DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Evolution, Development and Functional Morphology of Damselfish Oral Jaws

论文研究方向：雀鲷口颌的进化、发育及功能形态。新的解剖结构和新的功能能力的进化涉及到在发育过程中物理结构形成方式的改变。因此，理解脊椎动物摄食的进化需要研究产生具有不同生物力学能力的头骨的发育变化。对于海洋鱼类，如豆娘鱼（豆娘科：唇形纲），颅骨发育的进化变化对幼虫和幼鱼的喂养具有功能影响。本研究将采用形状分析、基因表达研究和生物力学建模相结合的方法来描述豆娘鱼头骨形状和功能的发育变化，豆娘鱼是珊瑚礁鱼类种群中数量上占主导地位的组成部分。对所有雀鲷属的成年头骨的详细检查将为确定发育变化如何促进雀鲷形态和功能进化提供初步框架。通过将形状分析结果与能够预测鱼类颌骨生物力学能力的计算机模型（例如咬合力，咬速，下颌突出程度）相结合，我们将能够描述该鱼类家族中头骨形状多样性与口腔颌骨功能多样性之间的联系。一些雀鲷物种将被圈养繁殖，以便收集它们的胚胎进行发育研究。对胚胎基因表达模式的检查将允许测试一个假设，即选择调节基因的表达位置和时间的差异与成年雀鲷颚形态和功能能力的差异有关。假小丑海葵鱼（Amphiprion ocellaris）、棘颊海葵鱼（Premnas biaculeatus）和加里波第海葵鱼（Hypsypops rubicunda）的胚胎已经被收集用于这个目的。这些物种（以及潜在的其他物种）的孵化幼虫也将通过连续的幼虫和幼年阶段饲养，以便在整个发育过程中跟踪头骨形状和生物力学能力的变化。通过与一名当地教师合作，拟议研究的各个方面已经并将继续纳入公立学校的课程。

Dissertation Research: Evolution, development and functional morphology of damselfish oral jaws.Mark W. Westneat and W. James CooperThe Field Museum of Natural History and The University of ChicagoThe evolution of new anatomical arrangements and novel functional abilities involves alterations in how physical structures form during development. Understanding the evolution of vertebrate feeding therefore requires examination of the developmental changes that have produced skulls with different biomechanical abilities. For marine fishes such as damselfishes (Pomacentridae: Labroidei), evolutionary changes in skull development have functional consequences for feeding larvae and juveniles. This research will employ a combination of shape analyses, gene expression studies and biomechanical modeling to describe developmental changes in the shape and function of the skulls of damselfishes, a numerically dominant component of coral reef fish faunas. A detailed examination of adult skulls from all damselfish genera will provide the initial framework for determining how developmental changes have contributed to damselfish morphological and functional evolution. By combining the results of shape analyses with computer models capable of predicting the biomechanical abilities of fish jaws (e.g. bite force, biting speed, degree of jaw protrusion) we will be able to describe the connection between skull shape diversity and oral jaw functional diversity within this fish family. Several damselfish species will then be bred in captivity so that their embryos may be collected for developmental study. Examination of embryonic gene expression patterns will permit testing of the hypothesis that differences in the location and timing of expression of selected regulatory genes are correlated with differences in adult damselfish jaw morphology and functional abilities. Embryos of the false clown anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris), the spine-cheek anemonefish (Premnas biaculeatus) and the Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicunda) have already been collected for this purpose. Hatched larvae of these species (and potentially other species as well) will also be reared through successive larval and juvenile stages in order to track changes in skull shape and biomechanical ability throughout development. Aspects of the proposed research have been, and will continue to be, incorporated into public school courses through collaboration with a local teacher.