Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Locomotor Function and the Evolution of the Primate Pelvis

博士论文改进：运动功能与灵长类骨盆的进化

• 批准号: 0752575
• 负责人: Mark Spencer
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-05-01 至 2010-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0752575&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Locomotor; Function

Locomotion is crucial to understanding extant and extinct primate biology because it is a fundamental component of daily activities such as foraging, travel, and predator avoidance. Locomotion is usually inferred in fossil taxa from associations between skeletal form (for example, limb and torso morphology) and locomotion in extant primates. The bony pelvis is a particularly important part of locomotor anatomy because it links the hindlimb locomotor system with the trunk, serves as anchorage for the primary propulsive musculature, and distributes forces that arise during locomotion. It is therefore expected to be influenced by the differing mechanical requirements of alternate locomotor behaviors. However, our understanding of comparative primate pelvic shape and its relationship to locomotor mechanics is limited. The goal of this project is to determine the functional relationship between three-dimensional pelvic skeletal morphology and locomotor behavior in extant primates. A series of adaptive hypotheses will be tested within a broad, comparative sample of 42 primate species using three-dimensional morphometric data collected on pelvic bones located in museum collections. Comparisons among taxa belonging to different locomotor groups will be undertaken to determine the pelvic skeletal correlates of locomotor behavior while controlling for the potentially confounding effects of differences in phylogeny and body size. Because little is known about how the pelvis functions to resist stress during locomotion, biomechanical hypotheses of pelvic stress resistance will be tested using experimental strain data collected on a small sample of primate cadavers. Peak strains associated with loading regimes will be compared to those predicted to determine how the pelvis responds to loading. The resulting data will form the basis of a general biomechanical model of pelvic stress resistance that will inform hypotheses of adaptation. Together, these two approaches will contribute to a better understanding of the interaction between form and function in the primate pelvis, which is crucial for accurate inference of fossil hominin locomotion.Understanding living primate variation is crucial to interpretation of our own evolutionary history. This study will provide new insights into primate anatomy by answering an over-arching biological question regarding how pelvis shape and function vary among primates in relation to their locomotion. Results of this research will be applicable to reconstructions of locomotion in fossil primates, including our human ancestors, and will further our understanding of human evolution.

运动对于理解现存和灭绝的灵长类生物是至关重要的，因为它是日常活动的基本组成部分，比如觅食、旅行和躲避捕食者。在化石分类群中，运动通常是从现存灵长类动物的骨骼形态（例如肢体和躯干形态）和运动之间的关联中推断出来的。骨骨盆是运动解剖学中特别重要的部分，因为它将后肢运动系统与躯干连接起来，作为初级推进肌肉组织的锚点，并分配运动过程中产生的力。因此，它预计会受到交替运动行为的不同机械要求的影响。然而，我们对比较灵长类动物骨盆形状及其与运动力学的关系的理解是有限的。该项目的目的是确定三维骨盆骨骼形态和现存灵长类动物运动行为之间的功能关系。一系列适应性假设将在42种灵长类动物的广泛比较样本中进行测试，使用博物馆收藏的骨盆骨三维形态测量数据。将对不同运动类群的类群进行比较，以确定运动行为的骨盆骨骼相关性，同时控制系统发育和体型差异的潜在混淆效应。由于我们对骨盆在运动过程中如何抵抗压力知之甚少，因此我们将通过收集一小部分灵长类动物尸体样本的实验应变数据来验证骨盆抵抗压力的生物力学假设。与加载机制相关的峰值应变将与预测的峰值应变进行比较，以确定骨盆对加载的反应。所得数据将构成骨盆应力抵抗的一般生物力学模型的基础，将为适应性假设提供信息。总之，这两种方法将有助于更好地理解灵长类动物骨盆的形式和功能之间的相互作用，这对于准确推断古人类化石的运动至关重要。了解现存灵长类动物的变异对解释我们自己的进化史至关重要。这项研究将通过回答一个关于灵长类动物骨盆形状和功能如何与运动相关的生物学问题，为灵长类动物解剖学提供新的见解。这项研究的结果将适用于包括我们人类祖先在内的灵长类动物化石的运动重建，并将进一步加深我们对人类进化的理解。