Symposium: Function and Evolution of the Vertebrate Axis

根据化石记录，从大约5亿年前类似蠕虫的祖先开始，一群动物进化出了一种新的身体，一种有着骨瘦如柴的内部脊梁和延伸的肌肉尾巴的身体。当然，我们现在认识到的动物群体是我们自己的--脊椎动物(来自组成脊椎的骨骼)。然而，不太清楚的是，脊椎动物的身体是如何工作的，它的独特特征对现存的鱼、青蛙、蜥蜴、鸟类和哺乳动物的进化史有什么不同。这些问题是1999年1月初在丹佛举行的综合与比较生物学学会年会上一群科学家关注的焦点。虽然所有脊椎动物都有脊椎动物的脊椎，这是它们共同进化历史的证据，但所有脊椎动物都有不同的版本，就像为不同的驾驶条件制造的不同型号的汽车和卡车一样，在不同的环境中为不同的支持和运动而制造的不同型号。脊椎构成了身体中轴线的框架，中轴线也由肌肉、皮肤和神经组成。这个由骨骼、韧带、肌腱和肌肉组成的复杂系统会产生弯曲运动，让鱼可以游泳，蜥蜴可以奔跑，海豚可以跑到LEEP。这次研讨会汇集了生物医学、数学和生物学领域的科学家，由学会脊椎动物形态分会赞助，计划重点介绍该科学领域的许多新发现。演讲将集中在三个领域--骨骼支撑系统、运动和轴向系统的总体设计。将讨论各种模式生物的轴向系统，包括八角鱼、硬骨鱼、两栖动物、爬行动物和哺乳动物。

According to the fossil record, from worm-like ancestors some 500 million years ago a group of animals evolved with a new kind of body, one with a bony internal backbone sporting an extended muscular tail. The animal group, of course, we now recognize as oour own -- vertebrates (from "vertebrate," the bones that make up the backbone). Less clear, however, is how the vertebrate body works and what difference its unique features have made to the evolutionary history of living fish, frogs, lizards, birds and mammals. These questions are the focus of a group of scientists gathering at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in Denver in early January, 1999. While all vertebrates have a backbone, which is evidence of their shared evolutionary history, all have different versions built, much like the various models of cars and trucks made for defferent driving conditions, for different kinds of support and movement in different environments. The backbone forms the framework for the body's axis, which also consits of muscles, skin, and nerves. This complex system of bone, ligaments, tendons and muscle generates bending motions that allow a fish to swim, a lizard to run, and a dolphin to leep. Bringing together scientists from fields in biomedicine, mathematics, and biology, the symposium, sponsored by the Society's Division of Vertebrate Morphology, plans to highlight many of the new findings in this scientific field. Presentations will focus on three areas -- the skeletal support system, locomotion, and the design of the axial systems in general. Axial systems in various model organisms will be discussed, including hagfish, bony fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.