Collaborative Research: Exploring the interplay between form and function: the force-velocity trade-off in the spider predatory strike.

合作研究：探索形式与功能之间的相互作用：蜘蛛掠夺性攻击中的力与速度的权衡。

• 批准号: 2114562
• 负责人: Jeffrey Shultz
• 金额: $ 31.46万
• 依托单位: University of Maryland, College Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2114562&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Exploring; interplay; between

Spiders are important predators of insects and other small animals, and the group has nearly 50,000 described species. They are one of the most diverse and numerous groups of animals and occupy a wide variety of habitats; spiders also play an essential role in controlling pest populations. While great advances have been made in understanding how spiders use silk and venom to capture prey, very little is known about the main feeding structures of spiders, the chelicerae. These in some respects function like jaws of vertebrates since they are used to grasp and process prey. This research focuses on how the chelicerae are used during the predatory strike, when the spider grasps the prey and injects it with venom, and how the shape, speed and strength of chelicerae vary in different groups of spiders. The researchers will compare the anatomy and movements of chelicerae in a wide variety of spiders to better understand the evolution of feeding in the group. This work will also examine details of the super-fast predatory strike, found in certain types of spiders, and determine how it evolved. In addition to revealing the function and evolution of spider chelicerae, the project introduces spider biology to the next generation of scientists, with outreach to several groups ranging from high-school students to postdoctoral scholars. Results from this research will also be used to engage and educate the public, including school-aged children, through hands-on lessons that will be displayed at the National Museum of Natural History and used in a summer day camp at the University of Maryland.This research focuses on the comparative functional morphology of spider chelicerae, and tests the hypothesis that a fundamental biomechanical principle, the force-velocity trade-off, explains the diversification of their morphology and predatory strike dynamics. It is widely assumed that lever-based skeletomuscular systems are optimized to produce either high forces or high velocities, but not both simultaneously. Predictions of the force-velocity hypothesis will be tested using a broad sample of species from across the spider tree of life, including the “trap-jaw” spiders, some of which have predatory strikes that are the fastest movements known among arachnids. Structural details of the exoskeleton and musculature will be quantified through analysis of Computed Tomography scans and histological sections, and functional performance variables such as strike velocity will be measured through analysis of high-speed videos. A molecular phylogeny will be generated and used to provide the historical framework for examining the evolution of morphology and strike performance. Phylogenetically-informed statistical analyses will be used to determine whether the correlations between form and function anticipated by the force-velocity trade-off are consistent with the biomechanical diversity observed in spiders. The results will offer insights into the evolution of form and function in skeletomuscular systems and provide a rich source of new information on spider biology. This award is co-funded by two programs in the Directorate for Biological Sciences, the Systematics and Biodiversity Science Program in the Division of Environmental Biology, and the Physiological Mechanisms and Biomechanics Program in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems.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.

蜘蛛是昆虫和其他小动物的重要捕食者，该组有近50,000种描述的物种。它们是最多样化和众多动物群体之一，占据了各种各样的栖息地。蜘蛛在控制害虫种群中也起着至关重要的作用。尽管在了解蜘蛛如何使用丝绸和毒液捕获猎物方面取得了巨大进步，但对蜘蛛Chelicerae的主要喂养结构知之甚少。在某些方面，这些功能像脊椎动物的颌骨一样起作用，因为它们用于掌握和处理猎物。这项研究的重点是在掠夺性罢工期间如何使用螯虾，当蜘蛛抓住猎物并注射毒液，以及在不同的蜘蛛组中，螯虾的形状，速度和强度如何变化。研究人员将比较各种蜘蛛中氏氏菌的解剖结构和运动，以更好地了解该组进食的演变。这项工作还将研究在某些类型的蜘蛛中发现的超快速掠夺性打击的细节，并确定其进化方式。该项目除了揭示蜘蛛螯虾的功能和演变外，还向下一代科学家介绍了蜘蛛生物学，从高中生到博士后学者的几个小组的宣讲。这项研究的结果还将用于通过动手课程来吸引和教育包括学龄儿童在内的公众，这些课程将在国家自然历史博物馆展示，并在马里兰大学的夏季营地中使用。这项研究侧重于蜘蛛侠的比较功能形态，并测试了一种基本的生物机构的摩托学，效率和效率的摩擦性，效力为众所周知，效力是效力，效力为效率，并宣传了效率，并效力了效率，并遵守了效力，并遵循了效率，并将其效力稳定效力，并效果稳定了效率，并遵守了效力。掠夺性罢工动态。广泛认为，基于杠杆的骨骼肌系统被优化以产生高力或高速度，但并非同时产生。力量假说的预测将使用跨越生命的蜘蛛树的广泛物种进行测试，其中包括“陷阱爪”蜘蛛，其中一些蜘蛛具有掠食性罢工，这是蛛网膜中已知的最快运动。外骨骼和肌肉组织的结构细节将通过分析计算机断层扫描和组织学部分进行量化，并且将通过分析高速视频来测量功能性能变量，例如打击速度。将产生分子系统发育，并用于提供历史框架，以检查形态和罢工性能的演变。系统发育信息的统计分析将用于确定力 - 速度权衡预期的形式和功能之间的相关性是否与在蜘蛛中观察到的生物力学多样性一致。结果将为骨骼肌肉系统中形式和功能的演变提供见解，并提供有关蜘蛛生物学的新信息的丰富来源。该奖项由环境生物学系的生物科学，系统和生物多样性科学计划以及综合有机体系统部的生理机制和生物力学计划中的两个计划共同资助。这奖反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的智力效果和广泛的评估来评估，并通过评估诚实地进行了评估。