Nasal and Paranasal Morphology of Primates and Their Close Relatives

该项目旨在记录灵长类动物及其近亲（树鼩和“飞行狐猴”）的内部面部解剖结构，特别强调鼻子和鼻窦的内部解剖结构。这一迄今为止文献很少的颅解剖学方面可以有助于解决灵长类动物内部以及这一目与其他目之间的进化关系。各种灵长目化石和现存灵长目之间的关系，以及灵长目与树鼩和飞狐猴之间的关系，仍然是争论不休的问题。这种不确定性从几个方面削弱了我们对灵长类动物进化过程的认识。例如，灵长类动物目可能包括也可能不包括一个被称为Plesiadapiformes的化石群，它将把我们的地质时代延长到大约6600万年（Ma），而不是大约5500万年（Ma）。同样，一组更近的灵长类化石（Omomyidae，首次出现于公元55年前）可能是：猴子和猿，眼镜猴，两者都有，或者两者都没有的祖先。这些问题的解决将极大地提高我们建立灵长类动物进化模式及其潜在原因的能力。长期以来，内部颅骨解剖一直是哺乳动物系统学的主要内容，但大多数先前的工作都集中在耳区和颅底。以前已经认识到鼻区域的效用，但是暴露该解剖结构所需的破坏性技术阻碍了全面的调查。高分辨率计算机断层扫描（ct扫描）的出现解决了这个问题。该项目将使用ct扫描来揭示来自几个美国博物馆的灵长类动物、树鼩和飞狐猴头骨的大量样本的内部解剖结构。这些，以及围产期灵长类动物的薄切片标本，将首次允许对这些群体的内鼻解剖结构进行详细描述。该项目的科学价值在于，它有助于弄清灵长类动物之间以及灵长类动物与其近亲之间的进化关系。该项目产生的新数据将是目前用于此目的的一系列解剖学和分子证据的重要补充。由于这些关系代表了灵长类动物进化研究的许多其他方面的先决条件，因此提高它们的分辨率具有深远的影响，并在整个研究领域传播。除此之外，该项目更广泛的影响还包括建立一个数字CT扫描库，记录灵长类动物及其近亲的内部颅骨解剖结构。与PI先前收集的扫描一样，这些扫描将在www.digimorph.org上向公众提供；首先是3-D效果图，在提议的研究发表后，以展示内部解剖结构的切片堆叠的形式出现。将这些数据放到网上，将为那些缺乏灵长类动物颅骨收藏的机构的学生提供宝贵的学习资源。这是目前没有机构拥有的资源。此外，扫描数据可用于我校研究生项目的试点项目，以及数字图像分析方法的培训。

The project is designed to document the internal facial anatomy of the Primates and their close relatives (tree shrews and "flying lemurs"), with a particular emphasis on the internal anatomy of the nose and sinuses. This hitherto poorly documented aspect of cranial anatomy can then contribute to resolving the evolutionary relationships within Primates and between this order and others. Relationships between various groups of fossil and living primates, as well as between the order Primates and the trees shrews and flying lemurs remain matters of debate. This uncertainty undermines our knowledge of the course of primate evolution in several ways. For instance, the primate order may or may not include a fossil group called Plesiadapiformes that would extend our geological antiquity to around 66 million years (Ma) as opposed to around 55 Ma in their absence. Similarly, a more recent group of fossil primates (the Omomyidae, first appearing around 55 Ma) may be the ancestors of: monkeys and apes, tarsiers, both, or neither. Resolution of these issues would dramatically improve our ability to establish the pattern of primate evolution, as well as its underlying causes. Internal cranial anatomy has long been a staple of mammalian systematics, but most previous work has concentrated on the ear region and floor of the braincase. The utility of the nasal region has been recognized previously, but the destructive techniques required to expose this anatomy prevented comprehensive investigations. The advent of high-resolution computed tomography (CT-scans) resolves this problem. The project will use CT-scanning to reveal the internal anatomy of a large sample of primate, tree shrew, and flying lemur skulls from several U.S. Museums. These, along with thin-sectioned specimens of perinatal primates, will permit a detailed description of the internal nasal anatomy of these groups for the first time. The scientific merit of the project lies in helping to clarify the evolutionary relationships among primates and between primates and their close relatives. The new data generated by this project will be an important addition to the array of anatomical and molecular evidence currently being employed to this end. Since these relationships represent prerequisite knowledge for so many other aspects of the study of primate evolution, improving their resolution has far-reaching effects that propagate throughout the entire field of study. Beyond this, the broader impact of the project includes the production of a digital library of CT scans, documenting the internal cranial anatomy of primates and their closest relatives. As with scans previously collected by the PI, these will be made available to the public online at www.digimorph.org; first as 3-D renderings and, after publication of the proposed research, as stacks of slices showing the internal anatomy. Making such data available online will provide a valuable learning resource to students in institutions that lack their own collections of primate crania. This is a resource that no institution currently possesses. In addition, the scan data can be used by students in my institution's graduate program for the purpose of pilot projects, and for training in methods of digital image analysis.