Phylogeny, Form and Function of Primate Tarsal Bones

足部的形态对灵长类动物的进化具有特别的意义，因为足部的形态在决定运动模式（一种关键的生态适应）方面起着重要作用。尽管如此，跗骨形态的决定因素仍未得到很好的理解，迄今为止的研究仅限于一种跗骨元素或一个狭窄的分类群。该项目将使用现有的和新收集的CT和3D表面扫描，为灵长类动物的代表性样本构建跗骨的3D表面模型。这些将被用来探索在整个进化枝上跗骨形态的变化，描述系统发育、功能和大小对不同元素和群体的影响。在整体形态和关节表面的变化模式将被探索。形态学数据也将与系统发育数据一起用于探索灵长类进化分支中跗骨的进化速度，表征不同元素和谱系中进化速度的变化。这项研究将首次对所有跗骨元素进行综合分析。它将确定跗骨和灵长类进化枝的形态变化模式，描述不同元素和谱系的进化性如何变化。

The morphology of the foot is of particular interest to primate evolution, as it plays a major role in determining locomotor mode, a key ecological adaptation. Despite this, the determinants of tarsal bone morphology are still not well understood, and studies to date have been limited either to one tarsal element or a narrow taxonomic group. This project will use existing and newly collected CT and 3D surface scans to construct 3D surface models of the tarsal skeleton for a representative sample of primates. These will be used to explore the variation in tarsal bone morphology across the clade, characterising the influences of phylogeny, function and size on different elements and groups. Patterns of variation in overall morphology and articular surfaces will be explored. Morphological data will also be used alongside phylogenetic data to explore the rate of tarsal bone evolution across the primate clade, characterising variation in evolutionary rate in different elements and lineages. The study will be the first to conduct an integrated analysis of all tarsal bone elements. It will identify patterns of morphological variation across both the tarsal skeleton and the primate clade, characterising how evolvability varies across different elements and lineages.