生物谷綜合： 一個國際研究小組近日發(fā)現(xiàn)動物移動的方式與內(nèi)耳中半規(guī)管（semicircular canal）的尺寸間的關(guān)系,。半規(guī)管是腦顱中起平衡作用的重要部件，存在于頭腦兩側(cè),。文章將發(fā)表在6月26日的Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences雜志上,。
“我們在研究過程中發(fā)現(xiàn),，物種的運動與感覺系統(tǒng)間存在一種非常重要的適應(yīng)性機制，而感覺系統(tǒng)處理著環(huán)境的相關(guān)信息,。” 賓夕法尼亞州立大學的Alan Walker介紹說,。研究者研究了91個獨立的靈長類動物，包括分類學上所有的科,。研究還包括了119種其他的物種,，當中絕大多數(shù)是哺乳動物，小的有小鼠,，大的有大象等,，這些動物在變化的環(huán)境中會有規(guī)律性地運動。
這是首次通過大規(guī)模的研究,，探索出半規(guī)管尺寸與運動能力間的聯(lián)系,。半規(guī)管中充滿液體，并且隨著動物的移動,，液體也會發(fā)生流動。而液體的流動會被一些特殊的細胞感知,，從而將信號發(fā)送給大腦,，進一步地激發(fā)頸部和眼部肌肉的靈活運動，以便獲得穩(wěn)定的視覺圖像,。
“動物是如何運動的,，是一個重要的適應(yīng)性問題，”靈長類運動方面的專家Walker介紹說,，“現(xiàn)在我們可以了解到,，瀕危物種的運動完全與肢結(jié)構(gòu)無關(guān)。這是我們第一次運用新來源的信息驗證我們之前的結(jié)論,。”
（援引生命經(jīng)緯）
原始出處:
Published online before print June 18, 2007
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073/pnas.0704250104
OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE
The primate semicircular canal system and locomotion
( generalized least-squares analysis | mammals | vestibular system )
Fred Spoor *, Theodore Garland Jr. , Gail Krovitz , Timothy M. Ryan , Mary T. Silcox ¶, and Alan Walker ||
*Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom; Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521; eCollege, 4900 South Monaco Street, Denver, CO 80237; Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, 409 Carpenter Building, University Park, PA 16802; and ¶Department of Anthropology, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3B 2E9
Contributed by Alan Walker, May 8, 2007 (sent for review December 23, 2006)
The semicircular canal system of vertebrates helps coordinate body movements, including stabilization of gaze during locomotion. Quantitative phylogenetically informed analysis of the radius of curvature of the three semicircular canals in 91 extant and recently extinct primate species and 119 other mammalian taxa provide support for the hypothesis that canal size varies in relation to the jerkiness of head motion during locomotion. Primate and other mammalian species studied here that are agile and have fast, jerky locomotion have significantly larger canals relative to body mass than those that move more cautiously.
Fig. 1. Graphical relationship between canal sizes, body mass, and agility.
Double logarithmic plots of mean [average semicircular canal radius (SCR)]
canals against body mass for 91 primates (a) and 210 mammals (b).
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