DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Linking Development with Evolution: Morphological and Ecological Consequences Associated with Walking Stick Limb Regeneration

论文研究：将发育与进化联系起来：与手杖中肢体再生相关的形态学和生态学后果。道格拉斯博士蒙大拿大学EmlenTara Prestholdt手杖（目：Phasmida）在昆虫中是独一无二的，因为它们定期脱落并再生失去的腿。 然而，这种发展能力是有代价的：用于重新生长腿的资源是以牺牲其他结构为代价的。 根据物种的不同，再生腿的手杖可能会经历翅膀面积减少（如Sipyloidea sipylus-粉红色翅膀的手杖），繁殖力减少（如Carasious morosus，常见的手杖）和/或武器尺寸减少（如Eurycantha calcarata -巨大的多刺昆虫，在雄性之间的竞争中使用了扩大的后腿）。 与腿部再生相关的发育权衡可能对这些野生动物的表现和健康产生重要影响（例如飞行能力受损或战斗能力下降）。 然而，这些动物在其自然栖息地几乎完全未被探索，目前还不知道这些动物在其自然环境中脱落和再生肢体的频率。 该项目需要对野外手杖腿再生的原因和后果进行严格的研究。 通过（1）展示腿再生发生的频率，（2）再生的后果是什么，以及（3）将这些信息置于明确的生态背景下，我们将增加我们对发育过程（如再生）如何影响进化的理解。 权衡的概念可以被概括，再生具有可测量的成本-并且这些成本以可预测的方式不同-的想法可以帮助解释与再生相关的模式以及再生能力在广泛分类群中的演变。

Dissertation Research: Linking Development with Evolution: morphological and ecological consequences associated with limb regeneration in walking sticks.Dr. Douglas EmlenTara PrestholdtUniversity of MontanaWalking Sticks (Order: Phasmida) are unique among insects in that they regularly shed and regenerate lost legs. However, this developmental capacity comes at a price: resources used to re-grow a leg come at the expense of other structures. Depending on the species, walking sticks regenerating a leg may experience decreased wing area (as in Sipyloidea sipylus - the pink winged walking stick), decreased fecundity (as in Carasious morosus, the common walking stick), and/or decreased weapon size (as in Eurycantha calcarata - the Giant spiny stick insect that has enlarged hind legs used in male-male competitions). Developmental tradeoffs associated with leg regeneration may have important performance and fitness consequences for these animals in the wild (e.g. impaired flight ability or decreased fighting ability). However, these animals remain almost entirely unexplored in their natural habitats, and it is not yet known how often these animals shed and regenerate limbs in their natural environment. This project entails a rigorous study of the causes and consequences of walking stick leg-regeneration in the wild. By (1) demonstrating how often leg-regeneration occurs, (2) what the consequences of regeneration are, and (3) placing this information within an explicit ecological context, we will increase our understanding of how developmental processes (such as regeneration) impact evolution. The concept of tradeoffs can be generalized, and the idea that regeneration has measurable costs - and that these costs differ in predictable ways - can help explain patterns associated with regeneration and the evolution of regenerative capacities across a breadth of taxa.