Descripción del proyecto
Cómo se refleja el desarrollo locomotor nidícola y nidífugo en el tejido óseo
El éxito evolutivo de las aves, el grupo más diverso de vertebrados terrestres, depende en gran medida de su capacidad de volar. Los fósiles hallados a lo largo del tiempo demuestran que las aves son dinosaurios paravianos, los únicos supervivientes de la extinción en masa que marcó el final del Cretácico. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos HISTOLOC se ha propuesto estudiar, por primera vez, cómo refleja el tejido óseo el desarrollo locomotor nidícola y nidífugo, incluido el comienzo ontogenético del vuelo propulsado. Para ello, estudiarán huesos de las extremidades correspondientes a diferentes etapas del crecimiento de aves modernas y aplicarán los resultados a dinosaurios de tipo aviar. El equipo realizará pruebas y estudios para mejorar radicalmente la comprensión del factor ontogenético en la evolución del vuelo durante la transición de dinosaurios a aves.
Objetivo
The evolutionary success of the most diverse group of land vertebrates, birds, largely lies in their ability to fly. Spectacular fossils have demonstrated that birds are paravian dinosaurs; the only representatives to survive the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Extinct paravians close to the dinosaur–bird transition show diverse skeletal and plumage morphologies, suggesting substantial variability in aerial skills. However, locomotor skills (e.g. running, flying) and related morphologies can change drastically through ontogeny in modern birds depending on the developmental strategy followed along the precocial (functional maturity at hatching, including various degrees of locomotor capability) to altricial (functional immaturity with embryo-like hatchlings) spectrum. This ontogenetic aspect of flight remains elusive in extinct bird-like dinosaurs, greatly encumbering research on flight origins. We aim to explore for the first time how bone tissue reflects precocial and altricial locomotor development, including the ontogenetic onset of powered flight, by studying limb bone shafts of growth series of modern birds, and apply these findings to bird-like dinosaurs. We will test correlation in a phylogenetic context between quantified limb bone histological traits and different developmental strategies in birds using thin sections and µCT data. These will provide a firm baseline for fossil inferences using the same approach and will generate a step-change in understanding the ontogenetic factor in the evolution of flight through the dinosaur to bird transition. The experienced researcher and hosts will bring together and integrate respective expertise in biology and palaeontology to deliver this highly innovative, timely, and multidisciplinary project that will broaden our view on how birds have mastered the skies for the last 150 million years.
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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
B15 2TT Birmingham
Reino Unido