins have thus been dominated by compel
 ling but speculative theories based on pre-Darwinian ‘idealistic morphol
 ogy’. By returning to the fundamentals of comparative anatomy\, employin
 g high-resolution computed tomography\, and integrating biomechanical and 
 comparative developmental knowledge\, I will help close the morphological 
 gap between early jawed vertebrates and their nearest jawless relatives. T
 hese results will provide surprising new evidence on one of the enduring m
 ysteries of vertebrate evolution: the evolution of a distinct head and sho
 ulder and how this helps us resolve the simultaneous origins of jaws and f
 ins.
LOCATION:Main Zoology Lecture Theatre and online via Zoom - contact organi
 ser for details
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