Evolutionary biomechanics of vertebrate musculoskeletal systems

脊椎动物的身体形态非常多样。脊椎动物会游泳、爬行、滑行、行走、奔跑、跳跃和飞行。身体如何能够运动，更具体地说，肌肉、骨骼和其他组织如何协同工作以产生不同的运动，是肌肉骨骼系统功能和进化灵活性的结果。我研究的长期目标是了解脊椎动物肌肉和骨骼的解剖、生理和功能灵活性。我会用两种方法来做；首先，通过测试类似动物的力学和生理差异如何导致表现差异的假设，其次，通过将动物置于非自然实验环境中，并测试环境条件如何随着时间的推移影响体型和运动行为的假设。一系列的互补项目侧重于生物力学和功能形态学，旨在通过学生项目驱动的跨学科研究计划实现这些目标。项目一将利用不同青蛙物种形态和表现的进化变化来确定肌肉生理学、骨骼解剖学和运动学上的哪些细微变化导致了我们在青蛙跳跃表现上看到的巨大差异。项目二将利用鳐鱼骨盆带在形态和功能上的多样性来测试肌肉形态在进化过程中的变化。通过观察鱼类肌肉激活时间和神经支配模式的差异，我们可以预测单个肌肉是如何参与执行多种功能的，并最终从一个单元划分为多个功能独立的单元。项目三和项目四将在新的环境中饲养鱼类，在陆地上饲养塞内加尔多角鱼，在循环水中饲养鳟鱼，以测试不断变化的环境压力如何影响运动行为和最终的肌肉和骨骼形成。该研究项目将对脊椎动物肌肉骨骼系统的生物力学灵活性进行全面分析，这些系统是自然进化的，也是被迫适应人工改变环境的系统。通过与工程师的合作，这些数据还将用于开发和构建仿生机器人，利用自然系统的极端功能来增强人造设备。除了深入了解脊椎动物的生物力学和适应性灵活性外，该研究项目还旨在建立一个加拿大生物力学研究中心，该中心具有跨学科合作的能力，可以使用最先进的技术回答各种问题。

The vertebrate body form is very diverse. Vertebrates swim, crawl, slither, walk, run, hop and fly. How bodies are able to move, and more specifically how muscles, bones and other tissues work together to produce such different motions is the result of the functional and evolutionary flexibility of the musculoskeletal system. The long term goal of my research is to understand the anatomical, physiological and functional flexibility of vertebrate muscles and bones. I will do this in two ways; first, by testing hypotheses on how differences in mechanics and physiology of similar animals contribute to variation in performance, and second, by subjecting animals to non-natural experimental environments and testing hypotheses on how environmental conditions affect body shape and kinematic behaviour over time. A series of complementary projects focused on biomechanics and functional morphology are designed to achieve these goals through a student project-driven interdisciplinary research program. Project one will use the evolutionary variation in morphology and performance of different frog species to determine what subtle changes in muscle physiology, skeletal anatomy, and kinematics are responsible for the large differences we see in jump performance across frogs. Project two will use the existing diversity in form and function of the ray-finned fish pelvic girdle to test how muscle morphology changes over evolutionary time. By looking at differences in muscle activation timing and enervation patterns across fish, we may be able to predict how a single muscle gets co-opted into performing multiple functions and ultimately partitions from one unit into multiple functionally independent units. Projects three and four will raise fish in new environments, Polypterus senegalus on land and trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss) in circular flow, to test how changing environmental pressures affect kinematic behaviour and ultimate muscle and bone formation. This research program will provide a comprehensive analysis of the biomechanical flexibility of vertebrate musculoskeletal systems that have naturally evolved as well as in systems forced to adapt to artificially altered environments. Working in collaboration with engineers, this data will also be used to develop and construct biomimetic robotics, using the extreme functionality of natural systems to enhance man-made devices. In addition to providing insight into the biomechanical and adaptive flexibility of vertebrates, this research program aims to establish a centre for biomechanical research in Canada with the ability to collaborate across disciplines to answer a diversity of questions using state-of-the-art technologies.