Descripción del proyecto
Ahondar en el enigma de la relación entre forma y función
La estructura está íntimamente relacionada con la función, como atestiguan la relación entre una llave y su capacidad para abrir una cerradura o las alas y la capacidad de volar en un pájaro. El entorno desempeña un papel fundamental en las funciones que los organismos necesitan o de las que se benefician, por lo que no es de extrañar que los factores ambientales puedan influir en su evolución y diversidad. La forma en que la se define el «entorno», que suele ser bastante arbitraria, puede afectar al resultado de los estudios sobre la relación entre forma y función. El equipo del proyecto HeadStrong, que cuenta con el apoyo de las Acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, estudia la forma de la cabeza en serpientes acuáticas y excavadoras a fin de dilucidar si la densidad del entorno de las serpientes puede ser la clave de la adaptación de este rasgo.
Objetivo
Environments impact organism diversity and drive convergence—whereby distantly related species share phenotypes due to adaptation to similar environments (e.g. bird, bat wings). Evolutionary studies of ‘environment’ often apply arbitrary categories (e.g. fossorial, arboreal) that vaguely blend biotic and abiotic factors, limiting quantitative studies of form-function links. Innovatively, this project will test the hypothesis that a continuous physical variable (substrate density) has driven head shape adaptation. Under this hypothesis, a density gradient mirrors a phenotypic response gradient. Snakes are a superb system to study head shape adaptations because of: 1) spectacular taxonomic and phenotypic diversity, including many independent origins of aquatic and burrowing forms, and 2) limblessness, requiring snake heads to adapt to demands for locomotion as well as feeding, and protecting sensory organs. Similarities in aquatic and burrowing snake heads have been explained by adaptation to mostly unspecified environmental factors. Testing the hypothesis that variation in head shape is explained by substrate density will provide a fresh perspective on debates about the possibly aquatic or burrowing origin of snakes. I will quantify: a) head shape of snakes living in substrates of various densities, b) mechanical forces undergone by heads and skulls during headfirst locomotion, c) integration among head, skull and braincase shape. These data will be analysed in a comparative phylogenetic framework. HeadStrong combines 3D imaging, mechanics experiments with a snake-like robot and computer simulations that will be performed in globally leading institutions with unrivalled resources in terms of a vast reptile collection, outstanding imaging facilities, and expert staff. HeadStrong’s originality and interdisciplinary nature will generate exceptional datasets and high-profile outputs and establish the applicant as an innovative leader in functional biology.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
SW7 5BD London
Reino Unido