Dissertation Research: Convergent Evolution of Mollusc Crushing in Teleost Fishes

本论文拟研究硬骨鱼咽颌软体动物压碎的趋同进化。本研究将对五组表现形态鱼类进行研究，以确定在这种情况下，是否同样的功能、形态和生理变化构成了这种营养特化的基础。将采用综合方法比较软体动物和密切相关的通才捕食者咽颌器的软体动物碾碎能力：1)功能形态学；咽颌机制的比较，包括肌肉骨骼系统测量、肌电图和体内刺激实验；生化分析将确定肌肉的生理性质，将在实验室测量。这项研究的意义有三个方面。首先，它将揭示在一种新的摄食行为的重复进化中，不同层次的生物设计和性能之间的关系。其次，它将增加我们对软体动物挤压的物理需求在多大程度上限制了硬骨鱼咽颌器官在这种行为的多种起源中的进化修饰的理解。第三，本研究将通过检验几种硬骨鱼谱系之间的趋同假设来阐明对咽软体动物挤压的假定肌肉骨骼适应。

Wainwright 9700758 The proposed dissertation research will investigate the convergent evolution of pharyngeal jaw molluse crushing in teleost fishes. Five groups of percomorph fishes will be studied to determine whether the same suite of functional, morphological, and physiological modifications underlie this trophic specialization in such case. An integrative approach will be used to compare the molluse crushing capacity of the pharyngeal jaw apparatus in molluscivores and closely related generalist predators: 1) Functional Morphology; comparison of the pharyngeal jaw mechanism including mesurements of the musculoskeletal system, electromyography, and in vivo stimulation experiments, 2) Physiology; biochemical assays will determine the physiological nature of the muscles will be measured in the laboratory. The significance of this research will be threefold. First, it will reveal the relationships among different levels of organismal design and performance in the repeated evolution of a novel feeding behavior. Secold, it will increase our understanding of how rigorously the physical demands of mollusc crushing constrained the evolutionary modification of the teleost pharyngeal jaw apparatus in multiple origins of this behavior. Third, this research will elucidate presumed musculoskeletal adaptations for pharyngeal mollusc crushing by testing hypothesis of convergence among several teleost lineages.