Doctoral Dissertation Research: The shape of hands and feet and the transition to upright walking

博士论文研究：手脚的形状以及直立行走的过渡

• 批准号: 2316552
• 负责人: Douglas Boyer
• 金额: $ 3.42万
• 依托单位: Duke University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2316552&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; shape; hands; Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; shape; hands

Researchers have long hypothesized that the transition to upright walking on two legs (bipedalism) in humans was facilitated in our distant, non-primate ancestors by an increased reliance on the hind limb while walking on four legs. As a pivotal part of our evolutionary trajectory, it is proposed that once our ancestors’ hands were freed from involvement in walking, they were able to be used for other purposes such as tool use, grooming, and carrying. Previous research on the transition to upright walking in human ancestors has largely focused on non-human primates. To better understand whether the relationship between reliance on hind limbs while walking on four legs and the emergence of bipedalism is unique to human evolution, this doctoral dissertation research project casts a broad comparative net and includes a comparison between primates and carnivores. This project offers opportunities for undergraduate students to gain exposure to STEM-discipline focused ideas and research questions, and to receive transferable technical training and experience.This project tests the hypothesis that the development of a dominant limb is associated with morphological and functional diversification of the non-dominant limb. This project tests this and related hypotheses in three ways: (1) testing if increased reliance on the hind limb allows for diversification of the forelimb by tracking co-variation of hand and foot bones across an expansive sample of extant primate taxa; (2) assessing the effect of limb dominance on functional diversity in an independent mammalian clade (Carnivora) that is thought not to have been characterized by hind limb dominance during its early evolution; and (3) conducting a large-scale comparison of primate and mammalian carnivoran hand and foot bones to track rates of shape variation across both orders. Understanding the ways that the bones of the hands and feet of these groups have evolved helps to elucidate a better understanding of the underlying processes that took place in primates millions of years ago shaping the trajectory of modern human evolution. The broad perspective used in this study is innovative and informative for better understanding of the evolution of bipedalism in humans.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

长期以来，研究人员长期以来已经假设，在我们遥远的非青少年祖先中准备了在人类两条腿上行走的过渡，这是由于在四腿上行走时对后肢的依赖增加了。作为我们进化轨迹的关键部分，有人提出，一旦我们的祖先没有参与步行，就可以将它们用于其他目的，例如工具使用，修饰和携带。先前关于在人类祖先中直立步行的过渡的研究主要集中在非人类灵长类动物上。为了更好地了解，在四腿行走时，提醒之间的关系是否在后肢和双皮亚主义的出现之间是人类进化所独有的，该博士学位论文研究项目构成了广泛的比较网络，其中包括素数和食肉动物之间的比较。该项目为本科生提供了机会，可以接触以STEM分学的思想和研究问题，并接受可转移的技术培训和经验。该项目测试以下假设：主要肢体的发展与非主体肢体的形态和功能多样化有关。该项目通过三种方式对此进行了测试：（1）测试如果增加对后肢的依赖，则可以通过跟踪手和骨骼在广泛的扩展隐私类群中的共同变化来多样化前肢； （2）评估肢体优势对独立哺乳动物进化枝（Carnivora）功能多样性的影响，这些哺乳动物在其早期进化过程中被认为没有被后肢优势来表征； （3）对灵长类动物和哺乳动物的手动骨骼进行大规模比较，以跟踪两种订单的形状变化速率。了解这些群体的手和脚的骨骼发展的方式有助于阐明对数百万年前在数百万年前发生的基本过程的理解，从而塑造了现代人类进化的轨迹。这项研究中使用的广泛观点具有创新性和信息性，可以更好地理解人类双皮亚主义的演变。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子和更广泛影响的评估评估标准来通过评估来支持的。