Doctoral Dissertation Research: Form and function of the primate cervical spine

这项研究的目的是了解颈骨(颈椎)的形状与它们在人类和我们活着的亲属中的功能之间的关系。这项合作研究将通过比较骨骼的形状和行走过程中脊椎的运动及其在现存狐猴和猿类中的最大运动范围来解决这个问题。这项研究建立的脊柱形态和功能之间的关系对人类学和医学领域都有意义。脊柱研究经常使用非人类灵长类动物作为脊柱损伤和治疗的模型，而不了解人类与其在世亲属之间可能存在的功能差异。这项研究将对非人类灵长类动物在脊柱医学研究中的适当性产生影响。此外，这项基于实验室的研究是进行实地研究的第一步。由于人类的影响，灵长类栖息地变得越来越碎片化，灵长类改变运动习惯以适应这种碎片化的方式对它们的生存产生了影响。这项研究也将作为共同派作为一名女科学家职业生涯的基石。因此，这将为她提供指导本科生的机会，并提供对她未来职业生涯至关重要的研究培训。颈部是一个研究不足但意义重大的解剖学区域。它在灵长类动物中尤其重要，因为它在灵长类动物的各种运动练习中保持姿势的稳定性。头部的稳定性尤其重要，因为它容纳了眼睛和内耳，使动物能够有效地驾驭复杂的环境。在我们的原始人血统中，头部的形状和大小以及我们走路的方式都发生了巨大的变化。这些变化可能影响了我们的化石祖先颈部平衡头部的方式。颈部形态与颈部功能之间的关系将通过收集两种形态测量来解决：头部和颈部最大活动范围的X光片和运动时头部和颈部活动范围的X光片。这些形状的测量将被统计地与从骨骼标本的3D扫描中获得的椎体形状的特定测量进行比较。然后，统计关系将被用来根据保存的形式来理解化石物种的功能。这项工作将进一步了解颈部功能，它与脊椎形态的关系，以及它在原始人血统中的进化。

The goal of this research is to understand the relationship between the shape of the neck bones (cervical vertebrae) and how they function in humans and our living relatives. The co-PI will address this question by comparing the shape of the bones to both the movement of the spine during walking and its maximum ranges of motion in living lemurs and apes. The relationships between spinal form and function established in this study have implications for both anthropological and medical fields. Spine research often uses non-human primates as models for spinal injury and treatment without understanding the functional differences that may exist between humans and their living relatives. This research will have implications for the appropriateness of non-human primates in spinal medical research. In addition, this lab-based study is a first step towards conducting field research. As primate habitats become increasingly fragmented due to human influence, the ways in which primate change their locomotor habits to accommodate this fragmentation has implications for their survival. This research will also act as the cornerstone of the co-PI's career as a female scientist. As such, it will provide the opportunity for her to mentor undergraduate students and offers research training that is vital for her future career.The neck is an understudied, yet significant, anatomical region. It is especially important in primates because it maintains postural stability during the diverse forms of locomotion practice by the primate order. Stability is especially important in the head because it houses the eyes and inner ears, which allow animals to efficiently navigate complex environments. Within our hominin lineage, drastic changes have occurred in both the shape and size of the head as well as our manner of walking. These changes likely affected how the neck balanced the head in our fossil ancestors. The relationship between neck form and neck function will be addressed by collecting two measures of form: radiographs of maximum ranges of head and neck motion and range of head and neck motion during locomotion. These measures of form will be statistically compared to specific measures of vertebral form taken from 3D scans of skeletal specimens. The statistical relationships will then be used to understand the function of fossil species based on the preserved form. This work will further the understanding of neck function, its relationships to vertebral form, and its evolution within the hominin lineage.