International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology 2019

The International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM) took place in Prague (Czech Republic) in July 2019. My colleague Emily Buchholtz and I organized a symposium on „The axial skeleton: diversity, patterning and function“ which was kindly supported by the Company of Biologists and the Journal Developmental Dynamics.

An axial skeleton of serially homologous vertebrae is the defining character of vertebrates. Despite common evolutionary and developmental histories, the columns of vertebrates vary extensively in count, structure, regionalization, and articulations. This morphological diversity is correlated with a wide range of functional adaptations, from structural support to locomotor style and to respiratory mechanics. Our symposium addressed the evolution and diversity of the vertebrate axial skeleton and the developmental processes that underlie it. We are proud to have compiled an amazing list of invited speakers that gave presentations related to the vertebral column. It was such an interesting and inspiring event! A huge THANK YOU to all invited speakers!

Some very rough statistics of the contributing researchers:

• 80% female, 20% male scientists
• 50% PhD students/early career researchers
• 55% from the USA, 35% from the European Union, 10% from Asia

I am also very honored to have been invited as speaker to another ICVM symposium on „Natural selection and the evolution of phenotypic integration“ organized by Catalina I. Villamil and Patrick Arnold. My colleagues have brought together researchers from around the world that work on diverse aspects of modularity and integration. It was such a great pleasure to be part of it!

The Journal of Morphology has published the ICVM12 Abstract Volume. It is free to view and download: [Here].

References:

Abourachid A, Cornette R and Böhmer C (2019) The neck of the birds, from form to function. Journal of Morphology 280 S46 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21003. Supplement: International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM), Prague (invited symposium contribution).

Böhmer C (2019) He would forget his head if it wasn’t screwed on: The neck as key innovation in tetrapod evolution. Journal of Morphology 280 S13. DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21003. Supplement: International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM), Prague (invited symposium contribution).

Böhmer C and Buchholtz E (2019) The axial skeleton: diversity, patterning and function. Journal of Morphology 280 S46-S50 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21003. Supplement: International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM), Prague (Organized symposium).

Böhmer C, Plateau O, Cornette R and Abourachid A (2019) Correlated evolution of neck length and leg length in birds. Royal Society Open Science 6: 181588. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181588.

Böhmer C, Rauhut OWM and Wörheide G (2015) Correlation between Hox code and vertebral morphology in archosaurs. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 20150077. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.0077.

Terray L, Plateau O, Abourachid A, Böhmer C, Delapre A, De La Bernardie X and Cornette R (2019) Modularity and diversity of the bird’s neck: a 3D-geometric morphometric approach of cervical vertebrae. Journal of Morphology 280 S228. DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21003. Supplement: International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM), Prague.