Digital Evolutionary Morphology of the Primate Astragalo-Calcaneal Complex

本项目将研究现代灵长类动物（Euprimates）及其近亲的上踝骨的形状变化。踝关节骨在化石记录中通常保存完好，它们的形状变化被认为反映了后肢在运动中的使用方式。在这项研究中解决的主要问题涉及到重建的运动发生在进化起源和随后的辐射Euprimates，这将有助于通过时间来识别祖先的模式的变化序列。该项目在利用数字图像、实验方法和包括现存和灭绝灵长类动物的全面样本方面是新颖的。更广泛的影响包括支持一名年轻的研究人员，培训研究生和本科生，他们通常是科学界代表性不足的少数群体。 这些数据将在一个在线数字图书馆中提供，该项目将侧重于使用微型CT和激光扫描以及光学地形学生成灵长类动物跟骨和跟骨的数字模型。旅行计划参观博物馆，其中隐藏和重要的标本居住，以形象这些标本。数字数据将使用精确的线性测量、几何形态测量和PI和合作者正在开发的新的自动化方法进行量化。将使用传统的统计技术以及新的方法来分析数据，这些方法考虑到由于不同的系统发育相关性而导致的生物数据的潜在非独立性。在这个项目中，PI将评估几种类型的假设：1）踝关节形状和不同运动模式之间的相关性，2）某些化石真灵长类动物（即，（3）灵长类黄芪和跟骨形态变异的演化模式及其适应意义。

This project will study shape variation in the upper ankle bones of primates of modern aspects (Euprimates) and their closest relatives. Ankle bones are commonly well-preserved in the fossil record, and their shape variation is thought to reflect the way the hind limbs are used in locomotion. The major questions being addressed in this research relate to reconstructing the sequence of changes in locomotion that occurred in the evolutionary origin and subsequent radiation of Euprimates, which will help identify patterns of ancestry through time. The project is novel in utilizing digital imagery, experimental methods, and inclusion of a comprehensive sample of extant and extinct primates. The broader impacts include support of a young investigator, training of graduate and undergraduates of typically under-represented minorities in science. The data will be made available in an online digital library.The project will focus on generating digital models of primate astragali and calcanei using microCT and laser scanning, and optical topography. Travel is planned to visit museums where obscure and important specimens reside in order to image those specimens. Digital data will be quantified using precise linear measurements, geometric morphometrics, and new automated methods being developed by the PI and collaborators. The data will be analyzed using traditional statistical techniques as well as using new methods that take into account potential non-independence of biological data due to differential phylogenetic relatedness. With this project the PIs will evaluate several types of hypotheses: those concerning the 1) correlation between ankle shape and different modes of locomotion, 2) presence (and significance) of similiarities among certain fossil euprimates (i.e., Adapidae, Omomyidae, Eosimiidae, and definitive stem-Anthropoidea) and the rest of the euprimate radiation, and 3) evolutionary pattern and adaptive significance of shape variation in the primate astragalus and calcaneus.