CRUI: Timing amd 3-Dimensional Analysis of Musculoskeletal Development

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This project is for Collaborative Research at Undergraduate Institutions, involving evolutionary and developmental biology, mathematics and computer sciences. One of the fundamental questions in biology is how variation in form arises from a general pattern common to a group of closely related species. Although a lot of descriptive detail is available about changes in shape and size of an animal during embryonic development, we lack precise and quantitative descriptions for irregular biological forms. This multidisciplinary approach will use new imaging technology ald recent advances in geometrical theory to establish some novel mathematical equations to characterize how the shape of a complex structure develops and evolves. The quantification of sizes and shapes of musculoskeletal structures in amphibians will be used to compare features at different times during development, and to compare features in evolutionarily related groups. The project brings together faculty and students from biology and computer science. Results will be important in interpreting how variation in timing of developmental events can be a mechanism for evolutionary change. This work has a potentially major impact on developmental and evolutionary biology, and promises a novel cross-disciplinary experience involving undergraduates in exciting research.