SEI (SBE): Collaborative Research on Visualization of Evolutionary Transformation using 3D Morphometrics: African Monkeys as a Test Case

确定一组生物之间的进化关系是综合历史生物学的主要目标之一。在达尔文之后的一个世纪里，形态结构几乎是旨在解决这个问题的各种分析的唯一数据来源。在过去的几十年里，分子系统技术在现存物种的研究中占据了中心位置，通常支持但经常推翻基于形态学的结果。然而，在古生物学中，形态数据（化石的形状）仍然是描述灭绝生物进化位置的有效的唯一信息。3D数据收集和分析技术的应用，以及基于计算机的可视化方法，对包括现存和灭绝物种在内的数据集的应用，现在将使古生物学的解释水平得到提高。该团队将在这些领域开发新的工具，使用旧大陆猴子作为“试验台”或模式生物，以解决计算机科学和广泛的比较生物学领域的重大问题。计算机图形学、可视化和计算机视觉在三维表面和体积的分析和操作方面的新进展可以应用于这些问题。同时，收集和解释古生物学形态学数据是推动计算机科学技术发展的一个新应用。分析将基于美国自然历史博物馆现有的大型三维数据数据库（主要是头骨表面）。随着三维形态学数据量的增加，我们所提出的交互式图形、可视化和统计分析工具被越来越广泛地需要。几何形态计量学与计算机图形学的紧密结合将会产生关于形状表示的新思想。此外，该项目还开发了新的方法来解决在进化研究中整合形态学和分子数据的问题，适用于生命之树的许多部分。此外，利用大量的新数据、新的处理和分析软件以及整合形态学的新方法，可能会获得有关非洲猴子进化的具体问题的答案。该项目的大部分工作将在纽约市立大学雷曼学院（Lehman College of CUNY）完成，这是一所位于布朗克斯区的少数族裔服务机构，少数族裔本科生已经参与了这项研究。我们将开发的软件工具是迫切需要的，并将成为科学基础设施的一部分。可视化将形成与公众分享进化研究的基础。

Determining the evolutionary relationships among a group of organisms is one of the major goals of integrative historical biology. In the century following Darwin , morphological structures were almost the sole source of data for a variety of analyses aimed at resolving this problem. Over the past few decades, molecular systematic techniques have taken center stage in the study of extant species, usually supporting but frequently overturning results based on morphology. In paleontology, however, morphological data (the shapes of fossils) remain effectively our only informationdescribing the evolutionary position of extinct organisms. The application of 3D techniques of data collection and analysis, as well as computer-based visualization methods, to data sets including both extant and extinct species will now permit improved levels of interpretation in paleontology. The team will develop new tools in each of these areas, using Old World monkeys as a "test-bed" or model organism, to approach significant problems in both computer science and the broad domain of comparative biology. New advances in the analysis and manipulation of surfaces and volumes in three-dimensions in computer graphics, visualization and computer vision can be applied to these problems. Simultaneously, collecting and interpreting morphological data for paleontology is a novel application for pushing the development of techniques in computer science.analysis will be based on a large existing database of three-dimensional data (mostly skull surfaces) at the American Museum ofNatural History.The interactive graphics, visualization and statistical analysis tools we propose are ever more widely needed as the amount of three-dimensional morphology data increases. The close interaction of geometric morphometrics and computer graphics will lead to new ideas about the representation of shape. In addition, the project develops new approaches to the problem of integrating morphology with molecular data in the study of evolution, applicable in many parts of the tree of life. In addition, with massive amounts of new data, new processing and analytic software, and new approaches to integrating morphology, answers to specific questions about the evolution of African monkeys might be obtained.A large part of the project will be done at Lehman College of CUNY, a minority-serving institution in the Bronx, and minority undergraduates are already involved in the research. The software tools we will develop are sorely needed and will become part of the scientific infrastructure. The visualizations will form a basis for sharing research in evolution with the general public.