DISSERTATION RESEARCH: New Insights on the Evolution of Flight in Dinosaurs Using CT and PET Technology

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Birds are living theropod (carnivorous) dinosaurs and the suite of plumage and wing features that enable bird flight are well known to have evolved first in non-avian dinosaurs. Because brains do not directly fossilize, however, our evolutionary understanding of the neurological control system for flight has lagged far behind. Fortuitously, advanced imaging techniques, such as Computerized Tomography scanning ? which images the interior of bone and fossils for digital recreation ? and Positron Emission Tomography scanning ? which measures brain activity during prescribed behaviors ? now make it possible to pair anatomical changes in the size and shape of the brain with behavioral patterns of brain use. This project will adapt these tools to address how the evolution of flight-active parts of the modern avian brain contributed to the dinosaurian transition to flight.The highly integrative nature of this research will be transformative as it addresses a major transition in vertebrate evolution, and impacts neuroscience and paleobiology. Dissemination will occur in both English and Spanish through the researcher?s website, designed as a platform for encouraging young women and minorities to pursue scientific careers. Additional, broad outreach will take place through the American Museum of Natural History and collaborating institutions (Columbia University, Brookhaven National Laboratory).