Corvin Kosubek
My name is Corvin and I am currently part of the Caviomorpha project team. I am pursuing a teaching degree in Biology and Chemistry. My research interests are wide-spread, but I am very likely interested if the topic is about something out of the ordinary. My thesis project is on the femur and pelvis of caviomorphs and how body size differences are reflected in the scaling relationships of this skeletal element. Therefore I am analysing size ratios of pelves and femora and compare these data to the overall size of the Caviomorpha. I make use of a variety of speciality software including Autodesk Amira, ORS Dragonfly, Geomagic, IDAV Landmark, and R. I will further use 3D geometric morphometrics to compare the shape of skeletal elements to identify adaptations to the various lifestyles of caviomorph rodents.
Research
Project: Ecomorphology of Caviomorpha
This project focusses on the evolutionary diversity of caviomorph rodents, a radiation of more than 200 species that adapted to various lifestyles. In comparative analyses, we study different aspects of the appendicular musculoskeletal system. Bones are analysed based in micro CT data in terms of shape, cross-sectional properties, and bone internal structure. Further we try to understand ecomorphological adaptations at the level of lever systems, leveraging 3D modelling to determine instantaneous muscle moment arms.
