TURBINATE BONES MORPHOLOGY OF THE ORYZOMYINI TRIBE (MAMMALIA RODENTIA SIGMODONTINAE): AN ECOMORPHOLOGICAL APPROACH

• Grant number: 23/18114-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2024
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Morphology of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Reis Percequillo
• Grantee: Matias Salles Medeiros
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/11444-0 - Diversity of neotropical rodents (Rodentia: Sciuridae, Cricetidae, Echimyidae): origin, evolution and biogeography, AP.TEM

Abstract

The tribe Oryzomyini (Mammalia; Rodentia; Sigmodontinae) is the most diverse taxon of the subfamily, occupying a wide range of environments and exhibiting a notable morphological variety in different components of the skull, with the variation of molars and stapedial circulation patterns being the most conspicuous and most studied. This scientific initiation project aims to study the morphology of the rostrum of the tribe's genera, seeking to evaluate the morphological variation of components not yet studied, such as the turbinate bones. Therefore, I intend to evaluate the variation in these bones, and seek the existence of correlations with the shape of the incisive foramina and the different habitats occupied by these genera. This research aims to create a database with three-dimensional models through the use of a micro computerized tomograph, and analyze the morphological characteristics of these animals in a comparative and evolutionary context, since there are consistent phylogenetic hypotheses based on genomic data for the tribe. Therefore, in addition to comparing the morphology of turbinates and establishing an ancestral pattern for this characteristic, the project will also produce a database of three-dimensional images, opening the door for several other similar studies.