Ongoing research

Dr. Martin Kundrát conducts several investigations in major evolutionary transitions through vertebrate history with specific focus upon innovative adaptations amongst archosauria. Cross-disciplinary developmental experiments on in vivo embryology combined with deep time perspectives using exceptional fossils are of paramount importance for his frontier research. In collaboration with the synchrotron facilities in Switzerland (Tomcat-SLS), Japan (Spring-8) and Australia, he takes a lead in exploring and developing new approaches for high-resolution 3D imaging of fossilized hard and soft tissues of dinosaurs. Martin further focuses on using a diverse array of methods (evolutionary morphing, comparative phylogenetics and statistics) and adaptating these to seek quantitative interpretations of morphological innovations in the history of archosaurs, and to provide most likely reconstruction of their biological expressions. Having a long term goal of exploring lesser-known Mesozoic strata, Martin has developed a fruitful collaboration with several international institutions that allows him to organize expeditional projects in China, Iran, Australia, Russia, New Zealand and Argentina. The field activities lead so far to description of several new taxa of dinosaurs and pterosaurs.

Dr. Martin Kundrát is developing Evo-Devo Research Program at Subdepartment of Evolution and Development of Department of Organismal Biology in Uppsala and participate in teaching the same subject for the course of Evolution and Development.

 
The Kundrát group primarily seeks new data to inform about critical novelties in morphological transition from terrestrial to flighted archosaurs. Having gradually built larger datasets, the group is tackling now several issues of macroevolution, especially genome size variability, morphological plasticity, locomotion and thermoregulation of archosaur clades over long time scales.