Araújo Lab

Research focus

ERC Consolidator Grant · 2025

The Labyrinth of Warm-Bloodedness: a journey into the origins of dinosaur-bird endothermy via semicircular canal biomechanics

The DAEDALUS project aims to uncover how warm-bloodedness (endothermy) developed in birds and their dinosaur ancestors by studying the semicircular canal system in the inner ear (or labyrinth), vital for balance and orientation. The principle: as fluid warms, it becomes less viscous. Thus, as early endotherms evolved endothermy, their ear canal fluid's viscosity decreased, leading to necessary adaptations in canal morphology and/or physicochemical properties for survival. Our innovative thermo-motility index, reshaping biomechanical equations for semicircular canals, predicts body temperatures using ear canal characteristics. Our method, validated in Nature-published research, established…

From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.