Integration and evolution of human and non-human primate postcranial morphology

四肢和身体的骨骼在运动中起着重要的作用，但骨骼形状不同方面之间的关系模式(它们的整合)以及影响这些关系的基因仍然知之甚少。这项研究更好地理解了整合模式如何与灵长类运动中的变异相对应，以及基因如何影响骨骼特征相互整合的方式。这项研究比较了大量灵长类物种的骨骼形态，以验证这样一种假设，即肢体的整合是自然选择适应的结果，以应对物种遇到的不同性能要求。它使用类似的比较方法来测试假设，即整合模式是构建的，还是由响应运动行为选择的适应性进化转变构建的。为了让骨骼进化，骨骼形状和大小必须有遗传变异，但人们几乎不知道在正常、健康的生物体中，哪些基因参与了这种变异。这个项目使用了非常大的老鼠群体，将骨骼形状和大小的各个方面与基因组的特定区域联系起来。老鼠和包括人类在内的灵长类动物的整合模式之间的比较，将有助于指导未来的研究，即这些基因在人类骨骼形态的进化和发展中扮演了什么角色。在实践层面上，了解人类与我们最亲密的进化亲属在骨骼整合模式上的不同，将有助于未来对许多身体健康问题的研究，例如背痛和膝盖不好，这些问题直接可归因于我们独特的形态。了解老鼠骨骼大小和形状的遗传基础将有助于指导未来对影响骨骼的疾病的发展和遗传基础的研究。了解包括人类在内的灵长类动物骨骼的整合是如何变化的，将为这些差异是如何进化的提供一个新的视角。考虑到人类独特的两足行走模式的起源，这一点尤为重要。此外，对骨骼形状遗传学的理解将为继续研究生物形态发育和进化之间的联系提供非常有用的信息。这项研究将为许多学生提供实践研究经验，帮助他们综合对有机体如何发展和进化的新理解，其中包括来自代表性不足群体的相当一部分学生。此外，学生将接受最先进的形态测量科学成像和统计计算技术和方法的培训。这将使他们最终能够在几个生物医学领域中的任何一个领域进行富有成效的独立研究项目。公众对科学的理解将通过制作大量骨骼的数字表示来帮助，这些数字表示可以帮助许多教育水平的学生可视化生物变异。

The skeleton of the limbs and body plays an important role in locomotion, but the patterns of relationships among different aspect of bone shape (their integration) and the genes that affect these relationships remain poorly understood. This study develops a better understanding of how patterns of integration correspond to variation in primate movement and how genes affect the ways in which skeletal traits are integrated with one another. The research compares bone morphology among a large number of primate species to test the hypothesis that integration in the limbs is the result of adaptation by natural selection in response to the different performance requirements that species encounter. It uses a similar comparative approach to test hypotheses about whether patterns of integration structured or were structured by adaptive evolutionary shifts in response to selection on locomotor behavior. In order for bones to evolve, there must be genetic variation in bone shape and size, but there is little know about which genes are involved in producing this variation in normal, healthy organisms. This project uses a very large population of mice to relate aspects of bone shape and size to specific regions of the genome. Comparisons between the patterns of integration in mice and primates, including humans, will then help guide future investigations into what role these genes have had in the evolution and development of human skeletal morphology. At a practical level, understanding how humans differ from our closest evolutionary relatives in skeletal patterns of integration will aid future studies of many physical health problems, such as back pain and bad knees, which are directly attributable to our unique morphology. Understanding the genetic basis of bone size and shape in the mouse will help guide future investigations into the development and hereditary basis of diseases that affect the skeleton. Understanding how the integration of bones varies across primates, including humans, will provide a fresh perspective on how these differences have evolved. This is particularly important when considering the origins of humans' unique, bipedal mode of locomotion. Additionally, the understanding of the genetics of bone shape will be very informative for continuing investigations into the links between development and the evolution of organismal form. This research will afford many students, including a substantial number from underrepresented groups, with hands-on research experience in a way that will help them be able to synthesize a new understanding of how organisms develop and evolve. Furthermore, students will receive training in state of the art morphometric scientific imaging, and statistical computing technologies and methods. This will allow them eventually to pursue fruitful independent research programs in any of several biomedical fields. Public understanding of science will be aided by the production of a large number of digital representations of bones that can help students at many educational levels visualize biological variation.