Collaborative Research: The Late Devonian Tetrapodomorph Tiktaalik roseae

项目标题：合作研究：泥盆纪晚期四足形态的Tiktaalik roseae Pi：Edward B.Daeschler，费城自然科学院脊椎动物动物学副馆长，1900年本杰明·富兰克林公园路，宾夕法尼亚州19103 Pi：Neil H.Shubin，Robert R.Bensley，器官生物学和解剖学系特聘教授，1027East 57 Street，芝加哥，IL 60637 Tiktaalik roseae是2004年在加拿大纳武特埃尔米尔岛发现的晚泥盆世时期(3.85-3.62亿年前)的鱼类化石。本种是与四足动物(四肢脊椎动物)关系最密切的有鳍动物。作为一种中间形式，玫瑰旋毛虫帮助我们识别鱼到四足动物转变过程中的形态变化序列，并可以告诉我们驱动这些重要进化变化的力量。玫瑰旋毛虫于2006年首次被描述，引起了进化生物学家的极大兴趣。然而，到目前为止，关于这种物种的唯一发表的报告都是发表在《自然》杂志上的简短论文。随着对玫瑰旋毛虫丰富和保存完好的材料的持续研究和记录，我们将满足对这一处于鱼类到四足动物转变尖端的重要化石进行详细调查的需要。这项研究的主要贡献将是关于玫瑰粉锈菌的广泛主题的详细出版物。这份出版物的核心是对50个标本中的许多标本进行全面的形态描述，包括广泛的数字。我们还将首次调查鳍骨的内部结构，进一步记录玫瑰旋毛虫生活的古代环境，并对鱼类到四足动物的转变过程中的进化树进行新的研究。该项目的另一个主要贡献将利用玫瑰毛虫化石的质量来评估鳍和头骨的功能解剖。对鳍能够支撑身体的假设进行评估将涉及详细分析关节结构以及骨骼、鳍射线以及前鳍和肩部鳞片之间可能的相对运动。第二组分析将探索头骨结构与头骨中与运动、呼吸和进食相关的不同应力和应变之间的关系。在本研究结束时，所有玫瑰旋毛虫标本都将归还努纳武特政府，因此通过印刷品和网站及时公布这些数据尤为重要。玫瑰纹枯病菌的发现和描述受到了国际教育组织和媒体的极大关注，作为一种教科书般的过渡化石，它已经成为向公众传播进化的有力工具。PIS有公开讲座和开发基于网络的教育资源的记录。我们将利用这一研究项目，进一步向广大受众传达工作结果和科学过程，从而帮助人们更好地掌握进化是如何工作的。

ABSTRACT Project Title: Collaborative Research: The Late Devonian Tetrapodomorph Tiktaalik roseae PI: Edward B. Daeschler, Associate Curator of Vertebrate Zoology, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103 PI: Neil H. Shubin, Robert R. Bensley Distinguished Professor, Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, 1027 East 57th Street, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 Tiktaalik roseae is a fossil fish from the Late Devonian Period (385-362 million-years-ago) that was discovered in 2004 on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. This species is the finned animal that is most closely related to tetrapods (limbed vertebrates). As an intermediate form, T. roseae helps us to recognize the sequence of morphological changes across the fish-to-tetrapod transition and can teach us about the forces that were driving these important evolutionary changes. T. roseae was first described in 2006 and has provoked a great deal of interest among evolutionary biologists. To date, however, the only published reports on this species have been short papers in Nature. With continued study and documentation of the abundant and well-preserved material of T. roseae, we will fill the need for a detailed investigation of this important fossil at the cusp of the fish-to-tetrapod transition. A primary contribution of this research will be a detailed publication on a wide range of topics about T. roseae. The core of this publication will be a thorough morphological description including extensive figures of many of the 50+ specimens. We will also investigate the internal structure of bones in the fins for the first time, further document the ancient environment where T. roseae lived, and produce new studies of the evolutionary tree across the fish-to-tetrapod transition. The other major contribution of this project will take advantage of the quality of T. roseae fossils to assess the functional anatomy of the fins and skull. Evaluation of the hypothesis that the fins were capable of body support will involve detailed analysis of joint structure and the relative motions possible between bones, fin rays, and scales of the front fin and shoulder. The second set of analyses will explore the relationship between skull architecture and different stresses and strains in the skull related to movement, breathing and feeding. At the conclusion of this study, all T. roseae specimens are to be returned to the Government of Nunavut, and so the timely publication of these data via print and websites is of particular importance. The discovery and description of T. roseae has received considerable attention from educational organizations and media internationally; as a textbook transitional fossil it has become a powerful tool in the communication of evolution to the general public. The PIs have a record of public lectures and development of web-based educational resources. We will make use of this research project to further communicate the results of the work, as well as the scientific process, to a broad audience and thereby help people get a better grasp of how evolution works.