DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Burrowing Behavior of Eastern Moles

在哺乳动物中，地下生活的专门化已经进化了多次，作为觅食，躲避捕食者，储存食物和筑巢的策略;然而，研究人员对穴居行为知之甚少，因为很难想象动物在土壤中移动。这个项目的重点是在东方鼹鼠的穴居行为，因为他们是专门的挖掘者，已经进化出极端的形态专业化强大的穴居，并表现出两种不同的穴居行为，以应对他们遇到的土壤类型。本研究将探讨如何以及为什么东部鼹鼠改变他们的穴居行为，以应对不同的土壤紧实度。这项工作将连接形态专业化的穴居穴居性能，并为更广泛的调查的收敛进化穴居在其他物种的鼹鼠和其他哺乳动物。此外，这项研究将通过提供在所有学术水平的进化论和比较解剖学教学中有用的穴居动画来促进教育，通过提供关键的运动学数据来改善用于城市搜索和救援的鼹鼠启发机器人的设计来使公众受益，通过招募当地社区成员来帮助识别鼹鼠栖息地来吸引公众，最后，将支持研究人员继续参与科学咖啡馆计划，该计划为公众举办科学讲座，重点关注当地科学家。在这项研究中，研究人员打算通过询问挖掘行为如何响应不同压实度的土壤而变化，以及行为的变化如何平衡力，速度和用于取代土壤的力的轨迹之间的权衡来扩展初步数据。研究人员假设，横向冲程和刮擦运动涉及不同的关节，并以不同的频率使用，横向冲程在移动松散的土壤时更有效，而刮擦运动在移动密实的土壤时最有效。双平面X射线视频和测力板将用于可视化和量化东方鼹鼠如何改变其肢体的运动，以应对在柔软和紧凑的基底上移动的挑战。警方和视频数据将分别通过Dryad.org和XMA门户网站（http：//xmaportal.org/webportal/）向公众提供。

Specialization for life underground has evolved multiple times in mammals as a strategy for foraging, avoiding predators, storing food and nesting; however, researchers know very little about burrowing behaviors because it is difficult to visualize animals as they move through soil. This project focuses on burrowing behavior in Eastern moles because they are specialized diggers that have evolved extreme morphological specializations for powerful burrowing and exhibit two different burrowing behaviors in response to the type of soil they encounter. This study will investigate how and why Eastern moles change their burrowing behavior in response to soils of different compactness. This work will connect morphological specializations for burrowing to burrowing performance, and set the stage for broader investigations of the convergent evolution of burrowing in other species of moles and other mammals. In addition, this research will promote education by providing animations of burrowing useful in teaching evolution and comparative anatomy at all academic levels, benefit the general public by providing crucial kinematic data for improving the design of mole-inspired robots that are used in urban search and rescue, engage the public by recruiting local community members to help identify mole habitats, and lastly, will support the researchers continued participation in the Science Cafe program, which hosts accessible scientific talks for the public that spotlight local scientists. In this study, the researchers intend to extend upon preliminary data by asking how burrowing behavior changes in response to soils that differ in compactness and how changes in behavior balance the trade-off between force, speed and the trajectory of force used to displace soils. The researchers hypothesize that lateral stroke and scraping movements involve different joints and are used with different frequencies and that lateral strokes are more efficient in displacing loose soil while scraping movements are most efficient in displacing compact soil. Bi-planar x-ray video and force plates will be used to visualize and quantify how Eastern moles change the movements of their limbs in order to meet the challenges of moving through soft and compact substrates. Force and video data will be made available to the public through Dryad.org and the XMA portal (http://xmaportal.org/webportal/), respectively.