NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2013

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Building a bird: developmental and evolutionary construction of the avian body planIn the process of acquiring the ability to fly, birds and their dinosaur ancestors have undertaken some of the most dramatic morphological and functional transformations in vertebrate history. Flight is the most challenging form of locomotion, and living adult birds have unique anatomical features that permit them to meet the demands of aerial locomotion. Early winged dinosaurs lacked many of these features, and consequently, it has long been assumed that early dinosaurs were incapable of powered flight. Yet baby birds with dinosaur-like anatomies elude predators by flap-running up slopes and even briefly flying. How is this accomplished? Whereas locomotion of adult animals is well studied, very little is known about locomotion of animals with transitional (developing or evolving) anatomies. Many features change during development and evolution, and parsing out their effects on locomotion is challenging. However, biomechanical modeling with programs like SIMM allows scientists to explore the functional consequences of changes in anatomical design, by manipulating anatomical parameters individually to determine their effects. Using birds and dinosaurs as a case study, this project aims to bridge biological, paleontological, and engineering disciplines to explore biomechanical underpinnings of developmental and evolutionary transformations in locomotor capacity and ecology.The primary training objectives are: learning bioengineering approaches to examine form-function relationships and gaining experience making museum exhibits that let students see science in action. Anticipated outcomes include an exhibit that helps students build a digital dinosaur to explore how changes in anatomy might affect locomotion and presentations to academic and public audiences.