DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Ontogeny of Paranasal Sinuses in the Platyrrhini (Haplorhini, Primates)

新大陆猴子(白颈猴)是一种多样化的灵长类动物，其在南美洲和中美洲的进化史至少可以追溯到渐新世晚期。尽管近几十年来进行了大量的研究，但这一群体物种之间的进化关系一直难以解决。对颅骨和颅后解剖的研究，以及分子数据，产生了相互矛盾的结果，特别是关于绒猴和罗望子素。此外，在大多数分析中，Saimiri(松鼠猴)、Cebus(卷尾猴)、Aotus(猫头猴)和Callicebus(titi猴)与其他新大陆猴子的关系是模棱两可的。本研究试图通过提供迄今鲜为人知的解剖学区域副鼻窦的信息来帮助解决这些不确定性。副鼻窦是鼻腔的中空粘液衬里外露，占据哺乳动物面部骨骼的不同部分。窦解剖在旧大陆的猴子和猿类中有很好的记载，它提供了几个属和几个属组的诊断特征。它还没有在NWM关系的研究中发挥作用，因为我们对不同物种中存在哪些鼻窦的了解非常不完整。我们仅有的一点信息表明，与其他灵长类动物相比，这些猴子可能表现出更大的鼻窦模式多样性。这个项目将使用计算机断层扫描干燥的头盖骨作为一种非侵入性的手段，对代表10个属的47个颈椎动物标本的鼻窦内部解剖进行成像。每个属都由从幼年到成年的一系列按年龄分级的标本代表，这使得它们的鼻窦发育第一次被记录下来。这项分析记录的鼻窦解剖的分类分布将与几个相互竞争的系统发育假说进行比较，以揭示它支持哪些关系。通过完善我们对高等灵长类动物鼻窦模式的了解，这些数据也将有助于解释旧大陆猴子和类人猿化石中的鼻窦解剖。

The New World monkeys (platyrrhines) are a diverse group of primates whose evolutionary history in South and Central America dates back to at least the late Oligocene. Despite a great deal of study in recent decades the evolutionary relationships between species of this group have been difficult to resolve. Studies of craniodental and postcranial anatomy, as well as molecular data, have produced conflicting results, especially with regard to marmosets and tamarins. In addition, the relationships of Saimiri (the squirrel monkeys), Cebus (capuchins), Aotus (owl monkeys), and Callicebus (titi monkeys) to the rest of the New World monkeys are equivocal in most analyses. The present study seeks to contribute to the resolution of these uncertainties by providing information from a hitherto poorly known region of anatomy, the paranasal sinuses. The paranasal sinuses are hollow mucous-lined outpocketings of the nasal cavity that occupy various portions of the facial skeleton in mammals. Sinus anatomy is well documented in Old World monkeys and apes, in which it provides diagnostic features of several genera and groups of genera. It has yet to play a role in studies of NWM relationships because our knowledge of which sinuses are present in different species is very incomplete. What little information we have indicates that these monkeys may exhibit a greater diversity of sinus patterns than any other group of primates. This project will used computed tomography scanning of dry crania as a non-invasive means of imaging the internal anatomy of the sinuses in forty-seven specimens of platyrrhines representing ten genera. Each genus is represented by an age-graded series of specimens from juvenile to adult, allowing the development of their sinuses to be documented for the first time. The taxonomic distribution of sinus anatomy documented by this analysis will be compared to several competing phylogenetic hypotheses in order to reveal which relationships it supports. By completing our knowledge of sinus patterns in higher primates, these data will also facilitate interpretation of sinus anatomy in fossil representatives of Old World monkeys and apes.