
My activity
I’m interested in the evolution of prehensile tails (i.e. tails capable of grasping) among amazonian mammals.
Indeed, among those, such capacities appeared at least six times independently among five distinct Orders.
Such abilities are thought to be associated with anatomical adaptations due to the constraints such capacities implies.
In that context my goal will be to explore the anatomical diversity of the caudal region by comparing prehensile species between them and with non-prehensile relatives.
The main objective being to characterize the degree of anatomical convergence existing between the different independent apparitions of the prehensile tail among mammals.
To this end, on one hand I realize protocols allowing me to quantify the morphological variation of the caudal vertebrae and on the other I realize dissections in order to describe and quantify variations of the caudal muscular system.