DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Endocranial capacity and extinction risk in mammals

论文研究：哺乳动物的颅内容量和灭绝风险

• 批准号: 1110332
• 负责人: Rodolfo Dirzo
• 金额: $ 1.4万
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-05-01 至 2013-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1110332&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Endocranial; capacity; extinction

Of the nearly 5,400 mammalian species alive today, a quarter of them are currently at risk of extinction due to loss of habitat, overexploitation, climate change and other human disturbances. Species not considered to be at risk of extinction are regularly added to the list of threatened species. Identifying species of greater conservation concern before their populations become critically threatened may be more effective and less expensive for protecting mammalian diversity than targeting species already known to have suffered population declines. In the fossil record, species of mammals that have gone extinct had significantly smaller relative brain sizes, (the size of the brain relative to body size), than species that are still alive today. Further, carnivore species listed currently as endangered have significantly smaller relative brain sizes as compared to carnivore species that are not threatened with extinction. Based on this preliminary data, this research project will examine more broadly the relationship between relative brain size and conservation status in order to test the hypothesis that species with larger relative brain sizes may be more successful in the face of environmental change, and thus more resistant to extinction. This project is unique in that it examines both modern mammalian species, using a more comprehensive methodology than has been employed to date, as well as mammalian species over the last 30 million years. A goal of this research project is to produce tools that scientists, governments and conservation organizations can use to identify species that may be extinction-prone. By providing an inexpensive and readily deployable metric for proactively identifying species of concern, and guiding action to stem species loss, this work could provide important insights for conservation science and policy. This research will be disseminated through publications, conference presentations and continued communication with non-governmental organizations. Additionally, the substantial dataset that results from this work will be made available to other researchers and state and federal agencies. This research project will involved high school and undergraduate students in research methods and analysis, and supports the doctoral research of a graduate student.

在当今活着的近5400种哺乳动物物种中，由于栖息地丧失，过度开发，气候变化和其他人类障碍，目前有四分之一的风险灭绝。 定期将不被认为有灭绝风险的物种添加到受威胁物种的清单中。 在受到严重威胁的人口受到严重威胁之前，确定更大的保护问题物种可能更有效，对于保护哺乳动物的多样性，比靶向已经遭受人口减少的物种更为有效。 在化石记录中，与今天还活着的物种相比，灭绝的哺乳动物物种的相对脑大小明显较小（大脑相对于体型相对于体型的大小相对于体型的大小）。 此外，与不受灭绝威胁的食肉动物相比，目前列为濒危的食肉动物的相对脑大小明显较小。 基于此初步数据，该研究项目将更广泛地检查相对大脑大小和保护状态之间的关系，以检验以下假设：面对环境变化，具有较大的相对大脑大小的物种可能更成功，从而更耐灭绝。 该项目的独特之处在于，它使用比迄今为止使用的更全面的方法研究了这两种现代哺乳动物物种，以及在过去的3000万年中使用的哺乳动物物种。该研究项目的一个目标是生产科学家，政府和保护组织可以用来识别可能易受灭绝物种的工具。 通过提供廉价且易于部署的指标，以主动确定关注的物种，并指导造成STEM物种丧失的行动，这项工作可以为保护科学和政策提供重要的见解。 这项研究将通过出版物，会议演讲以及与非政府组织的持续沟通来传播。 此外，这项工作产生的大量数据集将提供给其他研究人员以及州和联邦机构。 该研究项目将涉及高中和本科生研究方法和分析，并支持研究生的博士研究。