Collaborative Research: Evolution of Nasal Passages in Peccaries: Functional Interpretation

物种（偶蹄目：踏蹄科）是一个有蹄动物家族，具有极端的鼻腔通道特殊化。特别是，它们的鼻子含有一种复杂的膨胀骨结构，在其他哺乳动物中是找不到的。这些结构的功能是完全未知的。实现功能解释的一个困难是，对脊椎动物呼吸系统的功能形态学知之甚少。本研究是对鼻器官可能功能的系统研究，也是对哺乳动物呼吸力学的一般分析。主要研究者将通过对鼻上皮的组织学和超微结构研究来验证嗅觉结构参与嗅觉的假设。他们将通过阐明鼻血管的解剖结构来评估这些结构是否作为大脑冷却机制的一部分起作用。他们将使用数学模型和实验流动装置来测试这些结构是否与一种与环境交换热量或水的机制有关，并研究它们是否可以用于从充满灰尘的大气中去除颗粒。

The peccaries (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) are a family of ungulates with extreme specializations of the nasal passages. In particular, their noses contain a complex of inflated bony structures found nowhere else among the mammals. The functions of these structures are completely unknown. One difficulty in arriving at a functional interpretation is that little is known about the functional morphology of the vertebrate respiratory system. The proposed research is both a systematic investigation of possible functions of the peccary nasal apparatus and general analysis of mammalian respiratory mechanics. The principal investigators will test the hypothesis that the peccary structures are involved in olfaction by histological and ultrastructural study of the nasal epithelia. They will assess whether the structures function as part of a brain-cooling mechanism by elucidating the anatomy of the nasal vasculature. They will use mathematical modeling and an experimental flow apparatus to test whether the structures are associated with a mechanism for exchanging heat or water with the environment, and also to investigate if they could be used to remove particles from a dust-laden atmosphere.