NSF-BSF: The Evolution of Hydrodynamics, Mechanics, & Prey Capture in the Feeding of Misfit Fish

生物学的一个主要追求是了解动物解剖的进化如何影响它在自然界中的表现。鱼类捕食者因其令人着迷的多样性而特别感兴趣，包括捕获各种猎物的能力。这项拟议工作的目标是了解鱼类颌骨和头骨的进化变化如何影响它们的机械操作，以及这些机械变化如何影响捕获猎物的能力。通过实验和数学建模，我们将重点研究一种被称为失配鱼类的物种，其中包括海马鱼和海豚。这一组包括已知的鱼类物种中最快的捕食性攻击，这些快速运动与相对较快的进化变化速度有关。这项工作将提供对机械和性能如何塑造动物进化的关键见解。此外，该提案将在研究生培训方面提出倡议。这包括两个关于如何将动物产生的流动可视化的在线研讨会，以及一个以学员的工作演示为特色的研讨会系列。这项研究将围绕以下目标展开：(1)确定机械性能的演变模式；(2)了解机械性能的肌肉骨骼基础；(3)测试机械性能如何影响捕获性能。这些目标将通过实验来实现，实验将为进食机制提供数学模型，并为捕食者-猎物相互作用的行为提供基于主体的模型。这些模型将作为分析机械和捕获性能的性能图景的手段。性能景观将允许考虑在活的和灭绝的物种的形态上的创新如何产生性能优势、能量成本和功能权衡。这项拟议的研究提供了一个难得的机会，让我们了解进化是如何作用于不同组织水平的物种的。我们将建立一个预测性的理解，了解形态如何产生捕食性攻击的运动，以及该运动如何影响一组相关物种的猎物捕获。这一理解将通过数学建模来实现，该数学建模是参数化的，并由每个组织级别的实验结果进行验证。这一方法为进化生物力学的研究提供了一个新的智力框架，可以应用于各种动物中的各种生物系统。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A major pursuit in biology is understanding how the evolution of an animal’s anatomy affects how it performs in the natural world. Fish predators are of particular interest due to their fascinating diversity, including an ability to capture a wide variety of prey. The goal of the proposed work is to understand how evolutionary change in the jaws and skull of fish affect how they operate mechanically and how those mechanical changes affect the ability to capture prey. Using experiments and mathematical modeling, we will focus our investigation on a group known as misfit fish, which includes seahorses and pipefishes. This group includes the fastest predatory strikes known among fish species and these rapid motions are associated with a relatively high pace of evolutionary change. This work will offer key insights into how mechanics and performance shape the evolution of animals. In addition, the proposal will feature initiatives in graduate training. This includes a pair of online workshops in how to visualize the flow generated by animals and a seminar series that features presentations of work by trainees. The work will additionally support the training of undergraduates from under-represented groups through institutional partnerships.This research will be organized around the following aims: (1) identify the evolutionary patterns of mechanical performance, (2) understand the musculoskeletal basis of mechanical performance, and (3) test how mechanical performance affects capture performance. These aims will be addressed through experimentation that will provide the basis of a mathematical model for the mechanics of feeding and an agent-based model for the behavior of predator-prey interactions. These models will serve as the means for analyzing performance landscapes of mechanical and capture performance. The performance landscapes will allow for a consideration of how innovation in the morphology of living and extinct species yields performance benefits, energetic costs, and functional trade-offs. The proposed research provides an exceptional opportunity to understand how evolution acts on species across levels of organization. We will establish a predictive understanding for how morphology generates the motion of a predatory strike and how that motion affects prey capture in a group of related species. This understanding will be achieved through mathematical modeling that is parameterized and verified by experimental results at each level of organization. This approach offers a novel intellectual framework for the study of evolutionary biomechanics that could be applied to a wide variety of biological systems among a diversity of 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.