All you can eat: evolution of feeding in the largest animals on Earth

这个项目旨在确定须鲸，地球上最大的动物和主要的生态系统工程师，是如何进化出它们标志性的滤食策略的。与其他哺乳动物不同，鲸鱼没有牙齿，而是用角质的梳子状筛子从海水中过滤大量的小型猎物。包括生物力学、三维成像、地球化学和定量古生物学在内的各种方法将揭示滤食是如何以及何时出现的，它是如何随着时间的推移而多样化的，以及它的进化是否与过去的环境变化相关。该项目有望揭示鲸鱼如何成为海洋中最伟大的生态参与者之一的线索，并将通过一瞥它们的未来而有益于保护。

This project aims to establish how Baleen whales, the largest animals on Earth and major ecosystem engineers, evolved their signature filter-feeding strategy. Unlike other mammals, whales are toothless, and instead use a keratinous, comb-like sieve to filter vast amounts of small prey from seawater. Various approaches, including biomechanics, three-dimensional imaging, geochemistry and quantitative palaeobiology will unravel how and when filter feeding emerged, how it diversified over time, and whether its evolution correlated with past environmental change. The project is expected to reveal clues on how whales became one of the greatest ecological actors in the sea, and will benefit conservation by providing a glimpse into their future.