Doctoral Dissertation Research: Obstetric constraints on neurocranial shape in nonhuman primates

博士论文研究：非人类灵长类动物神经颅骨形状的产科限制

• 批准号: 2341137
• 负责人: Christopher Percival
• 金额: $ 1.77万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Stony Brook
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-02-15 至 2026-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2341137&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Obstetric; constraints

The “obstetric dilemma” refers to the tight fit between a human infant’s head and its mother’s birth canal, a disproportion that contributes to difficult labor and maternal mortality. However, humans are not the only primates to experience obstetric difficulties. Birth complications as severe as maternal or infant death have been recorded in some small-bodied monkey species, whose babies have relatively large bodies during birth. This doctoral dissertation research tests the hypothesis that infant cranial narrowness is an evolutionary adaptation to mitigate obstetric constraint in these small-bodied monkeys. By deepening our understanding of obstetric constraint in nonhuman primates, and how these species cope with it, we may also better understand the evolutionary roots of the human obstetric dilemma. This project supports the research and training of an early-career female scientist and development of educational modules on the evolution of obstetric constraint and the necessity of obstetric and reproductive healthcare. Many small-bodied new-world monkeys exhibit a long and narrow skull shape, in contrast to the globular shape observed in humans and apes. Previous research suggests that cranial narrowness allows these species to give birth to large-brained infants while minimizing the risk of obstructed labor, drawing parallels to the human obstetric dilemma. Conversely, small-bodied old-world monkeys do not exhibit cranial narrowness as adults, a disparity that could be explained by variation in obstetric constraints or by interspecies differences in how cranial shape changes after birth. This project analyzes the correlation between obstetric constraint and cranial narrowness in nonhuman primates and uses geometric morphometrics to track cranial shape change from infant to adult life stages in representative species of small-bodied new-world and old-world monkeys. The investigators synthesize methods from prior research in the fields of obstetrics and developmental morphology to create 3D reconstructions of the primate birth canal and generate infant primate CT scan data valuable to future anthropological research.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.

“产科困境”是指人类婴儿的头部与其母亲产道之间的紧密配合，这种不成比例会导致难产和孕产妇死亡。然而，人类并不是唯一经历如此严重的产科并发症的灵长类动物。在一些体型较小的猴类中，已有孕产妇或婴儿死亡的记录，这些猴类的婴儿在出生时身体相对较大，这项博士论文研究检验了这样的假设：婴儿颅骨狭窄是一种缓解产科限制的进化适应。通过加深我们对非人类灵长类动物的产科限制以及这些物种如何应对它的了解，我们还可以更好地了解人类产科困境的进化根源。 -职业女科学家以及关于产科限制的演变以及产科和生殖保健的必要性的教育模块的开发许多体型较小的新大陆猴子表现出狭长的头骨形状，与球形形状形成鲜明对比。先前的研究表明，颅骨狭窄使得这些物种能够生出大大脑的婴儿，同时最大限度地降低难产的风险，这与人类的产科困境相似，而体型较小的旧世界猴子则不然。成年后表现出颅骨狭窄，这种差异可以通过产科限制的变化或出生后颅骨形状变化的种间差异来解释。研究人员综合了产科和发育领域先前研究的方法，研究了非人类灵长类动物的颅骨狭窄，并使用几何形态测量学来跟踪小型新世界和旧世界猴子的代表性物种从婴儿到成年生命阶段的颅骨形状变化。形态学来创建灵长类动物产道的 3D 重建并生成对未来人类学研究有价值的婴儿灵长类动物 CT 扫描数据。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。