Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Locomotor Function and Phylogeny: Implications for Interpreting Extinct Hominoid Morphology

博士论文改进补助金：运动功能和系统发育：解释灭绝类人猿形态的意义

• 批准号: 0849204
• 负责人: Terry Harrison
• 金额: $ 1.43万
• 依托单位: New York University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-05-01 至 2011-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0849204&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Locomotor

The interplay of evolutionary relationships (i.e., phylogeny) and function in the manifestation of skeletal anatomy complicates reconstructions of locomotor patterns in well-known fossil hominoids (apes and members of the human lineage) such as Australopithecus afarensis and Proconsul heseloni. These species demonstrate unique combinations of features in the forelimb that represent contrasting evidence for locomotor behavior. In order to understand which forelimb traits are most useful in predicting the locomotion of extinct hominoid species, this research explores the relative correspondence between variation in forelimb characters and observed locomotor behaviors of extant primates. The main objective of this project is to determine the relative strength of the functional signal in forelimb features related to locomotor behavior and to demonstrate the degree to which the manifestation of these traits is constrained by phylogeny. Three-dimensional geometric morphometric data will be collected on skeletal samples representing a wide range of extant primate species. Landmark data will be collected on forelimb elements, and linear measurements will be extracted to be employed as shape variables. These shape variables will be regressed against published percentages of locomotor behavior in a generalized least-squares analysis to account for phylogeny. Shape variables will be ranked based on their correspondence to locomotor behavior. Predictive models will be constructed and used in more refined assessments of the locomotor behavior performed by the extinct hominoids Australopithecus afarensis and Proconsul heseloni. This novel approach will enhance understanding of the relationship between locomotion and skeletal anatomy in living primates, allowing researchers to more accurately reconstruct the behavior of fossil species. In addition, this research has broader implications for paleontology and how researchers view skeletal features in functional studies by demonstrating the need for a greater emphasis on the complex interplay between phylogeny and function.

进化关系的相互作用（即，在骨骼解剖学的表现形式中，运动模式（如南方古猿阿法种和赫塞洛尼原执政官）的重建变得复杂。这些物种展示了前肢特征的独特组合，这些特征代表了运动行为的对比证据。为了了解哪些前肢特征在预测已灭绝的类人猿物种的运动中最有用，本研究探讨了现存灵长类动物前肢特征变化与观察到的运动行为之间的相对对应关系。该项目的主要目标是确定与运动行为相关的前肢功能信号的相对强度，并证明这些特征的表现受遗传学约束的程度。将收集代表广泛现存灵长类物种的骨骼样本的三维几何形态测量数据。将在前肢元素上收集地标数据，并提取线性测量值作为形状变量。在广义最小二乘分析中，这些形状变量将根据已公布的运动行为百分比进行回归，以解释运动发生。形状变量将根据其与运动行为的对应性进行排名。预测模型将被构建并用于对已灭绝的原始人南方古猿阿法种和赫塞罗尼原领事的运动行为进行更精确的评估。 这种新方法将增强对现存灵长类动物运动和骨骼解剖之间关系的理解，使研究人员能够更准确地重建化石物种的行为。此外，这项研究对古生物学以及研究人员如何在功能研究中看待骨骼特征具有更广泛的意义，因为它表明需要更加重视骨骼发育和功能之间复杂的相互作用。