I reconstruct and assess the evolutionary changes in the vertebrate body plan by documenting qualitatively and quantitatively the patterns of phenotypic variation in both living and fossil vertebrates based on quantitative dissections, state-of-the-art imaging techniques, and the mathematical analysis of shapes.

I assess the links between form and function and decipher their underlying mechanisms by combining experimental approaches and computer-based modelling techniques (multibody dynamics and finite element analysis). These approaches allow me to determine and compare musculoskeletal and structural performance of the skull during feeding, and how it relates to diet and ecology. 

I document the development of "non-model" organisms to assess how changes in development and growth influence phenotypic transformations at a broad evolutionary scale. Combined with a detailled understanding of the morphology of fossils, data collected on the development of living species can serve to infer changes in developmental processes during evolution.