Jann Nassif

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Dr. Larry Witmer (opens in a new window)

Research

The relationship between the conformation of the sound-conduction apparatus in the middle ears of reptiles and birds and hearing function is poorly understood, confounding attempts to investigate adaptive sensory hypotheses and the evolution of the hearing system in deep time. My work aims to quantify variation in the middle-ear systems of diverse sauropsid reptiles, evaluate osteological correlates for middle-ear structures in reptiles and birds, and then use these correlates to reconstruct the soft-tissue middle-ear morphology of extinct non-avian dinosaurs.