Dissertation Research: Form and function of the strepsirhineprimate temporomandibular joint

颞下颌关节（TMJ）是下颌和头盖骨的连接点，是解决灵长类动物和哺乳动物头骨形态和功能关系的模型系统。在灵长类类群Strepsirhini中，TMJ非常适合考虑形式-功能关联，因为TMJ以及整个颌骨的显著差异。本研究将在这些先前未被研究的灵长类物种中测试有关TMJ运动和机械负荷对TMJ形态的几个功能假设。此外，我们还将在strepsirhines中比较TMJ的形式和功能，这是灵长类动物中第二个密切相关的群体。将采用实验数据和比较测量相结合的方法来评估一些功能假设。这项研究将首次全面调查TMJ的形成与TMJ运动、负荷和大小相关因素在链丙氨酸中的关系，以及链丙氨酸和单链丙氨酸之间的关系。将这些新发现与先前对其他灵长类动物的研究相结合，可以记录灵长类动物颞下颌关节的进化变化。将颞下颌关节的这些进化变化与颌骨的时间相关变化进行比较，从而为灵长类颌骨的功能进化提供历史视角。最后，本研究开发了一种评估化石灵长类TMJ功能多样性的方案。

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ), the point of articulation of the lower jaw and the cranium, presents a model system for addressing form and function relationships in primate and mammalian skulls. In the primate group Strepsirhini, the TMJ is highly suitable for consideration of form-function associations because of the marked variation in the TMJ, as well as in the entire jaw. This research will test several functional hypotheses relating TMJ movements and mechanical loading to TMJ morphology in these previously unexamined primate species. Additionally, TMJ form and function in strepsirhines will be compared to haplorhine primates, a second closely-related group of primates. A combined approach using experimental data and comparative measurements will be implemented to assess a number of functional hypotheses. This study will provide the first comprehensive survey of how TMJ form relates to TMJ movements, loading and size-related factors in strepsirhines as well as between strepsirhines and haplorhines. Integration of these new findings with previous research in other primates enables the documentation of evolutionary changes in the TMJ across primates. These evolutionary changes in the TMJ will be compared to temporally correlated changes in the jaw, thus providing an historical perspective to the functional evolution of the primate jaw. Finally, this research develops a protocol for the assessment of fossil primate TMJ functional diversity.