"What can be more curious than that the hand of a man, formed for grasping, that of a mole for digging, the leg of a horse, the paddle of the porpoise, and the wing of the bat, should all be constructed in the same pattern, and should include the same bones, in the same relative position? The whole subject is included under the general name of Morphology. This is the most interesting department of natural history, and may be said to be its very soul."
Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species, 1859
My primary research interest is the function and evolution of the vertebrate skeletal system. I seek to better understand and interpret the tremendous diversity and range of adaptation in design of vertebrate, particularly mammalian, skeletons. Comparative biologists have observed for centuries that skeletal morphology shows patterns of diversity among taxa that correspond to patterns of functional capability. My research program applies rigorous analysis of these complex structure/function interrelationships to improve our understanding of the adaptation of form and function to the mechanical environment. At the same time, I seek to understand the historical and physical limits of adaptation. Placed in a phylogenetic context, these results will ultimately help elucidate the nature of evolutionary changes in structural design and the behaviors facilitated and constrained by particular morphologies.
My approach uses principles and techniques of the physical sciences in combination with biology: I draw from engineering approaches to provide direct, empirical measurements of loads exerted on key regions of the skeleton of living animals, to distinguish those aspects of skeletal form that may have the greatest significance for mechanical performance, and to analyze the material properties of the tissues comprising the locomotor apparatus. However, my work differs from conventional biomedical engineering analyses in its fundamentally comparative perspective and in my focus on the natural biological significance of organisms' behaviors and morphology.
My specific research objectives are:
1. to document directly the loads experienced by the mammalian skeleton during natural behaviors;
2. to describe the morphology and mechanical properties of the skeleton in a functionally meaningful manner at a variety of organizational levels, and;
3. to relate a detailed picture of mechanical usage to patterns of structural variation.
Meeting these objectives will produce a more complete picture of the functional biology of the skeleton, and will ultimately generate new views of skeletal evolution through the analysis of historical patterns of change in skeletal architecture or functional performance in relation to phylogenetic diversification.
At present, my efforts to achieve these broad goals are concentrated along two primary lines of inquiry:
• how do the wings of bats function in relation to their morphological organization?
• what is the significance of trabecular bone tissue? how does its architecture reflect its mechanical function?
I will treat each of these in turn.
