Collaborative Research: The Late Devonian Tetrapodomorph Tiktaalik roseae

项目名称：合作研究：晚泥盆世四足动物Tiktaalik roseae PI: Edward B. Daeschler，费城自然科学院脊椎动物动物学副馆长，费城Benjamin Franklin Parkway 1900， PA 19103 PI：Neil H. Shubin, Robert R. Bensley杰出教授，芝加哥大学有机体生物学和解剖学系，芝加哥，伊利诺伊州60637 Tiktaalik roseae是泥盆纪晚期（3.85 - 3.62亿年前）的鱼化石，于2004年在加拿大努纳沃特的Ellesmere岛被发现。这个物种是与四足动物（四肢脊椎动物）最密切相关的有鳍动物。作为一种中间形态，roseae帮助我们认识到鱼类到四足动物转变的形态变化序列，并能告诉我们驱动这些重要进化变化的力量。roseae于2006年首次被描述，并引起了进化生物学家的极大兴趣。然而，到目前为止，关于这个物种的唯一发表的报告都是《自然》杂志上的短论文。随着对丰富且保存完好的roseae化石材料的持续研究和记录，我们将填补对这一处于鱼类向四足动物过渡的重要化石进行详细研究的需求。这项研究的一个主要贡献将是发表一篇关于玫瑰霉的广泛主题的详细文章。本出版物的核心将是一个彻底的形态学描述，包括许多50+标本的广泛数字。我们还将首次研究玫瑰龙骨鳍的内部结构，进一步记录玫瑰龙骨的古代生活环境，并对从鱼类到四足动物的进化树进行新的研究。该项目的另一个主要贡献是利用玫瑰龙骨化石的质量来评估鳍和头骨的功能解剖。对鳍能够支撑身体这一假设的评估将涉及对关节结构的详细分析，以及骨头、鳍、前鳍和肩部的鳞片之间可能的相对运动。第二组分析将探讨颅骨结构与颅骨中与运动、呼吸和进食有关的不同应力和应变之间的关系。在这项研究结束时，所有的玫瑰叶蝉标本都将归还给努纳武特政府，因此通过印刷品和网站及时公布这些数据尤为重要。玫瑰桃的发现和描述受到了国际教育机构和媒体的高度关注；作为教科书中的过渡化石，它已成为向公众传播进化论的有力工具。pi有公开演讲和开发网络教育资源的记录。我们将利用这一研究项目进一步向广大受众传播工作成果和科学过程，从而帮助人们更好地理解进化是如何工作的。

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.