CAREER:Comparative Osteohistology: Exploring Microstructural Signatures of Environmental Stress in Modern and Fossil Ecosystems

骨组织通常用于重建脊椎动物化石的生活史，但我们对骨组织的理解受到缺乏基线数据的限制，这些数据可以测试活体动物骨骼微观结构与生物学之间的关系。为了阐明骨骼微观结构与系统发育和环境控制参数之间的关系，我提出了一项研究，记录单个骨骼的组织学变异(1)；(2)在脊椎动物类群中；(3)跨越不同的栖息地。干旱组合是研究的重点，有几个原因。首先，现代系统表明，干旱及其伴随的艰辛在脊椎动物的硬组织中留下了印记。此外，有强有力的证据表明，干旱在脊椎动物化石记录中产生了骨床，这些化石记录构成了古代种群生活史变化的档案。该项目将首先将生活在津巴布韦万基国家公园易干旱生态系统中的脊椎动物的骨组织与博物馆收藏的圈养脊椎动物样本进行比较。其次，当她在蒙大拿州和马达加斯加的晚白垩纪研究类似环境背景下的脊椎动物化石组合时，她将追求类似的问题和方法。这项研究为揭示脊椎动物群体、环境和时间之间的骨组织信号迈出了必要的第一步，并将为不同分类群体、体型大小甚至单个骨骼之间的骨组织对生态压力的反应提供基线评价。最终，这项研究将对使用骨组织探索现代和古代生物系统的古生物学家和新生生物学家产生深远的影响。该项目的研究部分与教育拓展部分紧密结合：1)将研究纳入她所教授的课程，包括与马卡莱斯特学院本科生合作开发一门专门关注数据收集和分析的新课程；2)在项目5年内，带领本科生15人左右开展国内外研究；3)每年将2名本科生连接到针对明尼阿波利斯-圣路易斯市资源不足的K-12少数民族学生的学术丰富项目中。保罗都市区；4)通过与本科生、公立学校教师和贝尔自然历史博物馆的合作，创建与明尼苏达科学标准挂钩的K-12课程。

Bone tissue is commonly used to reconstruct life histories of fossil vertebrates, but our understanding of bone histology is limited by a lack of baseline data that test the relationships between bone microstructure and biology in living animals. In order to clarify the relationships between bone microstructure and the controlling parameters of phylogeny and environment, I propose a study that documents histological variation (1) within single skeletons; (2) among vertebrate taxa; and (3) across distinctive habitats. Drought assemblages are the focal point of the study for several reasons. First, modern systems indicate that drought and its attendant hardships leave a signature in vertebrate hard tissues. Moreover, there is strong evidence that drought generates bonebeds in the vertebrate fossil record that constitute the archive of life history variation in ancient populations. The PI will first compare the bone tissue of vertebrates inhabiting the drought-prone ecosystem of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe with a sample of vertebrates derived from captivity and held in museum collections. Secondly, she will pursue similar questions and methods as she investigates fossil vertebrate assemblages from similar environmental contexts in the Late Cretaceous of Montana and Madagascar. This research takes the first necessary step toward ground-truthing the bone histological signals across vertebrate groups, environments, and time, and will provide a baseline appreciation of bone histological responses to ecological stress among taxonomic groups, body sizes, and even within single skeletons. Ultimately, this study will have far-reaching implications for paleobiologists and neontologists who use bone tissue to explore both modern and ancient biological systems. The research component of this project is tightly integrated with an educational outreach component that: 1) incorporates the research into courses she teaches, including development of a new course that focuses specifically on data collection and analysis in collaboration with Macalester College undergraduates; 2) initiates domestic and international research with ~15 undergraduate students over the 5 years of the project; 3) connects 2 undergraduate students per year to academic enrichment programs aimed at under-resourced K-12 minority students in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area; and 4) creates K-12 curriculum tied to Minnesota Science Standards through collaboration with undergraduates, public school teachers, and the Bell Museum of Natural History.