NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Skeletal and behavioral underpinnings of extreme locomotor diversity in snakes

该行动资助了美国国家科学基金会2023财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大生物学中代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。这项研究将有助于更好地理解具有简单身体计划的动物（蛇）如何进化出多种策略来克服在不同环境中移动的挑战。这项研究对生态学和自然保护具有启示意义，因为动物的移动方式会影响它们向新栖息地扩张或应对变化的栖息地的能力。此外，这些结果将有助于开发仿生蛇形机器人，这些机器人将能够在轮式和四肢机器人无法进入的地形上执行任务。该研究员还将通过科学协会创建一个新的长期指导计划，促进职业发展和专业网络，为早期职业科学家参与生物学做出贡献。该研究员将专注于在分类和功能上多样化的蛇亚科（Natricinae）中运动行为和相关形态学的进化。首先，研究员将使用微CT扫描、3D几何形态测量学和系统发育比较方法研究椎体形态的演变。然后，该研究员将使用比较生物力学的方法来研究在具有挑战性的基质上运动行为和表现的物种内部和物种之间的变化，沙子存在于世界各地的许多栖息地类型。最后，研究员将整合这两个数据集（椎体形态学和运动生物力学），以检查轴向骨骼的种间差异是否预测了运动模式的选择或在给定模式下的运动学差异，从而提供对功能进化的更综合的理解。研究人员的培训目标和扩大参与活动包括：1)学习处理3D形态数据的软件和分析技术；2)为研究运动生物力学建立强大的定量技能，包括处理和分析视频数据的先进计算方法；3)为专业协会的研究生和博士后制定同伴指导计划。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2023, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The research will help to better understand how animals with a simple body plan (snakes) can evolve numerous strategies to overcome the challenges of moving through different environments. The research has implications for ecology and conservation, since how an animal moves can influence the ability to expand into new habitats or to cope with a changing one. Additionally, the results will contribute to the development of bioinspired snake-like robots that will be able to carry out tasks in terrains inaccessible to wheeled and limbed robots. The fellow will also contribute to the participation of early-career scientists in biology by creating a new long-term mentorship program through a scientific society to promote career development and professional networks. The fellow will focus on the evolution of locomotor behavior and relevant morphology in a taxonomically and functionally diverse snake subfamily, the Natricinae. First, the fellow will investigate the evolution of vertebral morphology using µCT scans, 3D geometric morphometrics, and phylogenetic comparative methods. Then, the fellow will use a comparative biomechanics approach to study within- and among-species variation in locomotor behavior and performance on a challenging substrate, sand, which exists in numerous habitat types worldwide. Finally, the fellow will integrate these two datasets (vertebral morphology and locomotor biomechanics) to examine whether interspecific differences in the axial skeleton predict choice of locomotor mode or kinematic differences within a given mode, providing a more integrative understanding of functional evolution. Training goals and broadening participation activities for the fellowship include: 1) learning software and analytical techniques for working with 3D morphological data; 2) building a strong quantitative skillset for studying locomotor biomechanics, which will include advanced computational methods for processing and analyzing video data; and 3) developing a peer mentoring program for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in a professional society.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.