the Karoo collections at the ESI
(Johannesburg, South Africa)
jeremy.petex[at]univ-poitiers.fr
Research objective
My research aims to reconstruct the evolution of the trigeminal nerve and the bony canals of the snout in mammalian ancestors, in order to understand how the snout bones were reorganized, in particular to test the hypothesis that the septomaxilla replaced the premaxilla over the course of evolution.
Topics of study
My work focuses on non-mammalian therapsids, which represent a key stage in the evolution of mammals. The specimens I study come mainly from the exceptionally well-preserved fossil record of South Africa.
I study them using synchrotron CT scans, which allow me to reconstruct in 3D the organization of the bony canals within their snouts. My research operates at several scales, ranging from evolution among the different therapsid groups to ontogenetic variation observed from embryo to adult.
Main field
I take part in the excavations organized by the Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI) of the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa), which take place in the Karoo desert.
