RUI: Anatomical transformation in Mammalia: Developmental Controls of Vertebral Column Evolution

RUI：哺乳动物的解剖转变：脊柱进化的发育控制

• 批准号: 0842507
• 负责人: Emily Buchholtz
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: Wellesley College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-01-15 至 2012-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0842507&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Anatomical; transformation; Mammalia; Developmental

Evolution requires both the generation of variation through the process of development and the sorting of that variation by natural selection. The principal investigator and her undergraduate students will use the methodologies and insights of molecular biology, systematics (phylogeny construction), comparative anatomy, and paleontology to address the ways that development has shaped and constrained the morphological diversification of the mammalian vertebral column over evolutionary time. Frequently observed categories of column variation have recently been linked to developmental disruptions of the processes of somite generation and axial pattern assignment. This linkage allows the generation of a database that will enable the researchers to identify the type, frequency, and phylogenetic location of critical developmental events in mammalian column evolution. The key morphological innovations the investigators will address are the differentiation of the column's component series, the introduction of constraint in cervical (neck) morphology, and the dramatic column transformations seen in three mammalian groups (sloths, manatees, whales) with unusual lifestyles. This project's primary significance lies in its contribution to our growing understanding of the role of development in evolution. Its secondary impact lies in its integration of undergraduate students into the process of formulating and investigating questions of animal design during the scope of their summer research program, independent study, and senior thesis research experiences.

进化既需要通过发展过程产生变异，又需要通过自然选择对变异进行分类。首席研究员和她的本科生将利用分子生物学、系统学（系统发育构建）、比较解剖学和古生物学的方法和见解来研究进化过程中哺乳动物脊柱形态多样化的形成和限制方式。最近经常观察到的柱变异类别与体节生成和轴向模式分配过程的发育破坏有关。这种联系可以生成一个数据库，使研究人员能够识别哺乳动物柱进化中关键发育事件的类型、频率和系统发育位置。研究人员将解决的关键形态创新是柱组件系列的差异，颈椎形态的引入约束，以及在具有不寻常生活方式的三个哺乳动物群体（树懒、海牛、鲸鱼）中看到的戏剧性的柱转变。该项目的主要意义在于它有助于我们加深对发展在进化中的作用的理解。它的次要影响在于，它将本科生在暑期研究计划、独立学习和高级论文研究经历的范围内融入到制定和研究动物设计问题的过程中。