IntBIO: Disentangling the genetic, biomechanical, and deep-time factors underlying mammalian skeletal diversity

了解生命进化中遗传和环境因素的相对贡献（通常称为“先天与后天”）对于确定生物多样性如何在不同的空间和时间尺度上维持至关重要。这个项目研究了先天与后天在塑造骨骼及其特征方面的作用，例如运动和饮食方面的进化创新。这个多方面的项目结合了学生研究团队从广泛的教育背景，旨在为学生提供经济需要的机会，那些从社区学院，和那些来自代表性不足的背景。由教师，教育项目主任，博士后，博士和本科研究人员组成的指导研究合作网络将提供所有参与者级别的培训。研究成果将通过教育者短期课程和可访问的在线教育材料广泛分享。21世纪生物学最大的挑战和机遇之一是将分散的科学学科的知识整合到一个通用的框架中。该项目的重点是遗传遗传性，生物力学和深时间进化模式的交叉点，以解开每个因素的相对贡献，使食肉动物（狗，猫，熊和亲戚）成为后恐龙地球上最广泛，最多样化的哺乳动物捕食者。为了深入了解骨骼多样性和变异的遗传基础，该团队将使用小鼠模型构建表型变异和协变的遗传力图。这个模型，然后将被应用到食肉动物物种来测试假设，解释在这组骨骼的变化。然后，将结合长期的环境变化模式，如热极大值和冰河时代，分析过去5500万年的深时模式。预期成果是一个综合框架，以解释在一组不同的和适应性强的动物骨骼变异的产生和演变。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得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的支持。

Understanding the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors involved in the evolution of life (commonly framed as “nature versus nurture”) is paramount to determining how biodiversity is maintained at different scales in space and time. This project examines the role of nature versus nurture in shaping skeletons and their characteristics, such as evolutionary innovations in locomotion and eating. This multi-faceted project incorporates student research teams assembled from a broad spectrum of educational backgrounds and aims to provide opportunities for students with financial need, those from community colleges, and those from underrepresented backgrounds. A mentoring-research cooperative network composed of faculty, educational program directors, and postdoctoral, doctoral, and undergraduate researchers will provide training at all participant levels. Research findings will be shared broadly through an educator short course and accessible online educational materials.Among the greatest challenges and opportunities for biology in the 21st century is the integration of knowledge from dispersed scientific disciplines into a generalized framework. This project focuses on the intersection of genetic heritability, biomechanics, and deep-time evolutionary patterns to disentangle the relative contributions of each factor in allowing carnivorans (dogs, cats, bears, and relatives) to become the most widespread and diverse mammalian predators in post-dinosaur Earth. To gain insights into the genetic underpinnings of skeletal diversity and variation, the team will use a mouse model to construct a heritability map of phenotypic variation and covariation. This model then will be applied to carnivoran species to test hypotheses that explain skeletal variation in this group. Deep-time patterns over the past 55 million years will then be analyzed in conjunction with long-term patterns of environmental changes such as thermal maxima and ice ages. The expected outcome is an integrated framework to explain the generation and evolution of skeletal variability in a group of diverse and adaptable animals.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.