SGER: Exploration of Possible Global Phenotypic Response in Rodent Cranial Morphology

最近发现，加拉帕戈斯群岛上的两个黑鼠，加利福尼亚海峡群岛上的三个鹿鼠亚种，以及芝加哥地区的白足鼠，在过去的100年里都以同样的方式改变了形状。这一发现是通过测量在同一地区收集的290个博物馆标本的身体和头骨得出的。啮齿类动物的身体越来越长，鼻子越来越长，越来越宽，头骨越来越长，越来越浅。因为这六种啮齿类动物来自三种截然不同的栖息地，也许这些变化正在世界各地发生。该项目将通过测量和分析另外1680个啮齿动物博物馆标本来证实这些初步发现，这些标本是在过去100年里在六大洲收集的。如果确实有什么东西导致啮齿动物在过去100年里以同样的方式发生变化，我们需要寻找原因。随后的研究很可能会发现以前未曾预料到的影响人类和啮齿动物的环境因素。另一个好处是进一步加强了大学和自然历史博物馆之间的伙伴关系和网络。这项工作的结果可以迅速而极大地增加使用博物馆藏品的学术兴趣。

Black rats on two Galapagos Islands, three subspecies of deer mice on three California Channel Islands, and white-footed mice in the Chicago area were recently discovered to have all changed shape in the same way over the past 100 years. This discovery was made by measuring the bodies and skulls of 290 museum specimens collected over time in the same areas. The rodents' bodies grew longer, their noses grew longer and broader, and their skulls grew and longer and shallower. Because these six rodent populations are from three very separated and wildly different habitats, perhaps these changes are happening everywhere. This project will seek to confirm these preliminary findings by measuring and analyzing an additional 1680 rodent museum specimens, collected over the last 100 years on six continents. If something is indeed causing rodents to change in the same way all over the world for the last 100 years, we need to look for the causes. Subsequent research may well result in the discovery of previously unsuspected environmental factors affecting humans as well as rodents. An additional benefit is furthering increased partnerships and networks between universities and natural history museums. The results from this work could quickly and greatly increase academic interest in using museum collections.