Project description
We think of kangaroos as the quintessential hopping mammal but across their evolutionary journey they have displayed a wide range of locomotory adaptations. In addition to hopping, some kangaroos can climb, walk or bound on all fours (or fives!) and it has been suggested that extinct sthenurine kangaroos could stride bipedally. This project aims to investigate the morphology of the ungual phalanges of the foot and implications for macropodoid locomotion. As the major flexor tendon in the foot is distally anchored to the ungual phalanx, this bone may provide key insight into the evolution of locomotion in the group.
Assumed knowledge
degree in vertebrate palaeontology or animal behaviour
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