The evolution of deafness: the causes and consequences of ear loss in frogs

耳聋的进化：青蛙耳朵丧失的原因和后果

• 批准号: 1157779
• 负责人: Kim Hoke
• 金额: $ 2.68万
• 依托单位: Colorado State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-05-01 至 2014-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1157779&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: evolution; deafness; causes; consequences; ear

This award addresses the evolution of sensory system reductions, that is, the decreases in structural size or complexity or functional changes that limit an animal?s capacity to sense the environment. Most terrestrial tetrapods have tympanic ears that convert the external vibrations of air particles to vibrations within the fluid-filled inner ear cavity containing the sensory end organs via middle ear structures. Diverse frogs and toads, however, have secondarily lost the outer and middle ears in independent evolutionary events, despite the general tendency for anurans to use acoustic signals for the social interactions that facilitate reproduction. This award supports an international collaboration designed to integrate natural history, auditory physiology, functional morphology, and evolutionary development to detail the causes and consequences of evolutionary transitions. The study system chosen is Pristimantis in Ecuador. Initial trips will provide the opportunity to locate populations of earless Pristimantis frogs, describe basic natural history of the earless species, and collect specimens for preliminary genetic and morphological analyses. The intention is to expand on this preliminary information in future studies. The multi-disciplinary, international team will include scientists from Ecuador, Denmark, and The Netherlands. This award will support two female graduate students from the US in for trips to Ecuador, introducing them to fieldwork in South America and to the diverse expertise of the collaborating key individuals. Furthermore, Ecuadorian researchers and students would have a unique opportunity to learn about auditory physiology via an educational workshop. Results of this project are to be shared with the broader public via undergraduate teaching and lectures for the public in the US and in Ecuador. Finally this work will aid in frog conservation efforts.

该奖项旨在解决降低感觉系统的演变，即结构大小或复杂性或功能变化的减小，从而限制了动物感知环境的能力。大多数陆生四足动物都有鼓膜耳朵，可将空气颗粒的外部振动转换为充满感官末端器官的充满感官的内耳腔内振动。然而，尽管Anurans普遍倾向于使用声学信号进行促进繁殖的社会相互作用，但在独立进化事件中，多样化的青蛙和蟾蜍在独立的进化事件中失去了外耳和中耳。该奖项支持一项旨在整合自然历史，听觉生理学，功能形态和进化发展的国际合作，以详细介绍进化过渡的原因和后果。所选的研究系统是厄瓜多尔的原始群体。初始旅行将提供一个机会，以定位无耳的原始素蛙种群，描述无耳朵物种的基本自然历史，并为初步的遗传和形态学分析收集标本。目的是在未来的研究中扩展这种初步信息。多学科的国际团队将包括来自厄瓜多尔，丹麦和荷兰的科学家。该奖项将为来自美国的两名女性研究生前往厄瓜多尔旅行，并将他们介绍给南美的实地考察，并介绍合作的关键人物的多样化专业知识。此外，厄瓜多尔研究人员和学生将有一个独特的机会通过教育研讨会来了解听觉生理学。该项目的结果应通过在美国和厄瓜多尔公众的本科教学和讲座与更广泛的公众共享。最后，这项工作将有助于青蛙保护工作。