NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2017: Evolutionary morphology and cranial constraints in piranhas, pacus, and their allies

2017 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：食人鱼、鲚及其盟友的进化形态和颅骨限制

基本信息

批准号：
1712015
负责人：
Matthew Kolmann
金额：
$ 13.8万
依托单位：
Kolmann Matthew A
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Fellowship Award
财政年份：
2017
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2017-12-01 至 2019-11-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1712015&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship Biology FY

项目摘要

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2017, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow utilizing biological collections in innovative ways. Piranhas and their allies number almost 100 species and despite deceptively simple jaws, these fishes consume prey ranging from whole fishes to plant matter like nuts, fruits, and leaves. Researchers can understand how and why biomaterials and structures have changed by studying the history of predators and their prey, and noting which behaviors, structures, and materials keep evolving in tandem (evolutionary convergence). The first step in understanding how anatomy has evolved is building an evolutionary genealogy (phylogeny) of living piranhas, pacu, and their relatives to use as a framework. This project will then examine how the feeding anatomy of piranhas and their allies is constructed, how these structures perform when feeding on different prey, and map these traits across the evolutionary history of these fishes.The fellow will construct a cutting-edge phylogenomic tree for serrasalmid fishes using targeted exon capture methods. These evolutionary relationships will be used as a framework for understanding feeding trait evolution, visualized through iodine-enhanced contrast staining coupled with micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). The fellow will use biomechanical modeling methods like FEA (finite-element analysis) to examine how different skull shapes resist stresses during feeding, and quantify feeding performance by analyzing muscle morphology and jaw lever dynamics measured from micro-CT imaging. This project proposes that the skulls of piranhas will show evolutionary trade-offs among cranial architectural strength, tooth shape, and feeding performance. Certain combinations of these traits will also be correlated with specific diets like scale-eating, fruit-eating, and piscivory, among others. This project utilizes molecular collections from museums to further our understanding of the evolutionary relationships of charismatic fishes like piranhas. Morphological imaging of museum specimens will generate a database of piranha CT models for teaching and outreach methods, free for anyone to download and 3D print. Training goals include the fellow gaining experience in some of the most advanced techniques for visualizing anatomy and modeling the material and architectural behavior of these structures. Broader impacts include educational outreach targeting university and pre-university students with speech disabilities, engaging these student's interests in science, and reinforcing their confidence and ability for entering academia and other research-based professions. Results from the studies will also be published in peer-reviewed journals and shared at scientific meetings.

该行动为2017财年的生物学生物学奖学金提供了一项NSF博士后研究奖学金，扩大了人数不足的生物学的参与。奖学金支持以创新的方式利用生物收藏的研究员的研究和培训。 Piranhas及其盟友将近100种，尽管有看似简单的下巴，但这些鱼类消耗的猎物从整个鱼到植物，如坚果，水果和叶子。研究人员可以通过研究捕食者及其猎物的历史，并指出哪些行为，结构和材料在同时发展（进化融合）来了解生物材料和结构的变化。理解解剖结构如何发展的第一步是建立了生命的Piranhas，Pacu及其亲属用作框架的进化谱系（系统发育）。然后，该项目将研究Piranhas及其盟友的饲料解剖结构，这些结构在以不同的猎物为食时如何表现，并在这些鱼类的进化历史上绘制这些特征。这些进化关系将用作理解喂养性状进化的框架，该框架通过碘增强的对比度染色与微型计算机断层扫描（Micro-CT）可视化。该研究员将使用FEA（有限元分析）等生物力学建模方法来检查不同的颅骨在进食过程中如何抵抗应力，并通过分析从Micro-CT成像中测得的肌肉形态和颌骨杠杆动力学来量化进食性能。该项目提出，皮兰哈斯的头骨将在颅骨建筑强度，牙齿形状和喂食性能中表现出进化的权衡。这些特征的某些组合也将与特定的饮食相关，例如进食，食肉和piscivory等。该项目利用从博物馆的分子收藏来进一步了解我们对Piranhas等魅力鱼类的进化关系。博物馆标本的形态成像将生成用于教学和外展方法的Piranha CT模型数据库，免费下载和3D打印。培训目标包括在一些最先进的技术中获得的经验，以可视化解剖结构和建模这些结构的材料和建筑行为。更广泛的影响包括针对大学的教育外展和言语障碍的大学前学生，使这些学生对科学的兴趣参与，并增强他们进入学术界和其他基于研究的职业的信心和能力。研究的结果还将在同行评审期刊上发表，并在科学会议上共享。