Intraspecific Variation of Cranial Morphology in Extant Hominoidea

现存人科动物颅骨形态的种内变异

• 批准号: 1917579
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2017 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-1917579
• 关键词: Intraspecific; Variation; Cranial; Morphology; Extant

There is still no consensus on the definition of a species, and this becomes an even greater problem when attempting to classify extinct specimens. Though some researchers have compared the morphology of extant taxa with that of palaeospecies, not enough is known about morphological variation in living taxa to be able to make estimations about past levels of intraspecies variation. This project will examine the levels of variation in the skull shape of apes (Hominoidea), both within species and between taxa. Using geometric morphometric techniques, a large sample of ape skull shape data will be collected from museum specimens. This data will be used to determine the existence of allometric scaling and modularity in all ape species, and how this interacts with sexual dimorphism. Additionally, the evolutionary rates of change for various skull traits will be investigated in order to determine if all shape changes evolved together or at different rates. It is hoped that this in-depth investigation of hominoid skull morphology will be the first step in using extant species' morphology to make accurate predictions about species boundaries in extinct species.

对于物种的定义仍然没有共识，当试图对灭绝的标本进行分类时，这成为一个更大的问题。虽然一些研究人员比较了现存类群的形态与古种的形态，但对现存类群的形态变异了解得还不够，无法对过去的种内变异水平进行估计。这个项目将研究猿类（人科）头骨形状的变化水平，包括物种内和类群之间的变化。利用几何形态测量技术，将从博物馆标本中收集大样本的猿头骨形状数据。这些数据将用于确定所有猿类物种中异速生长比例和模块性的存在，以及这与性二型性的相互作用。此外，将研究各种头骨特征的进化变化率，以确定所有形状的变化是一起进化还是以不同的速度进化。希望这次对人科动物头骨形态的深入研究将是利用现存物种的形态学对灭绝物种的物种边界进行准确预测的第一步。