Doctoral Dissertation Research: Descent Locomotion Behavior in Primates

博士论文研究：灵长类动物的下降运动行为

• 批准号: 1751686
• 负责人: Douglas Boyer
• 金额: $ 2.44万
• 依托单位: Duke University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-03-01 至 2020-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1751686&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Descent; Locomotion

Primates are distinguished from other mammals by their grasping hands and feet, and nails instead of claws. These anatomical features are thought to have helped the earliest primates to navigate thin terminal branches of trees. However, the lack of claws may also have led to different locomotor (movement) behaviors for navigating large trees that could not be grasped. This doctoral dissertation project will study different primate and non-primate mammalian species to better understand locomotor changes with age, and in response to changing environments. These findings can help elucidate broader patterns of interaction between locomotor evolution and life history in the primate lineage. This project will support student training and mentoring at the K-12 through graduate levels. Data generated by this project will be used in an outreach lesson plan demonstrating how animal motion can be understood as simple machines for a STEM education program for elementary to middle school age girls in Durham, NC through Duke University, and for all ages attending annual public outreach days at the Duke Lemur Center. The goal of this project is to understand primate locomotor tradeoffs between selection for or maintenance of morphological specialization for movement in specific places (e.g. thin branches), while still needing to move through and between more general (e.g. trees, the ground) environments. Through comparative analysis of descending locomotion and mechanics in eight primate species, and three non-primate mammals, this project examines behavioral shifts in response to changing environmental conditions by experimentally modifying support orientation and size. Animals are filmed crossing increasingly steep and thick supports, and it is predicted that primates will abandon headfirst walking in favor of alternative behaviors, such as leaping, sliding, and rear-first descending in response to the biomechanical challenges of these supports, while non-primate mammals will continue to move headfirst with the aid of their claws. The comparative sample features species from a wide range of body sizes (0.06 to 3.5 kg), limb proportions, and behavioral specializations. Within each species, individuals of different ages are compared to assess how aging affects arboreal locomotion, which would have been a key challenge incurred during the evolution of increasingly long lifespans in the primate lineage.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

灵长类动物与其他哺乳动物的握手和指甲代替爪子区分开。这些解剖学特征被认为有助于最早的灵长类动物浏览树木的薄终端分支。但是，缺乏爪子也可能导致不同的运动（运动）行为，用于导航无法抓住的大树。该博士学位论文项目将研究不同的灵长类动物和非成群的哺乳动物物种，以更好地了解随着年龄的增长和响应不断变化的环境的运动变化。这些发现可以帮助阐明灵长类动物谱系中的运动演化与生活历史之间的更广泛的相互作用模式。该项目将通过研究生级别支持K-12的学生培训和指导。该项目产生的数据将用于外展课程计划中，演示如何将动物运动理解为北卡罗来纳州达勒姆市的小学至中学时代女孩的STEM教育计划的简单机器，并通过杜克大学，以及在杜克·Lemur Center（Duke Lemur Center）参加年度公共​​外展活动的所有年龄段。 该项目的目的是了解灵长类动物运动的权衡，以选择或维护特定地方运动形态专业化（例如薄分支）的形态专业化，同时仍需要在更一般的（例如树木，地面）环境之间进行和之间的移动。通过对八种灵长类动物物种的降落运动和力学的比较分析，该项目通过实验修改支持方向和大小来响应改变环境条件的行为转移。动物被拍摄到越来越陡峭和厚实的支撑物上，并且可以预测灵长类动物将放弃步行而倾向于替代行为，例如跳跃，滑动和后期下降，以应对这些支撑的生物力学挑战，而非哺乳动物将继续在其Claws的帮助下移动。比较样本具有来自各种身体大小（0.06至3.5 kg），肢体比例和行为专业的物种。在每个物种中，比较不同年龄的个体以评估衰老如何影响树木运动，这本来是在灵长类动物血统中日益长期寿命的发展过程中所产生的关键挑战。这项奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用该基金会的知识分子优点和广泛的影响来评估NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得的。