NSF-BSF: The Evolution of Hydrodynamics, Mechanics, & Prey Capture in the Feeding of Misfit Fish

NSF-BSF：流体动力学、力学、

• 批准号: 2326484
• 负责人: Matthew McHenry
• 金额: $ 61.72万
• 依托单位: University of California-Irvine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-10-01 至 2026-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2326484&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; BSF; Evolution; Hydrodynamics; Mechanics

A major pursuit in biology is understanding how the evolution of an animal’s anatomy affects how it performs in the natural world. Fish predators are of particular interest due to their fascinating diversity, including an ability to capture a wide variety of prey. The goal of the proposed work is to understand how evolutionary change in the jaws and skull of fish affect how they operate mechanically and how those mechanical changes affect the ability to capture prey. Using experiments and mathematical modeling, we will focus our investigation on a group known as misfit fish, which includes seahorses and pipefishes. This group includes the fastest predatory strikes known among fish species and these rapid motions are associated with a relatively high pace of evolutionary change. This work will offer key insights into how mechanics and performance shape the evolution of animals. In addition, the proposal will feature initiatives in graduate training. This includes a pair of online workshops in how to visualize the flow generated by animals and a seminar series that features presentations of work by trainees. The work will additionally support the training of undergraduates from under-represented groups through institutional partnerships.This research will be organized around the following aims: (1) identify the evolutionary patterns of mechanical performance, (2) understand the musculoskeletal basis of mechanical performance, and (3) test how mechanical performance affects capture performance. These aims will be addressed through experimentation that will provide the basis of a mathematical model for the mechanics of feeding and an agent-based model for the behavior of predator-prey interactions. These models will serve as the means for analyzing performance landscapes of mechanical and capture performance. The performance landscapes will allow for a consideration of how innovation in the morphology of living and extinct species yields performance benefits, energetic costs, and functional trade-offs. The proposed research provides an exceptional opportunity to understand how evolution acts on species across levels of organization. We will establish a predictive understanding for how morphology generates the motion of a predatory strike and how that motion affects prey capture in a group of related species. This understanding will be achieved through mathematical modeling that is parameterized and verified by experimental results at each level of organization. This approach offers a novel intellectual framework for the study of evolutionary biomechanics that could be applied to a wide variety of biological systems among a diversity of animals.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.

生物学的主要追求是了解动物解剖结构的演变如何影响自然界的表现。鱼类捕食者特别感兴趣，因为它们引人入胜的多样性，包括捕获各种猎物的能力。拟议工作的目的是了解颌骨和鱼头骨的进化变化如何影响它们的机械操作方式以及这些机械变化如何影响捕获猎物的能力。使用实验和数学建模，我们将把调查重点放在一个称为Missfit Fish的群体上，其中包括海马和烟斗。该组包括鱼类中已知的最快掠食性罢工，这些快速运动与进化变化的速度相对较高。这项工作将提供有关力学和性能如何影响动物演变的关键见解。此外，该提案还将在研究生培训中采取倡议。这包括一对在线研讨会，讲述了如何可视化动物产生的流程和一个具有学员作品演示的开创性系列。这项工作还将支持通过机构合作伙伴关系从代表性不足的群体中进行基础的培训。这项研究将围绕以下目的进行：（1）确定机械性能的进化模式，（2）了解机械性能的肌肉骨骼基础，以及（3）测试机械性能如何影响捕获性能。这些目标将通过实验来解决，该实验将为喂食机械的数学模型和基于代理的模型提供捕食者 - 捕获捕食者相互作用的行为的基础。这些模型将作为分析机械性能和捕获性能的性能景观的手段。绩效景观将允许考虑生活和灭绝物种形态中的创新如何产生绩效收益，能源成本和功能权衡。拟议的研究提供了一个极好的机会，可以理解进化如何对组织跨层的物种作用。我们将对形态如何产生掠夺性罢工的运动以及该运动如何影响一组相关物种的猎物捕获的预测理解。这种理解将通过数学建模来实现，该数学建模通过每个组织级别的实验结果进行参数化和验证。这种方法为研究进化生物力学的研究提供了一种新颖的智力框架，可以应用于各种动物之间的各种生物系统。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的智力优点和更广泛影响的审查标准通过评估来评估的。