Project description
Thylacines (or Tasmanian tigers) were unique creatures. They had a much larger skull that expected for their size, jaws that look as fragile as matchsticks, and a strange widening of the front of the skull that looks a bit crocodile-like. In this project, you can choose from two options (or combinations thereof): 1) Compare the thylacine's skull biomechanics with those of Tassie devils and quolls (and possibly others - like wolves) to test the prediction that this was a unique adaptation to high-impact biting. This would use Finite Element Analysis to test for the "engineering" of the skull OR 2) assess if fossil and sub-fossil thylacines from the mainland could have been different species; this would use 3D morphometrics, some 3D "repairing" in Blender, and anatomical descriptive analysis to ask if skulls from the mainland match the living ones.
Assumed knowledge
Nothing beyond biology undergrad is required, but you should have an interest in fiddling with softwares and 3D meshes. R coding experience is an advantage but not crucial if you are willing to learn.
Note: You need to register interest in projects from different supervisors (not a number of projects with the one supervisor).
You must also contact each supervisor directly to discuss both the project details and your suitability to undertake the project.