SGER: Exploration of Possible Global Phenotypic Response in Rodent Cranial Morphology

最近，科学家们发现，在过去的100年里，两个加拉帕戈斯岛上的黑老鼠、三个加州海峡群岛上的鹿鼠亚种以及芝加哥地区的白足鼠都以同样的方式改变了形状。这一发现是通过测量在同一地区收集的290个博物馆标本的尸体和头骨而得出的。啮齿动物的身体变长了，鼻子也变长变宽了，头骨也变长变浅了。因为这六个啮齿动物种群来自三个非常分离和非常不同的栖息地，也许这些变化正在到处发生。该项目将通过测量和分析过去100年来在六大洲收集的另外1680个啮齿动物博物馆标本来确认这些初步发现。如果在过去的100年里，确实有什么东西导致啮齿动物在世界各地以同样的方式发生变化，我们需要寻找原因。随后的研究很可能会发现以前未被怀疑的影响人类和啮齿动物的环境因素。另一个好处是进一步加强了大学和自然历史博物馆之间的伙伴关系和网络。这项工作的结果可以迅速和大大提高学术界对使用博物馆藏品的兴趣。

Black rats on two Galapagos Islands, three subspecies of deer mice on three California Channel Islands, and white-footed mice in the Chicago area were recently discovered to have all changed shape in the same way over the past 100 years. This discovery was made by measuring the bodies and skulls of 290 museum specimens collected over time in the same areas. The rodents' bodies grew longer, their noses grew longer and broader, and their skulls grew and longer and shallower. Because these six rodent populations are from three very separated and wildly different habitats, perhaps these changes are happening everywhere. This project will seek to confirm these preliminary findings by measuring and analyzing an additional 1680 rodent museum specimens, collected over the last 100 years on six continents. If something is indeed causing rodents to change in the same way all over the world for the last 100 years, we need to look for the causes. Subsequent research may well result in the discovery of previously unsuspected environmental factors affecting humans as well as rodents. An additional benefit is furthering increased partnerships and networks between universities and natural history museums. The results from this work could quickly and greatly increase academic interest in using museum collections.