GenoMorph

Recent advances in comparative cranial and dental structural morphology of extinct and extant hominins demonstrated that valuable (paleo)biological information can be extracted from their mineralized tissues for assessing taxonomy, evolutionary pathways and phylogenetic relationships. Substantial genetic component likely explains the variation of many of their morphological features. However, the genomic architecture of craniodental structures remains vastly unknown in humans. Comprehending the relationship between genotype and phenotype is the keystone in evolutionary biology and will allow us to shed new lights on the study of the paleoanthropological record. The GenoMorph project is based on a multidisciplinary approach mixing (paleo)genetics and morphological data based on X-ray virtual imaging. This research program aims to better understand the genetic mechanisms underlying the evolution of human craniodental structures.