Fossils and Las Hoyas
​
The unique fossils of this site represent the ecological structure of a Lower Cretaceous wetland (Hauterivian, 126-129 My) with outstanding diversity and unprecedented biological detail of soft tissues. We are now taking the first steps to understand the complex ecological structure of the wetland using networks analysis.
Take a look at the Las Hoyas book
​
​
3D landmarks in the avian brain
(Marugán-Lobón et al., 2016)
​
​


Skulls, brains, dinosaurs and avian evolution
​My long-term research topic has been the study avian skull and brain evolution at macroevolutionary scales using shape analysis (Geometric Morphometrics).
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Mesozoic Birds and the evolution of avian life histories
​​
Confuciusornis sanctus
​​
Confuciusornis is the most abundant of all the fossil birds unearthed from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol biota in Liaoning Province (China). We have unveiled intriguing features of the life history of this primitive birds.
Biological form, phenotypic evolution and shape analysis
Using Geometric Morphometrics, we've studied multiple aspects of the evolution of organisms, such as the skull of birds.
Morphospace of raptor skull shape evolution
(Brght et al., 2016)
​
​
Complex interations between ecology, shape variation and biomechanics shaping the avian beak
(Navalón et al., 2018)
​
​

Skull chape changes in early growth stages of the chicken
(Marugán-Lobón et. al., 2014)
​
​

The evolutionary integratiof the beak and the cranium in finches
(Navalón et al., 2019)
​
​

Skull and neck shape integration in birds (MArugán-Lobón and Nebreda, 2025)
​
​

Features of shape variation in unexplored settings, such as dinosaur trackways (Costa et al., 2019)
​
​

Conservation Biology. Skull shape differences match species identity across African giraffes (Kargopoulus, 2024)
​
​

The evolution of the maniraptoran hand with OPA, a Procrustes proxy to linear measurements.
(Nebreda et al., 2020)
​​