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区别在于它们有抓握的手和脚，以及指甲而不是爪子。这些解剖学特征被认为帮助最早的灵长类动物在树木的细末端树枝上行走。然而，缺乏爪子也可能导致不同的运动（运动）行为，以导航无法抓住的大树。这个博士论文项目将研究不同的灵长类和非灵长类哺乳动物物种，以更好地了解运动随着年龄的变化，并在不断变化的环境。这些发现有助于阐明灵长类谱系中运动进化和生活史之间更广泛的相互作用模式。该项目将支持学生的培训和指导在K-12通过研究生水平。该项目生成的数据将用于外展课程计划，展示动物运动如何被理解为简单的机器，用于达勒姆，NC通过杜克大学的小学到中学年龄的女孩的STEM教育计划，以及参加杜克狐猴中心年度公共外展日的所有年龄段。 该项目的目标是了解灵长类动物运动之间的权衡选择或维持形态专业化的运动在特定的地方（如细树枝），同时仍然需要通过和更一般的（如树木，地面）环境之间的移动。通过对8种灵长类动物和3种非灵长类哺乳动物的下行运动和力学的比较分析，本项目通过实验性地修改支持方向和大小来研究行为变化对不断变化的环境条件的反应。动物被拍摄穿越越来越陡峭和厚的支撑物，据预测，灵长类动物将放弃头先行走，转而采取其他行为，如跳跃，滑动和后先下降，以应对这些支撑物的生物力学挑战，而非灵长类哺乳动物将继续在爪子的帮助下头先移动。比较样本的特点是物种的身体大小（0.06至3.5公斤），肢体比例和行为专业化。在每个物种中，不同年龄的个体进行比较，以评估衰老如何影响树栖运动，这将是灵长类谱系中寿命越来越长的进化过程中产生的关键挑战。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。