Nathan M. Young

Navigating the window: structural bottlenecks in avian craniofacial integration revealed by the ontogenetic patterning of shape variance

Background Successful palatal morphogenesis requires the precise spatiotemporal choreography of independent facial prominences. Our previous macroevolutionary analyses identified a convergence in amniote facial growth at primary palatal fusion, associated with reduced shape variability. We hypothesize that this constra...