Objective
Within adult anomuran land crabs (Coenobitidae: Anomura) there are various degrees of terrestrialization, but all species have retained marine larval stages. The ability to recognize and discriminate chemical cues in the environment is essential for most animals, and thus a successful transition from sea to land calls for dramatically new demands on the chemosensory system, where stimulus changes from mainly water-soluble molecules to hydrophobic, volatile chemical cues carried by the air. Hence, these land crabs represent an excellent opportunity to investigate the effects of the transition from sea to land on the olfactory system. The olfactory organs of Coenobitidae show structural similarities with the insects, indicating an adaptation for function in air and both field and laboratory studies show that land crabs do make use of their olfactory system on land and seem to have quite sophisticated olfactory abilities for distant chemoreception. Also new neuroanatomical studies indicate that the coenobitids have superb olfactory processing and discrimination capacities. The main objective of this research project is to explore the seemingly extraordinary olfactory abilities of the Coenobitidae and to understand how they have evolved as adaptations to the terrestrial environment. In a highly interdisciplinary approach, behavioural investigations will be integrated with modern neurophysiological and optical imaging techniques, to identify which chemical substances induce biological activity and to study olfactory processing and discrimination capabilities. The project will generate new knowledge about how environmental and evolutionary forces dictate specific adaptations in olfactory systems, which will contribute to our general understanding of the olfactory sense. The high complementarity of the research training will strongly reinforce my scientific career by broadening my research perspective while at the same time adding cutting edge focus.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences evolutionary biology
- social sciences sociology social issues social inequalities
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2007-2-1-IEF
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.