Descripción del proyecto
La diversificación evolutiva entre las aves y los dinosaurios
Las extremidades delanteras altamente especializadas de las aves se han adaptado para poder volar, lo que contrasta con sus antepasados los dinosaurios y limita su flexibilidad original. La comunidad investigadora está ampliamente de acuerdo en que el cuello de las aves evolucionó hasta el equivalente a un brazo, lo que permitió a las aves tener una mayor flexibilidad. Recientemente, las técnicas de obtención de imágenes y la tecnología informática han permitido descifrar las complejas adaptaciones biomecánicas del cuello de las aves. En el proyecto EDDI, financiado con fondos europeos, se estudiarán los mecanismos evolutivos responsables de la diversificación del cuello en el grupo de arcosaurios que incluye dinosaurios, aves y cocodrilos. Se utilizarán datos morfológicos y de desarrollo para crear modelos del sistema esquelético y muscular del cuello. El proyecto proporcionará nuevos conocimientos sobre los cambios morfofuncionales en las aves descendientes de los dinosaurios.
Objetivo
In contrast to the clawed forelimbs of their dinosaurian ancestors, the highly specialized forelimbs of birds are exclusively adapted for flight which constrains their functional versatility. It is assumed that consequently the avian neck became the functional equivalent to an arm and great divergence is evident in number, form and function of the cervical vertebrae. Owing to methodological advances such as imaging techniques and computer technology, we only recently started deciphering the complex biomechanical adaptations of the neck in birds and the results serve as basis for bioinspired design including an arm for robots. The classic avian body plan was pieced together gradually over tens of millions of years of evolution rather than in one burst of innovation. Traits such as feathers, the furcula, and wings first evolved in the dinosaurian ancestors of birds, whereas other traits such as the pygostyle and a keeled sternum evolved in more derived birds during the Cretaceous. This raises the question of when and how has the highly versatile avian neck evolved? The EDDI team will address this issue by investigating the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for the diversification of the neck in archosaurs, the group of fossil and extinct vertebrates that includes dinosaurs, birds, and crocodilians. To do so, homologies of the skeletal and muscular system of the neck will be established using developmental and morphological data. This will serve as basis for the investigation of changes in the musculoskeletal system of the neck across phylogenetically diverse living and fossil taxa. Reconstructing these patterns among dinosaurs will provide new insights into how evolution drove major morphofunctional changes that underpinned their spectacular evolutionary success, in particular that of their avian descendants. This research will define a new paradigm for inferring patterns of the interconnected evolution of bone and muscle from the fossil record.
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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
80539 MUNCHEN
Alemania