The Ecomorphology of Mammalian Frugivores: A Test of Congruence Between Cranial Morphology and Feeding Behavior

生态地貌学是研究有机体的解剖学如何与其生态学相联系的学科。行为，或者说动物如何利用他们的解剖学，是动物和他们的环境之间的重要桥梁。具体地说，比较动物执行特定任务的能力可以提供有关这些动物所扮演的生态角色的信息。现代生态地貌学研究结合了对动物的解剖、表现和关系的分析，以了解当今世界生物多样性的潜在因素。研究鸟类和鱼类的科学家发现，头骨的解剖结构和进食行为之间存在很强的关联。这项研究调查了这种同样强烈的关联是否在哺乳动物中具有代表性。通过研究这种关系，这项研究将测试头骨形状和头骨功能之间的基本联系，并揭示一组现代哺乳动物的生态多样性。这项研究的对象是两个远亲的果蝠群体--新大陆果蝠和东半球果蝠。之所以选择这些群体进行这项研究，是因为它们每个都包含一系列物种，这些物种以相似的方式划分了它们可用的水果资源。这两组动物的解剖和行为差异使它们成为研究头骨形态、行为灵活性和摄食性能之间相互作用的理想测试案例。本研究的目的是探索颅骨形态、摄食性能和食性之间的关系，并评估这些因素在食果性哺乳动物生态多样性中所起的作用。这项研究将：1)评估物种内和物种间摄食行为的灵活性，2)确定物种内摄食性能的峰值，3)测试头骨形态和饮食习惯之间的基本联系，4)评估身体大小在摄食性能中的作用，5)测试头骨形态和摄食行为紧密联系的假设，并且更多地反映饮食的变化，而不是进化史。这五个领域中的每一个都将通过使用特定的统计和系统技术测试明确的假设来进行探索。这项研究的重要性在于检验这一命题，即哺乳动物的头骨形态和摄食行为密切相关。虽然哺乳动物通常被研究得很好，但摄食性能的变化与生态多样性之间的关系尚未被调查。这项研究将评估两个生态相似但关系遥远的线条的形态、行为和表现的相关性--这一设计提供了对这些因素之间关联强度的自然测试。

Ecomorphology is the study of how an organism's anatomy is associated with its ecology. Behavior, or how animals use their anatomy, is an important bridge between animals and their environments. Specifically, comparing animals abilities to perform certain tasks can provide information about the ecological roles those animals play. Modern ecomorphology studies combine analyses of anatomy, performance and relationships among animals to understand the factors underlying the diversity of organisms in the world today. Scientists studying birds and fish have found a strong association between the anatomy of the skull and feeding behavior. This study investigates whether this same strong association is typical of mammals. By investigating this relationship, this study will test fundamental associations between skull form and skull function and shed light on the basis of ecological diversity within one group of modern mammals. The subjects of this study are two distantly related groups of fruit bats - New World fruit bats and Old World fruit bats. These groups were selected for this study because they each contain an array of species that divide the fruit resources available to them in similar ways. The anatomical and behavioral diversity within these two groups make them an ideal test case for studying the interplay between skull morphology, behavioral flexibility and feeding performance. The goal of this study is to explore the relationships among cranial morphology, feeding performance, and diet, and evaluate the roles that these factors play in the ecological diversity of fruit feeding mammals. This study will: 1) provide an assessment of flexibility in feeding behavior within and between species, 2) identify peaks in feeding performance within species, 3) test fundamental associations between skull morphology and dietary habits; 4) evaluate the role of body size in feeding performance, and 5) test the hypothesis that skull morphology and feeding behavior are tightly linked and reflect variation in diet more than evolutionary history. Each of these five areas will be explored through testing explicit hypotheses using specific statistical and systematic techniques. The importance of this study lies in testing the proposition that skull morphology and feeding behavior are tightly linked in mammals. Although mammals are generally well studied, the relationship between variation in feeding performance and ecological diversity has not been investigated. This study will assess the correlation of morphology, behavior, and performance in two ecologically similar but distantly related linages - a design that provides a natural test of the strength of association among these factors.