Three-dimensional visualization of predatory gastropod feeding teeth with synchrotron scanning (2023)
Journal Article
Herbert, G. S., Hill, S. A., Pio, M. J., Carney, R., Carlson, A., Newham, E., & Bright, J. A. (2023). Three-dimensional visualization of predatory gastropod feeding teeth with synchrotron scanning. Journal of morphology, 284(10), Article e21633. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.21633

Several families of neogastropod mollusks independently evolved the ability to drill through mineralized prey skeletons using their own mineralized feeding teeth, sometimes with shell-softening chemical agents produced by an organ in the foot. Teeth... Read More about Three-dimensional visualization of predatory gastropod feeding teeth with synchrotron scanning.

Is shape in the eye of the beholder? Assessing landmarking error in geometric morphometric analyses on live fish (2023)
Journal Article
Moccetti, P., Rodger, J. R., Bolland, J. D., Kaiser-Wilks, P., Smith, R., Nunn, A. D., …Joyce, D. A. (in press). Is shape in the eye of the beholder? Assessing landmarking error in geometric morphometric analyses on live fish. PeerJ, 11, Article e15545. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.15545

Geometric morphometrics is widely used to quantify morphological variation between biological specimens, but the fundamental influence of operator bias on data reproducibility is rarely considered, particularly in studies using photographs of live an... Read More about Is shape in the eye of the beholder? Assessing landmarking error in geometric morphometric analyses on live fish.

Quantitative investigation of pengornithid enantiornithine diet reveals macrocarnivorous ecology evolved in birds by Early Cretaceous (2023)
Journal Article
Miller, C. V., Pittman, M., Wang, X., Zheng, X., & Bright, J. A. (2023). Quantitative investigation of pengornithid enantiornithine diet reveals macrocarnivorous ecology evolved in birds by Early Cretaceous. iScience, 26(3), Article 106211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106211

The diet of Mesozoic birds is poorly known, limiting evolutionary understanding of birds’ roles in modern ecosystems. Pengornithidae is one of the best understood families of Mesozoic birds, hypothesized to eat insects or only small amounts of meat.... Read More about Quantitative investigation of pengornithid enantiornithine diet reveals macrocarnivorous ecology evolved in birds by Early Cretaceous.

Diet of Mesozoic toothed birds (Longipterygidae) inferred from quantitative analysis of extant avian diet proxies (2022)
Journal Article
Miller, C., Pittman, M., Wang, X., Zheng, X., & Bright, J. A. (2022). Diet of Mesozoic toothed birds (Longipterygidae) inferred from quantitative analysis of extant avian diet proxies. BMC biology, 20(1), Article 101. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-022-01294-3

Background: Birds are key indicator species in extant ecosystems, and thus we would expect extinct birds to provide insights into the nature of ancient ecosystems. However, many aspects of extinct bird ecology, particularly their diet, remain obscure... Read More about Diet of Mesozoic toothed birds (Longipterygidae) inferred from quantitative analysis of extant avian diet proxies.

Global biogeographic patterns of avian morphological diversity (2022)
Journal Article
Hughes, E. C., Edwards, D. P., Bright, J. A., Capp, E. J., Cooney, C. R., Varley, Z. K., & Thomas, G. H. (2022). Global biogeographic patterns of avian morphological diversity. Ecology letters, 25(3), 598-610. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13905

Understanding the biogeographical patterns, and evolutionary and environmental drivers, underpinning morphological diversity are key for determining its origins and conservation. Using a comprehensive set of continuous morphological traits extracted... Read More about Global biogeographic patterns of avian morphological diversity.

Craniofacial development illuminates the evolution of nightbirds (Strisores) (2021)
Journal Article
Navalón, G., Nebreda, S. M., Bright, J. A., Fabbri, M., Benson, R. B. J., Bhullar, B. A., …Rayfield, E. J. (2021). Craniofacial development illuminates the evolution of nightbirds (Strisores). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288(1948), Article 20210181. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0181

Evolutionary variation in ontogeny played a central role in the origin of the avian skull. However, its influence in subsequent bird evolution is largely unexplored. We assess the links between ontogenetic and evolutionary variation of skull morpholo... Read More about Craniofacial development illuminates the evolution of nightbirds (Strisores).

The signature of competition in ecomorphological traits across the avian radiation (2020)
Journal Article
Chira, A. M., Cooney, C. R., Bright, J. A., Capp, E. J., Hughes, E. C., Moody, C. J., …Thomas, G. H. (2020). The signature of competition in ecomorphological traits across the avian radiation. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287(1938), Article 20201585. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1585

Competition for shared resources represents a fundamental driver of biological diversity. However, the tempo and mode of phenotypic evolution in deep-time has been predominantly investigated using trait evolutionary models which assume that lineages... Read More about The signature of competition in ecomorphological traits across the avian radiation.

The signature of competition in ecomorphological traits across the avian radiation: Competition and trait macroevolution (2020)
Journal Article
Chira, A. M., Cooney, C. R., Bright, J. A., Capp, E. J., Hughes, E. C., Moody, C. J., …Thomas, G. H. (2020). The signature of competition in ecomorphological traits across the avian radiation: Competition and trait macroevolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287(1938), Article 20201585. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1585

© 2020 The Authors. Competition for shared resources represents a fundamental driver of biological diversity. However, the tempo and mode of phenotypic evolution in deep-time has been predominantly investigated using trait evolutionary models which a... Read More about The signature of competition in ecomorphological traits across the avian radiation: Competition and trait macroevolution.

Disassociated rhamphotheca of fossil bird Confuciusornis informs early beak reconstruction, stress regime, and developmental patterns (2020)
Journal Article
Miller, C. V., Pittman, M., Kaye, T. G., Wang, X., Bright, J. A., & Zheng, X. (2020). Disassociated rhamphotheca of fossil bird Confuciusornis informs early beak reconstruction, stress regime, and developmental patterns. Communications Biology, 3(1), Article 519. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01252-1

Soft tissue preservation in fossil birds provides a rare window into their anatomy, function, and development. Here, we present an exceptionally-preserved specimen of Confuciusornis which, through Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence imaging, is identified... Read More about Disassociated rhamphotheca of fossil bird Confuciusornis informs early beak reconstruction, stress regime, and developmental patterns.

The consequences of craniofacial integration for the adaptive radiations of Darwin’s finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers (2020)
Journal Article
Navalón, G., Marugán-Lobón, J., Bright, J. A., Cooney, C., & Rayfield, E. (2020). The consequences of craniofacial integration for the adaptive radiations of Darwin’s finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 4(2), 270-278. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-1092-y

© 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited. The diversifications of Darwin’s finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers are two text-book examples of adaptive radiation in birds. Why these two bird groups radiated while the rem... Read More about The consequences of craniofacial integration for the adaptive radiations of Darwin’s finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers.