Affiliation entity
Équipe ÉVOMORPH

Contact

E-mail
francois.clarac [at] mnhn.fr
Custom address(es)

MNHN - Bâtiment de géologie
43 rue Buffon
75005 Paris
France

Presentation

My work focuses on identifying functional adaptations in various vertebrate groups from the early Paleozoic to the present day. To this end, I combine a range of methods that bring together various scientific disciplines: paleontology, biomechanics, zoology and experimental biology. 

I am currently employed as a post-doctoral fellow by Alan Pradel as part of the ANRMACHER” project, which aims to understand adaptations to durophagy in chimaeras over their long evolutionary history. In this context, I am working in collaboration with various laboratories (i.e. the Laboratoire d’Imagerie Biomédicale at Sorbonne University and the UMR “Mécanismes Adaptatifs et Evolution” at MNHN); I am also taking part in various excavation projects in Paleozoic deposits in South America (i.e. Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia). 

 

Publications

2024
  • Clarac Francois, Campos Zilca & Marquis Olivier, March 2024The extended osteoderm shield in Paleosuchus sp. : A dwarf crocodylian adaptation to the equatorial forest ecosystem?. Comptes Rendus. Palevol vol. 23, n° 12, Publisher: Académie des sciences (Paris)
2021
  • Sanchez Sophie, Clarac François, Laurin Michel & de Ricqlès Armand, 2021« Early tetrapodomorphs » in Vertebrate Skeletal Histology and Paleohistology.. , , p. 325-344
2019
  • Clarac F. & Quilhac A., February 2019The Crocodylian Skull and Osteoderms: A Functional Exaptation to Ectothermy?. Zoology vol. 132, , p. 31-40 Publisher: Elsevier
    ISSN
    09442006
  • Clarac François, Goussard Florent, de Buffrénil Vivian & Sansalone Vittorio, 2019The function(s) of bone ornamentation in the crocodylomorph osteoderms: a biomechanical model based on a finite element analysis. Paleobiology vol. 45, n° 1, p. 182-200 Publisher: Paleontological Society
2018
  • Clarac F., de Buffrénil V., Cubo Jorge & Quilhac A., January 2018Vascularization in Ornamented Osteoderms: Physiological Implications in Ectothermy and Amphibious Lifestyle in the Crocodylomorphs?: Vascularization in Ornamented Osteoderms. The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology vol. 301, n° 1, p. 175-183 Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
    ISSN
    19328486
2017
  • Clarac François, Goussard Florent, Teresi Luciano, de Buffrenil Vivian & Sansalone Vittorio, October 2017Do the ornamented osteoderms influence the heat conduction through the skin? A finite element analysis in Crocodylomorpha. Journal of Thermal Biology vol. 69, , p. 39 Publisher: Elsevier
  • Cubo Jorge, Hui Mylaine, Clarac François & Quilhac Alexandra, May 2017Static osteogenesis does not precede dynamic osteogenesis in periosteal ossification of Pleurodeles (Caudata, Amphibia) and Pogona (Squamata, Lepidosauria). Journal of Morphology vol. 278, n° 5, p. 621-628 Publisher: Wiley
    ISSN
    03622525
2016
  • Clarac François, Souter T., Cubo Jorge, de Buffrénil V., Brochu C. & Cornette R., 2016Does skull morphology constrain bone ornamentation? A morphometric analysis in the Crocodylia. Journal of Anatomy vol. 229, n° 2, p. 292-301 Publisher: Wiley
2015
  • de Buffrénil V., Clarac F., Fau Marine, Martin S., Martin B., Pellé E. & Laurin M., April 2015Differentiation and Growth of Bone Ornamentation in Vertebrates: A Comparative Histological Study Among the Crocodylomorpha. Journal of Morphology vol. 276, n° 4, p. 425-445 Publisher: Wiley
    ISSN
    0362-2525
  • Clarac François, Souter Thibaud, Cornette Raphaël, Cubo Jorge & de Buffrénil V., 2015A quantitative assessment of bone area increase due to ornamentation in the Crocodylia. Journal of Morphology vol. 276, n° 10, p. 1183-1192 Publisher: Wiley