| Grant number: | 20/12786-2 |
| Support Opportunities: | Regular Research Grants |
| Start date: | February 01, 2021 |
| End date: | January 31, 2023 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Zoology - Morphology of Recent Groups |
| Principal Investigator: | Felipe Chinaglia Montefeltro |
| Grantee: | Felipe Chinaglia Montefeltro |
| Host Institution: | Faculdade de Engenharia (FEIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Ilha Solteira. Ilha Solteira , SP, Brazil |
| Associated researchers: | Fernanda Cavalcanti de Azevedo ; Frederico Gemesio Lemos ; Mariela Cordeiro de Castro |
Abstract
The Brazilian canids show various feeding habits that include insectivory, omnivory, and hypercarnivory, and some species have overlapped distributions. For those reasons, the group is an exquisite model for studies that seek to understand how different diets relate to morphofunctional specializations, how sympatric species explore and possibly partition environmental resources, or how key biological parameters relate to the extinction risk in a progressively anthropized world. Yet, no quantitative approach has been used so far to address those questions. This project aims to employ finite element analysis (FEA) to compare the craniomandibular and dental biomechanical performances of the six Brazilian species of canids. This technique, initially applied to engineering, is progressively being used in biological studies of many scopes due to the ability to simulate the reactions of biological materials in silico, under intrinsic and extrinsic scenarios, in a tridimensional environment. In the current context of biodiversity loss, our project fills a gap in the knowledge of a clade that encompasses three of the least studied, and threatened of extinction, canids of the world. In this sense, besides concatenating the complementary expertise of the proponents, this project combines basic science and cutting-edge technology, providing new tools for conservation actions on Brazilian canids. (AU)
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