Abstract: A fundamental question in evolutionary biology is how variation in form arises. Variations in time of appeareance and shape of skeletal elements have been used to understand morphology and evolution; however variations in timing of muscle development have not been examined. The study of form diversity requires quantitative descriptions for irregular biological shapes. Mathematical equations that describe the growth of multidimensional biological structures would provide a way to determine historical and functional constraints on forms. That is, we seek to bring together faculty and students from development, evolution, and computer science to quantify the diversity of form and function in ontogeny and phylogeny.
The goals of this project are to answer: 1) Is there a correlation between the timing of early muscle and skeletal development in Anura? 2) Can heterochronic mechanisms explain patterns of myogenesis? Can patterns of myogenesis help interpret anuran phylogeny? 3) Can we mathematically describe and determine which shapes and muscoloskeletal relationships are maximized during ontogeny?
Muscle and skeletal development will be studies in frogs from
different phylogenetic groups using stained whole-mounts and high
resolution, digital 3D reconstructions from serial sections. We
will analyze the reconstructed images using Fourier descriptors
and Piecewise Circular curves. These mathematical descriptors
will then be used to interpret heterochronic and historical events.
Last modified January 9, 1998.
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