Phylogeny, Form and Function of Primate Tarsal Bones

脚的形态对灵长类进化特别感兴趣，因为它在决定运动模式（一种关键的生态适应）方面起着重要作用。尽管如此，跗骨形态的决定因素仍然没有得到很好的理解，迄今为止的研究一直局限于一个跗骨元素或一个狭窄的分类群。该项目将使用现有的和新收集的CT和3D表面扫描，为灵长类动物的代表性样本构建跗骨骨架的3D表面模型。这些将被用来探索跗骨形态在整个分支的变化，表征不同元素和群体的发育，功能和大小的影响。将探索整体形态和关节面的变异模式。形态学数据也将与系统发育数据一起用于探索整个灵长类分支的跗骨进化速率，表征不同元素和谱系的进化速率变化。这项研究将是第一个对所有跗骨元素进行综合分析的研究。它将识别跗骨骨架和灵长类分支的形态变异模式，描述不同元素和谱系的进化性如何变化。

The morphology of the foot is of particular interest to primate evolution, as it plays a major role in determining locomotor mode, a key ecological adaptation. Despite this, the determinants of tarsal bone morphology are still not well understood, and studies to date have been limited either to one tarsal element or a narrow taxonomic group. This project will use existing and newly collected CT and 3D surface scans to construct 3D surface models of the tarsal skeleton for a representative sample of primates. These will be used to explore the variation in tarsal bone morphology across the clade, characterising the influences of phylogeny, function and size on different elements and groups. Patterns of variation in overall morphology and articular surfaces will be explored. Morphological data will also be used alongside phylogenetic data to explore the rate of tarsal bone evolution across the primate clade, characterising variation in evolutionary rate in different elements and lineages. The study will be the first to conduct an integrated analysis of all tarsal bone elements. It will identify patterns of morphological variation across both the tarsal skeleton and the primate clade, characterising how evolvability varies across different elements and lineages.