CAREER:Comparative Osteohistology: Exploring Microstructural Signatures of Environmental Stress in Modern and Fossil Ecosystems

骨组织通常被用来重建脊椎动物化石的生活史，但我们对骨组织学的理解受到缺乏基础数据的限制，这些数据无法在活着的动物身上测试骨微结构与生物学之间的关系。为了阐明骨骼微结构与系统发育和环境控制参数之间的关系，我提出了一项研究，该研究记录了(1)单个骨骼内的组织学差异；(2)脊椎动物分类群之间的差异；(3)不同生境之间的差异。由于几个原因，干旱组合是这项研究的重点。首先，现代系统表明，干旱及其伴随的艰辛在脊椎动物的硬组织中留下了印记。此外，有强有力的证据表明，在脊椎动物化石记录中，干旱会产生骨床，这构成了古代种群生活史变化的档案。PI将首先将津巴布韦Hwange国家公园易干旱生态系统中脊椎动物的骨组织与来自圈养并保存在博物馆藏品中的脊椎动物样本进行比较。其次，她将在研究蒙大拿州和马达加斯加晚白垩世类似环境中的脊椎动物化石组合时，寻求类似的问题和方法。这项研究迈出了必要的第一步--证实脊椎动物群体、环境和时间之间的骨组织学信号，并将提供分类群体、身体大小，甚至单个骨骼内的骨组织学对生态应激反应的基线评估。最终，这项研究将对利用骨组织探索现代和古代生物系统的古生物学家和新生物学家产生深远的影响。该项目的研究部分与教育推广部分紧密结合在一起：1)将研究纳入她教授的课程，包括与Macalester学院的本科生合作开发一门专门侧重于数据收集和分析的新课程；2)在项目的5年时间里，与大约15名本科生一起发起国内和国际研究；3)将每年2名本科生与针对明尼阿波利斯-圣彼得堡K-12少数民族资源不足的学生的学术充实计划联系起来。4)通过与本科生、公立学校教师和贝尔自然历史博物馆的合作，创建与明尼苏达州科学标准挂钩的K-12课程。

Bone tissue is commonly used to reconstruct life histories of fossil vertebrates, but our understanding of bone histology is limited by a lack of baseline data that test the relationships between bone microstructure and biology in living animals. In order to clarify the relationships between bone microstructure and the controlling parameters of phylogeny and environment, I propose a study that documents histological variation (1) within single skeletons; (2) among vertebrate taxa; and (3) across distinctive habitats. Drought assemblages are the focal point of the study for several reasons. First, modern systems indicate that drought and its attendant hardships leave a signature in vertebrate hard tissues. Moreover, there is strong evidence that drought generates bonebeds in the vertebrate fossil record that constitute the archive of life history variation in ancient populations. The PI will first compare the bone tissue of vertebrates inhabiting the drought-prone ecosystem of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe with a sample of vertebrates derived from captivity and held in museum collections. Secondly, she will pursue similar questions and methods as she investigates fossil vertebrate assemblages from similar environmental contexts in the Late Cretaceous of Montana and Madagascar. This research takes the first necessary step toward ground-truthing the bone histological signals across vertebrate groups, environments, and time, and will provide a baseline appreciation of bone histological responses to ecological stress among taxonomic groups, body sizes, and even within single skeletons. Ultimately, this study will have far-reaching implications for paleobiologists and neontologists who use bone tissue to explore both modern and ancient biological systems. The research component of this project is tightly integrated with an educational outreach component that: 1) incorporates the research into courses she teaches, including development of a new course that focuses specifically on data collection and analysis in collaboration with Macalester College undergraduates; 2) initiates domestic and international research with ~15 undergraduate students over the 5 years of the project; 3) connects 2 undergraduate students per year to academic enrichment programs aimed at under-resourced K-12 minority students in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area; and 4) creates K-12 curriculum tied to Minnesota Science Standards through collaboration with undergraduates, public school teachers, and the Bell Museum of Natural History.