Promoter: Leonard Dewaele
Supervisor: Anastasia Selini
Subject: Among modern pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, fur seals and walruses), there is a spectrum of feeding methods. True seals (Phocidae) vary greatly in their feeding behaviour, with species specialised for pierce-feeding, grip-and-tear, and underwater suction-feeding. By contrast, the other speciose group of modern pinnipeds (the eared seals; Otariidae) are more limited in their feeding behaviours. Otariids are more terrestrially adapted, being described as remarkably agile on land, by comparison to the clumsy shuffling terrestrial movements of phocid seals. Several otariids (e.g. South American sea-lions, Otaria flavescens) are known to predate on other semi-aquatic tetrapods on land (e.g. penguins), rather than hunting in the water. The functional constraints of the otariid underwater locomotion (and accompanying functional release for terrestrial hunting) has the potential to have impacted their mandibular morphology. Revealing the morphological differences of the otariid feeding apparatus will offer insights into the constraints on semi-aquatic carnivoran feeding, especially for species which are capable of hunting both on land and underwater. This will then provide greater understanding for the effect of hunting behaviour through the land-to-sea transition in pinnipedimorphs.
In this project, the student will: (1) become familiar with the anatomy of otariid pinnipeds; (2) gather 3D surface scans of otariid mandibles; (3) conduct quantitative analyses of morphology using 3D geometric morphometrics on the mandibles of extant and extinct otariids; (4) assess interspecific differences in feeding morphology across the otariid phylogenetic tree as part of promotor Selini's ongoing doctoral research.
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