Ornella C. Bertrand

Pere Figuerola

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'Beatriu de Pinós' PhD researcher
Paleobiology & Biochronology

I am a mammalian paleontologist focussing on the neurosensory evolution of extant and extinct mammals in relation to ecology and the environment. My overall research aims at understanding how the sensory diversity of modern mammals emerged and their impact on the mammalian adaptive radiation. I use virtual endocasts which are the imprints left against the inner part of the cranium by sensory organs such as the brain and the inner ear. I also incorporate the phylogenetic relationships existing among mammals to put into context the neurosensory changes occurring through geological deep time.

I am originally from France where I received my master’s degree at the University of Montpellier working on the evolution of rodents. As a predoctoral researcher, I continued working on the phylogenetic relationships of Afro-Asian and South American rodents at the American Museum of Natural History in New York (USA). Then, I did my PhD thesis at the University of Toronto (Canada) on the brain evolution of squirrels and their closest extant and extinct relatives. As postdoctoral researcher in Toronto (Canada), and Edinburgh (UK, Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow), I have continued working on the evolution of the brain and inner ear of mammals using various methods to study the shape (3D Geometric Morphometrics) and size quantification of sensory organs. I have specifically focused on the impact of the end-Cretaceous extinction on the brain evolution of mammals.

I am currently a Investigadora postdoctoral ‘Beatriu de Pinós’ at the ICP here where my main project focuses on the neurosensory evolution of gliding mammals.

Research interests: