MASTER’S STUDENT

Giles is researching the evolutionary and developmental origin of the ornithischian predentary element, and the ceratopsian rostral. Both of these skeletal elements are understood as ‘neomorphic’ additions that serve an adaptive role in food acquisition among the Mesozoic’s largest herbivores. Through thin-section histology, microtomography, and phylogenetic reconstruction, Giles hopes to examine the predentary and rostral through the perspectives of development, evolution, and adaptive function. Giles has participated in fieldwork in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Morrin, and Grande Prairie, Alberta.

Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Giles frequented and was inspired by the Fernbank Museum and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in his youth. He began his BSc Honors in Paleontology at the University of Alberta in 2020 and completed it in 2024. His undergraduate project pertained to the histology of acrodont dentition in chameleons. Giles returned for his MSc in Biological Sciences in 2025. In addition to his predentary and rostral research, he is also currently working on a project regarding the evolution of the bony palate in living birds. In the Fall and Winter semesters Giles serves as a supervisor for the evening Dino Prep Lab.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONTACT & OTHER LINKS

Email: sukkert@ualberta.ca